Canadian woman tests positive for COVID-19 eight times in 50 days
Tracy Schofield fears she may suffer long-term complications from the disease.
A Canadian woman has raised brows and concerns after testing positive for COVID-19 eight times in 7 weeks.
According to Newsweek, on March 30, Tracy Schofield from Cambridge, Ontario, developed a fever, chills, and difficulty breathing. The next day she tested positive for COVID-19 and over the next two weeks self-isolated at her home, which she shares with her teenaged son.
Schofield said during that time her temperature reached 40.1 degrees Celsius (104.1 degrees Fahrenheit) and she lost her sense of taste and smell, but she made sure to follow guidelines and stay in her room away from anyone else.
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SEATTLE, WA – MARCH 15: A hand sanitizer station sits at a empty check in line at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on March 15, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. The state of Washington has over 600 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) and U.S. airports have been crushed with returning citizens after restrictions on travel from Europe were implemented. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Unfortunately, despite her hypervigilance, the first seven tests she took over a course of 50 days came back positive. To her relief, the eighth one finally came back negative.
“I cried because I was so happy,” Schofield said.
But unfortunately, her ninth test once again came back positive.
According to the World Health Organization, once a patient receives two consecutive negative results at least 24 hours apart they are considered to be recovered. And it is a common misconception that two weeks of isolation is all it takes to beat the virus. But unfortunately, Schofield’s experience isn’t unprecedented.
The Mumbai Mirror reported that a woman in India tested positive for the disease a whopping 20 times during the course of a 48-day stay in hospital. Fortunately, after 50 days Schofield is finally on the road to recovery.
“I still to this day have shortness of breath,” she told CTV. “COVID-19 has taken a lot out of me, and it continues every day.”
She also noted that given that news about the virus is still evolving, she fears she may suffer long-term complications from the disease.
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“I just want someone to be able to tell me something,” she said. “Give me an answer. Am I going to have it forever?”
She shared more of her experience with the coronavirus in a recent Facebook post below. The nurse also addressed those who felt she was the reason why they couldn’t be tested and once again reiterated that she’d followed all the proper protocol.
“I don’t control who gets swabbed and who doesn’t as one guy blamed me for him not being able to get a swab because I took too many,” she wrote.
Schofield added that she wasn’t trying to become famous but share her story.
“I post and did the interviews hoping to help others understand and if I help one person then I did my job. I didn’t ask for Covid and neither did anyone else and we are not lucky and I’m not trying to be famous I’m just telling my story and looking for answers.”
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