Wuhan coronavirus survivor Jerri Jorgensen, who contracted the disease on the Diamond Princesses cruise ship that was quarantined for weeks off the coast of Japan, is urging everyone to remain calm.
"I feel great. I have felt great the whole time," Jorgensen said. "We were kind of surprised it was me and not my husband [who tested positive] because he's on immunosuppressant drugs. He's had two kidney transplants. So they took me by ambulance up to Fukushima where I was in quarantine in the Japanese hospital for two weeks until I got two negative results."
Jorgensen explained her husband eventually tested positive for the disease and is still, three weeks later, shedding the virus. Like her, he did not have any symptoms.
"He hasn't had any symptoms throughout this whole ordeal," she said. "I had it. I didn't know I had it. I felt fine."
But while Jorgensen and her husband got through the disease without serious symptoms, that isn't the case for everyone as hospitals in New York start to see an overwhelming number of patients. Young people are also affected and some need serious medical treatment.
State and local governments across the United States continue to issue increasingly restrictive guidance in order to stop the spread of the virus. Some cities, like San Francisco, have told people to shelter in place. The country is on day four of a 15 day social distancing period.