WASHINGTON — There are now 658 reported coronavirus cases in our area. Clint Whatley – despite showing all the symptoms – isn't officially one of them. He's still waiting for his test results.
Gasping, feverish, short of breath and nine days into his struggle, the former Army analyst Clint finally went to the ER on Saturday.
But doctors at the D.C. hospital only agreed to test the 29-year-old when his blood oxygen dipped too low.
"I've never had a flu where I felt like this. This is like nothing I've ever had before. This is not the flu," Whatley said. "Right now, talking to you, I have to take pauses and get my breath back."
Days later, he's still waiting for the results.
"The doctor said if my shortness of breath worsens I should go to urgent care," he said.
Dr. Geoffrey Mount Varner is not involved in Clint Whatley's care, but he's a Harvard-educated ER doctor from Prince George's County who has taken to Facebook to try to reassure people. You can have COVID-19, he said – you can be miserable – but you can survive without hospital intervention.
"98% of us will be just fine," Dr. Mount Varner said. "Three things to watch for: If your shortness of breath increases. Consistent chest pain. Or bluish lips."
But Whatley still wishes he could have gotten tested much earlier. "If things had moved faster, we could have gotten a more realistic number of how many people were sick," he said.
Dr. Mount Varner is urging people to be kind to health workers – and their families.
"They're scared too," he said. "So if you know them, take their family a meal, just check on them."
RELATED: Chloroquine not a 'magic bullet' for coronavirus – and might do more harm than good, expert says