GRESHAM, Ore. — A Gresham woman and her husband are fighting what they believe to be the coronavirus.
“We're young and healthy and we still got it,” said Shelly Todd, 40.
Todd and her husband, Jarid Todd, 40, are home after doctors recommended they stay in quarantine for 14 days.
“We asked for a [COVID-19] test and they said they would love to give us one because we have all the symptoms,” said Todd. “But we don't match the CDC guidelines for being critical or being admitted.”
It was the answer many people have received amidst limited availability of COVID-19 tests. And it was the answer to a question Todd never imagined she’d be asking 11 days ago when her symptoms started, shortly after a trip to Seattle.
“I started with just a headache and I felt pretty good actually for the first three days,” said Todd. “Since then I've had high blood pressure, heart problems, chest pain, it's really hard to breathe.”
Todd, an aesthetician, said she eventually wound up in the emergency room. Her husband who works in the construction industry has been to the emergency room twice. Both are small business owners and wouldn’t be working even if they weren’t sick.
“It's not easy to not make money and build debt going to the emergency room because we don't have insurance,” said Todd. “But we have no choice at this point.”
Todd emphasized that others who aren’t sick and whose jobs aren’t essential do have a choice— to stay home.
“It just makes sense to stay home, it's such an easy thing to do,” said Todd. “It's scary, but stay home.”