COLUMBUS, Ohio — As COVID-19 continues to spread, there are growing reports of people getting infected with the virus twice.
Margaret Martula, 63, lives in Virginia. Rachael Sunshine Burnett, 43, lives in New York.
Both say they’ve tested positive for COVID twice, though their journeys to those diagnoses are very different.
Martula’s first positive test came in July.
“I was going to have a surgery on my foot and they, of course, tested you for COVID, and it came back positive and I had absolutely no symptoms,” Martula said.
Fast forward to December, she said, “I had a low-grade fever. I have chronic pain from all the things that I have wrong with me, and the chronic pain was like magnified times 10. My husband tested positive on the 15th of December, and it went to his lungs, and he lost his hearing for about a week.”
As for Burnett, she said she has been battling a long list of severe symptoms and multiple hospitalizations since her first exposure in March.
“Twice I thought I was gonna die,” Burnett said. “My first half was hospitalization when they call in the critical care team and a ventilator came in. I thought I was gonna die. And then I thought I was gonna die in July when I (had) respiratory acidosis.”
She tested positive a second time after Christmas, after a family gathering.
“The total positive for this family outing is 20,” she said. “So, we are living proof that small gatherings are why COVID is on the rise.”
Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center Dr. Iahn Gonsenhauser said while getting COVID twice is rare, he expects those cases to continue to rise, especially with the detection of new COVID variants.
“The real question is not necessarily can we stop it or not. I think the most important question right now is how widespread is it already here in the United States,” Gonsenhauser said.
He said the vaccines are the best hope at beating this virus plaguing the world.
Both Burnett and Martula are still dealing with lingering effects.
They said they have found comfort in an online community called “Survivor Corps,” where many discuss their current and long-term COVID symptoms.
“It’s very scary and we are knowing people that are really, really sick, and when it hits home, when it gets close to you . . . I can’t imagine losing a family member, I don’t know what I would have done if I lost him,” Martula said, referring to her husband.
“Yes, you might have a mild case but, yes, you might not get better and you might have long-term COVID,” Burnett said. “There’s a lot of us out there that will tell you that they would give anything back to try to not be COVID positive. Even though you think you’re at the safest, it just sneaks its way in and goes into your lungs and affects every part of you that it can.”
Both women advise others to treat everyone outside of your home like they are COVID positive, even your friends and family members.
They said they have no idea when or if they will ever feel back to normal.
