25-year-old Katy man shares what it's like to have COVID-19

Pooja Lodhia Image
Sunday, March 22, 2020
25-year-old Katy man in self-isolation with COVID-19
One millennial gives warning to other young adults amid COVID-19 outbreak.

KATY, Texas (KTRK) -- A 25-year-old man from Katy who tested positive for COVID-19 is urging other young people to self isolate in order to slow potential spread of the novel virus.

Christian Bermea said he was diagnosed with coronavirus on Thursday, March 19.

FULL INTERVIEW: Christian Bermea said he was diagnosed with coronavirus on March 19. He is now in self-isolation urging other young people to get tested.

"Right now, I do feel okay. I would say the symptoms come and go," he said as of Saturday.

Bermea started feeling sick on Monday, March 16.

First, it was a dry cough.

Then, a slight fever.

"It couldn't have been through travel because I haven't traveled recently. I personally don't know how I got it, but as soon as I started showing symptoms, I called into work, like, 'Please let me work from home.' "My work was great about it. I just started taking action immediately," he said.

Then, Bermea started feeling worse.

"The worst was probably on the third day. My fever had peaked at 102. I had no energy. I was sleeping about 18/19 hours a day. It feels kind of like a ton of bricks is on your chest and it just feels like really, really tight."

When asked what he's been doing to occupy his time while under quarantine, he reminds others that it can get very lonely, very quickly.

"The reality is, when everybody's asleep and I'm in bed alone, the reality hits me like, 'Okay wait, I have COVID-19.'"

Although Bermea said he's already feeling better, he worries others won't have the same experience, especially if they are older or have other medical conditions.

"To be really proactive is to act like you already have the virus," he explained. "A couple of weeks of self-quarantine to help somebody else definitely goes a long way."

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