North Carolina Woman Gets COVID-19 Despite Staying Home for 3 Weeks

In this March 31, 2020 file photo, medical technicians handle a vial containing a nasal swab at a drive-thru testing site in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. (David Zalubowski/AP Photo)

A North Carolina COVID-19 patient said she was infected with the virus even though she stayed home for three weeks until her diagnosis last week.

“This is the sickest I’ve ever been and it’s the most scared I’ve ever been,” Rachel Brummert told local news station WCNC. “I’m absolutely terrified.”

Brummert, who suffers from an autoimmune disorder, said she left her home in Charlotte for a trip to the pharmacy in mid-March. She kept her distance from others, including her husband, who is living in another room in their home.

A woman who tested positive for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, took groceries to her doorstep, Brummert told the station. She received the food bags without any gloves.

She didn’t elaborate on the encounter with the delivery person. “I barely had any contact,” Brummert said. “I didn’t even touch her.”

“I really thought I was doing everything right,” Brummert said. “I’ve never had anything like this before,” she added. “I’ve had the flu. This is not the flu. It’s a whole other monster.”

In an update posted to Twitter on April 12, a woman identifying herself as Brummert wrote that she still has a fever of 99.8 F, is “coughing a little less,” and is “mostly just fatigued.”

North Carolina health authorities confirmed 300 new CCP virus cases on Monday, bringing the state’s total to more than 4,800. At least 86 people have died from the virus in the state, ABC11 reported.

Health officials on Monday also reported fewer COVID-19 patients in the hospital. So far, 313 people are hospitalized.