Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha Talks Contracting, Recovering From COVID-19

The spread of COVID-19 has greatly impacted the Detroit community, filling many with grief, loss and fear.

There are so many unknowns around how the virus behaves and what it means if you or a loved one gets infected. 

Dr Mona Hanna-Attisha, who sounded the alarm about lead in the Flint drinking water, revealed that she has COVID-19.

She shares her experience of testing positive on Detroit Today, and tells listeners what you need to know about fighting the virus.

Click on the player above to hear Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha share her experience testing positive for COVID-19 and fighting the virus. 

Hanna-Attisha said her symptoms started about three weeks ago and then tested positive for COVID-19 about a week ago. She has no idea how she contracted to the virus but suspects a trip to New York City in early March could be to blame. 

She says the unique thing about this virus is that it does not resolve after a couple of days. Symptoms typically wax and wane and can persist for weeks not days.

“Those acute symptoms, fever and body aches resolved by and large after just a couple days and then I developed a deep harsh cough, and then within a couple days after that I lost my sense of smell and taste and that was the clincher for me,” says Hanna-Attisha.

Now on the mend, Hanna-Attisha says she wanted to share her experience to show another side of the coronavirus story.

“I think all of us are living with this deep sense of fear and dread. There is this overwhelming fear that if you contract this, it’s a death sentence. Most people who catch this will recover,” says Hanna-Attisha.