It could have been a much different story for Bob Reese and Packer Transportation if he and the others he was traveling with had not followed the U.S. Center for Disease Control’s instructions to self-quarantine after returning from Europe last month.
Reese, general manager at Packer, a flatbed and brokerage company in Reno, Nevada, said he, his girlfriend and two friends that traveled with them to Ireland were told by the CDC upon coming back to the U.S. to stay home for at least two weeks and note any symptoms that might be related to COVID-19 including an increase in body temperature.
Good thing, too. Reese, his girlfriend, a registered nurse, and their two friends began showing symptoms not long after touching down in the U.S.
“It was just a couple of days later that the fever and the cough started developing,” said Reese who was the first in his group to get tested for the virus. “They jab that swab up there (in the nose) pretty far. It makes you shutter a little bit.”
He was tested on March 23. Test results came back positive that night. His girlfriend also tested positive for the virus along with their two friends. Quarantine continues to this day which is fine with Reese who credits the CDC for keeping him and his friends away from others, particularly those with health issues at work.
“The CDC did a good job to keep anybody, that was maybe at a higher risk, away from others,” said Reese who no longer exhibits symptoms. “We feel great at this point. We’re in the fourth week of being at home. We’ve been symptom free for a little over two to two-and-a-half weeks now.”
Though some COVID-19 patients have reported severe symptoms requiring hospitalization, Reese said that wasn’t the case for him and his friends. He and his girlfriend stuck to an over-the-counter regimen which included vitamin C, echinacea, turmeric and ibuprofen.
