After Katherine Elam recovered from a relatively mild fight with COVID-19, she was surprised by some of the reactions she received.
“Most people were happy to see (me) back, but the next few, I’ll come over to them and I’ll see them take a step back physically,” Ilem said. “And I am, ‘Wow. You just backed away from me. Although I’m not contagious anymore. ”
Ilam (lam 54) is a registered nurse at Fairbanks, the mother of three and cousin of the first Alaskan resident to die in the Covid-19 state.
She and others who spoke to the Daily News in recent months described experiencing the social stigma associated with coronavirus infection, which they say makes them feel comfortable sharing their stories in public.
Others said they were protective of their privacy, worried about what the reception would be like in the workplace, and thought there might be some prejudice against people with Covid-19, even though they were no longer contagious.
The general preference for privacy regarding medical issues is very common, said Dr. Anchor, a medical officer with the Department of Health. Said Bruce Chandler.
But with coronavirus, he said, the growing concern is that people are worried that they may be brought to justice for not taking adequate precautions, or not following health orders closely.
In many cases, Chandler said, these assumptions would be wrong.
“It’s very easy to get infected,” he said. “Even among people who religiously follow the rules and health mandate.”
“Some people even experience stigma because it is a new virus that we still know very little about,” Chandel said. But so far, science is clear on one thing: there is no reason for the health department to avoid someone to end their isolation after doing Covid-19.
“We have not reported anyone (with COVID-19) who has been infected for more than 10 days.”
Suver Towes Slay, an advocate of domestic violence at Seward, tested positive for the virus in June after experiencing an itchy sensation in the back of her throat that she would normally have dismissed as an allergy.
While Towsley is comfortable telling her story in public – she shared it with friends on Facebook – she experienced some negative reactions when people found out about her diagnosis.
He said, “I’ve run into people who were kind of nasty about him and avoided me.” “I think he’s probably born of fear.”
Soon after she recovered, Towesley said she reported it to someone at the grocery store who asked her if she had tested negative yet.
“And I didn’t test again at the time, but the state sent me a letter saying I was good to go, and I could go to work again. And I didn’t feel the need to carry the letter in my purse, “he said.
Her acquaintances asked her if she was sure she was no longer infected, and Toussaint replied, “I wouldn’t be in the grocery store if I were.”
“I think people are scared and just don’t understand,” he said.
Since the onset of the epidemic, Fairbanks nurse Elam said she has taken the virus very seriously. She said she became very real to him when her cousin died.
Initially, when testing supplies were limited, and he was a health care worker, regular testing was encouraged to be kept as separate as possible.
He asked his 25-year-old son who lives with him and told him to separate too. It wasn’t until the weekend of the summer solstice, just to go home to work in the month, that his son came up to him and said loneliness was getting to him.
“He said, ‘I need to go out, I need to see my friends, I’ve never been lonely before in my life.'” Ilam said he planned to leave after meeting at a bar. He said he understood.
“As he was leaving, my mother’s instincts came out, and I just thought, ‘He’ll take COVID this weekend.’
That was true. By August, Elam, her husband and her two sons had tested positive for the virus.
On July 17, after about two weeks of illness, Elam was cleared to return to work.
Ilam said that in the months since she recovered, she still faces people who gave bad cocaine when she was told she had Covid-19.
“My son gave the best explanation,” he said. “It’s like, if he stays out of the flu for a few days, people say, ‘Oh gosh, I hope you feel better.’ No rejection, no reaction, nothing like that. If I tell someone I have a coward, they see me as a dirty person now. “
Now, Elem said, when she meets people who have also tested positive, she knows exactly what she’s saying.
“I think all the survivors want to hear, ‘Are you all right?’ And ‘Did you survive? I was so happy to hear that. ”
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