Virus hits town

As news of positive coronavirus cases worked its way from China to New York to Colorado and finally to Holyoke, the world has been thrown into pandemic mode.

Mandates that change daily suddenly took on real meaning when positive tests for COVID-19 were reported in Phillips County last week by the Northeast Colorado Health Department.

With life as we know it shut down through school, business and park closures; a social distancing mandate; and stay-at-home orders, there still remain a whole lot of unanswered questions as to where and how this virus is contracted.

Of prime concern is the fact that people may be asymptomatic with no knowledge that they’re carrying the virus. Others may be contagious days before they actually have symptoms themselves and have already potentially exposed those they came in contact with.

The story for two of those who tested positive in Holyoke started over three weeks ago.

Charlie Harvey started feeling feverish March 20 and was still recuperating at home early this week from his positive diagnosis of COVID-19. His wife, Caryl, noticed symptoms last week and didn’t need to be officially tested to know that she, too, had contracted the coronavirus.

Almost a month ago, the Harveys met their son Matt and his wife and son at a restaurant in Longmont to give them Christmas gifts on March 14. That was in very early stages of pandemic awareness and before restaurant closures were mandated for the state.

And the Harveys stopped briefly at the rest area near Wiggins. They assume that it was on that trip that Charlie picked up the virus. Matt and his family remain healthy.

It was work as usual for Charlie the next week at Scholl Oil & Transportation Co.’s main office. At the end of that week, on Friday evening, March 20, Charlie said he called Arlan Scholl to say that he had a fever.

That same evening, Arlan himself got feverish and later obtained an official positive diagnosis for COVID-19. But at the time, it was still unclear as to whether they were experiencing the dreaded and much-talked-about disease or other common ailments.

Locking the Scholl office right away, Arlan said they pretty much closed the office to the public starting March 24.

“We — even though I wasn’t there at that point — pretty much went into quarantine mode at the office just because,” Arlan said.

They locked the office and have had people use the drop box out front to drop off payments.

Charlie said he had been having sinus problems and had lost his sense of smell. When he saw on television that this was a potential symptom of the coronavirus, he made a doctor appointment.

A March 24 test for strep and flu was negative, so he was tested for COVID-19, although the test results didn’t return until March 30.

Charlie got very sick to his stomach and actually passed out when he tried to get up that same evening that he had been tested for the virus. He cut his head and earned an ambulance ride to the hospital.

Several days later he passed out again, admitting that he hadn’t been drinking enough fluids and he was dehydrated. This time, a trip to the hospital was not necessary.

In explaining his symptoms, Charlie said he was very nauseated and had diarrhea. He did not have a high fever, however.

In the early days when he had a slight fever, his hips hurt. His fever spiked to only 100.8 at the highest early last week, and he didn’t take anything to bring it down, seeing if it would escalate.

His temperature returned to normal at that point, but he has just been extremely weak, with no energy. Coughing was also a major symptom for Charlie.

Meanwhile, Caryl first noticed symptoms last Thursday, April 2. Charlie said her issues are more in her lungs, as her oxygen levels are lower. Charlie said she didn’t run a fever until Sunday night, but she is struggling because it’s hard to breathe. They’re watching her closely.

Arlan said he experienced no sore throat or cough, and his lungs weren’t affected. However, he had a high fever, up to 102.7, as well as joint pain and muscle aches.

Early in the week of March 23, Arlan said he had an extremely painful stomach ache, which was probably the worst of his symptoms. He isolated himself at home but was still suffering a week later.

Arlan received curbside treatment to be tested for the flu, strep and COVID-19. The test was sent off last Tuesday, and by Thursday morning, April 2, he received the word that his test was positive. By then, he said his fever had broken.

Arlan said that because it had been over two weeks since his first symptoms and his fever had stayed down for 72 hours, the health department indicated he probably wasn’t contagious, and he returned to the office Monday, April 6.

Other office personnel at Scholl’s were affected slightly and have stayed home. Arlan’s wife, Laurie, has confined herself  either to their home or their daughter’s, but Laurie has had no symptoms whatsoever.

The community is reminded to continue to follow the social distancing and stay-at-home mandates as we navigate the coronavirus course.