‘I can’t believe it happened to me’: St. Paul hospital nurse tests positive for COVID-19

A nurse who works at a hospital in St. Paul tells 5 EYEWITNESS News she has tested positive for COVID-19.

“I’m still in shock about it. I can’t believe it happened to me,” said Sarah Moore. "I was doing everything I was supposed to be and I got sick, really sick."

Moore posted a timeline of her symptoms on Facebook, a post that’s been shared more than 11,000 times as of Monday.

She said she started to have a “very mild cough and scratchy throat” on March 18, followed by a few days with no symptoms at all. She said by the fourth day, she developed a strange loss of smell and taste. And by the fifth day, extreme symptoms of coronavirus “hit her like a ton of bricks.” She said those included fever, chills, severe body aches, headache, loss of smell and taste, cough and sore throat.

"I couldn’t get out of bed,” Moore said. “I mean, I felt like I was hit by a truck."

Moore said on the day she went to get tested, she could barely move and "literally thought I could die."

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"It was something like I’ve never felt before in my life,” Moore explained. "And it scared me.”

Monday is the 12th day since her symptoms started, and she said she is finally starting to see some improvement, although she is still very weak and fatigued.

“This is very serious. I see people not taking it seriously, people not practicing social distancing,” Moore said. “We have to do that. We have to stop the spread of this because it is going to take lives.”

Moore said those who she had been in contact with before getting sick have been made aware that she tested positive for COVID-19.

She said she has been in isolation at home and, at this point, her husband and three kids are still healthy.

Moore said once she is recovered and cleared to work again, she will be eager to get back to the hospital, so she can help others.

“I need to get better so I can take care of other people,” said Moore.

A GoFundMe account has been made for Moore to help her get better.