MORGANTOWN — Kevin Deming had the dubious distinction of being the first person in Monongalia County to be diagnosed with COVID-19 in March 2020.
“I returned from a trip to Israel on March 11,” said Deming, who at the time was a pastor of Chestnut Ridge Church. “We self-quarantined as I had shown some symptoms. I asked to be tested on the 13th but was told I probably had a sinus infection.”
Deming said he went to another hospital – Mon Health – and got tested on March 15, a Sunday. Four days later, he was told the results were positive. He had COVID-19.
Fast forward a year later. Deming, 48, and his wife and their two sons have recovered from the virus after quarantining for two months. Last fall, Deming and his family relocated to Westminister, Md., where he is campus pastor at Crossroads Church in Hampstead, Md.
“I think COVID has changed all of us,” Deming said in email. “It has challenged us to see life differently and for me to move back to focus on the kind of person I am becoming rather than just what I want to do in my life.
“Everyone is at a different place in how they feel about the world and COVID right now,” he said.
Indeed.
COVID-19 in West Virginia
West Virginia has an aggressive vaccine program with the end goal of “vaccinating our way out of the pandemic,” to quote Gov. Jim Justice and other state and local health officials.
The vaccination numbers have been impressive, too. More than 250,000 have registered with the state to be vaccinated and the number of active COVID-19 cases continues to fall. Justice has eased restrictions for bars and restaurants.
Also, there have been more than 2 million COVID-19 tests conducted in the state, which has a population of 1.7 million. There have been approximately 2,300 deaths with an average age of 77.
West Virginia University recently confirmed three cases of the COVID-19 U.K. variant, which originated in the United Kingdom. The variant is said to be more contagious than the original strain and is expected to be the dominant strain in the U.S. by spring.
Health officials have said both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines offer protection against the U.K. variant.
“While this is not unexpected, it reinforces why it is so important to protect yourself and others by continuing to wear a mask when you are in public spaces and around others you do not live with, wash your hands frequently, and carefully self-monitor for symptoms,” Dr. Jeff Coben, vice president for health affairs and dean of the WVU School of Public Health, said in a statement released by the university.
Experiencing COVID-19 firsthand
On the morning of Dec. 2, Nikki Godfrey, 39, a Clarksburg social worker, was getting ready for a 9 a.m. meeting.
“I was feeling nauseous, dizzy, foggy brain, and had a terrible headache,” she said. “This went on for three days and the nausea was the worst. They were all mild symptoms, but all at once.”
On the fourth day, Godfrey said she felt better, but had no energy and lost her sense of taste. Two days later she said she lost her sense of smell, and by the eighth day it was like she had a sinus cold.
“But I felt OK otherwise. My wife had similar symptoms; however, they didn’t last as long except for the fatigue,” she said.
Andrew Spellman, 26, a sports writer for The Dominion Post, got tested in September at a pop-up clinic in Morgantown, near the Mileground.
“They were offering $50 per test in the hopes to create a vaccine. I can’t remember which company was hosting it,” Spellman said in an email. “I had intense flu-like symptoms day one and two, then mild symptoms after. I lost my taste and smell.”
Spellman said it took him 14 days to be cleared by the Monongalia County Health Department.
“But I had long-term symptoms like shortness of breath and fatigue.”
Johnathan Hughes, 47, of Morgantown, said he lost his ability to taste and smell three days after being diagnosed.
“It took me seven days to recover and my smell is still not 100%,” said Hughes, who works as a sales service representative for Cintas.
Donna Tennant is the admissions and marketing director at Sundale Nursing Home in Morgantown, which was the first health care facility to have an outbreak of the virus last year. Five Sundale residents, some with underlying health conditions, died from COVID-19.
Tennant, 61, said she never really had any symptoms but was tested frequently, as were all Sundale residents and employees.
“I was tired and then after finding out what the symptoms were, I did have an odd sense of smell,” she said.
Nicky Boyers, a councilman for the Town of Granville who also works as a security guard, was told he had the virus on Dec. 13. More than a month later – Jan. 21 – he was still recovering.
“Just finishing second round of antibiotics for a lung infection,” said Boyers, 54, who had the classic COVID-19 indicators – headaches, body aches, fever, loss of smell and taste.
On New Year’s Day, Linda Huggins, the Preston County Clerk, was running a high fever and was fatigued. She went to the drive-thru testing site at Mon Health Preston Memorial Hospital.
Sure enough, she had the novel coronavirus.
“After four to five days my symptoms subsided,” said Huggins, 61. “My energy level gradually returned.”
Frank Fidler, 65, said he got exposed by his son at Christmas. At the time, Fidler, who is retired, said he began feeling sick Jan. 3.
“My wife, youngest son, youngest daughter and husband were tested on the 5th,” Fidler said in an email. Fidler, who has seven children – six of whom are married – and 16 grandchildren, said 10 members of his family tested positive for the virus.
“Of the five of us living here at our home, only two tested positive, myself and my youngest son, 25,” said Fidler, who lives in Morgantown.
“It took me about 10 days to begin being able to taste and smell again,” said Fidler, adding he is back to about 70% when interviewed in late January.
“The extreme fatigue lasted for 14 days and is even now what I consider still moderate. I have very little stamina and lost a lot of muscle tone.”
How did COVID-19 change you?
Without a doubt COVID-19 has impacted the lives of everyone affected. In some cases, people are now taking the virus seriously. They wear masks, socially distance and avoid crowds with the possible exception of the grocery store.
“You know COVID has limited me socially,” Tennant said. “It has scared my husband to the point he does not want to go anywhere and does not want me to travel either. I enjoy getting away each year to the beach or just a resort to relax, and he panics every time I mention it. We no longer go shopping and our family reunions have been cancelled two years in a row.”
Huggins said having recovered from COVID-19 has made her more aware of her surroundings and everything she touches.
“My heart aches for so many who are not able to sit next to their loved ones who are not well or elderly,” she said. “These are very sad times.”
Godfrey said she is concerned about possibly getting the virus for a second time.
“We continue to wear our masks and social distance when out in public,” Godrey said. “It is harder to remember masks now that we know we’ve had the virus.”
Boyers agreed.
“Wear your mask for your protection as well as others. This isn’t fun.”
What advice would you give?
Tennant said even with the availability of a vaccine, it’s important for people to be smart.
“I don’t feel people take it serious because there are so many who have had the virus who are asymptomatic,” she said. “However, until you lose someone that is close to you from the virus, you don’t understand the seriousness. I wish all those who don’t believe could spend a day at one of the locations where the funeral homes are putting bodies in cold storage because they cannot bury them, or lose a loved one.
“I just lost my stepmother and we could only visit one or two at a time and that made it hard because several of us wanted to be with her. Then the funeral was very limited because of social distancing and even at that, my stepsister and her husband both came down with the virus.”
“The only thing we could think of was (the cause) was from one of the gatherings.”
Added Deming: “Everyone is at a different place in how they feel about the world and COVID right now. We can be loving towards people who think differently than us, and in this world, we need this more than ever right now.”
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