Dawn Pier, a woman who may likely have been Baja’s first coronavirus case, catches a wave on the East Cape. Submitted photo. Courtesy of Kevin Wood.
By Dawn Pier
Special to JenniferMargulis.net
I live and work in Baja California Sur in northwest Mexico. As of this writing, March 17, 2020, there have been no “confirmed” cases of COVID-19 in our region. But I believe I am Baja’s first COVID-19 case, even though it’s unconfirmed.
Let me tell you why.
No, I’m not a hypochondriac. I’m not attention-seeking. I’m not looking for an angle. I am an environmental scientist. But I’m also on Day 12 of a brutal illness. Feeling as sick as I do right now, I’m learning more than I ever thought I would about how the world treats, reacts, and cares for victims of COVID-19.
Tourists arrive in Baja daily. A week ago, I began to wonder how we continue to remain virus-free.
Then my own illness became my teacher.
Just a cold
I had a cold. But not just any cold. This one was a MoFo, especially the cough.
I had a dry hacking cough that squeezed my lungs and made my eyes water. It gripped my whole body. My stomach clenched so tightly when I coughed that all too often the coughing would make me pee.
No, that’s not normal for me. I’ve barely turned 50 and I’m in good health. I surf. I hike. I’m not incontinent. I don’t usually pee myself.
On Day 3 of the cold, I woke up with aching bones that made me think I might have dengue fever. Except dengue doesn’t make you cough. So by Day 4, I really started wondering if the illness I had wasn’t just a common cold.
For three days I tried to rest while keeping up on work. I ate lots of fruits and vegetables, upped my vitamin C intake, drank bone broth and kombucha. I took probiotics and pushed the liquids, liquids, liquids (which, as you can imagine, did little to help the urination situation.)
I hadn’t made the connection even a little in my mind yet with the news happening in other parts of the world about the spread of coronavirus.
As I said, Baja’s first case of COVID-19 in Mexico wasn’t a thought that crossed my mind. I texted my friend who lives in Italy to check in on him, not even thinking about myself. It was Day 1 for him. Not of a cold, but a historic, nationwide lockdown.
Italy was long, long gone past its first COVID-19 case.
“I’m fighting a nasty virus over here,” I texted. “Never felt such pain in my body as yesterday morning.”
“Uh… personally, I’d get a test,” my friend texted back.
And then it opened up in my mind.
“Hmmm… been wondering…”
Soon he sent me a link to basic information about the novel coronavirus. We struggled to find reliable information. As a scientist by training, I wanted to separate fact from fiction.
After some thought, I texted my doctor. He told me there weren’t any tests available in Baja California Sur and there were no cases reported in the state. He texted I should STOP panicking.
Actually he texted me this: “ ?panicking.”
I think he thought he was being funny.
I told him I wasn’t worried, which I wasn’t.
He told me to take extra vitamin C (whether or not that helps is an open debate, as it turns out.)
I hate to admit it, but I felt reassured. Doctors know what they’re talking about. Right?
I’d been sick for five days but I went back to work
My doc told me to stop panicking. I had a cold or a flu. I needed to go to work. I took some real estate clients on a tour for a couple of hours.
My job brings me into contact with a lot of travelers. I was cautious, just like I am every time I have to be in public when sick. I avoided touching anyone. I brought tissues to cover my mouth and water to stem any coughing fits. I let others open doors and avoided touching surfaces.
But my clients traveled in my car from house to house. At one point, I had to retreat to a bathroom to quell a coughing fit and pee.
That night when I lay down I noticed an unusual sensation in my chest.
The lower part of my lungs felt leaden and there was a sensation in them like I was holding my breath, even though I wasn’t. My mind flashed to my father, who died of pulmonary fibrosis.
I suddenly understood how he must have felt in the middle stages of his illness. I’d watched him cough until his eyes watered, doubled over, sucking in air between coughs.
For the first time since I’d become ill, I started feeling fearful, realizing that I must have something worse than the common cold.
That night, the coughing wracked my body. I was coughing so hard I thought I would throw up. I remembered I had two valium a friend had given me (“just in case”).
Being unfamiliar with the drug, I took a quarter tablet. It did the trick. With the help of the valium, I managed to fall and stay asleep.
Instead of getting better, I got worse from the first COVID-19
The next day I knew something else had me in its grips no matter what the doc had told me. I thought I was getting better the previous day but I was worse. Much worse.
(As the New York Times has reported, this is what happened to a young woman who was a medical professional and was among the first COVID-19 deaths in China.)
I texted my boss to say I wouldn’t be able to attend our morning sales meeting. I called into a smaller meeting later that morning. The sound of my own voice caught me off guard. It had changed from the previous day’s Lauren Bacall sexy huskiness to a baritone.
“Dawn?! Is that you?!” the sales director asked.
Then I got my research instinct to fire up. It wasn’t easy. It’s hard to think clearly when you’re sick. But I needed reliable information.
I checked the CDC website. It mentioned dry cough, fever, and fatigue.
I checked the National Institute of Health website. Same list of symptoms.
My symptoms.
Guilt swept me up about my time out in the world the day before.
I needed the damn test even if it meant I would be Baja’s first coronavirus case.
I found the “official” phone numbers for Baja’s public health team. Should I call? I didn’t want to overreact. It was almost eight o’clock at night. I doubted anyone would answer.
Two rings
“Buenas noches, Secretaria de Salud, Dr. Flores a sus ordenes.”
I filled the doctor who answered in on what I had been experiencing and mentioned my doctor had told me there were no tests available.
“Well, there are tests, but they are held by the Secretary of Health in La Paz and there are criteria that must be followed before we can administer one. Have you traveled out of the country recently, or have you been in contact with someone who has a confirmed case of the virus?”
“No but—”
He interrupted me before I could complete my answer.
“Then what makes you think you have the disease when there are no confirmed cases in the state?”
“Please understand, I’m not panicking. I’m a scientist. I have a master’s degree in biology. I understand how disease transmission works, but I have all the most common symptoms and I work at two hotels full of tourists.”
The doctor dismissed my concerns. “Look, it’s much more likely that you have the flu. You should stay home. Avoid other people because unless you’ve been in contact with someone with a confirmed case of the disease I can’t do anything for you.”
I’d let myself get bullied out of doing what was right once already. I tried again, this time more forcefully.
“If this is the flu, it is unlike any I’ve ever had. Don’t you think it’s irresponsible not to determine whether I have the disease? At some point, someone is going to have to be tested or the disease will spread undetected. Don’t we owe it to people to figure out as early as possible if it’s here so people can start taking more precautions?”
“I’m sorry, but we must follow the protocol for using the tests.”
I thanked him for his time and hung up dismayed.
I reached out to the doctor I’d spoken to on Day 4 and told him about the strict criteria the authorities were using to determine who should get tested.
“Yes,” he texted back, “that is correct. Obviously you don’t have CV19.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you haven’t been in contact with anyone who’s positive based on a lab result. Go to the hospital to get checked out and so they can explain it to you.”
I bristled.
“I understand the concept,” I replied, “but it’s wrong to say it’s impossible. A person with the virus can be asymptomatic.”
“Go to the hospital and get the tests then. I can’t send you to have a test because I don’t have any control over the management of the tests. I’m very sorry. Perhaps you should consult with a lung specialist?”
He sent me the contact information for Dr. Bernabe, a pulmonary specialist I’d seen in January when my long-absent asthma reemerged.
I chastised myself. Why didn’t I think of him? As a pulmonary specialist who already knew my history, he might be more open to my concerns.
It was 8:30 p.m. I texted rather than call him with my symptoms and situation. To my surprise, he called me immediately.
“I agree with you completely. You need to be tested. I’d like you to come to my consulting room tomorrow morning so I can examine you and do the necessary tests.”
Day 7 of being sick, finally being tested for Baja’s first COVID-19 case
I went to the clinic in the morning. As a nurse took my vitals I was hyper-aware of her bare hands and unmasked face. My heart rate was higher than normal, but still within normal limits. Everything else was normal. As I waited for the doctor in the hallway outside his office, one of the receptionists appeared and, arm outstretched, handed me a surgical mask.
“Put this on,” she said tersely.
Dr. Bernabe looks like a real-life Doogie Houser. He’s professional and confident without the arrogance of so many doctors.
He pulled a mask out of the drawer in his desk and put it on, quickly reviewed my vitals on a small piece of paper the nurse had handed him and listened to my lungs with his stethoscope. He returned to his seat on the opposite side of his desk and pulled out his prescription pad and began writing.
“You don’t have pneumonia. That’s good,” he said and started prescribing me things to help. He cautioned me about the risk of secondary bacterial infection. Then he looked up from writing the prescription and put his pen down.
“As you already know, there are protocols established by the Secretary of Health we must follow in order to test anyone for the coronavirus. I think I have a solution to this problem. I’m going to test you for influenza. If the test comes back negative, I think I can convince the authorities that we should test you for the coronavirus.”
I needed to be tested by the process of elimination. Smart guy, I thought and relaxed a little more. A technician gave me the test and the doc told me to get the meds and go home. The results would arrive by email sent to both of us.
A little over an hour later the email arrived.
I texted Dr. Bernabe.
“The test is negative. I know there’s a possibility it’s a false negative. When do I come in for the COVID-19 test?”
An hour later I still hadn’t heard from him. I didn’t want to be impatient, but he’d said it would take three hours to get the results and it was now afternoon. I sent him another text.
“Hola Doctor?”
He responded a few minutes later, “I’ll confirm with you in one moment.”
An hour and 20 minutes later, I still hadn’t heard back from Dr. Bernabe. I imagined that he and everyone else involved wanted to get this thing done and wondered what the hold up was. Maybe they had to put measures into place to prevent transmission of the virus to staff and other patients. If this was the first suspected case they’d had in Los Cabos, they might be in panic-mode. Maybe they were debating where they should do the test. I nudged him with another text.
“Hola Doctor, any news?”
“They’re going to let me know.”
“Could you clarify, please? Are you waiting for the test to arrive?”
“Not exactly, I’m dealing with operational questions from the Secretary. Their epidemiological protocol.”
My head began to throb. I needed a nap, but there was work I needed to attend to and friends kept texting me, wanting to know if I’d had the test yet. At four o’clock, I received a phone call I thought was Dr. Bernabe’s number.
“Doctor Bernabe?” I answered.
“No, this is Doctora Smith, epidemiologist, Secretary of Health.”
“Oh…” I wondered if this was a step forward or back.
“I have some questions I need to ask you as part of the epidemiological protocol we must follow before the Secretary can allow you to be tested.”
My heart sank. I knew those questions would include, “Have you traveled recently or been in close contact with a person who has a confirmed case of COVID-19?”
She went down a long list of questions, asking me about every organ in my body.
I stopped her so we could cut to the chase.
“The only health conditions I have are asthma and hypothyroidism.”
She asked me the two sticking-point questions and I explained, again, how I was in regular contact with tourists from the U.S., Canada, and other countries.
She finished our conversation with this: “Can you please tell me who you’ve had contact within the last two weeks? Anyone you’ve been within two meters of. I need their name, age, address, phone number, and email address please.”
“Shouldn’t we find out if I have the disease before we go to all this trouble compiling lists? Aren’t you doing this backward?”
“This is part of the protocol to determine if we can give you the test. There are criteria you have to meet in order to receive the test. This is the protocol established by the Centers for Disease Control.”
“Look, I’ve been in contact with a lot of people. This is going to be a long list! Do we have to do this over…”
She interrupted me, “Please send me a list by email. I will text you my email address.”
I hung up. I really needed that nap. I blasted off a list of six people I’d had the closest contact with.
I got a text from my friend Jane less than five minutes later.
“Your epidemiologist just called me to ask how I’m doing. I told him I was fine.” A toothy grinning emoji completed the text.
I pictured my clients freaking out when they got a call from an epidemiologist asking them if they were feeling ill. I texted them immediately to let them know what was up. They took it in good stride.
And then I waited.
No such thing as free with first COVID-19
Toward the end of an exhausting day, Dr. Bernabe texted.
“Well, the Secretary of Health says you do not meet the criteria following the rules established by the CDC,” he wrote.
He followed this with a text all in English that was apparently an official boilerplate response, which came back to the fact I had no known contact with someone with the disease. It turns out to be Baja’s first coronavirus case, you actually have to be second or 90th or whatever.
There can be no first.
He apologized and told me I could have a blood test and send it to Guadalajara. The results would come back in five to seven days and the cost was 9000 pesos (about $450 USD).
“Crazy, I know,” he texted.
I explained that was almost my entire rent for a month and the delay meant the results would be virtually meaningless. Furthermore, if I had to quarantine myself, I needed to explain to the executives at my brokerage why I couldn’t work my shifts. He apologized again and said he understood that I just wanted a clear answer so I could warn people I’d been in contact with, without sounding like an alarmist.
“So what do I do?” I asked.
“The worst part of the illness is over. You still need to self-quarantine for at least five more days.”
He signed off, “Feel better.”
Day 12 and feeling like I’m going to be okay
I’ve been sick for twelve days. I’m taking the antiviral medication and cough suppressant the doctor prescribed. I’m improving. I sit at my desk in a house on the shores of the Sea of Cortez, an hour from the city, a world away from bureaucratic insanity. In the Mexican state of Baja California Sur we still don’t have a single confirmed first case of COVID-19. And it’s pretty clear why.
To date, only nine COVID-19 tests have been given in BCS. We have just over 1,000 hospital beds in our entire state, 125 of which can be converted to inversion beds for patients with serious respiratory illness, and 119 ventilators, according to El Sudcaliforniano.
If you don’t ask the right questions you can’t get meaningful answers. Since public health officials insist on employing criteria that negate repeated contact with tourists as a significant risk factor to test for COVID-19, we have no idea who, if anyone, has the virus down here.
Did I have the first COVID-19 case in Baja California Sur? It looks like we’ll never know.
Read more about COVID-19:
- Life in the Coronavirus Red Zone
- Dawn’s Story Continues: Why Symbicort May Not be Safe
- Glyphosate and COVID-19
- Launching a Novel (a Thriller no Less) During a Real-Life Pandemic
- Finding Resilience During a Crisis
Dawn Pier author photo. Courtesy of Margot Duane.
About the author: Dawn Pier is a Canadian living in San Jose del Cabo in Baja California Sur, Mexico. She’s a writer, surfer, environmental scientist, and real estate agent. Dawn Pier worked as a research scientist and did field work at military radar stations. She earned her Masters degree in Science, with a specialty in Biology, from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, on of Canada’s top universities. Dawn spent ten years (from 1992 to 2002) as a research associate studying the role of arctic vascular plants as indicators of organochlorine redistribution from local point sources. She has also published original research on PCBs in sea turtles in Baja. In 2002, Dawn decided she’d had enough of the cold, however, and moved to the tiny off-grid village of Cabo Pulmo on southern Baja’s East Cape to follow her dream to learn to surf. To her surprise, she ended up founding a community organization, Amigos para la Conservacion de Cabo Pulmo, A.C. (Friends for the Conservation of Cabo Pulmo), to protect the coral reef in Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP) and worked as its director for several years. Thanks to her efforts and those of the local Mexican community members, in 2012, the park was declared the most successful marine park in the world, when it was demonstrated to have experienced a 463% increase in fish abundance over a nine-year period starting in 2003. She blogs at “Dawn Revealed” and is currently working on a memoir, tentatively titled Wavestruck.
Published: March 18, 2020
Last update: May 3, 2020
Why can we share this story?! I though of all you are saying all along this situation, government does not want to get hit by the economic impact that is goin to happen once our first case of covid19 is mention, but we need to prepare for whats coming! In any case economy will suffer there is no way to avoid that, at least I wish people wouldn’t get sick and be more alert of how serious it is and be prepare.
Thanks for sharing and hope you get well soon, let us know if you can get test it!
Saludos
Isabel Andrews
Dear Isabel, Yes, please do share it. The intent with this article is not to create panic, but to inform people about the reality of what is occurring – people who should get tested are not getting tested due to overly stringent application of the CDC protocol for determining who should be tested. The other message that I hope comes through is that we must be our own best health advocates at all times. Officials and doctors don’t always have the right answer. They do their best, but they are human and capable of poor judgement and errors. I love Mexico and consider it my home, so my intent is not to criticize individuals, but to shed light on a system that is not organized in a rational manner to deal appropriately with this pandemic.
Mil gracias for commenting and for your good wishes.
Thank you, Dawn. We are from the states, my boyfriend a Canadian also…I have been sharing this article only as information to be alert and remember none of us are invincible or truly safe from this virus, and effects it can have on anyone….regardless of age or how healthy we think we each are.
THANK YOU so much for this. I have heard from a good friend whose husband is a doctor here in La Paz that there have been 4 tests done on people who met ‘the criteria’, and that the results should be back from Mexico City within 3 days. That was two days ago. I made the decision to isolate, and my partner and I picked up over the counter flu meds and topped off the freezer. We were able to purchase 5 big containers of Lysol wipes on our 3rd stop (Chedraui) after picking someone up at the airport in San Jose, none at Costco or Walmart. I keep hoping Mexico will follow suit with Canada and close the borders. I have canceled ALL events for the foreseeable future, and don’t care who gets annoyed with me. Containment is the only solution. Thank you again for sharing your story, and I’m sorry you had to go through what you did!
Dear Jeri-Anne,
Thank you for reaching out and sharing your experience. That’s a LOT of wipes!! You might want to share a few containers with your neighbors! 🙂 You are correct that the best thing we can do is to practice social distancing and isolation if we think we may have been exposed to someone with the virus.
Stay well.
Hi Dawn,
Thank you for sharing your story. I’m glad the worst is over for you. We are full time residents and I was wondering what would happen if we felt we needed testing. Dr. Bernabe helped me through a respiratory illness a year ago so he was number one on my list of who to call. The coughing was as you so well described. I’m surprised and disappointed in AMLO’s cavalier response. The Mexican government will regret not mitigating sooner. Testing is now free in the US if you can get up there.
All the best!
Testing is free, if you can find one, big difference. The passengers of the Grand Princess, which just offloaded a couple thousand in Oakland, have largely not been tested. If you aren’t symptomatic, you will not be tested, even though carriers can be asymptomatic. Trump is mostly lying in his press conferences.
This is terrifying. All our faith in the fact that we are remote and at less risk here in Baja Sur just went out the window. As of now, Phil and I will literally stay home – no more shopping, no restaurants, obviously no contact.
I’m posting this in hopes our friends and neighbors will be even more diligent in their isolation.
Hey Dawn,
We were Alison’s neighbors in Bay Park and you and Phil were kind enough to let us stay a night or two and surf that sick break out front when Alison and family were there.
We have been living in Mainland Mex for almost 8 years now.
I can assure you it is the same situation on the mainland…. there is a number to call that doesn’t get answered and tests are “here” but not available.
Saludos,
Frank
Thank you so much for sharing your story.
I wish you the BEST OF LUCK ON YOUR RECOVERY.
Please… there is still time. I can pay the $9,000 Pesos required for you to take the test. Apparently, the antibodies will remain in your body for several weeks, even if you have recovered. Let’s be responsible and get you tested to be sure. Text me on WhatsApp or email ASAP… +14807095113 – derrick@hautgroup.com.
I’ll share the costs with you Derrick. My email is mkwlawfirm@aol.com obviously and old email. But I resist being isolated forever because of the lack of logic in the official response to this virus.
Thank you as well Mara. We are now hearing that the government has prohibited private labs from performing tests. This needs to be confirmed, but that is the last word I have from my doctor. Derrick has conflicting information, so we shall see. At this point in the illness, I would likely test negative, so I need a titer to test for the antibodies. We’re looking into it. Symptoms are ongoing and ever changing though. Today it’s muscular involvement that makes me feel really strange and weak. I’ll be posting an update on my blog later today.
Dear Derrick, Thank you so much for your kind offer! I will call you.
Hi Dawn, Sorry about your illness. Certainly sounds like you were at least the 2nd Covid-19 case (the person you caught it from being the first). Keep in touch with those people you were in contact with and recommend they self quarantine until they’re clear. Ignorant officials. Too bad for our compañeros here in BCS.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. We are visitors from California, with a second home here in CSL. We are trying to decide whether we should leave now and go home. Feeling safer here with “no confirmed cases” now makes me feel very uncertain.
Did you ever do the breathing test that has been suggested by supposed experts? Both my husband and I had your symptoms, right down to coughing so hard I peed. I coughed up copious amounts of phlegm and felt like I was drowning. But, I could and can, hold my breath for 10 seconds without coughing. Apparently that says that ones lungs are not horribly compromised. I’m not a scientist, or a biologist but it seems to me that a person with compromised lungs in the form of asthma should survive the Coronavirus is either bullshit or heaven sent.
Hi there, this method of holding your breath has been debunked and is not considered a valid measure to determine anything about whether or not you have COVID-19 :-/
There are posts now that say that the holding your breath without coughing was inaccurate. It was attributed to a doctor at Stanford who said she never said such a thing. Anyway, you can probably find the posts verifying this.
Thank you for this article.
Hi Dawn, Thank you for sharing your eye-opening story. The Mexican government is obviously unprepared to take this on. Glad to hear you are improving! Thanks, Carol Muzik
Hi Dawn, Thank you for sharing your eye-opening story. The Mexican government is obviously unprepared to take this on. Glad to hear you are improving! Thanks, Carol Muzik
Anyone that has any symptoms are supposed to self isolate for 14 days, not drive customers around in their car. Omg if you are a scientist, the world is in trouble.
Hi Dawn Thank you so much for this article. You know I am away from Baja Living in New York where drastic measures have come into place to keep us distant from each other. I am worried about Baja and its people when I see posts on Facebook of people partying together and not realizing what could be the inevitable. Thank you for this article and I hope that more people in Baja read this and become more aware of what needs to be done I hope that the government steps Up with these tests.Take care and I hope you are surfing soon!
Does this comment serve anyone? She was listening to medical professionals who are clearly giving an official response which contradicts their oath “Do No Harm.”
Yes, exactly, Mara.
Denise, know what does the world far more damage than someone listening to their Doctors’ advise?
Online bullies.
The world is in trouble because we don’t have tests – and because CDC protocol makes it nearly Impossible to get one anyway – and because the virus is often asymptomatic making it often untraceable, which is just one of the ridiculous criteria needed to
Obtain a test.
Not because Of the people who listen to their Drs who believe they’re in a country with zero cases… until they realize
Why.. which is the whole point of
This message. Thank you for sharing your story and this important message, Dawn!! Hope you get a test and hope that you feel better.
Easier to say than done, do not judge
Wow! Now I wonder if I was the first Covid19 patient in BCS based on your description. I got sick in the end of January. I also wondered if I had dengue, I kept the neighbors awake with my insane coughing, I lost my voice completely then slowly turned from baritone to Lauren Bacall. After 2 agonizing weeks (1 virtually on bed rest) I thought I was over it. Maybe 2-3 weeks later, I was slammed again with the same progression of symptoms – this time slightly less severe. Finally after 2 more weeks of tea, soup and vitamin C, I went to the doctor for antibiotics. They made me feel much worse, not better so I stopped mid-course. Now I’m fighting diarrhea. So hard not knowing!
Thanks for.sharing and this should be published in also small towns where they think they will be immune to this epidemic because they are far from places that has gotten it. BC population needs to be prepared speciall6the towns that they have to drive over 2 hrs to see a doctor
Please get the antibodies test now. With all you have gone thru as mentioned above it’s not too late. Please help flatten the curve.
I can well see why this kind of thing can get political with Gov. where they may get defensive & instead of preparing & welcoming any symptoms immediately to better control it in the bud, But in this story, the Dr. influenced by Government I’m sure is a way it could have mass spread throughout the country before taking proper action, Funny how warnings & precautionary measures can be so twisted in the political zone.
I’m Canadian and I’ve been on the Baja here since October 2019. I find it strange considering the amount of tourists coming and going daily that there are no cases of the virus here. I think it would be wise for Baja to close their borders and only allow citizens of other countries to leave and only essential services to arrive. We have to look at how the other countries reacted and learn from them! I am trying to isolate more, take vitamins A, C, and D, along with disinfecting surfaces and washing my hands more. I’m very aware of touching my face my eyes my mouth and nose. I have hypothyroidism which has been under control for many years. I’m also healthy, work out regularly, but I am 61. At this stage all we can do is hope for the best. I am fortunate that I do not have to rush back to Canada. Thanks for writing the story, sorry you were sick but I am glad that you are better! There is hope…
Thank you so much for your story, I have been to Cabo and the surrounding areas over 50 times in the last 20 years, it’s my home away from home. I live in Vancouver Canada where the disease rate increases daily as well as the increase of closures of any places where people can gather. Like Cabo, Vancouver is a huge attraction to the world. I can understand why Mexican government officials want to keep you secret as Cabo is a huge economic engine for the country. Your story needs to get out to more people like me, not to create panic or hysteria, but to inform us and put pressure on the governing bodies of Baja California. I have a trip booked to come there in the middle of May, it would be irresponsible of me to see it through
Cheers
Rob Maier
Excellent and an important post. Probably the most meaningful coronavirus health report given in the state of Baja all of last week.
Thank you very much for sharing. Wishing you a strong recovery.
This needs to be translated to Spanish and sent to every media outlet in the county. Like, right now… I’m appalled but not surprised.
How you get well sooner than later dawn!
Yes! Translate to Spanish and share !
Dawn , I am so sorry you have to go thru this and thanks for sharing your story so that we may learn.
This is very reckless of the Baja government. We are trying to stop this pandemic all over the world yet the Baja is doing nothing. Even if the rest of the world does something and they don’t there it will continue to spread and start all over again. They should not be reporting there have been zero incidences. Of course there aren’t any if they aren’t testing. Someone needs to make this public and you are a good person to start with and make it known.
H + Hospital has the ability to do the test here in San Jose. I believe the article.was written ik n Baja Norte
No they do not have it. I called they said, all they can do for starters is rule out flu. So basically same thing she went through already
“I’d been sick for five days but I went back to work”
We’re here in the Baja as well and limiting our contacts with others to our immediate neighbors who have been together for months now on our isolated land above the town of El Sargento. We feel like we are doing everything reasonable to keep from contracting or possibly spreading the virus.
But your article has caused quite a stir around here with some acquaintances of three degrees of separation now claiming to possibly be infected and/or feeling sick. I don’t want to be negative towards you but you are accusing the MX government of a coverup (which I would not rule out completely), you are questioning the health authorities etc. But the fact that you returned to work after feeling so sick and in full knowledge of the virus leads me to really question your judgement. That’s incredibly poor judgement. I’m no scientist but I know better than to do that. So after that display of poor judgement you have now stirred up a panic amongst people here and what is the benefit? None, because we are already taking appropriate steps and we are certainly not going anywhere if we are sick. We all know that there is every variety of nonsense on the internet and as always I for one will remain skeptical of anecdotal testimonies. Perhaps your conspiracy theory will be proved correct but we found this very disturbing this morning. I do hope you are feeling well again.
Hi Dave,
Please try to see the situation from my point of view – everyone kept telling me it was impossible that I had CoVid-19. That’s why I went back to work. That and I had begun to feel better. I’d been at home for six days, which under normal circumstances would have meant whatever I had (flu, cold, what have you), was probably not contagious and controllable through normal hygiene measures, which I employed.
And yes, I’m feeling a lot better over six weeks after this journey started, but still have lung congestion that refuses to go away. Regardless, until I have true shortness of breath, I won’t be going to the hospital and draining resources that other people need.
Sincerely,
Dawn
I find this article concerning and eye-opening (to say the least) because of the stark contrast of the account compared to what mexican health officials are saying. I am deeply worried of the opacity of the goverement and their lack of transparency and truth. Stay healthy guys, and please get rid of the notion we are Covid19 free, its out there.Do not panic, its not my intention to spread fear, please be cautious.
The last sentence, “It looks like we’ll never know,” is false.
If she recovered from COVID 19 infection, she would have immunity detectable by a rapid test for antibodies. A kit of 20 tests costs $250.
https://www.raybiotech.com/coronavirus-igm-igg-test-kit-colloidal-gold/
https://www.raybiotech.com/coronavirus-research-products-covid-19/
If she was COVID19 positive, she should have lots of sick co-workers within two weeks.
Hi Karl,
The antibody test was in the development stage when I wrote this. Also, it turns out that it’s actually quite hard to give people the disease (see the video interview with front line pulmonary specialist Dr. David Price from Weill Cornell Hospital in NYC ) and my contact with coworkers a this time was almost non-existent. I was working independently and also practiced general good hygiene when I felt like I was coming down with something. There were exactly two people who spent enough time with me in a vehicle that they MIGHT have caught it, but by that point I’d already been ill for six days. If I can get my hands on an antibody test without taking one from someone who needs it more than I do, I’d love to take it.
Sincerely,
Dawn
Hi Derek,
To be clear, I am in Los Cabos and went to H+ for the test.
You are a very irresponsible person. You do not need a doctor with those symptoms to tell you stay away from others this is what everybody is saying if you feel sick, stay away from people. Common sense and love for others. You did not care abouth those people you took for a showing and for your co-workers. Very smart to be a scientist but minimal human sense.
That’s mean, Olga. There are many people still working because they must; to serve others, to support themselves, to pay their bills.
My heart sunk when I read your article. How can we not be progressive (or better yet, aggressive) about testing? Are we going to have to wait until the ship is sinking before we launch the life raft? And then get extorted along the way?! No, you can’t get in unless you pay $9000 pesos? Wow.
Thank you Dawn for taking the time to share your experience. Now we know why there are no confirmed cases.
This is scary stuff.
Chris Rogers
Los Barriles
THANKS sooooo much for taking your time to share. I will share it as well, to encourage people to prepare and know if we are feeling your worst with this virus, we can make it through the scare.
Congrats on your blessed life and thanks again for sharing,
Karen
Dawn,
I hope you have a full recovery and don’t suffer long term effects from your bout with this often deadly illness. Your article has helped me change my mind and agree with my husband to cancel my trip to Cabo in October. I read all the Baja news I can since I love the area and travel there annually – I’ve often wished we had moved there or at least had a small house or apartment to go to ofen. Reading the articles I discussed with my husband how strange that if there are travelers and this virus is so insidious, in a country with poor sanitation due to poverty lack of education in so many areas, n o cases had been reported His response was “they’re covering it up”. It took guts to publish this article since you’re still living and working there. Thank you.
There was a cruise ship in Cabo early February that later had an elderly man from COVID-19.
The authorities, naturally, are saying there is no correlation.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-07/as-mexico-plays-down-chance-grand-princess-spread-coronavirus-questions-multiply
My wife came down with a very similar sickness about one month ago while in Los Barriles. We think it is likely she may have had COVID 19, and not known, we were near tourists from Washington, who were sick on arrival, a few days prior to her sickness. Tests should be easy to get, your story is so frustrating. Thanks for trying!
I had same symptoms here in Mazatlan in December
Well I am certainly glad Dawn is doing better. The test does prove you have it but let’s just say it’s too late at that point. If you are symptomatic just stay home. I know it’s great to know if they get there with testing. The situation is almost impossible to be contained with people walking around touching things and coughing on you . You can be your own advocate. Be prepared at home for what you need. Stay away from crowds,they don’t want you going to ER or hospital if you have it. If you need treatment absolutely seek it. By treatment is if you seem to be really bad, lungs filling, pneumonia etc. Do you think in December when the outbreak started to heighten anyone would have thought it would go to this extreme ? January – US first cases we knew of ,February starting to do something, March naming it a national emergency. Running out of masks, tests were limited not educating the population. We need to go from here. Mexico absolutely won’t advertise or rush on anything. This is no surprise. Stay healthy
Jennifer not Dawn. Since it was a story about her.
I live close to Minneapolis in Minnesota and I travel frequently. I got sick with exactly these symptoms in February of 2019. It started with a dry cough. I soon ended up in bed for a week. I blew my runny nose constantly. Two weeks in and I still did not feel well. I never got a fever, but had chills and was soooo tired. I rarely get sick and this is the sickest I have ever been. My whole body ached like I had been run over by a truck. I coughed all night long and the cough wracked my body and kept me awake. It got better during the daytime. Although I coughed up sputum, the cough was minimally productive. I coughed so hard sometimes, I threw up and I developed shortness of breath which I have never had before. My heart pounded and sometimes it felt like I was going to die from suffocation. The cough lingers to this day with occasional shortness of breath. My lungs feel heavy, damaged. I was eventually diagnosed with and treated for pneumonia in December of 2019. Took antibiotics and the pneumonia went away according to chest X-rays, but the cough with sputum continues. When this pandemic resolves, I intend to get tested to see if I have the COVID-19 antibodies because I am curious if this virus could have been present in the world way before December 2019 in China. How do we really know if sick people weren’t tested. When I went in, they took X-rays and never swabbed me or tested my blood.
Hello Dawn,
I’m very sorry Mexico treated you that way.
I hope from the bottom of my heart you’re doing better and get to fully recover.
Thank you for sharing your story and loving Mexico.
Daniel
So incredibly frustrating… Is it possible to get tested afterwards just so you’ll know if you had it or not? I’ve heard differing opinions on that.
Thanks for sharing,
Renee
Hi Renee,
Here is an article that answers your question.
https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-blood-test-antibodies.html
Unfortunately it sounds like the answer is currently still NO, but that is likely to change in time, as our immunity status is very important to know. I would very much like to know if I’m immune now. Without that information I’d be foolish to expose myself knowingly to someone who has it, but with it, I could get close to people who become sick and need help. It’s still early days in this pandemic. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Hi Dawn, I have to ask you why you didn’t self isolate yourself when you started having symptoms and you thought you might have Covid 19. Considering you might have had the virus surely driving around your clients wouldn’t have been a good idea.
Hi Ken,
Thank you for your comment. Let me clarify. I was told by a physician that there was NO WAY I had the disease. That’s the ONLY reason I took my clients on tour. Nevertheless, I was sick and I practiced social distancing as best I could under the circumstances, not wanting to share the nasty “cold” I was told I had. I also made my clients aware I was sick with a cold and gave them the option NOT to tour and they opted to keep our appointment. I NEVER would have gone out in the world if I thought I had the virus.
Here’s a post from noted virologist Dr. Robert Seigel about vitamin C which was posted on his Facbook page on March 14th.
“I have received a number of emails touting the efficacy of vitamin C in the treatment and prevention of corona virus.
I love vitamin C. It is one of my favorite placebos. It tastes delicious and it makes me feel like I am doing something even when I am not. It reminds me of two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling who actually spoke in my Humans and Viruses class back in the 1980s. It also reminds me of Albert Szent-Györgyi who won the Nobel Prize for discovering vitamin C but who is now often overlooked.
Unfortunately, I am not aware of any evidence that vitamin C is efficacious in suppressing corona virus. I am quite open to receiving a link to a well-designed, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial with evidence that vitamin C works.
Short of that, let me issue a warning against internet hucksters. If you have any questions about an intervention, you should consult the CDC web site or another highly authoritative source. If an email tries to sell me something or does not specify the purported miracle intervention in the first paragraph, I can only conclude it is a scam.
Beware! particularly in this time of significant vulnerability.
(Maybe I should go take a vitamin C to ward off hucksters.)”
Brilliant, helpful article and replies.
Governments follow the money first, then after enough people die, play catch-up.
Isolation and self-reliance are our best bets until it passes.
Love.
Wow Dawn! What a saga. Are you on the journey to recovery? What an excellent, well written article. I have shared this with many friends and contacts. Get well soon!
Dean T. (Friend of Bonnie’s form Canada)
Hi Dean!!
Yes, I’m much better as of a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, I have a lingering issue with my lungs that I will get checked out if it starts affecting my ability to breathe. So far, it is not making me feel any shortness of breath, but it’s a chronic congestion that refuses to go away.
Be well and wash your hands!
Sincerely,
Dawn
My trip got canceled to the Rio Santa Fe April 2 obviously was planning on coming back there hopefully May June could you please give me updates when you think or hear it safe. Mark
So glad that you have recovered! Sounds scary!
The lack of testing availability is a widespread problem, even in the US and Europe which will lead to countless hospitalizations and deaths. South Korea had the requisite testing and that worked.
I am told a new test has just been approved by the CDC; prelim results immediate w/ confirmation in 90 minutes; testing equipment is already in many hospitals, so …
I add my voice to the chorus encouraging that you get the antibody test. If +, then you know… if neg, you did all you could ; don’t know how many are neg after a + test for the virus. Thank you for sharing your experience. Dr. T
Hi Mark,
The state is on total lockdown until May 30th as of the latest announcement by officials today, April 16th.
Be well.
Sincerely,
Dawn