The last few weeks have been tough on Christina Diaz and her fiancée Jessi Martinez.
Diaz is an emergency room nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she says dealing with the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases has been overwhelming.
“It’s a lot,” Diaz said. “It’s nonstop. It’s 12 hours of just grinding, grinding, grinding everything.”
Along with work stress, on July 1, she tested positive for COVID-19.
“I was sick,” Diaz said. “I had migraines. I lost my senses. I had nasal pressure for about three weeks.”
The couple social distanced and wore face coverings.
Diaz thought she was in the clear, getting another test two weeks later.
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But, again she tested positive.
“It just feels like a parasite that won’t leave me,” she said. “That’s how I feel. It’s terrifying. It’s like my mind was going crazy. Am I shortness of breath right now? Is this getting worse?”
Her fiancée tested negative.
The couple has been extra careful, not seeing family or friends.
“We’ve been very strict about staying in separate beds, separate rooms, separate areas of the whole entire house,” Diaz said.
With nearly 390,000 coronavirus cases in the state, hospitals have been slammed, with ICU beds running out at nearly every major hospital.
The couple says they’re staying positive with dreams of getting married next year. They entered a contest where essential workers can win a free wedding.
Until then, Diaz hopes the rise in cases starts to flatten out.
“The first surge was, you know, it was scary because it was brand new,” Diaz said. “But, this one, this came back with a vengeance.”
Diaz got tested for the third time on Sunday and is still waiting to get results back.
