LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. -- Dr. Jennifer Mathew, a psychology professor at the University of Lethbridge, recently recovered from COVID-19 and she wants everyone to listen up.
“The only way that COVID is spread is from person to person. So the only way to damp down its spread is to keep social distancing and isolation until it kind of burns its way out,” said Dr. Mather
She was in Denmark for a recent teaching commitment and after a five hour stop in Frankfurt, Germany - one of the busiest airports in world - she made it back to Canada on March 14th, and came down with a cold.
After reading up on COVID-19 she chose to self-isolate in her home.
“It wasn't until about four or five days later and the cold kind of receded and I got shortness of breath and thought...wait a minute.” said Dr. Mather
She decided to call 811 and took the self-assessment online questionnaire. It advised her to be tested and she later took a took a test at one of the drive-by sites. She was tested on March 18 with results coming back on the 23rd.
“I thought okay great, I’m going to prove I haven't got it....and then somebody phoned me Monday morning and said you have COVID,” said Dr.Mather.
Dr. Mather says her case was mild, basically shortness of breath and nausea. Following a period of isolation, she is listed among patients who've recovered.
But even though she's not considered contagious, she is still fearful of the unknown.
“Nobody knew anything” said Dr.Mather. “This thing it's really hard and people don't know, even the people (who are experts) - the people I ask the questions of - say well maybe.”
She is a believer in self-isolation and social distancing which is why she chose to come forward with her experience.
“I wanted people to know my story, because I was lucky," said Dr. Mather. "I did what I should of done right away, which was self-isolate."
Dr. Mather is the only person from the University of Lethbridge’s community who has tested positive for COVID-19.
