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| A view of the quarantine facility Kim used in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. Courtesy of Kim |
By Jung Min-ho
A teenager who has recovered from COVID-19 said she suffered "enormous pain" until all symptoms suddenly disappeared after 10 days.
In a letter to the Hankook Ilbo, sister paper of The Korea Times, the woman, 18, surnamed Kim, who lives in Daegu, explains how she contracted the coronavirus and survived it.
Kim said it started after speaking with a follower of Shincheonji, a shadowy religious sect responsible for much of the virus spread in Korea, near a subway station on Feb. 20.
The Shincheonji member tried to make conversation with Kim, who briefly responded after taking off her mask. It later turned out that the person had been infected with the virus. On March 4, Kim tested positive for COVID-19.
"I did not know it would spread that quickly," she said.
Kim started showing COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, on March 5. She had quarantined herself at home until March 9 due to a lack of beds in quarantine facilities.
Until then, she isolated herself in a room. She disinfected a shared bathroom every time she used it and regularly spoke to a health official.
"The official tried to calm me down, which was helpful," she said.
When symptoms were severe, Kim had difficulty breathing.
"Every time I breathed, it felt like my lungs were being torn apart," she said. "When I coughed, thick phlegm stuck in my throat. I also felt as if the lower part of my stomach was being squeezed and twisted. Repeatedly, the pain went away and came back, which made me exhausted … I think it can be extremely difficult for old people with preexisting conditions to endure that."
On bad days, she suffered the stomach pain for three hours.
But on March 13 ― 10 days after diagnosis ― all symptoms were suddenly gone. She was later confirmed to have fully recovered.
"I thank the medical staff who tried their best for me," Kim said. "I do not want anyone to be infected with the virus. But if someone gets infected, I hope everyone treats the patient with a warm heart."
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