In the video, Eglīte is seen gasping for breath and addressing the lack of attention people pay to the virus.
"I know and I see in the comments that people don't believe this [virus] to be real. Many people have no acquaintances who are ill. I didn't know anyone [with COVID-19] too, until September 28. That's why I want to tell my story," she said.
On the afternoon of September 25, Rita started feeling ill. As she has contacts with many people at work, she went home early.
"The same evening my temperature rose to 38 degrees, and for the next four days I had a high temperature of 38.6. I didn't really measure it all the time as I was sleeping a lot. I started having chest pain and a kind of a dry cough... [Coughing.] That's about how it went. Yes, I also felt completely exhausted. I couldn't go to the toilet without sleeping a little on the way, and I couldn't keep my head up drinking tea," Rita said.
After spending the weekend at home, her disease entered a different stage and she got to hear the goings-on at her workplace.
"The big fever disappeared but I developed a cold, I lost my sense of taste and smell. [..] That Monday I learned that one of my employees had caught COVID-19 and that she'd received a positive test result at the hospital yesterday.
"We stopped working on site, we called a [medical] brigade and on October 1, a week after I became ill, we took tests. A couple positive cases were found. Keeping in mind all my symptoms and how awful I was feeling I expected to test positive. [...] I spent a sleepless night considering the worst scenarios, thinking that all the people who got tested would show up positive. I was surprised to receive a negative test," said Rita.
But the disease did not subside. Rita stayed at home even after the negative test.
"I basically have lost my sense of taste and smell, and my lungs are hurting. I've a feeling that someone is sitting on my chest and that something is stuck there. When I talk a lot I have a burning feeling. Now my temperature has dropped to 37 to 37.4 degrees," she said.
On October 7, almost a fortnight after developing the first symptoms, Rita received another COVID-19 test.
"It was the 7th, my final day of quarantine, when I had to stay home. Luckily I was able to get tested very quickly, as someone had just declined a previously booked test when I made the call. I went there and got another test. And today I received a message saying that I have tested positive. It was really a relief to me, as I had been thinking for more than a week convinced that it's highly likely I have the virus.
"The pain in the lungs is the worst. I can't breathe fully. I don't usually talk in such a low voice. Please take this thing seriously," said Rita.
"Before, I was among the people who didn't know anyone infected with the coronavirus. Now I know six, and I myself am the seventh."
As reported, the current cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in Latvia is 71.5, now the highest in the Baltic States.
