‘It’s important to tell everyone my experience’: US woman who tested positive for coronavirus reports unusual symptoms

A doctor in Italy told Julia Buscaglia that she just had a cold

An American woman has reported suffering very different symptoms to other people who have contracted Covid-19.

Julia Buscaglia tested positive for coronavirus, but shared in a Twitter thread the unusual symptoms she suffered with, including hearing loss.

The 20-year-old said she decided to share her symptoms because “it’s important to tell everyone my experience.”

Ms Buscaglia contracted coronavirus while out in Italy, but only had a fever that matched the reported symptoms of “flu – fever, tiredness, and dry cough.”

She tweeted that she saw a doctor in Italy who told her she had a cold, adding: ”I proceeded with my day. At this point, I had begun to lose hearing in my left ear, I figured it was congestion. Still I had NO cough.”

The day before she left Italy she still didn’t have a cough and tweeted that, “I still couldn’t hear, and at this point I lost all ability to taste and smell, yet I did not have a runny nose or cough. I had a headache constantly during the day which I just treated with Tylenol. I left the next morning to return to America.”

Ms Buscaglia said that she was was not checked for Covid-19 at the airport when she flew home from Italy on 4 March.

“This is the day I look back on and get scared. I flew home, and not a single person asked where I had been. Not even at customs. They didn’t blink an eye at me. I had layovers in LARGE cities. Again, there was no doubt in my mind that I didn’t have the virus,” she tweeted.

She says her hearing returned and she suffered from a wet cough before ten days later testing positive for coronavirus.

On the day of the results Ms Buscaglia says she had “NO symptoms, a slight remaining cough, but nothing of concern I thought.”

She feels better now, but Ms Buscaglia warned others from continuing to go on spring break and other pre-organised trips.

“I know many of you have spring breaks, trips, work, and activities planned. But I want you to understand many individuals my age are not showing symptoms. I know we joke and laugh about not having this virus. But this is not a joke anymore. Please cancel your trips,” she said.

The 20-year-old added: “To those of you in the same situation as me, I wish you all a speedy recovery and to stay healthy. Drink fluids and wash your hands. Please remember, just because you are not showing symptoms does NOT mean you do not have it.”

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, upwards of 43, 214 people have tested positive in the US. The death toll has reached at least 533.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended a two-week ban on gatherings of more than 50 people as part of the battle to contain the spread of the contagion.