'Anything He Touched I Trashed': Woman Says She Was Constantly Cleaning After Her Husband Tested Positive For Coronavirus
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Dawn Shulin knew something with her husband Steven was off at the end of March when his breathing was labored, so she took him to get tested for COVID-19. She was tested too.
Two days later, she says his fever was over 104 so she took him to the hospital.
"When he went to the hospital they told us he had pneumonia and was possibly positive for corona," said Dawn Shulin.
He was sent home. The couple lives in New Orleans, however, Steven is from Coraopolis.
"I started immediately doing stuff around my home. Cleaning the bed linens, the bathroom, any place he would go, I would clean," said Dawn.
She said it was a constant cleanup. They used separate bathrooms, slept in different rooms and she used Clorox on everything.
"His toothbrushes, his nasal spray, his soap, anything he touched I trashed," said Dawn.
Dawn treated her husband like he had COVID-19 while waiting on test results to come back.
Sure enough, Steven tested positive for COVID-19 and so did she, except Dawn didn't have any symptoms. Eventually Steven was sent back to the hospital where he remains in ICU.
"Try to avoid sharing linens like towels, bed sheets, things like that and doing a lot to sanitize common areas in the house," said UPMC Emergency Physician Dr. Adam Tobias. "The best thing you can do is keep as much space as possible and limit close interaction."
However, Dawn said that's easier said than done.
"I felt like I needed to be in there to make sure he was okay almost every hour," said Dawn.
If you feel you must be near your sick family member, Dr. Tobias offers some suggestions.
"The person who's ill will have a mask on and if you're within a six foot space, it's reasonable for you to have mask as well," said Dr. Tobias.
If she could do anything different, Dawn said she would have called 911 a day earlier, as soon as she noticed that Steven's breathing had changed. That's also exactly what Dr. Tobias suggests.
