MARIETTA, Ga. — Marietta Councilwoman Cheryl Richardson said she tested positive for COVID-19 after she attended an opera last Tuesday.
Richardson, who represents Ward 1, didn't initially notice anything wrong.
“I felt fine or I would have stayed home," she said.
But then, out of nowhere, she said she started feeling ill.
“Got home that night, went to bed, and around 1:30 in the morning I woke up and I felt absolutely horrible," she said.
She stayed home that day and was even supposed to go to a council meeting and skipped it.
"I called the mayor and the mayor said nope, 'Don't show up, stay home'," Richardson said. "I was feeling worse so I called my doctor and my doctor said go to the emergency room."
She said, in the beginning, she had body pain and thought she had the flu.
"When they tested and it wasn't the flu, then I had to accept that there is a possibility that I was going to be positive," she said.
Richardson said she's been hearing from many of her constituents after she announced she tested positive for COVID-19.
"I've gotten phone calls, text messages, e-mails, from people that are scared. And they think they have it and they can't get tested because maybe the doctor doesn't think they have it," she said.
She said she's been trying to calm the fears by telling people that the only thing that can happen is that your symptoms will be treated.
“There's no vaccine, there's no treatment protocol; so, all they can do is treat your symptoms,” Richardson said.
She said she's been having some trouble breathing, so doctors gave her medicine to treat those symptoms.
According to the Georgia Department of Health's website, there are 28 COVID-19 cases in Cobb County out of the 197 in the state. Georgia officials have confirmed three deaths; In addition, Emory Healthcare confirmed that one of its patients has also died from COVID-19.
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