JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to grow, many have asked about the number of people have recovered from the coronavirus.
The Florida Department of Health’s dashboard shows the number of positive cases, hospitalizations and deaths, but not the number of people who have recovered. According to the state Department of Health, it does not measure recovery and the word “recovery” can have different meanings.
The FDOH says: “The very definition of recovery is a contested issue -- are you recovered once you’re no longer symptomatic, or contagious, once you get a negative test result, or no longer require hospitalization? Until some of these issues and definitions are worked out at the local, state and national level, we will not be providing a metric for recovery."
Though it has not been reported by the state, a Jacksonville woman named Ashley is one of the people who have recovered from COVID-19 after what she called a rough experience.
“To not have any survival rate numbers or recovery numbers, it’s like getting one side of the story, and you’re trying to keep yourself and your family safe,” said Ashley, who did not wish to share her last name. “I think it’s definitely can be concerning, certainly confusing, for a lot of people.”
Ashley told News4Jax she first started coughing on March 17 but never had a fever. Then her sense of taste and smell disappeared, so she got tested for COVID-19 at the Lot J site.
“I was sleeping probably close to 18 hours a day and I would wake up exhausted,” Ashley said. “Every day gets a little bit better. My breathing is finally a lot better. At the worst of it, it felt like the best way I can describe it as my lungs felt sticky.”
Ashley said after 43 days in quarantine at home, taking vitamins using a nebulizer and 12 tests later, she finally received two negative tests within 24 hours, which her work required of her before she went back on Monday.
“Now I’m a lot more diligent in washing my hands more often not touching doorknobs," Ashely said.
According to the COVID Tracking Project, Florida and Georgia are among 14 states not reporting the number of COVID-19 recoveries.
Alabama, California, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington are the other 12 states on the COVID Tracking Project’s list for not reporting recoveries.