'Debilitating,' 'scary': Louisville woman talks about life with COVID-19

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A Louisville woman in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 said the illness is debilitating and scary, and she warned fellow Kentuckians not to take the virus lightly.

Lisa Lozano, 48, said she has experienced fever, chills and tingling all over her body, and her blood pressure skyrockets when she stands up.

"It's debilitating and it's really scary," she told WDRB News. "I don't know what this is, but I want people to listen and know that they need to wash their hands and take this very seriously."

Lozano said she wanted to share her story hoping people will take more seriously the calls to stay home and social distance. Her video shared with WDRB offered a telling look at isolation. In it Lozano accepts a drink passed through a crack in the door -- both wearing a mask.

"That's how we do it over here. he has a lung condition and he cannot get sick," she said as the door closed.

Lozano, who owns Wise Guys Salon, on Shelbyville Road, is one of 25 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Jefferson County. She said she believes she contracted the virus when she went to the Omni Hotel for dinner with a relative. At least four people have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending an Episcopal Church conference at the hotel in February.

Lozano said she was informed that she tested positive for COVID-19 on March 12. Health officials are tracking down people with whom she has been in contact.

Lozano said she believes she got at least one of her customers sick before knowing she was ill. Dana Sexton, who was in the salon to get her son’s hair cut.

Sexton is also ill now and has self-quarantined for 11 days. She suffers from multiple sclerosis and other health challenges and is furious with the medical system because she has been denied a test for COVID-19 as so few are available.

"They told me I didn't qualify, I didn't meet the criteria," Sexton said. "She said, ‘We're not telling you can't come down here. You are welcome to come if you feel like you are not getting enough air,’ but she said basically, ‘There is nothing we can do for you. We cannot test you.’"

Sexton coughed several times as she spoke to WDRB via Facetime from her Louisville home. She described the cough as a "stinging" sensation.

“They are holding on to these tests so tightly, I would have never thought that I would be 11 days into something like this,” Sexton said. “I thought a few days, I’d bounce back and be back to normal. I didn't think I would still be in my room away from my family,” she said.

Lozano warned people to not underestimate the illness.

“If you’re not so worried about it then come over to my house,” she said.

Both women are recovering at their homes.

They also both worry about Sexton's son, who is 17 and has diabetes — though so far he is not showing any signs of illness.

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