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CHICAGO — People throughout the Chicagoland area are sharing what it’s like to live with a confirmed case of COVID-19.

JC Berrios became one of the latest cases Thursday after getting the news that he tested positive for COVID-19.

“I just hung up with the Rush nurse right as you we’re calling me,” he said.

Berrios said he wasn’t surprised by the results based on how he was feeling.

“It’s just a miserable virus. It just wears you down because the physical exertion of coughing that violently for that extended period of time. You’re just exhausted,” Berrios said.

Berrios started feeling ill with flu symptoms shortly after returning from a trip to Europe.

“It wasn’t scary for me until I couldn’t breathe. Then it became a scary situation,” he added.

Berrios said his wife — who only has mild symptoms — was also diagnosed with COVID-19.

Berrios wasn’t the only one surprised by the severity of his symptoms.

A man in the Chicago area was also shocked to find out that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

“Initially I started having cold symptoms — flu like symptoms — coughing, fever, sweats and chills. And they would not go away. And they just continued to persist,” said Marlowe Davis.

“And what made me really go in, was last Saturday morning I woke up and I threw up blood. And at that point I knew that there was something more serious,” Davis added.

Davis said he went to U of C Hospital to get tested for COVID-19.

“They did not test me at the time because they were not set up and equipped to do that,” he said.

Davis was diagnosed with viral pneumonia and prescribed antibiotics, but his symptoms continued. He went to Rush Medical Center where he was tested for COVID-19 and it came back positive.

Davis said he’s been self-quarantined for five days and is probably looking at another 12-13 days of self-isolation.

“The chills and the sweats are the worst. You just don’t anticipate that happening. For me, I’m fairly healthy. For me to get sick like this it was just really devastating,” he said.

Davis said he knew his condition was serious when his fever wouldn’t break even with over the counter medicine. But he feels he’s finally on the road to recovery now.

“I am feeling better now. My energy level is better. My appetite is returning. The sweats and the chills have really subsided.”