SALT LAKE CITY — Many of the first COVID-19 patients in Utah are now fully recovered from the virus or very close to being out of quarantine.
Two of the patients, Dan Dugan and Darin Mano, are members of the Salt Lake City Council. They have talked openly about their recovery process to help people understand there is light at the end of the tunnel.
"The first day was a cough for me, and I think it’s different for everybody," Mano said in a Facebook video online. "I think we’re gonna still basically stay quarantined for as long as we can just to play it safe."
"I had a fever, and then I noticed I lost my sense of taste. I was like, 'Wow! What the -- what is going on here?' but then my taste buds came back," Dugan said. "I just self-isolated, and I've been self-isolating for the last two weeks now... It's probably -- I think I'm on day 15 right now."
Dugan and Mano sit next to eachother at least every other week at Salt Lake City council meetings, but Dugan believes they may have come into contact with COVID-19 while on a business trip to Washington D.C. in early March.
"It might have come from DC," Dugan said. "I don’t know if it came from (Mano) specifically because we were in and out of the same circles."
"Luckily we took it pretty seriously," Mano said. "This is serious. This is really important. We need to all do our part. I know it sucks to stay home."
Casey Garland, another early COVID-19 patient in Utah, said he is looking forward to being symptom free for three days so that he can get out of self-isolation for the sake of his wife and two-year-old son, who are healthy.
Garland likely came into contact with the virus on a work trip to Vail, Colorado.
