Actress Anna Camp decided to ditch her mask recently while out in public and soon after she tested positive for the coronavirus. Now the "Pitch Perfect" star is pleading with everyone to wear their face coverings because it can "save lives."
"It can happen any time. And it can happen to anyone," Camp wrote in a lengthy Instagram post on Tuesday.
The 37-year-old actress explained that she has always been cautious, wearing her mask and using hand sanitizer, but one day she decided to go out without her mask. That was when she believes she contracted the coronavirus.
"One. Time. And I ended up getting it," she wrote in her post. "I believe it may have been because of that one time."
Camp recalled the "panic" she felt as the symptoms set in.
"People are saying it’s like having the flu, but I’ve had the flu, and this is absolutely not that," she explained. "The panic of contracting a virus that is basically untreatable and is so new that no one knows the long term irreparable damage it does to your immune system is unbelievably stressful."
Camp wrote of how "disorienting" it was to completely lose her sense of taste and smell. After three weeks she tested negative for the virus but noted that she was experiencing lingering symptoms that included dizziness, extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and fever.
"I’m lucky. Because I didn’t die. But people are," she wrote, adding that wearing a mask saves lives.
"Please be safe out there," Camp continued. "Let’s all do our part and wear a mask. I don’t want any of you to go through what I did. Even though it’s a little thing, it can have a huge impact, and it’s so incredibly easy to do."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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