On March 26, I woke up with a bit of a cough and felt a bit wheezy in my chest. My condition got a little bit worse the following day. I started coughing a bit harder and that's when I started to worry.
Like most people, I've been hyper-aware of what has been going on with the coronavirus outbreak in Japan, and I knew there was a possibility I had it. I didn’t have a fever, but the cough persisted and got a fair bit worse last Wednesday (April 1), to the point where I was struggling to breathe a little bit. I tried to call the government-run helpline, but could never get through. Finally, I came to the conclusion: "This has gone on long enough. I need to go to the doctor and get this taken care of."
On Thursday morning, I went to see my local doctor. She checked me out and, even though my blood oxygen was fine, she was a bit concerned with the cough and my breathing. So, she wrote me a note and instructed me to go to a hospital to be checked for COVID-19.