Elkhart Couple Awaits COVID-19 Test Results And Shares What It's Like To Try To Get Tested Locally

An Elkhart couple who recently went to Spain struggled to get tested after they started showing symptoms of COVID-19. 

Nick Simons and Maisha Seebeck returned from the Canary Islands, Spain on March 7. About a week later they both started feeling sick and decided to try to get tested for COVID-19

“It sounded like it should be easy. Like, we would just contact our primary care doctor,” Simons said.

But they found out quickly it wasn’t so easy. They called the doctor, who referred them to a bigger health system’s hotline. Then they were told to get on telehealth with another doctor, who told them to call their regular doctor again.

They did eventually get tests from their regular clinic on Thursday.

Seebeck says the staff was very careful, met them at the car and brought them into a separate part of the clinic.

“She was fully covered and had all this protective gear on herself, wasn’t the warmest in my opinion, gave us the flu swab and then the corona swab,” Seebeck explained.

Both tested negative for the flu. They’re waiting to hear back on COVID-19. Elkhart County is behind surrounding counties on testing.

There are currently no positives in the county and the Elkhart Mayor says only about 100 tests have been done. Seebeck says that means people aren’t taking it as seriously as they should.

“Because we don’t have numbers to show it, I think a lot of people are maybe not as concerned as we could be,” Seebeck said.

When Simons and Seebeck came back from Spain it was before the pandemic declaration. They lived their lives as normal. Simons runs a tree business and Seebeck is a massage therapist. Simons says they’re concerned they may have spread it without knowing.

“So worried about ourselves and our own health, but worried about the people that we may have exposed if we are positive,” Simons said.

Simons posted about their testing experience on Facebook and says they’ve gotten some reactions that they’re overreacting. Some people have told them that since they’re young and healthy, they should just stay home.

Prevailing medical advice is that all people should stay home, limit social contact, follow proper hygiene and sanitation rules and call their doctor and seek testing if they experience cough, shortness of breath or fever--the symptoms of COVID-19.