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According to medical workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic, red eyes may be a sign that a patient is seriously ill with the coronavirus.
Chelsey Earnest works at a hospital in Washington and claims that the eyes are the clear giveaway to see if someone is infected.
“It’s something that I witnessed in all of them,” Earnest said. “They have, like … allergy eyes.”
Earnest said that colleagues at her hospital and a nearby one has noticed that as well.
“The white part of the eye is not red. It’s more like they have red eye shadow on the outside of their eyes,” Earnest said.
She continued: “We’ve had patients that just had the red eyes as the only symptom that we saw and go to the hospital and pass away.”
“I’ve even had the disaster medical control physician say, ‘Do they have the red eyes?’ And I will say yes. And he’ll say, ‘I’ll find you a bed.’ It’s just something about this, the way that it affects these patients.”
The hospital that Earnest works at has recorded at least 37 deaths linked to the COVID-19 outbreak.
So far the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that symptoms to having coronavirus include high fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath. They have not included any mentions of eye issues.
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