Cambridge Firefighter With Coronavirus Quarantined In Tufts University Dorm
MEDFORD (CBS) -- Coronavirus-positive and quarantined away from his family, Cambridge Fire Lt. Bryan O'Neil is now living in a dorm room at Tufts University.
"It's lonely," he said. "There's nobody here on this floor that I'm at except for me. The room is about 12 by 12. Standard college dorm."
O'Neil said he knew he likely had the coronavirus after he lost his sense of smell, a symptom of COVID-19, on Easter. With his home too small to social distance from his family, he is staying in university housing for first responders and recovering coronavirus patients.
"I feel pretty good," he said. "My symptoms, luckily, for the most part, are on what they would call the mild to moderate side. I have a little bit of fatigue, but not a lot. I never developed a fever. I never really had a cough or respiratory issues."
Working as both a firefighter and and an EMT, O'Neil said he has been on several COVID-19 calls in past few weeks.
"I work on a department that gives us the top of the line PPE," he said. "We have gloves, we have googles, we have plenty of masks. We have different protocols for people when we know that they're sick versus when we suspect that they're sick. We have all these precautions in place and I still ended up positive."
O'Neil is hoping to go home Monday when doctors say he will be able to safely isolate with his family for another week.
