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COVID-19 strikes Marshalltown family

Contributed photo Aubrey Does and two other members of her family have caught COVID-19. Does is known for taking precautions against the virus, but the local nature of it caught up to her and her family.

Aubrey Does tested positive for COVID-19 Friday morning along with her mother-in-law. Earlier this week her son tested positive and a week ago showed symptoms.

The spread was no surprise, but it is a situation no family wants to be put into.

“It feels really surreal because it’s not an out there thing anymore because it’s in our home,” Does said.

All of her fears about catching COVID-19 are gone — because she has it — and her goal now is to not give it to anyone else.

Her 12-year-old son caught it while playing with a neighbor who caught it from his sister.

A total of three members of Does’ seven member household have caught COVID-19.

After her son tested positive for COVID-19 her family went to the Test Iowa center near the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office.

The beginning

Her son woke up July 18.

“He woke me up by tapping me on the head and saying ‘Mom I think I need a COVID test,” Does said. “He woke up not feeling well and he was very scared.”

Her son had a high fever and was vomiting.

“I don’t know if that was due to stress or symptoms of COVID,” Does said. “He slept most of the day on Saturday and had a low grade fever for the next couple of days.”

After that her son stopped showing symptoms. His fever broke and he started feeling better.

Her son received his test at urgent care, and on Tuesday morning the family found out Does’ son tested positive. The next morning the rest of the family got tested.

“We all went Wednesday through the drive through at the sheriff’s office,” Does said.

The results came back on Friday.

Does, 36, and her mother-in-law, 69, were the only other members of the family to test positive for COVID-19.

“I just have a tickle in my throat and that’s it,” Does said.

Her mother-in-law has lost her appetite, and nothing else.

“I’m a person of faith,” Does said. “It can be really scary, but I just have to go back to the faith I have in God and keeping my perspective trained on him.”

The positive diagnosis came as a surprise to her family because of all the precautions they’ve taken during the pandemic.

“We’ve felt extremely supported,” Does said. “I know a lot of people who test positive choose not to put that information out on social media because people are worried about a stigma that it was their own carelessness that caused them to catch the virus. I wanted to put it out there.”

Her friends and family know she’s cautious, practices social distancing and wears a mask.

“It just came through the neighbor,” Does said. “It’s a worldwide pandemic, but really it’s a neighborhood pandemic.”

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Contact Thomas Nelson at 641-753-6611 or tnelson@timesrepublican.com

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