This coronavirus survivor wants you to know what she learned when she was sick

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This is how the new coronavirus 2:31 pandemic was unleashed

(CNN) - A Seattle woman who claims to have had a coronavirus and is now recovering has a "great conclusion" to share: don't panic.

Elizabeth Schneider, 37, believes she contracted the virus during a home party, because a few days later several friends who also attended fell ill at the same time as her.

• READ: The ABC of coronavirus: what it is, how it is spread, who it affects and how it is prevented

Three days after the February 22 party, Schneider said, he was at work when he started to feel bad.

She was "tired, with body aches, headaches, and a little fever," so she decided to go home, she told CNN's Erin Burnett.

So, he woke up from a nap with a fever of 38 degrees Celsius and "when I decided to go to sleep it had already risen to 39 degrees," Schneider said.

Schneider noted that at that moment he thought he had an unpleasant flu. It did not occur to him that it could be coronavirus because the symptoms did not match: he did not have a cough, fatigue or respiratory symptoms.

The “eureka” moment did not come until she discovered that a dozen of her friends who had also been at the party became ill “exactly the same day, at approximately the same time at night, with very similar symptoms”.

The Seattle area is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Of the more than 1,635 cases reported in the country since the virus first appeared there in January, 457 of them are in Washington, including 41 deaths.

Still, Schneider and her friends were not tested for the coronavirus, the woman explained. Their doctors thought they had the flu, but tests for this disease were negative.

• LOOK: This map shows you the situation of the coronavirus in the world in real time

"At this point, we were all a little frustrated that we weren't allowed to get a coronavirus test, or that the doctor didn't even ask for it," Schneider continued.

Then, one of her friends told her about a study about the flu in Seattle. Participants register online and submit a nasal sample in a kit that is part of the research. Recently, she said, they also started testing for coronaviruses and "that's how I finally found out."

Schneider said he recovered after staying home, resting, and taking over-the-counter medications.

"I think the big conclusion I want to share with everyone is: please don't panic," he said. "If you are healthy, if you are young, if you take good care of yourself when you are sick, you will recover, I think. And I am living proof of that, "he added.

Schneider, however, was old and in good health in his favor. For the elderly or people with underlying health conditions, such as heart disease or diabetes, coronavirus can be - and has been - fatal, health officials warn.

"The stark reality is that for the elderly, COVID-19 is almost a perfect killer machine," American Health Association President Mark Parkinson told CNN this week.

Some states have restricted visits to nursing homes and assisted living facilities in an effort to stop the spread of the disease to that vulnerable population. Nursing homes in Washington state, for example, have been instructed to limit visits as coronavirus cases spread to 11 facilities in the state.

• READ: Are you worried about the coronavirus? If one of your loved ones is over 60, read this

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