‘DWTS’ Champion Kaitlyn Bristowe Says Coronavirus Symptoms Can Be ‘Unpredictable’
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Kaitlyn Bristowe, 35, has tested positive for COVID-19.
The Dancing with the Stars winner called the coronavirus “unpredictable” as she detailed the progression on her symptoms.
Bristowe feels like she has a bad cold and has lost her senses of taste and smell.
Kaitlyn Bristowe is sharing a health update after being diagnosed with COVID-19 on Christmas Eve. In an Instagram Story from Sunday, the DWTS season 29 champion explained how her symptoms have progressed over time.
“So, I’ve officially lost my taste and smell,” the former Bachelorette star said “I don’t know why I think I know how COVID works, because I don’t. But when I first got it, I was like, ‘Okay, no real symptoms.’”
“Then a few days went by and I was like, ‘Oh, okay, I just feel like I have a cold.’ And then another day goes by and I’ve lost my smell and my taste,” she continued. “It’s just so unpredictable, and I think that’s the scariest part about COVID.”
While a lost sense of smell or taste wasn’t originally on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s official list of COVID-19 symptoms back in the spring, it’s now become a hallmark sign of the illness. In fact, one study found that nearly 78% of 567 people experiencing the symptom who were given COVID-19 tests had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, a.k.a. the novel coronavirus.
Kathryn Boling, M.D., a primary care physician at Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center, previously told Prevention.com that anosmia, the medical term for a lost sense of smell, is often linked to ageusia, the medical term for a lost sense of taste. Anosmia can be a symptom of any respiratory illness but seems to be more common with COVID-19. Experts believe the symptom may occur as a result of nerve damage in the nasal cavity, meaning it’s rarely permanent.
Fortunately, Bristowe said she doesn’t have any shortness of breath, which can be a more serious sign of COVID-19. “It’s more just I’ve lost all my taste and smell and feeling like I have a really bad cold,” she said, adding that she’s also been feeling fatigued. “But then I get up in the day and I feel like I have an OK amount of energy,” she said. “I’m still OK.”
Bristowe and her boyfriend, Jason Tartick, first announced they tested positive for the virus on Christmas Eve. “Unfortunately, this is our Christmas card this year. We have COVID 😭,” she wrote in an Instagram post, alongside a photo of her and Tartick in sweats.
“Jason and I had been trying to quarantine before seeing family,” she continued. “We thought we were making a responsible decision to have ONE person over, who had been tested daily for work. Negative tests four days in a row. The day we saw her, she became positive which we all found out the next day. Now, like many, we will spend Christmas by ourselves.”
While she felt they were being cautious, she admits that “COVID is bigger than us.”
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