Broadway actor says he still has symptoms three months after testing positive for Covid-19
“It’s quite terrifying to be honest. There is nothing like the feeling of not being able to breathe,” he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on “Erin Burnett OutFront.” Perry, who tested positive in March, says his ongoing symptoms start with a cough and then develop into a tightness in his chest.
Every time he thinks he’s getting better, the symptoms return.
“I would feel better for a few days and then it would just come and smack me again,” Perry said. “I had two days of symptoms and then felt like a million bucks for three days. So I thought I was off the hook, thought I beat it, but then it came back with a vengeance.”
The actor, who recently performed in “Frozen” on Broadway, said life has changed for him in every way. After being a person in peak physical condition, he’s now struggling with his new normal.
“I have been doing eight shows a week for 15 to 20 years,” he said. “Now the capacity is not the same. I am just praying daily that it will get back to normal and I will be able to do things again.”
Perry said his doctors think his health will improve.
“Multiple doctors have told me that,” he said. “It is a pendulum that is swinging in your system and eventually it will stop.”
But, he added, “You know, this is a new virus. I guess we really don’t know.”
Perry wants to warn others about the debilitating effects of the virus.
He recently wrote on social media: “I cried watching the news tonight. Cases are spiking. The president makes jokes about coronavirus. People shame others for wearing masks. The country is making it a partisan issue.”
He calls the virus “a monster” on Twitter and adds that he doesn’t want others to suffer the way he has.
“It is a human issue. We have to take care of each other. … If one of us is hurting we are all hurting. It is about team work … with this thing,” he added, until there is a vaccine.
