In the midst of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, outbreak across hundreds of countries, including the United States, there have been thousands of diagnoses and deaths related to the virus.

The main symptoms of coronavirus include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, and has been shown to be more harmful in the elderly than younger people. However, that’s not to say the virus isn’t serious.

Of course, one of the most serious parts of the virus is how quickly it spreads. That’s why countries have taken drastic measures to socially isolate and shut down tons of businesses and even schools temporarily.

But up until recently, in the last few weeks, many people would joke about the virus. If someone would cough in your office, you might’ve said, “uh oh, you have coronavirus!”

That’s what happened to one 48-year-old mom, who has contracted and is recovering from the disease.

When she developed a few symptoms, “[My colleague] laughed and said, ‘Oh, it’s probably COVID-19,’ and I thought, ‘That’s funny.’ We were joking, but in retrospect, it was not a funny joke,” said the mom, Amy Brock, who lives in Ohio.

She did, indeed, get a wakeup call when her symptoms worsened and she learned she had the dreaded coronavirus. After being diagnosed, she was brought to a quarantine room and was instructed to spend the next few days in there, completely isolated from everyone—her family, friends, work and so on.

When she was finally able to go home, she was under strict orders to remain there for a long period of time. That lead to her scrolling a lot of social media and reading up on the virus. And one post really struck her.

“I saw a lot of postings of how people couldn’t believe we were going through all these restrictions. People were like, ‘Let’s get together and have a corona party,'” she said. “I was trying to ignore it, but then a friend from high school had posted, ‘I don’t know anyone with COVID-19. Is it real? I can’t believe we’re going through all of this.'”

She knew she had to speak up about what she had experienced. With so many people doubting the virus, she knew her voice had to be heard in order to help people understand—especially people she knew.

She wrote a lengthy Facebook post that quickly went viral, detailing her experience with coronavirus.

She explained that the virus is definitely no joke, the symptoms were very real, and that this can happen to anyone. She talked about her symptoms and everything she went to to be in recovery.

“Please take this seriously,” she pleaded. “People you love, their lives may depend on it.”

“I’m happy to answer any questions in between naps and hydration,” she ended the most in a lighthearted manner.

You can read the entire viral Facebook post from Amy here.

Do you know anyone who has been diagnosed with the virus? How are you practicing social distancing to help reduce the spread of coronavirus?