Local COVID-19 Patient Says He Felt Like His Body Was On Fire

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Among the more than 2,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Illinois is Bob Lamprou, in his late 40s and by all accounts healthy.

That was until he said he got chills and his body felt as if it were on fire.

Via Skype, Lamprou told CBS 2's Irika Sargent he thought he could never get coronavirus.

Sargent: "How do you think you contracted COVID-19?"

Lamprou: "I was out for St. Patrick's Day, and I did go to the bars and I did go to the clubs, but I was home by 7, 7:30, 8. Looking back on it, I probably shouldn't have gone out."

Sargent: "When you went to the hospital, they didn't go straight to a coronavirus test. What did they do at first?"

Lamprou: "They tested me for multiple, multiple things."

Sargent: "Why did they wait on the coronavirus? What was different about your symptoms?"

Lamprou: "I didn't have any of the body aches. I didn't have severe coughing - I had more self-induced coughing to clear my throat and to getting pain from my lungs out, but nothing, that matter – I had chills, but I did have – the one thing I did have I was that I felt like my body was on fire. From head to toe, I felt like I was boiling."

Sargent: "Bob, why did you want to share your experience?"

Lamprou: "It's very frustrating when you kind of see people out there, and right now, it's just – I don't want to say it makes me upset, but really sad that they're not heeding advice – professionals and everybody – pretty much just saying, 'Yeah, I'm not going to get it.'"

Lamprou also wanted to remind everyone about staying indoors. He emphasized that the virus is serious, and no one is immune.