Nate Scott, broker/owner of Windermere Real Estate/Anacortes Properties located about one hour north of Seattle, thought he had caught a standard flu bug when he developed a cough upon returning from a trip to Sun Valley, Idaho, a little over a week ago. However, several days later after developing increasingly progressive symptoms and learning that his brother tested positive for COVID-19, Scott was tested, too, and learned that he had also contracted coronavirus.
Nate Scott | Windermere Real Estate/Anacortes Properties
“I really just thought I caught a flu or cold on the airplane coming back,” Scott told Inman.
Once word got out about Scott’s diagnosis, family, friends and colleagues were eager to learn more from Scott, who has remained a stable condition throughout the illness, about the course the virus might take. So, Scott decided to post about his experience on YouTube, and also shared this with the Inman Coast to Coast Facebook group.
In the video, Scott detailed how his symptoms progressed from a cough, to body aches and chills, to a headache, to a fever of 100, to eventual congestion, difficulty in breathing when walking and tightness in the chest.
“One of the folks in Sun Valley had a sister who tested positive, so we knew we were around people who were around COVID at that point, so my radar went up a little,” Scott said in his video, of his thought-processes once his symptoms started to progress.
Once Scott developed shortness of breath, he thought it was time to get tested to check and see if he had coronavirus. However, after speaking with his doctor and describing his symptoms, his doctor sent him home, just saying he should stay isolated and rest because other cases might be more urgent.
“That whole ‘you can get tested if you want to get tested’ thing is a crock,” Scott said in the video. “Our country doesn’t have enough tests … So they said, ‘no, we’re not testing you.'”
It wasn’t until his brother, who went on the trip with Scott, tested positive, that Scott’s county public health department called him into be tested. The day after Scott went into a clinic to be tested, clinic staff called him back to let him know he was positive for COVID-19.
Now, Scott is in self-quarantine until 72 hours after his final symptoms go away.
In a conversation with Inman, Scott said he regretted not immediately considering that his initial symptoms might be tied to COVID-19.
“When it first started, I just thought it was a cold or a flu. I had a kind of ‘this can’t be happening to me’ attitude,” Scott said.
The day after he returned from his trip, Scott went into work and later realized, “maybe in hindsight, that was a bad move.”
At this point, Scott, his wife and his 17-year-old son all assume that his wife and son may be carrying the virus since he was in contact with them for days after returning from his trip.
Although Scott has been taking time to rest, he’s continued to actively be involved in his business, holding virtual meetings and happy hours with his colleagues.
“We’ve done some virtual meetings, some Facebook Live stuff with agents,” Scott said. “I’ve had a lot of phone calls and emails, and I’m still accomplishing things, just doing things differently.”
In terms of his business operations amidst the outbreak, Scott also said that the company has invested in more technology like Matterport cameras so that agents can continue to sell without buyers having to physically go into homes. He’s also staying in continual contact with his agents to make sure they’re not experiencing coronavirus symptoms, and that if they do start to, that they remain home.
Fortunately, Scott realizes, his case of COVID-19 was quite mild compared to many others throughout the world that have resulted in patients being hospitalized or dying.
“I fully understand that that is not a universal reaction to this,” Scott said. “It’s not something to be cavalier about … If you have any reason to believe you do have [Covid-19], you’ve got to stay home.”
