Mountaineer Wasfia Nazreen tested coronavirus positive in US

NEWS DESK 

Renowned Bangladeshi mountaineer Wasfia Nazreen has tested positive for the coronavirus, she claimed in a Facebook post on Saturday.

In the Facebook status, she wrote: "I am now in quarantine (which I was already practicing after I flew into LA) with strict measures and watch over my breathing. I will just have to fight it out. Every day is a struggle".

Expressing her concern for Bangladeshi citizens, Wasfia, who is currently in quarantine, wrote, "I am extremely concerned about my motherland Bangladesh, where it's hitting the masses about now… and given our population number and the resources available, we need EVERY effort to understand what we are up against. It's going to be a long haul and we need awareness and utmost preparation".

Wasfia flew to Los Angeles, USA, on March 12 and started showing symptoms the next day. As her condition deteriorated, she tried to get medical assistance but was unable to get through before March 17.

"My brain and entire head were throbbing at a rate I have never experienced. By Monday (16th) night, my lungs were crackling, and at night time, even if I managed to sleep for a brief period, I was shivering… My taste was gone, and I barely had any appetite. I was gasping for breath Monday night… alongside having a runny nose, sore throat, severe headache and cough," Wasfia wrote.

She also called for people to take lessons away from the outbreak.

"Mother Nature lashes back against the centuries-long oppression we have been doing on her. We have "developed" in high-rises constantly mutating her and bringing her precious species to extinctions, causing their habitats to utter destructions - its high time human civilization paid the price. The universe is forcing us to pause EVERYTHING because we didn't listen to her many times before."

She concluded by writing: "May we take this time of social-distancing to look inside ourselves, practice compassion and gratitude towards the interconnectedness of all of us and all beings".