Yahoo Finance Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East reveals COVID-19 diagnosis weeks after announcing pregnancy
Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East announced on Sunday night that she had tested positive for COVID-19, just weeks after she revealed that she is pregnant.
Johnson and her husband, former Washington Football Team linebacker Andrew East, are expecting their second child later this year.
“Not going to lie … I’m nervous knowing I’m positive,” the former gymnast wrote on her Instagram story on Sunday night, via People. “It’s been a long two weeks of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) with Drew and now this … my body is exhausted.”
Johnson and East’s first child, 15-month old daughter Drew Hazel East, has been dealing with RSV for the past few weeks, too, adding to their stress.
The West Des Moines, Iowa, native won gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing on the beam, and won silver in the all-around, floor exercise and team. She then won ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” a year later, and came in second during the All-Star season in 2012.
Johnson said that she was dealing with fatigue, a cough, a “terrible” sore throat and a headache, though she thinks her pregnancy is making her coronavirus symptoms more severe. She has also dealt with asthma for most of her life.
“I don’t want to get my family sick, so this scares me a little extra,” she wrote, via USA Today.
The United States is averaging more than 148,000 new cases of the coronavirus a day as of Monday night, according to The New York Times, which is significantly down from early January. Though that’s promising, the country is still averaging more than 3,100 deaths a day.
Johnson said that she had “a very close family member fight for his life last month,” which is part of why she’s made her diagnosis public.
“Not looking for any pity party, just a reminder to take care of yourself,” Johnson wrote, via USA Today. “Drink an extra water tonight and wash your hands.
“Oh, and I just need to say, praying so hard for all of those babies out there (sappy mama here) and everyone fighting for their health.”
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