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| Altin Çeloaliaj in an interview to VOA |
He is just one of many police officers affected by the pandemic in New York State and New Jersey, some of whom have not been able to survive the disease. In the interview given to VOA, the 33-year-old Officer recounts his experience with the disease, which can bring down, as he says, even the healthiest.
The object of his work is anti-terrorism and usually involves little interaction with the public. But at this time of crisis, the mission of the police officers has been even wider, exposing them frequently to people affected by the coronavirus.
"I answered a call for help while I was on duty, I helped someone. He told me, sorry, but I'm with coronavirus. I believe I got the virus there while working. At first, I didn't think much of it, as I didn't got very close. I said it wouldn't be anything. Two or three days later, I started coughing and other symptoms", says the police officer Altin Çeloaliaj.
Cough is one of the symptoms that usually goes with the disease, and it seems that it takes time to go away even after recovery. The interview with Altin is interrupted several times by coughing…
But he says he feels much better than he did two weeks ago.
"I had a lot of cough, I could barely speak and I had chest pain. Then the temperature started, it was the worst. Especially at night it got even worse. It was difficult. When I got out of bed to go to the bathroom, it took me 20 minutes to catch my breath. From the April 2 to April 13, I was ill, now I have a little cough, but I am much better", he says.
Altin is not the only one in his department who has been affected by the disease.
"There are some others (colleagues) who are at home like me, who are recovering from the disease," he said.
This has been a difficult period in many respects for the 33-year-old. It has been more than a month since he lived alone at home without his pregnant wife who is living with his parents. In an effort to protect them from the virus, Altin went through the most difficult days of his illness. And it wasn't easy, even for a police officer.
"The hardest part about overcoming the virus is the separation from the family. My wife is seven months pregnant with twins, she needs to go to the doctor and I am not there to help her, it has been a month. Parents are also worried. When I was sick, they would come every day and feed me at the door, but I couldn't get out of bed at all to pick them up," adds Altin.
Based on his experience, the New York police officer has a message to share.
"I thought it would be like a normal flu. I said I would get infected and get recover soon, it's not a big deal, but it was worse than I thought. I was lucky that my wife was with my parents and no one else was sick. But it would be bad if that happened, as she is pregnant with twins and my parents are elderly. Dad has some health problems. So we need to think not only about ourselves but also about our parents and others. We, young people, are going through it, but some have not passed it, a 34-year-old policeman died a few days ago", says Altin Çeloaliaj.
Altin Çeloaliaj was tested positive for COVID-19 on April 13. He says he has recovered or at least thinks so as his symptoms are fading. But he would like to add an official confirmation to this whole story. Due to the large volume of requests, he says it has not been able to be re-seized.
"It's been more than two weeks since the symptoms started. I was told that the doctors were no longer in danger of transmitting the virus, but they asked me to stay at home for another week to make sure. I would like to do the test again to come out negative and calm myself, because now I am isolated, but I was told that they cannot do it for me. Getting the answer that I was positive with COVID-19 took me about 9-10 days, if I do the test again now, it will require me as much, I have to go back to work on April 27", says the police officer.
According to the latest data from the New York Police Department, about 20 percent of employees are affected by COVID-19.