Jay Wilks, 52, director of Out In Eureka, was an early advocate of measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19. Early on in the pandemic, he cancelled the popular Diversity Weekend that normally brings in many LGBTQ visitors.
Wilks also helped organize support for people impacted by Covid-19, including arranging meals and donations for the lodging of a healthcare worker quarantined away from her family because of exposure to a number of patients with Covid-19.
Wilks was taking precautions to prevent catching the virus.
“I’m a big proponent for wearing a mask, using antibacterial on your hands, and I really was just going to places I needed to go,” Wilks said.
Despite those precautions, Wilks started feeling ill August 20. The next day he felt worse with a bad headache and fatigue. Being cautious, he self-quarantined after he first became ill. On August 28, he tested positive for Covid-19.
“From thinking back, the only thing I could think of is the last time I used the gas pump,” Wilks said. “Normally, if I get gas, I sanitize before and after. I didn’t have anything in the truck when I got gas that day. I didn’t use hand sanitizer before or after. My best guess is I got it on my hands from the gas pump handle or the ATM pad, and touched my face.”
By the time he knew he was Covid positive, it was too late to quarantine from his husband. But his husband, Keith L. Johnson, has been tested and is negative.
Things haven’t been easy for Wilks, who has been doing a daily journal about his Covid journey on Facebook. He said he and Keith are doing their normal routine except for things they used to do like shopping for their elderly mothers. Now their moms are shopping for them. Neighbors and friends are also looking after them, bringing them food and seeing if they need anything else.
Wilks has had some rough nights with sweats. Many nights he has slept 12-13 hours straight through. He has headaches and fatigue. He feels fortunate that he hasn’t had to be hospitalized and has had no difficulty breathing. He has had a bit of a dry cough, still feels tired, but is on the mend.
“After having a few really bad days and nights in a row, I slept all night without fever, night sweats and muscle cramps,” Wilks wrote Sept. 7. “Woke up after 12:30 this afternoon with no headache, nausea, muscle fatigue and not feeling like I had just run a marathon. Knock on wood, I keep getting better. We still have to do the full 14-day lockdown, but happy to be feeling better after almost two weeks of being sick.”
But it hasn’t been an even recovery. He has felt better and then gets hit with symptoms again. As of Sept. 14, he had been sick three weeks.
“This is worse than any flu,” Wilks said. “Flu is normally gone within five days. I’ve never had a flu knock me off my feet this long. My cousin in Florida went through Covid-19 in May, and he still has an issue walking up and down stairs. And he has always been extremely healthy.”
Wilks has another friend who lives in Berryville who recently went to the doctor and was diagnosed with allergies. She got Covid testing and the test came back positive.
Wilks said as the pandemic has worn on, people have gotten fatigued. They are tired of social distancing, and not being able to have their pre-pandemic lives.
“I think what is happening right now is people are way over it,” Wilks said. “Sometimes people might have it in their head, like I did, that I’m wearing a mask, so I’m not going to get sick. But I know I didn’t get sick from being directly exposed to another person with Covid, but from surface contact.”
When he is completely well and over quarantine, and has tested negative for Covid-19, he plans to be more vigilant than ever.
“There’s no proof that says you are not going to get it again,” he said. “There are a couple of cases of that which have been reported. I just don’t want to take that chance. We should be the ones caring for our elderly mothers, and not they having to go out and do the shopping for us.”
For people who aren’t being safe, who are opposed to masks and social distancing, he is afraid they will soon enough learn what it is like to have Covid-19 themselves or a friend or family member with Covid-19. That is because there is now community spread in Eureka Springs, Carroll County and other areas in the state. Arkansas has the 10th leading number of Covid-19 cases in the country per 100,000 population and with about 8.5 percent of tests returning positive results.
Carroll County has one of the lower rates in Arkansas, but there are concerns that cases are increasing, and many people are failing to wear masks and practice social distancing.
“So, please wear your mask!” he says. “Wash and sanitize your hands! Don’t be a Jay and use the gas pump or ATM without hand protection.”
Wilks plans to stay quarantined until he is retested and is negative.
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