Milano Says She Had Virus But 3 Tests Missed It

Alyssa Milano says she had "basically every COVID symptom" in late March—but two swab tests and a fingerprick antibody test returned negative results. But lingering symptoms prompted her to get a blood draw antibody test four months later, which returned a positive result, she says. "I am POSITIVE for covid antibodies. I had Covid19," the actress said an Instagram post Wednesday. "I just want you to be aware that our testing system is flawed and we don't know the real numbers." Milano, 47, said she is donating plasma to help fight the pandemic and urged her followers to take the virus seriously, USA Today reports.

"This illness is not a hoax. I thought I was dying. It felt like I was dying," she wrote. Milano posted a picture of herself wearing a mask attached to a breathing machine, saying it had been taken on April 2, after she had been sick for two weeks, reports People. "I had never been this kind of sick. Everything hurt. Loss of smell. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t keep food in me. I lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks." She said the symptoms she still suffered months later included "vertigo, stomach abnormalities, irregular periods, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, zero short term memory, and general malaise." (More Alyssa Milano stories.)