A New York City-based fashion influencer has caused outrage after she managed to get tested for the novel coronavirus thanks to her personal connections — even while there is a shortage of tests across the US and other Americans are being turned away by doctors.
Arielle Charnas, who has 1.3 million Instagram followers and a fashion line at Nordstrom called Something Navy, revealed on the social media platform on Monday that she was experiencing symptoms like sore throat and fever.
But while symptoms alone aren’t enough for most other Americans to get one of the limited available tests, Charnas called up a doctor friend who bent the rules for her — and the unfairness is infuriating some social media users.
Sick: Arielle Charnas, who has 1.3 million Instagram followers and a fashion line at Nordstrom called Something Navy, has tested positive for COVID-19
Taking them through it: She shared her symptoms online and recorded her trip to a Manhattan clinic to get tested
Charnas posted video in her Instagram stories on Monday, saying she was experiencing a sore throat, headache, fever, chills.
A doctor told her to treat herself at home and ‘quarantine herself’ — but didn’t offer a test.
The US is currently short on available tests, which are being allocated to the most at-risk individuals — meaning many younger, healthier patients who come down with COVID-19 symptoms are being denied tests and told to simply quarantine themselves.
But Charnas reached out to a friend, Dr. Jake Deutsch, who runs the Cure Urgent Care facility on the Upper West Side — and he told her to stop by for testing.
She documented the trip, pulling up in car with her husband Brandon as a health professional performed the test through the window.
Later, she updated followers to say that while a flu test came back negative, she tested positive for COVID-19.
Privileged: She used a personal connection to get tested, calling a doctor friend who told her to come to his clinic — though tests are being limited to the general public
‘I wanted to give you all a health update,’ she wrote. ‘This morning, I learned that I tested positive for COVID-19.
‘While the virus seems to be everywhere that you turn, it’s meaning and importance completely changes when it affects you personally.
‘Now that I’ve officially tested positive, here is my plan per the recommendation of my doctors: Continue to quarantine/self-isolate, get lots of rest and drink fluids, get in touch with the family and friends that I’ve been in close contact with over the past 2 weeks so they can be even more diligent in their own self-quarantine and look out for any symptoms.
She said her two daughters weren’t showing symptoms, but her husband is also unwell.
She added that she’s had a sore throat, chest heaviness, a low-grade fever that last two days, headache, sinus pressure, zero appetite, body aches, and skin sensitivity.
Update: She later told follower she tested positive and tried to address the anger that she got a test when so many other people are being turned away
‘We are truly living in an unprecedented time, but if social media has shown us anything in the past couple of days, it’s that we are all in this together.’
She also addressed those who are upset that she managed to get a test, but mistook the anger as being about her ability to access healthcare when others can’t — rather than the fact that she used a powerful connection to get a test that is being rationed for the most vulnerable.
‘I realize that there are many individuals, both in New York City, and nationwide, who do not have the ability to receive immediate medical care at the first sign of sickness, and access to care is #1 priority in a time like this.’
‘It is the responsibility of our government offices to ensure all American can access necessary tests and I acknowledge how lucky I am to have had that access.’
Meanwhile, other people across the US have been denied tests, despite showing symptoms just like Charnas.
In the family: The Instagrammer said that her husband has also been feeling unwell, and they are monitoring their daughters closely
Staying inside: Charnas, a fashion influencer, is quarantining herself
‘The idea of anybody getting [the test] easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we are not set up for that,’ Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said last week. ‘Do I think we should be? Yes. But we are not.
‘The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing.’
After Vice President Mike Pence said that there was ‘no barrier’ to testing and anyone who’s doctor ordered a test could get one, doctors came forward to say that, baed on on-the-ground experience, that was ‘totally false.’
Yet still, several rich, famous, powerful, and connected people have managed to get tests while others can’t.
Last week, some scoffed when New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News: ‘It almost seems like the more wealthy and powerful you are, the more able you are to access a test.’
Proving true: New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News: ‘It almost seems like the more wealthy and powerful you are, the more able you are to access a test’
NBA: Rudy Gobert (right) and Donovan Mitchell (left) were the NBA’s first coronavirus cases
Concerned: Heidi Klum, announced on Instagram on Friday that she was sick with a fever and a cough. Her husband Tom Kaulitz got tested but was negative for the virus
Yet there are multiple reports of these wealthy and powerful people avoiding the limitations that face the wider population.
The Utah Jazz NBA team got 58 players and staffers tested after one of their own, Rudy Gobert, was diagnosed with the disease. According to the Daily Beast, that was nearly 60 per cent of the state’s daily testing ability — and 20 per cent of their total available tests.
Kris Jenner was also tested after she attended the birthday party for someone who tested positive. She, however, tested negative.
Heidi Klum’s husband Tom Kaulitz and singer Celine Dion have tested negative as well.
Idris Elba announced on March 16 that he had tested positive, as have Matthew Broderick’s sister Janet, Universal Music chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge, Nets star Kevin Durant, and three unidentified Nets teammates.
Update: More than 6,500 people in the US have tested positive for the coronavirus