Marin County Public Health Officer Recovers From Coronavirus

MARIN COUNTY, CA — After battling the new coronavirus for more than two weeks, Marin County's public health officer is feeling much better.

In a video message, Dr. Matt Willis updated community members about his condition. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 22 and has been self-quarantined from his wife and three children since he first started showing symptoms that week.

On Tuesday, after four days without a fever, he was finally able to come out of self-isolation.

"I learned a lot about COVID-19 firsthand over the past two weeks," he said. "At the time I was diagnosed, I was optimistic because my symptoms were mild. I underestimated how serious my illness would be."

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Willis developed a viral pneumonia that kept him in bed for about 12 days with fever, cough, chest tightness and fatigue. On the 10th day of his illness, he spent some time in the emergency department due to shortness of breath.

"I'm relatively healthy, but I've needed help for almost everything at home," Willis said. "I know that if I were more frail or older, or if I didn't have the amazing support of my wife and kids, and from our friends and neighbors, things might not have gone as well."

It is not known how Willis was exposed to the virus. He had been actively meeting with health care workers around the Bay Area as part of his work to coordinate Marin's response to coronavirus.

Willis was the county's 39th confirmed case of COVID-19. As of Tuesday, there were now 148 confirmed cases in the county. Ten residents have died.

While he has been recovering, Dr. Lisa Santora, the county's deputy public health officer, has led the county's Emergency Operations Center.

Willis said he was grateful to the team for leading the county's response efforts while he has been on the mend. He plans to rejoin the team over the next few days.

"This experience reinforced for me how important it is to be taking aggressive action to protect ourselves, our most vulnerable residents and our health care workers," he said. "The best way to do that is still to do less — to stay home and stick to the shelter-in-place order as hard as it is sometimes."

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