TRENTON, N.J. – Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-39) of Bergen County is on self-quarantine after, in her words, developing “symptoms” possibly consistent with coronavirus. She has been tested and is awaiting results.
An attorney by trade, Schepisi (age 48) entered the General Assembly in 2012. The legislator previously survived a brain aneurysm in March 2015. She shared her quarantine story on Facebook; Bergen is New Jersey’s most populous county, and it also leads the state in confirmed COVID-19 cases with 29 reported as of Sunday evening.
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Here’s the text of her post:
“Since Tuesday I am one of the Bergen County residents on self quarantine. I had direct contact with several people who came in direct contact with someone infected and I developed symptoms. I’ve been awaiting test results for 4 days and I’ve been told it may be another 5 days until I get them.
I can’t come within 6 feet of my own children. I’ve had no physical contact with them or any human in almost a week. It’s brutal when your 8 year old gets mad at you because you haven’t hugged him or cuddled him in almost a week. We are fortunate in that we have a large enough home that I’ve been able to keep primarily to myself but it is mentally draining. Things you take for granted like emptying the dishwasher or making breakfast or seeing friends or going to the store you are not permitted to do. You can’t tuck your kids into bed. You can’t kiss them or your spouse goodnight.
You try to stay positive but candidly it is scary as all hell when you are on a home monitor and your blood oxygen level drops to 95 and you don’t know if it’s from the walk you finally took outside or if you’ve turned for the worse. I may or may not have the virus but there is no way I’d chance having someone else die because I wanted to “live my life” or because I started to feel better and wanted to go out. Believe me quarantine sucks but if I can do it so can everyone else. At this point people have to stop acting like they are trying not to catch it. They must act as if they already have and don’t want to give it to someone else.”
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