Alaska Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy said Friday that he’s feeling better and nearing the end of his isolation after getting sick with COVID-19 — and, he added, he didn’t even lose his sense of smell or taste
“My voice gets hoarse a little bit if I talk too much for any length of time,” he said in a phone interview. “But other than that, I’m fine.”
COVID-19 has killed more than 500,000 Americans, including 300 in Alaska. But Dunleavy escaped with what he described as a few days with a “pretty good headache,” fever, chills and body aches, though no trouble breathing.
Related: Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy tests positive for COVID-19
Dunleavy said the experience hasn’t changed much about how he sees the virus or the state’s response to it. But he gave a bit of a nudge to people to get vaccinated, if they don’t have allergies, or what he calls a “philosophical problem” with vaccinations.
“If you get the virus, you’re out of commission for 14 days. You don’t want to spread this to others — you don’t want to be part of that,” he said. “If you get the vaccination — after your first shot, you’ve got a pretty good dose of immunity for the most part, if everything works out. And then, you don’t have to end up under house arrest.”
Dunleavy wouldn’t say much about how he caught the virus, other than that it was from someone he knows.
He said he expects to finish his isolation period Saturday.
