Champaign attorney Gail Rogers with her dog at Sunset Park in west Champaign, Il on Tuesday, December 15, 2020. She was the first person to be diagnosed with COVID in Champaign. photo by Darrell Hoemann/C-U Citizen Access
First COVID patient in Champaign County survived the virus and an unsure medical community
One of Gail Rogers’ most vivid memories while in intensive care for COVID-19 was the doctors who would not come in her room, but instead peered at her through the inside window and gave her a thumbs up sign. As Champaign County’s first COVID-19 patient, the 52-year-old lawyer also remembers how unprepared the health profession was for the virus in March of this year, despite five weeks' warning.