11 News anchor Ryan Houston talks about what he’s dealt with having coronavirus

PITTSBURGH — Here at Channel 11, we want to be as transparent with you as possible. One of our own team members, has tested positive for coronavirus.

Anchor Ryan Houston is among the 158 people so far in Allegheny County who have tested positive for COVID-19, and he’s taken steps not to infect anyone else at WPXI or in the community.

Friday night, he did a video chat with anchor Lisa Sylvester to share his story, starting back 11 days ago when he started a voluntary self-quarantine.

“I was thinking it was just a sinus cold because that’s what it felt like -- a headache, sinus pressure. I didn’t have a fever. I wasn’t coughing then; it was just a regular sinus cold,” he said.

Since he’d been traveling recently, a friend suggested he get tested for COVID-19.

He lined up on the North Shore during one of the first days of drive-through testing and spent two hours waiting. After taking the test, he then spent several days waiting for the results, and during that time his condition worsened.

“I couldn’t get out of the bed, my chest started to harden - it was hard to breathe. I couldn’t sleep at night because I was in pain any way I laid down in the bed,” he said.

Ryan is now doing much better. He’s breathing is easier and the headache is gone, but he still has a lingering cough.

“[I’ve been] drinking lots of fluids, eating soup, drinking tea, ginger tea, lemon tea,” he said.

For nearly two weeks he’s stayed away from Channel 11, and anyone who had contact with him in the days before that is self-isolating at home.

He said he has no idea where he picked up the virus, but he’s thankful for how lucky he has been.

“I feel blessed to be doing as well as I am, especially when I'm on the news, and reading how many people have died in China, how many people have died in Italy and now dying in the US. You never think it's going to be you on the other side of that,” he said.

One thing that really stood out is that it took nine days for Ryan to get the tests results back. He said he’s thankful he was staying away from work and isolating at home.

In addition to reminding everyone to take this seriously, Ryan wants to thank the first responders, doctors, nurses, and others who put their lives on the line to protect others.

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