Mother And Daughter Recovering From COVID-19 Urge Transparency Among Others With Virus

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A mother and daughter from Lake County are recovering from COVID-19, and now they are trying to urge transparency among others who have the virus.

Almost 18,000 people in Illinois have received a positive test for COVID-19.

"I am a huge social butterfly," said Deidra Collins, who had the virus.

She runs a non-profit, and like her daughter Lexi she loves celebrating life.

So weeks ago, before everyone had to stay home, she had a birthday dinner to celebrate her life.

"The photographer actually tested positive for COVID-19 about a week after the party," Deidra said.

Deidra became sick about a week after that.

"My temperature was about 103," she said.

And a couple days after that her daughter Lexi was sick, too. She had a sore throat, exhaustion and a fever.

"I didn't want to tell anybody," Lexi said. "I just wanted to get well by myself."

But mom had a different idea.

"I did a live video on Facebook," Deidra said.

She said right after announcing that she had coronavirus, 15 people admitted they also tested positive, but they were too afraid to say anything.

"They are afraid to talk about it because of the way people are making them feel about it," Deidra said.

She said there is nothing to be ashamed of. You are really just one in thousands anyway. Plus being open and transparent could help someone else.

"If you let people know, they can better prepare themselves if they've been around you the last couple days," Lexi said.

"It's not about us being able to fight it off," Deidra said. "It's about those people we may come in contact with who may not be able to fight it off."