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Floyd County woman battling COVID-19: Fever gone down, ventilator now at lowest setting

April Abernathy continues to improve.

FLOYD COUNTY, Ga. — A Floyd County woman who was left fighting for her life after being diagnosed with coronavirus is continuing to show signs of improvement.

April Abernathy's family shared that her fever has gone down significantly and the ventilator helping her breathe is now down to the lowest setting.

She has been in isolation and in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) since she was diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus last week. Her family didn't think she would make it, but are now hopeful she will make a full recovery, soon.

According to family, April and her husband Kyle attended a church service at The Church at Liberty Square in Cartersville in the beginning of March. Kyle was the first to start feeling sick.

At first, he was diagnosed with the flu. But, he went back to the ER a week later when his symptoms didn’t improve. This time, he tested negative for the flu. Around the same time, April started running a fever. 

“Monday, she started coughing. Tuesday she went to the ER. Wednesday, she was on a ventilator. It was really fast,” explained April's sister Amanda Hebert. “She just deteriorated really quickly, to the point she needed a ventilator by Wednesday afternoon.”

RELATED: 'She deteriorated really quickly’. Floyd County couple diagnosed with COVID-19

April was able to make it to the hospital from Rome, Georgia after a scary ride, but she developed an infection and needed her oxygen levels boosted to 100 percent. 

On Tuesday, doctors backed it down to 50 percent. Now, just days later, family said caregivers were able to communicate with April and she squeezed her doctor's hand.

Meanwhile, April's husband Kyle, the principal for Cave Spring Elementary School, was discharged from the hospital Monday night, though he's now in quarantine for 14 days following his own diagnosis with COVID-19.

It’s unclear where the two were exposed, but Hebert said, the two may have been exposed at the church service. The couple’s children are also quarantined and with other family members. The two are not showing symptoms and are “doing fine,” according to Hebert.

RELATED: Bartow County cluster of coronavirus cases linked to church

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We will track the most important coronavirus elements relating to Georgia on this page. Refresh often for new information.

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