A Jefferson County court official recovering from COVID-19 says her ordeal was frightening and she hopes that plans to reopen the state and the country are done with careful thought and the safety of others in mind.

Amyrtle M. Allen, a former special circuit court judge and current senior trial referee in Birmingham’s Family Court, believes she contracted the virus in her courtroom. She chronicled her illness for AL.com in the hopes that her story will encourage others to be vigilant with their health and to plead with officials to ease up on social distancing restrictions only when it’s safe to do so.

Gov. Kay Ivey and and state health officer Dr. Scott Harris issued the stay-at-home order that went into effect April 4 and expires April 30. Last week, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth announced a committee’s plan to reopen Alabama’s economy, and other states – such as South Carolina and Georgia – are beginning to slowly reopen businesses there, beginning as early as Friday. Ivey in a press conference Tuesday morning said any decision to reopen the economy will be based on data, not on an actual date.

“I want us to reopen, I really do,’’ Allen said. “We need to get back to work but I would rather people live.”

Though Jefferson County courts slowed, and eventually closed, in March because of the pandemic, Allen said emergency hearings continued in Family Court because of the immediacy required in some matters such as protection from abuse cases. “We had no problem doing that – that’s our job,’’ Allen said.

As a senior trial court referee, Allen still sits on the bench and hears cases. She then makes her recommendations to a judge.

She was vigilant about cleaning in her courtroom – both morning and night even to include all door handles. One woman, however, showed up for a hearing that she didn’t know her case had been postponed because of the virus. She was homeless and had not seen her children in months.

“She was lost with nowhere to do,’’ Allen said. She immediately met with the woman, and Allen began to work with her to get a lawyer appointed for the woman. “When you are used to dealing with the public like that, you don’t think about six feet apart,’’ Allen said. “All I thought was here is a mama who hasn’t see her kids. It wasn’t something I could push to the side.”

“Then I noticed she was sniffling, and my heart just dropped,’’ Allen said.

A couple of days later, Allen woke up with congestion that she suspected was a sinus issue. But there was also a tightness in her chest. She was supposed to be in court that day but called in sick. “I’m not taking that chance,’’ she said.

Allen, who comes from a family of nurses, called a relative who told her she needed to get tested for COVID-19. “I was scared,’’ she said, and decided she would give it another day to see if she felt better.

Because she is a diabetic, she knew the importance of quickly addressing the illness. She contacted one testing site but was told it would be seven to 10 days before her results came back.

She then found Christ Health Center in Woodlawn and set up an appointment for the following day. That was on Friday, April 3. She said she was more than impressed at the way the entire situation was handled. She was met at her car, taken to a secure booth with a curtain and given a “mini checkup.” Expecting only a nasal swab, Allen said she had a blood test and even an X-ray.

She quickly learned that she tested positive. “The thing that popped in my head was I don’t know much about this virus,’’ she said. “I didn’t know what to expect.”

“They prayed for me and with me,’’ she said.

After extensively going over her medical history with her, doctors at Christ Health Center prescribed Allen hydroxychloroquine and antibiotics. They followed up with her every day to check on her as she took her vitals at home. “I really felt like I was being cared for,’’ she said. “Them calling me was a lifeline for me.”

Allen worried about her husband catching the virus. They each took a separate bedroom and bathroom in their home and wore masks and gloves at all times. She already was taking precautions keeping all of the surfaces in her house clean, even wiping the walls with Clorox. “They believe that’s what helped him,’’ from catching COVID-19, she said.

Though Allen never had a fever that she knows of, she struggled to breathe. She lost 9 pounds in three days and sometimes had confusion in the evenings.

“It felt like I had a sack of potatoes on my chest and at night, it felt like another sack had been added,’’ she said.

“I was afraid because the only thing the media showed was people dying,’’ she said. Allen went so far as to make her own funeral arrangements and line up friends to take care of her husband in the event of her death.

“You think it’s a death sentence when you get a diagnosis because of what you’re seeing on the news,’’ she said. “I wondered if my lungs and heart would be strong enough to hold up while my body fights the virus.”

“I didn’t have all the aches and pains, but I realized the virus operates differently in different people,’’ Allen said. “My experience was really scary but I’m a fighter and I decided to figure how to survive it. The unknown is the worst part.”

Allen said because testing is limited, especially in the western area of the county, she wants others to know there are places they can go to be tested and cared for. “They do not have to be afraid of the virus,’’ she said. “It’s deadly, but your fear will hurt you worse than the virus sometimes.”

She wants people to be smart and safe. “Use common sense. It doesn’t mean that it’s a death sentence because you have it,’’ she said. “Yes, it can get really bad but don’t let fear cause you not to get tested. Don’t let fear cause to not reach out for help.”

“I feel like we shouldn’t always depend on state and government leaders to save our lives. There are some things we can do. We can have some power and control as well,’’ Allen said. “We can self-quarantine. We can stay away from each other. We can stop having these family gatherings.”

She said she doesn’t believe Alabama is ready yet to fully reopen. “We need to make sure we don’t overflow our medical professionals because we have people out there working tirelessly, day in and day out, to find a way for us to fight this virus,’’ said. “I think they’re trying to reopen too soon and the reason why I say that is because the hardest thing to do is to save someone from themselves.”

“If they reopen, they need to have a true plan to reopen and it needs to be with strict guidelines and they need to make sure someone is enforcing those guidelines,’’ Allen said.

“My thoughts are that we should reopen when we have a safe way of doing so. I think we should reach out to our medical professionals and let them advise us on the steps to take to be safe,’’ she said. “I trust that our governor is being advised and that she’s speaking to people. Whoever you are, you don’t want to be the person responsible for people dying.

“There’s no way you’re going to convince me that our government is sitting back hoping that someone dies,’’ she said. “This is a very big decision for someone to make. I would not want that weight to be on my shoulders. And they’re brave enough to bear it.”