Arielle Charnas is a New York–based fashion influencer who has a blog and fashion line at Nordstrom called Something Navy.
Like most influencers, Arielle shares a ton of her life with her online community of 1.3 million followers. So when she felt sick on Monday in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, she shared that, too.
In an Instagram story, she said she had felt sick for the "past two days." Arielle shared her symptoms — a sore throat and a fever — and said the doctor had told her to "quarantine herself" and treat herself at home.
In her next video, she said her DMs were blowing up with people telling her to get tested. But her followers also told her that based on her symptoms it didn't sound like she had COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
She also shared that she had been told she did not meet the criteria to get tested in New York state, adding that the doctors she spoke with had told her it sounded like the flu.
However, she then updated that she has a friend, Dr. Jake Deutsch (whom she tagged, natch), who said his urgent care facility would swab her from her car for both the flu and the coronavirus.
So she took her followers on her journey to get tested, wearing a mask.
Arielle documented the COVID-19 test on her stories with her husband, Brandon, apparently filming the entire time. She showed how the nurse stuck a swab up her nose and the entire nitty-gritty of the test.
She then updated fans a final time, saying she tested negative for the flu.
"Now I'm freaking out," she said.
A representative for Arielle told BuzzFeed News they had no comment: "We aren’t commenting further on Covid ... but appreciate the note. Stay safe!!"
Arielle also updated fans later on Monday, saying she won't know the results for a few days but that she is feeling better and her fever is down.
But many fans were concerned for Arielle's health.
Interrupting news from my coworkers that Arielle Something Navy has Coronavirus
Commenters flooded her Instagram page with well-wishes.
While it's unclear if Arielle actually has COVID-19, her stories were likely the first time her followers saw the entire process of getting tested for the virus.
More and more celebrities have been speaking out about the virus over the past week, urging fans to take it seriously and participate in social distancing. Celebrities like Tom Hanks and Idris Elba have also been open about catching the virus.