Viral TikTok Video of Teen Doing Starbucks Taste Test Made Her Realize She Has COVID-19

Sieeka Khan, Tech Times 06 December 2020, 08:12 am

A 19-year-old girl is now self-isolating at her home for the past week after she tested positive for COVID-19. The patient, Maryn Short, realized that she may have been infected with the virus while she was filming herself on Tiktok, trying different Starbucks drinks but could not taste them.

The moment she realized she was infected, and her panic as soon as the realization sink in, was all captured in a TikTok video that she later shared on the app. The video has since gone viral.

Captured on video

Short told Buzzfeed News that she was anticipating for the drink to be sweet because what she ordered had whipped cream, five pumps of vanilla syrup and three pumps of caramel.

But instead, Short only got the creamy taste, and nothing of the sweetness. She said that she had not tasted any flavor at all and she found it strange.

Also Read: COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation Continues With Smaller Livestreaming Anti-Vaccine Groups

In the TikTok video, Short reacts immediately after sipping her drink and complained that she could not taste the drink and that it has no flavor.

According to Short, she has three part-time jobs and stated that other than going to work and going out to buy groceries, she has been staying home during the coronavirus pandemic. She added that she had no symptoms other than losing her sense of taste and when she woke up with congestion, but she thought it was due to the cold weather.

On November 30, she decided to go to Starbucks to try a drink that was trending on TikTok because it had great reviews and it is cheaper than other venti drinks.

The drink that she got was supposed to taste like caramel macchiato, but she realized that there was something wrong with the drink or there was something wrong with her.

Short called her mother after the taste test, and her mother advised her to get tested. She called her employers, who gave her some time off work.

While waiting for results, Short recorded herself tasting other food, in which she said had faint taste. She added that her video going viral was accidental, and her mother made her take it down for a while in fear that it would send the wrong message because at the time, she was not tested yet.

However, as soon as she tested positive, she reposted it to bring awareness of the other symptoms of the virus. The video got more than 700,000 likes and it has been viewed 3 million times.

Fortunately, Short has not had other COVID-19 symptoms aside from losing her sense of taste and stuffiness. She had a slight fever but she recovered.

Short will go on quarantine for 10 days or until all of her symptoms subside. She hopes that her video would serve as a reminder to people that they can be a carrier of the virus and not know it.

COVID-19 symptoms

According to the CDC, the most common symptoms of COVID-19 are tiredness, cough and fever. The severe symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing and loss of speech or movement.

The mild symptoms include sore throat, diarrhea, headache, conjunctivitis, aches and pains, a rash on skin, discoloration of fingers or toes and loss of smell or taste.