Date Time COVID Stroke Survivor Says Knowing Symptoms Can Save Your Life Stroke folders and labels at the Emergency Department at UConn Health in Farmington on Sept. 29, 2020. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo) As the country continues to fight a surge in the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals are reporting a decline in the number of stroke cases arriving in their emergency rooms. Some health experts suspect that fear of COVID-19 may be causing people to avoid going to the hospital or calling 911 for non-COVID related medical emergencies, like stroke. But what if COVID-19 is the cause of your stroke? When symptoms of COVID-19 are often rattled off, a stroke usually isn’t on the top of the list, but Dr. Donald Higgins, an optometrist from Plainville, realized that his double vision and dizziness following a COVID-19 diagnosis was a concern.