Roma believes she caught the virus through her high-contact job as a middle school health teacher.
"For months, I worked 60+ hours a week, taught through a KN95 mask, only left the house for work/school and the grocery store," she wrote in a Facebook post. "I haven't seen my parents in a year. All so I could catch COVID on the last day school was in session and give it to (my family)."
Roma has been feeling an "overwhelming sense of guilt" for not taking her symptoms more seriously, something she is now urging everyone to do.
Knox County announced nine new COVID-19 deaths Christmas Eve, bringing the county's total to 287. The county also reported 152 residents currently hospitalized, its highest number yet.