Diary of Covid-19 – Part IV

Day 9 with Covid 19

I’m pleased to say that my cough is much better and my lungs are clearer, but this bug is a tenacious one. Today, for the first time I woke up sneezing with a runny nose. I’ve been reaching for the tissues all day. I also feel the headache lingering and the fatigue which wants me to go back to bed and sleep for the rest of the day.

It’s almost as if the virus now wants me to infect as many people as possible before my immune system drives it out completely. I know that’s wrong – it doesn’t have a ‘brain’ as such – but it’s almost cunning to make the last bit of the disease the time when you spread aerosolised droplets far and wide.

I’ve been looking at what is going on in New York with a growing sense of trepidation. My best friend from school now lives in Brooklyn and is nervously in lockdown, not surprising since Brooklyn has thousands of cases.) My other best friend from school is in London and similarly anxious, trying her best to get food from supermarkets with empty shelves.

My brother, who is a doctor, says he always knew that America would face a calamity if they couldn’t contain the virus and it may well prove to be true. His point is that the system isn’t cohesive and many millions of people are sidelined from medical care due to limited finances. He says that their huge military will save the day and step into the breach, but only after many many lives have been lost. The NHS, which is designed to work as a holistic whole, has been able to get into a war footing with incredible speed and efficiency. The number of talented, innovative individuals within the NHS has borne fruit as they come up with incredible practical solutions to issues including lack of PPE, lack of ventilators and drugs.

I do feel fortunate that my body fought off (and is still fighting off) this virus and I never developed pneumonia and then the cytokine storm that leads to multiple organ failure in a few. I am incredibly grateful that my children, aged 13, 12 and 10 who have been holed up with me for the last nine days are all well. No sign of the virus. It’s almost a biblical gift from God.

After this is all over, I think we need to cherish our NHS like never before, and give grateful thanks that it was still intact when we needed it.