Recovered Singapore Covid-19 Patient Recounts 9 Day Battle With Virus
If you’ve ever wondered what being a Covid-19 patient in Singapore is like, we now have better insight.
A video posted by BBC News shows recovered patient Julie detailing her brush with the coronavirus. She shares her experience and recounts her time in isolation at the hospital.
You can watch it below.
Singapore Covid-19 patient’s story begins with a fever
On 3 Feb, Julie developed a fever ranging from 38.2-38.5°C. Like any other normal person, she took 2 panadol pills and slept the rest of the day away as she felt tired.
Her fever subsided and she showed no signs of sickness for the rest of the week.
However, on 7 Feb morning, she woke up to the room “spinning”.
It was likely that Julie sought medical treatment for her symptoms and was tested for Covid-19.
1 day later, Julie was diagnosed with the new coronavirus and was placed in an isolation room, presumably in NCID.
While it wasn’t stated in the video, it’s likely that Julie is Singapore’s 38th Covid-19 case.
Everything was provided, but being in isolation still took a mental toll
When asked about her experience, Julie describes isolation as “4 walls with a door”
Food, medication, clothes, and other miscellaneous items were passed through a secure hatch to reduce the risk of the virus spreading.
While Julie had access to a phone and could text and make video calls, the feeling of isolation was still too overpowering. Without any human interaction at all, Julie was close to knocking on the wall just to talk to the patient next door.
While it sounds simple, it seems that being in isolation is more complicated than one might think.
Breathing difficulties during critical stage of the virus
During the critical stages of her illness, Julie encountered problems breathing. She describes feeling as if her lungs were going into overdrive, that they were really making an effort.
Julie also recounts not being able to walk for long, being short of breath ever so often and feeling the need to sit. Even going to the bathroom just 5 metres away from her bed was laborious.
Thankfully, she has since made a full recovery and was discharged 9 days after she tested positive.
People are worried because much is unknown
At the end of the video, Julie concludes that she thinks Covid-19 is akin to the common flu but placed under the global limelight. In her opinion, people are worried because they do not know much about it at this point in time.
She also believes that fear, regardless of scale, breeds ignorance and prejudice.
Right you are Julie.
While it’s relieving to see that she has made a full recovery, prevention is still better than cure, so let’s remain vigilant and stay safe.
Featured image adapted from BBC News.
