Covid-19 in the community

I myself, was one of the people that went around definitely wearing my mask, apron, gloves, cleaning, I did everything that was within my power to [er] minimise the spread but I went into one of the residents that hadn’t, at that stage, been tested positive and I was stood in the doorway. I believe that’s how I caught it because she coughed. She didn’t hold herself, you know, even with her hand in front of her mouth and I, the only way I can think that I would have picked it up was by the droplets that came from her coughing.

I normally work in a day shift like from morning like four, five to two, three o’clock, four o’clock and on that particular day, which I see myself like, you know, I’ve got virus from someone. I picked up this customer, a customer who was sitting behind me and she was a lady and she coughed a couple of times in my car like once or twice and, when I look back, I see she’s not covering her face so I made a request to her, I said, “Please can you cover your face because there’s already the panic in the country that Covid is around so like it’s not safe for me, like you know, I can catch it off even the cough.”

The whole family kind of got together obviously for the funeral and of the, of the family chat afterwards. This is kind of the extended family chat on WhatsApp afterwards. Every few hours somebody would just say, I’ve just been, I’ve just, I’ve just confirmed, you know, I’ve just had a positive test. I’ve just had a positive test. I’ve just had a positive test. And so it was quite comic how kind of everybody got Covid at this funeral. I mean no-one really knows like who had it, who patient zero was exactly.

I started feeling a little bit unwell when I was there, but I put this down mostly to being fatigued because of travelling and lots of long days. It’s quite gruelling to be on pilgrimage and it’s very, it’s very beautiful but very gruelling so I put it down to that, but I was starting to feel a little bit unwell. So, I came back In February and then the information about Covid was swirling. There was much more information, a bit more public awareness as well. And so that was February and then we headed into the lockdown in March I believe and so like a lot of people my working reality, my day-to-day reality changed so I was working from home. I was inside, I was abiding by all the rules that we were told to abide by, so I wasn’t going out anywhere apart from going on my daily walk. But what I noticed was from March onwards I started to cough quite a lot and I started feeling very, very tired so I was isolating in my room. I’m lucky enough to have, have a home where there’s more than one room, where there’s some space where you can isolate. My, I live with my mum. She has diabetes, she’s an asthmatic. She is a woman of a certain age as well, so I was very aware of the fact that, you know, my mum was very vulnerable, so all of these factors were very much on my mind.

So, I, at the time, there was no access to testing, there was no access to any, anything that would enable me to know if I had Covid or not. The rules were very straightforward which was stay at home, don’t, you know, wear a mask, don’t go out unless it’s absolutely necessary so I followed all those rules. So, I carried on working in part because it’s the kind of person I am, I kind of push on through but what I remember in terms of symptoms were just exhaustion was increasing. I started developing an eye infection.

He was very obedient of the government’s rules so what had happened is he found out that his friend was going to Pakistan. And he was like, when, he didn’t know how long his friend was going for, if he was going for a month or two, so he was like, “Oh yes, meet up and like catch up on life.” And things like that. So they met up. My dad really didn’t think he would have Covid. He was like, “Oh, he’s planning going to another country. He’s even done his PCR test. There’s no way he’s going to have Covid.” So he met him, gave him a hug and spoke to him and, before he went home, gave him a hug again like have a safe flight, this that.

He’s been very careful throughout, you know, and then they, they, they, you know, I think they had, easing the measures, you know, that’s when he went, and then he came and got it from there, you know, and that’s what it is. And even now they have really, they have decreased, they are easing these measures, and I’m like, you know, I can’t even though they have easing these measures, I still have to wear my mask, you know. I still have to do social distancing so that I don’t get it, you know. That is something that it’s clear as day, you know. So I’m afraid like when I go to town today, I see people in their pubs, in their things, you know sitting, and I’m like is it corona finished, is it gone? I haven’t heard anything about it, you know. For that reason I have to keep wearing a mask, which I do, you know.

You want to go to the bathroom or the kitchen you have say, “Hey, I’m coming so just stay away,” and so even that in itself, the management of having one, even one person in the household you don’t think about it. It’s just actually very, very difficult to feel that you can actually be, you know, infecting other person within your house, so not only now you’re worried about yourself, now you’re worried about you passing it on to someone else.

I didn't feel all that concerned if they got it, and in a way, I thought it was better if they did because then they'd be unlikely to get it again at another point. And I thought... sort of thought the sooner the better because if they get symptoms later on in our ten day isolation, they're going to have to isolate for another ten days while I go back to work and desert them; they're going to hate me even more [laughs].