Having been in lockdown since the inception of the regulations months ago and having played by the rules to the letter by wearing a mask, rubber gloves and sanitising my hands, car keys, steering wheel, etc, regularly, particularly as I’m in the high risk age category, it came as a huge shock when a random Covid-19 test showed positive.
So my dance with Covid-19 began on June 8. I went straight into home isolation which was easy as I live alone. I was monitored every other day by a doctor who called in on his way home from his practice. He checked my oxygen levels and other symptoms during his visits. He phoned regularly to check on me.
Covid is unpredictable. It kills some and not others. I was lucky. I racked my brains as to where and when I became infected but, try as I may, I had no clue. Maybe it was on the chocolate wrapper I tore off before eating the chocolate on my way home. Maybe it was on a packet of spaghetti I picked up. Perhaps it was on the credit card machine I touched. It could have been on my mask from touching it with infected hands. I shall never know and it doesn’t actually matter now as I got it somewhere.
The point of my letter is to warn people that Covid-19 is not a joke, not a myth and not some concocted fallacy cooked up by authorities to frighten people. It’s there and it’s killing people. I despair as I watch people starting to have dinner parties again, people dating again, chatting in coffee groups and assuming because the government is easing up on restrictions the coast is clear and the menace gone. They are so wrong.
Living for almost 3 weeks an hour at a time, a day at a time, never knowing if you’ll ever breathe properly again was hell not knowing the outcome. The Covid-19 crisis isn’t over yet by any stretch of the imagination, so stay home, stay safe and stick to the rules.
A special thanks if I may to Dr Rip da Silva who held my hand through my Covid journey on his own time and at his own expense. I shall always be grateful to you Sir.
* Colin Bosman, Newlands.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
Cape Argus
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