Lancaster woman recovering from coronavirus urges public to ‘take it seriously’

The 25-year-old, who does not wish to be named, works for the NHS in the Lancaster district, and has had to remain isolated from the rest of her family in her home while she recovers.

However, her mum and sister, who both also work for the NHS, are now showing symptoms of the virus and having to self-isolate for 14 days.

She said: “Obviously I had been following everything on the news and at work we wore PPE [personal protective equipment] in case we came into contact with anyone with symptoms, but as far as I was aware I had not been in contact with anyone and I was following all the guidelines.”

However, last Tuesday she started to feel a tickle in the back of her throat, and by the next morning her temperature was 38.4 degrees.

“I let them know at work and was put in touch with occupational health who arranged for me to be swabbed,” she said. “The test came back positive on Sunday.

“I would describe it for me as having been like a bad case of flu. The first day I couldn’t get out of bed, and apart from going for my test at the hospital I have been in bed most of the time really.

“My main symptoms have been a fever, sneezing, a sore throat and fatigue.

“I also feel like my sinuses are blocked and I have lost my sense of taste and smell.”

The 25-year-old said it had been difficult being cut off from everyone during this time.

“I have stayed in my room and my mum and sister have been in other areas of the house,” she said.

After resting as much as possible, and taking paracetamol and plenty of fluids, she is now starting to recover from the virus.

“I have been self-isolating for a week and I still don’t feel 100 per cent, she said. “Luckily I haven’t needed hospitalisation so I know I have been fortunate but I don’t know if I could catch it again so obviously I don’t want to return to work until I know I am not infectious. I work with a lot of vulnerable people in the community so it’s very worrying, but I won’t be going back to work until I have no symptoms at all.”

She has now warned others to take the virus and the government guidelines seriously.

“I think maybe even I was quite naive about how easy it was to catch it,” she said.

“I think people really need to take it seriously about keeping their distance from others or visiting anyone vulnerable.

“You think you won’t be exposed to it but the reality is you just don’t know.”