Local resident, Mariel Holland, shares her experience of being bedridden with the virus
‘I’m don’t know where I got the virus from. It was a few days after lockdown started on 23 March. My son came home with a ‘uni cough’, but we didn’t think it was the virus and I could have just as easily picked it up at the supermarket.
‘It started with the cough. I thought it was just allergies to begin with, but the coughing went t on and on, I couldn’t stop. After about a week, I started to feel worse and went to bed. For around five days, I literally couldn’t move, as my temperature increased. Every part of my body ached. This was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I couldn’t eat, I didn’t want to drink. I didn’t even have the energy to think or focus – all I could do was lie there.
‘My husband, Ben, was really worried. He understood I didn’t want to eat, but he made me take down drinks, such as water with lemon. He even had to hold the cup for me. I lost about six kilos.
‘When I still wasn’t getting better after 10 days, Ben got really scared. He rang the NHS, but as my breathing wasn’t laboured, everyone decided it was best if I was looked after at home – but to call an ambulance if anything changed. Slowly, after about two weeks I began to feel a bit better, improving a bit each day. But it was a slow process – even after five weeks, I still wasn’t feeling normal, napping every day and taking things slowly. I have never been that ill before and know that I am one of the lucky ones.’