A young nurse who has been infected with Covid-19 has told of her shock at testing positive after experiencing “mixed” symptoms.
Emma Biggar, 23, from Dublin has been at St Vincent’s Hospital since Saturday morning and was shocked when she tested positive for Covid-19.
She told the Irish Mirror that she thinks she picked up the disease while out getting groceries and wants young people to realise they need to obey the guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
She said: “I felt really tired on Thursday and had such a bad headache, on Friday morning I woke up and felt so thirsty and unwell.
“I picked up a bit on Friday but on Saturday I was unable to stomach anything and I was just getting worse.
“I think I got it in the community doing the shopping for my Mum.
“I really didn’t think I had it, I was so upset and the worst part is I got told that I had Covid-19 when I was on my own and could only FaceTime my family to let them know.
“I know they find it tough but they’ve been my rock through this, on the other end of the phone even if it’s 3am in the morning.
“It’s so tough and watching all the elderly patients not seeing their family is so awful to see too.”
Emma had been working as a nurse in London but while visiting home the country then went into ‘lockdown.’
The Dublin woman had trained at St.Vincent’s hospital throughout her nursing studies.
Due to having an underlying condition and unable to keep down food, she was admitted to the hospital as she was deemed to be in the “at risk” category.
She said she wants to share her story so that people can see this is not just a disease that is infecting older people.
She said: “I decided to share my story in the hope of sharing some awareness for all generations to stay at home during this time, it’s not just old people being affected.
“I think even since sharing my story a lot more people have felt it has hit home with them.
“No one is perfect but we have to work together in raising awareness and showing each other support by telling each other to stay in and stay apart.
“I saw quite a few in A&E on Saturday but I have had my own room for a couple of nights and last night I was in a room with two elderly women who are doing ok.
“Everyone has been so good, since I trained in this hospital a lot of my friends have been dropping bags of things for me onto the ward.
“It’s the little things that count. I miss being out there helping everyone.”
