With so many tragic stories of lives taken too soon, young and old, it is easy to forget that hundreds of thousands of others are surviving this dreadful disease.
And while symptoms can be horrendous and lead to hospital, there are inspiring stories of people surviving against the odds.
Here are just a few tales of those who’ve come out the other side...
The care worker
Care manager Elsa Buckley, 28, of Hove, East Sussex, ended up in hospital three weeks ago.
“Thankfully, I am over the worst, mainly feeling extremely fatigued. Symptoms come on rapidly. One minute it was my typical Friday night in, the next I was vomiting," she said.
“I had all the other symptoms: a cough, sore throat, diarrhoea, headache, fatigue, nausea, fever and sore ears.
“Two symptoms that really did a number on me were the aching muscles and insatiable thirst. I could barely move for three days. I was losing so much liquid from sweating but coughing and vomiting meant I could never get water down me.
“I was constantly gasping for air and coughing up mucus. This didn’t stop for days. I was getting enough air but the cough made it feel as though I was drowning from inside.
“Symptoms are at their worst a few days after onset. This gives you time to contact people and make sure you’re stocked up.
“If you don’t own a sick bucket, hot water bottle and thermometer, try to get your hands on them. I was convinced I didn’t have a temperature but was wrong. Fizzy drinks helped settle my stomach.
“My boyfriend James phoned 111 four times. On one occasion after being up all night and coughing up blood, I was prescribed an inhaler.
“The most distressing part was collapsing in the hallway. James called for an ambulance. I was so short of breath I couldn’t speak. He thought I might be dying.
“The staff were rushed off their feet and really tired. One GP said it was his eighth shift on the trot.
“The protective equipment staff wore was appalling – a flimsy mask and plastic apron. When my mask was soaked with mucus, the nurses wouldn’t give me another as they were ‘going through their stock too quickly’.
“It’s been traumatising. I am fearful of going outside because I don’t know if I’m immune. I work in adult social care and am terrified of passing on the virus.”
The mum-to-be
Angela Primachenko was 33 weeks pregnant when she was tested for Covid-19 on March 24 and was taken to hospital.
She was put in a medically induced coma and placed on a ventilator but eight days later she woke up to discover she no longer had a bump – the doctors had successfully delivered her baby girl.
“I feel like I’m a miracle walking,” the 27-year-old said.
“Nobody expected I was going to get that sick. I did not expect to deliver my child. I just woke up and didn’t have my belly any more. It was extremely mind-blowing.”
Angela, of Washington state in the US, was discharged on Saturday but has not yet been able to hold her daughter, Ava, who remains in the neonatal intensive care unit.
But she has been able to see her baby via video and her daughter has thankfully tested negative for coronavirus.
The Blitz veteran
Rita Reynolds, 99, survived the Blitz and now the coronavirus.
And her family have jokingly put her survival down to her love of marmalade sandwiches. When she tested positive, Rita’s family were told to expect the worst as her condition deteriorated.
End-of-life drugs were ordered and Rita was kept comfortable by dedicated staff at her care home in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
But against all the odds, Rita started to pull through.
Two weeks ago district nurses confirmed that she had recovered from the virus and is now on the mend.
Former Women’s Air Force driver Rita, who survived the Blitz bombing by hiding under the kitchen table reading a book, will celebrate her 100th birthday in July.
Grandson Henry Phillips said: “I was certain that was it for her.
“When you hear everything you hear about coronavirus, and a 99-year-old person gets it, I
didn’t think there was any way she would recover from it.
“But she seems to have done it.”
The 5-month-old baby
Just days ago, five-month-old Amelia Woodger was fighting for her life after contracting Covid-19.
Doctors had first dismissed the tot’s symptoms, of drowsiness and a fever, as those of chicken pox.
However, as her condition got worse she was admitted to A&E at West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds.
Her mum, Emily, 25, said: “Emily is normally a very happy and alert baby but she was very sleepy, hardly waking up, miserable, and crying all the time like she was in pain.”
Emily stayed alone at Amelia’s bedside for three days – as no other family members were allowed to visit due to the risks, including her husband, Connor.
She says: “I couldn’t stop crying. I was very upset, you never think it’s going to be you.”
Thanks to NHS staff, Amelia is at home and the family are doing their second week of self-isolation.
Emily posted a photo of her and her daughter, adding: “We are just two of the lucky ones who have come out the other side. The gift of life is the best gift of all.”
