The first British coronavirus victim has revealed how the virus affected him, saying he felt like he was "suffocating".
Connor Reed said his illness started with "just a sniffle" while working in Wuhan, China – where the virus broke out – in November.
He was teaching English as a foreign language, and initially feared he had the flu before taking time off.
But then he quickly realised it was more than that and said his head was "thumping".
He wrote in the Daily Mail: "This is no longer just a cold. I ache all over, my head is thumping, my eyes are burning, my throat is constricted.
"The cold has travelled down to my chest and I have a hacking cough.
"This is flu, and it’s going to take more than a mug of hot honey, with or without the magic whisky ingredient, to make me feel better."
He said he could not get out of bed without pain and his coughing was hurting.
He said: "I’m sweating, burning up, dizzy and shivering. The television is on but I can’t make sense of it. This is a nightmare."
Later he said he was "suffocating" and had "never been this ill in my life".
He continued: "I can’t take more than sips of air and, when I breathe out, my lungs sound like a paper bag being crumpled up. This isn’t right. I need to see a doctor.
"I'm ill, but I don't think I'm dying – am I?"
He then got a taxi to hospital then used Tiger Balm he said was like "vapour rub on steroids".
By day 19, he said he became well enough to "stagger out of doors" to get more balm, and by Christmas he was better.
Then by New Year's Day he was told everyone was to stay indoors, before being told he had been infected with coronavirus, but was now immune.
And he dismissed reports he had cured himself with hot toddies, writing: "I attempt to explain that I had no idea at the time what was wrong with me — but that isn’t what they want to hear. I wish it had been that easy."
Yesterday, the number of infected people i n the UK rose to 87 with 36 more cases.
There are now more than 90,000 cases and 3,000 deaths worldwide.
