Coronavirus has brought months of lockdowns, isolation and staying at home, but for some, the need to shut up the house and isolate due to an invisible health threat isn't new.
Thunderstorm asthma warnings issued for the ACT yesterday and today have seen many take extra precautions and stay inside.
For Eloise Robertson, who suffers from asthma triggered by pollen, it's not the first time she's had to bunker down in her house, and it probably won't be the last.
"My whole world basically stops," she said.
"When there's thunderstorm warnings I will just stay in the house, pretty much stay in my bedroom.
"If I was just walking outside in a thunderstorm, I know I would end up in hospital."
Once, Eloise could manage her allergy symptoms to avoid triggering an asthma flare-up. But after this year's horror hay fever season in the ACT, her doctor has had to prescribe her a stronger medication.
And she's not alone.
ACT Pharmacy Guild president Simon Blacker said he had seen a lot more Canberrans with prescriptions for hay fever relief this year.
"Given the seriousness of their symptoms this year, they are looking for the best treatment they can get," he said.
ANU points finger at grass pollen
Spring in Canberra has brought the highest rates of pollen recorded by the Australian National University's pollen monitoring program in over five years.
Professor Simon Haberle, from the ANU's pollen monitoring program, said a wetter than average spring was prolonging the problem.
"This spring has been really strong for grass, and we've recorded some of our highest level of grass pollen, daily grass pollen, that we've ever recorded," he said.
Imported oaks, birches and other introduced trees in older suburbs that produce large pollen loads wear a lot of the blame for the city's particularly bad hay fever seasons.
But Mr Haberle said Canberra's hay fever seasons were made worse because of the region's grass types, which many people are allergic to.
"We have quite a lot of grass, particularly to the north-west and north and east of us, and people are quite allergic to those different grass types, particularly rye grass, which is the strongest allergy grass we've got in our region."
And while peaks of pollen loads in September were due to introduced trees, Paterson's Curse and grasses are more likely to be the pollen culprits at this time of year.
High levels of pollen are expected for the rest of the week.
