The doctor
This doctor – who preferred to go unnamed – has been working in a region of the UK badly affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
I’ve been at home with Covid-19 symptoms for the last week and have been tested for the virus, but unlike the prime minister I haven’t been able to get a result.
I would advise the prime minister that he will need to be prepared for extreme fatigue and must balance between getting enough rest to fight the virus and trying to carry out important duties. I’ve been trying to do lots of work from home, but I noticed that on the days when I wasn’t resting enough, my symptoms got a lot worse, particularly in the evening.
In the Covid wards, we’re seeing some cases of diarrhoea, which I had too. If he has that, then he needs to make sure that he takes in enough fluid.
There’s also anxiety to deal with. Boris Johnson must take downtime to switch off and bring down his stress levels. I felt guilty about infecting my partner, who is now more unwell than me. He has only been able to get out of bed for half an hour at a time for the last 10 days.
Because I haven’t received my results, I still don’t know for sure that I’m Covid positive. My result can’t be processed because the patient backlog, which is now over five days, has to be prioritised.
If we could test as quickly as the prime minister, then we perhaps could send people directly to the correct ward, avoiding the spread among our patients and saving patients with respiratory conditions in hospital.
I would like to pass on to the prime minister, particularly in light of his positive result, that my colleagues and I have noticed that the podiums where they stand for prolonged periods of time appear to be too close together.
The patient
Kate Hunt, 47, a civil servant from Kinbuck, near Dunblane, Stirling, was one of six members of her local choir who came down with the virus.
Before I got the news, I had been feeling a bit ill over the weekend. I had a headache and a scratchy throat, but I just thought the throat thing was because I had been singing, and that I had PMT. The next day I still had a headache and a tiny cough, just like a throat clearing. You expect you would have a massive cough, but it was just a little thing.
I didn’t have a fever that I could notice, but the headache went on for about five days. After three or four days, I started to get a tight chest. One of my children tested positive as well, but he had no symptoms apart from a headache for one day, and he lost his sense of smell, which has come back now.
Symptoms are defined by the NHS as either:
- a high temperature - you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
- a new continuous cough - this means you've started coughing repeatedly
NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days.
If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.
After 14 days, anyone you live with who does not have symptoms can return to their normal routine. But, if anyone in your home gets symptoms, they should stay at home for 7 days from the day their symptoms start. Even if it means they're at home for longer than 14 days.
If you live with someone who is 70 or over, has a long-term condition, is pregnant or has a weakened immune system, try to find somewhere else for them to stay for 14 days.
If you have to stay at home together, try to keep away from each other as much as possible.
After 7 days, if you no longer have a high temperature you can return to your normal routine.
If you still have a high temperature, stay at home until your temperature returns to normal.
If you still have a cough after 7 days, but your temperature is normal, you do not need to continue staying at home. A cough can last for several weeks after the infection has gone.
Staying at home means you should:
- not go to work, school or public areas
- not use public transport or taxis
- not have visitors, such as friends and family, in your home
- not go out to buy food or collect medicine – order them by phone or online, or ask someone else to drop them off at your home
You can use your garden, if you have one. You can also leave the house to exercise – but stay at least 2 metres away from other people.
If you have symptoms of coronavirus, use the NHS 111 coronavirus service to find out what to do.
Source: NHS England on 23 March 2020
I think the main thing was trying to rest, trying to drink plenty of fluids. You will lose you appetite a bit. Just keep drinking. A friend of mine who is a doctor told me that something they do for patients at risk of pneumonia is to get them to blow up a balloon. So we got balloons and started blowing them up.
Just try not to panic. I think I got a bit panicky at one stage, thinking that my chest was going to get worse. I realised that was counterproductive because that was just making me want to breathe more rapidly. Just try to carry on distracting yourself, not worrying about it too much.
My symptoms were pretty mild compared with a lot of people. In my experience, if you have a mild dose of it, you should be able to carry on doing your work, depending on what you do.
BMA Wellbeing Service - counselling and peer support available 24/7 on 0330 123 1245 or via online portal, no BMA membership required, open to all medical students and doctors
RCN Counselling Service - RCN members, 0345 772 6100 to call and book an appointment
