My experience of Covid (Blog #50)

Hi! Welcome to my latest blog, which is about my personal experience of Covid. Four and a half years on from it hitting the UK, I think it's time to reflect on how the pandemic affected me and my wife. It is also relevant because we travel and, anecdotally, travel, particularly air travel, seems to present a higher risk for contracting Covid.

By way of context, I am a trained dentist and so have an above average understanding of medical sciences. However, experience has taught me that science is an imperfect science, and that sometimes things don't always turn out how they should. This has not turned me into an anti-vaxer or anything remotely approaching a conspiracy theorist, just someone who hopefully asks the right questions when presented with evidence.

When Covid first appeared in the UK around February 2020 none of us knew with any certainty where it was all going to lead us. Pre-lockdown I was keeping my distance from others and avoiding crowded spaces. Then when the expected lockdown came on 23 March (that date is seered into my memory) my wife and I obeyed government advice and shut ourselves away. 

We obeyed all further restrictions and had our Covid jabs in a timely manner. Three years on from the outbreak, we had managed to avoid getting Covid.

In February 2023 we flew to California, which involved 3 outward flights. 3 inward flights, and 4 airports. If we were going to get Covid, this would be it. But alas, no. We arrived home, recovered from our jetlag, and after a few weeks still felt well. Result! Or so we thought.

A few days before the third anniversary of the first UK lockdown my wife had a hospital appointment, which I went along to with her. The waiting room was rammed, no ventilation, and people talking, and exhaling vigorously as they did, for long periods on their mobile phones. Not a face mask in sight. Two days later, and feeling poorly, my wife tested positive for Covid. She took to her bed. The following day I also tested positive. I took to the spare bedroom bed. 

We lived like this until we felt better and both tested negative. Testing positive, we could have slept in the same bed, but our individual coughing and sneezing would have kept one or both of us awake through the night. 

It took us both a while to recover our energy levels and feel up to doing much.

One year on, my wife and I attended another hospital appointment. Another crowded waiting room, minimal ventilation, no masks. You've probably guessed what happened next. Yes, as in 2023, first my wife, then two days later me, we were again in separate bedrooms and bathrooms, feeling ill and testing positive for Covid.

Our symptoms second time around were different. We were again suffering with extreme fatigue, but she developed a cough and felt worse than me, with me having a runny nose and headaches.

On the back of this second bout of Covid, my wife postponed booking a return visit to California in September or October.

The irony of the situation was that we were both scheduled to have our flu and Covid booster jabs a couple of weeks after we had tested negative.

The question then became, 'Do we need these Covid boosters, or are we okay for now?'

We sought medical advice and were recommended to have both jabs as planned, which we did. We both had mild post-booster symptoms, as if our recovery from recent COVID had been pushed back a week or so. 

Here's the latest UK data.

(UKHSA Data dashboard. 17 October 2024)

I thought we'd been some of the lucky ones who would never get Covid; this turned out to be wishful thinking. We stopped being nervous around others, not venturing into crowded places, stopped wearing masks. What my experience shows is that Covid is still around, and that hospitals pose a high risk. I think not taking up the offer of boosters is unwise; the virus mutates and boosters probably protect you against them to a certain degree.

The Covid virus is here to stay. Sensible hygiene and cross infection precautions will definitely help. If you are ill, stay at home until you feel better.

Disclaimer: this is my personal experience and my personal opinion.

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© Mike Young 2024.