I would like to share my thoughts as well as my personal experience in order to alert if possible some people around the globe.  Unfortunately, we are facing the worst pandemic that we could have ever imagined.  It is essential to play our part which is to protect the others and ourselves at the same time.  We have to practice physical distancing, which means to keep a distance from each other, ideally stay at home for a while as one after the other the cities and the countries are on lockdown.  Stay at home if you feel sick.  We can still be in social contact with our friends and our loved ones via social media and other networks.  We should bear in mind that we could be carrying Covid-19 and spread it around being asymptomatic, meaning that we do not know it.  

I strongly believe that I might have had Covid-19 two months ago.  Back in mid January some days after returning to Greece from my New Year holidays I have had the first symptoms feeling exhausted and having muscle aches.  However, I thought that I might have been tired due to my trip back home given that we had a long travel, a flight from London to Zurich and then from Zurich to Athens.  Given that we arrived quite late that night and we were quite busy the following two days,  I didn’t have much sleep.  It was back then that the international networks started mentioning Covid-19 as a virus that was identified in Wuhan.  Therefore, I didn’t believe that the virus was already in Europe though I had some second thoughts lately.  Upon my return to Greece, I started being informed via the international networks and WHO, given that the Greek media have mentioned Covid-19 a week later and both journalists and doctors, they were saying that it was just a flu and there was nothing to worry about.  Nowadays, we all know that this is not true thought most countries and especially Europe underestimated it.  To cut my long story short, a few days after my return, I had a dry cough, feeling fatigue, having muscle pain but I didn’t have fever or I might have had low-grade fever.  At that time, fever was a key symtom but after conducting a number of studies it has been proven that the 44% of the patients have fever, so the symptoms may vary.   It was the first time that I was sick for so long, it seemed endless given that it lasted for about three weeks.  The cough was so bad, I have taken a whole bottle of natural syrup plus a chesty cough & cold medicine that I have bought over the counter in London but it seemed that nothing was working.  It worths mentioning that I hardly take medicines. At some point later on I lost my voice, I had shortness of breath and I was feeling fatigued at every single movement.  The dry cough was horrible but I didn’t have throat pain however I had difficulty in sleeping for quite a long time.  Towards the end, I got runny nose.  I was worried when I recovered given that I had a great difficulty in exercing, I was feeling my body quite heavy and I had still shortness of breath.  I never had shortness of breath before during exercing or moving around. I do not smoke, I have a healthy lifestyle, exercing and I never had any shortness of breath before. Generally speaking, I have a good immune system not getting infected with viruses so it was quite weird that I was sick for such a long time.  Based on what the specialists were saying, Covid-19 was not in Europe the time that I was abroad.  So I was worried but at the same time I was thinking that this couldn’t be the case.  However, as I always do if I get sick, I was taking precautions to protect the others.  I had self-isolate myself and just a couple of times I had to drive my mother to the supermarket taking all necessary precautions.  I was taking all the necessary protective measures when I had to go out and keeping the distance from the others at all times.  Now that Europe seems to be the hot spot for Covid-19, I have read a few testimonies of some Italian doctors saying that they have witnessed some cases with the clinical condition of this particular pneumonia back in November and December which means that the virus might have been around for quite a long time before we have known.  So now I am wondering whether I had the Covid-19 and what could have happened if I wasn’t careful enough taking precautions and isolating myself.  My mother had the same symptoms and she got ill just a few days after me.  I am not sure if I had passed her the virus or we both got it at the same time given that we have been on holidays together.  The good thing was that my mother had mild symptoms.  We didn’t have the chance to get tested given that we didn’t thought that we had Covid-19 that time.  Moreover, one can get tested in Greece if he/she has an underlying health condition or the elderly people having strong symptoms.  The time that I got sick they didn’t even consider Covid-19 in Greece.  Given that I have some second thoughts, I will take the antibody test when it will be available. 

I am sharing with you my thoughts and my story because I wanted to stress how easily one could spread the virus and how important it is to take precautions at all times especially when you are sick because you never know…

Now that everyone has a great knowledge about Covid-19, we should protect the others and ourselves.  We shouldn’t get panic but getting well informed.  I know that some people that I was talking to, they have thought that I was exaggerating by taking precautions.   For example, when my aunt and uncle were visiting my mother, I was urging eveyrone to seat at 2m apart from each other.  It’s better to pay extra attention so as to protect the others and yourself than looking back and being responsible for infecting someone.  

Please remain safe, protect your loved ones and the people you get in contact with.  Practice physical distance, keep at all times 2m apart from one another but do not take social distance.  Seek for alternative solutions so as to  be near to one another using technology.  We have to find our way to continue our lives given that the virus unfortunately it will be around for a quite a long time.  Most of us, we are on lockdown and we feel isolated, it is tough.  The whole situation worldwide is unbelievable. I feel like we all play at a movie and this cannot be true.   

Stay safe and sound!  Let’s fight Covid-19 and break the chain!