So if you happen to get infected,you’ll experience flu-like symptoms;cough,sore throat,sneezing ,headache and fever. The fever associated with COVID-19 is one that is persistent and which recurs even when it resolves with interventions
If your situation worsens you’ll develop pneumonia with associated difficulty in breathing,etc.
I experienced all of these for over 3 weeks except for the high temperatures and difficulty in breathing.3 weeks ? Common Cold should disappear with or without treatment within 10 days ; so why hasn’t mine resolved ? It was a thought to process.

Before the whole lock down situation here, I had embarked on a group tour to other parts of China and had mingled with so many people.The flight I took to one of the cities had a confirmed case .
There were reports that some people were asymptomatic (show no symptoms but had the virus),others also had the virus but with just 2 or 3 of the cold symptoms
What if I was one of those ?
You could imagine what was running through my mind at the time.

I didn’t want to visit the hospital to be tested because the hospitals themselves were not safe and the fact that there wasn’t even any confirmed Medicines during that period.
At the time ,there were over 100 confirmed cases in this city.
Well I also didn’t want to be the 1st black to have had the virus that is if I was positive so I become a news item.
I guess you’ll understand why staying indoors was the only option I had.

A measure the Chinese government took to ensure people reported to the hospitals if they had flu-like symptoms was to forbid pharmacies from selling flu medications.
So yeah,there was no way I could get any medicine to buy .
Medicines had to be sent to me from the US.Thanks to my big brother Nene Adzaklo Mensah
That took over a week to receive the meds by DHL because of the whole lock down situation.
The lockdowns and social distancing wasn’t selective like it is in Ghana now. It was everywhere.It was a total house arrest.
How did we eat?We ordered groceries online.

I’m living with a Chinese family ,(A family of 3,Mum,Dad and a Son) because of the lock downs of all schools.
Mum had cough,Dad was so cool , no symptoms,Son was coughing and sneezing.
At a point in time when I’m coughing ,my friend will tell me ”Marie ,don’t cough so loud otherwise our neighbors will say you have the virus and they’ll get scared too.You may be compelled to visit the hospital”.
That’s scary huh.

Sometimes I’ll tuck myself in my bed,cover my mouth and cough silently,and cry as if i was gonna die the next moment .
When I come to the living room, I’m all Marie, smiling as if nothing was wrong with me.Fear of the unknown.Whether I had the virus or not I didn’t want to know.

This family is God sent .They took very good care of me,assured me that I was gonna be well and fed me with very healthy,freshly cooked foods all the time.Well I’m still enjoying.
We will skip together everyday ,regardless how I was feeling.They will tell me ,”Marie you can’t be sick,you need to be strong and exercise is what you need.”

One other thing we did;we will check our temperatures everyday to make sure we were ok.I had to also report my temperature via a video call on daily basis to my class instructor, for school authorities to know I was ok.Well,that’s still ongoing until this pandemic is over .
Yeah that’s the Chinese for you.They take everything personal, and this was a vacation period .

So a friend suggested I chew ginger as I waited for the arrival of my medicines.
I added warm lemon water as well.This did the magic.Within 2 days ,the sore throat , cough and sneezing started disappearing ,and eventually I got better.
Maybe I had the virus ,considering my travel history or may be I didn’t.
But these local remedy and exercise put me back on my feet.

It’s okay to be scared should you get these symptoms,but timely intervention is very essential.
Now, there are treatments available.
Family support and that of friends is also very necessary.

If you find yourself in a situation like this and you’re scared like I was,and you don’t want to go to the hospital,you should quarantine yourself and employ these measures.Maybe it’ll save you .
Maybe you could search for other local remedies to supplement what I took and exercise frequently.
Or just report to the hospital.

Skipping has proven to be a very good way of exercising that cost less money rather than gyms.
You may also want to secure a thermometer for yourself as soon as possible .
I hope no one goes through any of this, God keep us all.

Source:  Anne- Marie Deku, a Catholic Ghanaian Medical student in China.