A Positive Covid Test to Start the New Year - Not an Ideal Start to 2024

After a lovely Christmas and New Year I started to feel really ill last Friday. There wasn’t a muscle in my body that didn’t hurt and I suspected it was Covid.

I had a few testing kits in but the liquid to put your swab in had virtually dried up so I ordered some more on Amazon.

I have had Covid once before but nothing prepared me for how awful I was going to feel this time around.

Both my husband and myself tested positive and we both had completely different symptoms. He had a terrible cold and runny nose with chills and a dry cough. I had the pain hitting every weak spot of my body, a raging temperature and the dry cough. I was literally clock watching ready for my next hit of pain relief medication.

Last time I had it by day two the worst of the pains were over but this time it took day four before the worst of the pains were over and the temperature to come down.

It puzzles me how we can both have the same virus but feel it differently and how after all our booster jabs we can get it so bad.

Rest and fluid with painkillers is what they all say you should do so that is what we did.

A few days later and it was obvious that my husband also had a nasty chest infection and although he could not see his GP personally his GP could hear how bad he was and sent a prescription for antibiotics and steroids for him.

The following day I started with the same symptoms and as I am asthmatic I also contacted my GP to see what I should do. He felt that I should have a script of antibiotics to hand in case it got any worse as it could trigger off an asthma attack.

One week on from our initial diagnosis and we are both slowly on the road to recovery. My husbands GP told him not to expect to feel great in a week and that it could take up to 4 or 5 weeks for a full recovery.

In the news many areas in the UK are starting to insist on face masks to be worm in GP surgeries and hospitals. Even Spain has decided this has to start again. Personally, I have no idea why they even stopped this in the first place.

The Mirror writes that "As snow falls across parts of the UK and a new Covid subvariant is on the rise, case rates could spark a big rise this new year.

Two key factors could play a vital role in the spread of Covid as Brits enter the second week of 2024. Like many winter viruses, Covid is spreading once again, this time under the thrust of JN.1 - a subvariant that has 40 mutations on the previous most common strain."

Covid cases remain higher in women than men, as they have for much of the pandemic, and recent weeks have also seen a sharp uptick in hospitalisation of Covid patients. This often corresponds, via a natural time lag, to an increase in deaths later on as well. One expert has warned that this wave likely hasn’t peaked yet, and is still on its way up."

The Independent stresses that you should have all the vacines offered (tick) and to stay at home if you have the slightest inkling that you may be sick. The problem with this is you may be contagious a few hours before you start feeling ill.

It's then back to how we initially dealt with Covid by using masks and frequent hand washing. I wash my hands regularly but I stopped wearing a mask when everyone else did but if it helps I am happy to start wearing mine again.

So, readers, #Covid is still out there and this years strain is a bad one so make sure you do as much as possible to protect yourself from contracting this or any other respiratory virus this winter.

Source: Mirror The Independent