SIMPHIWE Dlamini, a former journalist and now a media communications officer for eThekwini Municipality described his harrowing experience of surviving the deadly virus.
The newsman said he could not bear to watch the news when he was recovering from Coronavirus.
“When I saw that the premier of North West (Job Mokgoro) had collapsed and rushed to hospital after testing positive for Covid-19, I knew I had to stop watching the news,” said Dlamini.
“Every day there was something about Coronavirus, the death statistics or people going into ventilators, it was just too much to take in.”
Around late July, Dlamini was informed that a colleague of his had tested positive for Covid-19 and he was one of the contacts.
At that point Dlamini showed no discernible symptoms related to the virus.
“When the results came back positive I was not expecting it because I had taken all precautions from wearing a mask to social distancing. At that moment it became something else, I was shocked and numb,” he said.
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Dlamini, who has a wife and two children, also had to grapple with the possibility he could have passed on the virus to his family but fortunately that was not the case.
As doctors always say that recovery starts in the mind before the body, the opposite can also be true when dealing with a novel Coronavirus pandemic without a vaccine.
After testing positive, Dlamini started getting all the symptoms associated with Covid-19; heavy chest, trouble breathing, fatigue, and incessant headaches.
“You don’t know what you’re dealing with, some people test positive and die, others recover in hospital and some nothing happens to them. There was a point where I could feel myself getting better but then it would change in an instant,” said Dlamini.
Fortunately for Dlamini, he had an empty apartment he usually rents out that he could quarantine inside.
“I missed my child’s birthday,” he said.
“It was a difficult situation for my wife. She cried when she found out I was sick but she knew she had to be strong for me and the children.”
A regiment of steam inhalation, Vitamin C tablets, pain and headache tablets was enough for Dlamini to defeat the virus.
The headaches though, he said, remained well past the 14-day period.
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A recently released report from the National Institute of Communicable Disease found that Black and Coloured South Africans are more likely to die from Covid-19.
The report stated that Covid-19 fatalities were linked with older age groups, males and those with underlying conditions.
As a Black, 36-year-old man, Dlamini was aware of how things could easily go south for him.
“We, as Black people, don’t go for regular check-ups so we don’t know what underlying conditions we have,” he said.
Back at work now and writing news for a living, Dlamini said his advice to anyone was that “You don’t want this.”
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
Dear reader, As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.
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