Fear: an unrecognised symptom of COVID-19

One of the things I have been reflecting on having experienced COVID-19 is that no matter how prepared you think you are, nothing can truly prepare you for the journey of fighting this disease.

I remember on New Year's Eve 2019 watching the TV reports coming out of Wuhan and having a real sense of concern about this new virus. I am a respiratory nurse specialist and have small airways disease and bronchiectasis – a result of long-term asthma and developing MRSA while working in primary care. I have lived and managed my own condition, with its up and downs, for a number of years.

In January 2020, a friend and I wrote and published some articles on this new virus. I ordered Dettol soap online to be delivered to my grown up children. I bought new pyjamas, packed a hospital bag and bought a pulse oximeter. I was controlling the fear of the shadow of this disease.