When Mary* started having no sense of taste or smell, she felt that she had contracted the novel coronavirus.
Upon the recommendation of her superiors, she decided to take a test on April 13. Five days later, it was confirmed that she had COVID-19.
On April 20, she was whisked away from her home in St Catherine to a quarantine facility in Montego Bay, where she spent a month.
“To be honest, I didn’t even think COVID was real, because with my experience honestly, I didn’t think anything was wrong with me as the symptoms are similar to flu-like symptoms,” she said.
Now having experienced the virus herself, she now believes “It is happening”.
“At first, the Government wasn’t handling it as well as it could regards to the testing procedure because there was a lot of misleading information and tests being lost. But, I think they have gathered more experience with it so the whole testing process might have improved,” she said. However, with the recent upsurge in cases, she is a bit concerned about the reopening of the schools next month. She has already started making preparations for her child to begin the new term, but is still awaiting more information. “Going back to school is a bit concerning. You are wondering even though you might teach your child the necessary precautions to take, to wash hands, wear your mask and sanitise. You not sure if while you’re taking those measures, another parent is doing the same or enforcing it as much as you are,” she said.
On August 11, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that the general elections would be held on September 3. Confirmed cases have reached 1,065 and communities in two parishes were placed under quarantine last Thursday.
THINK CLEARLY
“Really and truly I don’t care for politics, but with this nomination and voting thing, they have to think clearly how they are going to execute it to avoid having large crowds,” she said.
There have also been measures placed on the entertainment sector, with 17 beaches and 19 rivers ordered closed. Mary, unfazed by these new measures, says they are necessary.
“If they need to put on a curfew or they need to lock down the country for a while, then so be it. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. Not everyone is abiding by the rules and the numbers are going up,” she said. “Everybody just need fi take this thing serious, hopefully, we can get rid of this COVID thing. It’s going to take a while to go back to normal but everyone need to follow through.”
Mary still observes the COVID-19 protocols, ensuring that she sanitises, wears her mask, and observes physical distancing.
*NAME CHANGED
