In an effort to ensure that their two-year-old child didn’t contract the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from them, a couple in Batavia revealed that they had to sleep with masks on because they had no one to take care of their child after they were informed that they were infected with the disease which claimed six lives in the Cuyuni/Mazaruni region.
Murphy Gomez, 36, and his wife Roxanne, 30, both of whom are from Batavia, tested positive for COVID-19 in late July. Gomez, who is the Deputy Toshao of the small indigenous community told Stabroek News that he began experiencing mild symptoms of the virus two weeks before being tested which included tiredness, mild fever and headache along with diarrhoea. However, at that time, he said, it did not even cross his mind that he could’ve been infected with COVID-19.
He said that he went to a private doctor in Bartica and got tested for malaria, dengue and typhoid. Eventually he was diagnosed with dengue but soon after his wife started displaying similar flu-like symptoms and even complained about the loss of taste and smell which has been associated with COVID-19 sufferers.
However, he said, it was not until one of his employees who works at Gomez’s shop at Devil Hole tested positive for the virus that they decided to get tested. “The doctor say is dengue but it ain’t showing much. I thought that was it and two weeks after one of my workers, I have a shop at Devil Hole, she went up there to take a test and her results came back positive. Right away I said something was wrong and so we went to take the test and when the test results came back, we were positive,” he recounted.
According to Gomez they were tested on July 29 and the results came back the following Friday. He added that he believes he may have contracted the disease while transporting goods and food supplies from Bartica to Devil Hole, which has recorded a significant number of COVID-19 cases to date.
In addition to Gomez and his wife, their 14-year-old son also tested positive for the disease. He also displayed symptoms such as headache, fever, loss of taste and smell, and diarrhoea. Their younger children, ages 6 and 2, were not tested but displayed no symptoms of COVID-19.
Gomez said that after being informed that they were infected with COVID-19 he was very shocked and for three minutes after receiving his results he walked around aimlessly as he tried to come to grips with what he had just been told.
“It affected me because after hearing about this deadly virus, worldwide, and then I get to know that I am infected with the same deadly virus, I was in a shock a little and when I get the news it was like I lose my consciousness for a minute and I was walking in the grass. I didn’t even know I walked into some bushes,” he said. However, he said, he told himself that he can get through this because he has faith in God. He said, “I put my trust in God because I know that he will take care of me because there is no other person that we can turn to in this.”
After coming to grips with what he had just been told, he contacted the doctor and asked for him and his family to be isolated at their home because they had no one to look after their children. At that time, he said, they were still required to be isolated at the Bartica Regional Hospital.
Comply
He said they were granted their request and were told not to leave their home or they would have to be isolated at Bartica. Due to their situation, he added, they made up their mind to comply as they had already arranged for someone to buy food supplies and other necessary items that would’ve kept them going for a month.
The most difficult period for the family during isolation was sleeping with a mask on. According to the couple, they made the decision to do so because they still had to take care of their younger children who seemed healthy during the duration of the isolation period.
Gomez said that they were very careful to take the necessary precautions every single minute of the day even though it was Roxanne, his wife, who had to cook and take care of the two children most of the time.
“We had no choice but to sleep with the mask on … because our baby sleep with me and my wife sleep with the mask on just to be on the safe side because we didn’t want them to get the virus,” he explained.
He said the first two nights were the most difficult because this was not something that they had done before. “It bothered us a lot and it was very, very difficult because it was blocking the nose and mouth and we were afraid to sleep because we were afraid that we would be stifled.” He further explained that wearing the masks was necessary because they didn’t know if they were going to cough during the night. They soon got accustomed to it and their fear went away but, according to Gomez, it wasn’t any easier than the first few nights.
Gomez noted that the two children were not tested because the procedure to take a sample from them would be too painful because even for them it was painful. “I would not like for them to be tested unless they had shown symptoms. Only then I would’ve allowed them to take the test but they didn’t show any symptoms and I’m thankful to God for that,” he added.
During daytime hours, he and his 14-year-old son stayed away from the children entirely and the mother stayed away as much as she could and kept her distance while supervising them. He said they also had to sanitize the bedroom every day and the entire house just to keep the two children safe.
When they were not cleaning, Gomez said, they read and prayed together. For him being in isolation was a difficult experience. “For me it was difficult because since I know myself, after childhood, I never locked away in one place too long because I’m accustom to the movement all the time from home and got to work, travel the backdam and it used to be a lot of movement for me and it was very difficult but in the end I had to cope with it because I don’t want anything to happen to my family or go beyond the restricted area so I had to find a way to cope with it,” he said.
Two weeks after they were told they were infected with the disease, the trio’s symptoms started easing. They had symptoms of COVID-19 for one month out of which they spent 24 days in isolation, and were tested before being discharged approximately one week ago.
Gomez disclosed that due to their mild symptoms, they were not given any treatment but they drank fever grass and ginger tea, which he says helped a lot. He said one of his aunts in Moruca recommended papaw leaf blended with lime and they drank that also.
