Covid-19 and the dreaded quarantine

A personal account of Covid-19: from what it is like catching the virus, how difficult self isolation can be and advice on passing the time in a productive and safe way ✅

A Summer never to be Forgotten

Living between both Saudi Arabia and the UK has to be both the best and most difficult parts of my life. You get so attached to one place, then get so attached to the other 🌏. The lack of feeling settled is quite bizarre, however if you’re like me you get used to it easily.

Being in the midst of a pandemic meant I was unable to go home 🏠 to my nearest and dearest for approximately 2 years; luckily, I was able to catch a flight with my family just in time ✈️.

That’s when it all started…

The dreaded, and I mean dreaded quarantine 😫.

The Quarantine

On arrival, due to protocol for arriving from an amber country to the UK, we had to test before arrival, quarantine for 10 days, as well as test on day 2 and 8 📆. We paid for the day 5 test to release, however, the results came on day 9 so unfortunately this made little difference to our quarantine in the end.

However, I was filled with relief, I truly believed that this was the end of our quarantine journey and we could simply be back to normal again 💃. Little did I know what was about to happen.

Catching the Virus

Fast forward a few weeks to the day of the Euro match finals ⚽, I was screaming, shouting, celebrating and crying. Then on my way to bed I felt my voice was weakened and my throat was sore, as well as feeling unusually worn down. I was convinced this was from the match and all I needed was some rest 🛌.

The next day I came down stairs and had body aches, I could hardly move. My mum saw me and immediately made me take a covid test. Within seconds it was positive ✅.

After that I quickly became extremely unwell, and was bed ridden. Unable to eat, sleep, move and even found it difficult to breathe 💨. Luckily, within a week I was better. And within 9 days I was Covid free. By that time no one in my family had caught it from me so all was well, and we were able to celebrate Eid in peace ✌. We all tested before then to ensure everyone’s safety.

After 4 days of Eid my family (living in the same house hold as me) slowly became unwell. So, they tested again. It was positive. Which meant another 10 days of quarantine ⏳.

Passing the Time

The first self-isolation luckily, I was kept very busy as our house has been empty for 2 years so there was a lot of work that could be caught up on 🔨.

My second self-isolation, I was too sick to realise the time had been passing 🤒.

It was my third spout of self-isolation where I ended up trying to productively keep myself busy during these times, so here is a list of tips for passing the time.

 Go on a walk in own space/garden 🏃

 Do some gardening

 Write or start a blog 💻

 Learn how to crochet

 Cook/bake new recipes to try 🍰

 Facetime your loved ones

 Join online classes

 Write poetry ✍

 Think of new business ideas for when you are out of quarantine

 Reorganise your bedroom

 Paint and crafts 🎨

 Online shopping, and order your food online

As the famous Muhammad Ali said, “Don’t count the days, make the days count” 🥊

Conclusion:

As much as you want to count the days off until you finally get your freedom back, it is not worth it. The reason being 10 days of your precious life will go just like that. Life is too short to wish away time. Use this as an opportunity to develop new skills, do things you never had the time to do, as well as to completely wind down and refocus your mind on what matters. Before you know it, years will go by and you will be thinking back to the times when you were stuck at home. You won’t be thinking about all the missed opportunities, or what you could have been doing. You will be thinking about what you did do and how that made you feel. So make the most of every second, as each move makes a difference to your life.

By Noor Elabd