I don’t want to speak too soon, but it’s day 10, and I seem to be emerging from my covid infection.
In case it helps other people facing the virus, I’ll explain how it progressed for me. Please bear in mind that the symptoms + severity of covid-19 are extremely variable
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1. My health status: I’m 57. Mildly asthmatic. Keep fit. Never smoked. Scarcely drink.
It’s reassuring to know that it wouldn’t have made any difference if I’d died of covid. To the billionaire press, my “pre-existing condition” (asthma) means I was on the way out anyway.

2. Our eight-year-old was the first to show symptoms. After someone in her class fell ill, she threw up and had a brief headache, then recovered instantly. We all got tested, but at that point, only she tested positive. Soon afterwards, I felt nauseous and had a headache.

3. This was followed by four nights of fever. I’ve had a lot of fevers, including several bouts of malaria. These were by no means the worst. Generally they lasted a couple of hours. I went cold, my teeth chattered, my mind raced, I sweated, then they suddenly peaked and broke.

4. I was exhausted during the days, and mostly stayed in bed. Thankfully, my partner wasn’t hit as hard and remained up and about. Otherwise, I’m not sure how we would have coped with a very bouncy eight year old, over Christmas.

5. She tested positive, but I felt too ill to travel. We had no contacts to report, as we’ve been really careful, and we would all be sticking to the same isolation rules anyway.

6. Our very kind neighbours bought fresh food for us, and a brilliant friend brought a rescue package, which included an oximeter, that she and many others said was really important. We’ve been using it a lot, and it has given us reassurance.

7. When the fevers abated, I was struck by breathlessness. This was the worst of my symptoms. It felt like having a plastic bag tied round my head: however hard I breathed, I couldn’t seem to get enough air into my lungs. It was frightening.

8. But then I found an NHS page on managing breathlessness, and it really helped. These exercises immediately calmed me down, regulated my breathing and reduced my feelings of suffocation: https://www.royalberkshire.nhs.uk/Managing%20breathlessness.pdf

9. For a couple more days, I still felt I was living 5000 m above sea level, though sadly without the fresh air and long views. But now I've more or less come back down to Earth.

10. I had some weird olfactory hallucinations. Some kinds of food smelt and tasted like the most revolting rotten carrion you could imagine. I threw away two jars of pickles before I realised it wasn’t them, it was me.

11. I still feel quite tired, and everyone has advised me to continue resting. The virus has set off my asthma, as all viruses do, and my sleep hasn’t settled down yet, but apart from that, I believe, and hope, I’ve climbed out of the hole. We’ve been very lucky.

12. Our isolation ends at midnight tomorrow. Emerging from quarantine into mere lockdown is going to feel like freedom. We can buy our own food! We can walk round the block! But I’m going to be moving slowly until I feel all danger is past.

13. I can't thank you all enough for your kind and encouraging words and support. They really did help, and I'm sorry not to have been able to reply to them individually.
Take care and stay safe.
Thank you.