A Ghanaian who has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently in isolation has advised the public to stay home, avoid social gatherings and take the virus seriously because it is real.

Sharing his experience on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM under the pseudonym Nii, on Thursday, 26 March 2020, the victim said he does not wish isolation on any human being.

Nii got COVID-19 from Paris, France, where he had travelled to for training because he was recently promoted at his workplace and needed a new skillset to work in his new role.

He arrived in Ghana on 14 March with a cough. 

“When I was coming, the symptoms were not strong. I was having a mere cough and it started in France. A chemical was sprayed in the atmosphere and I’m allergic to that chemical, so, I thought that was the cause of the cough,” he said.

On 15 March, Nii reported himself to the health authorities and went in for a voluntary test.

On 17 March, the test results confirmed he had COVID-19 and he was isolated.

“Initially, when I tested positive, it wasn’t easy for me because I came into contact with my family, so, my fear was for my family…breaking the news to my wife was difficult for me...,” he told show host Benjamin Akakpo.

Nii said he gave the list of all those he had come into contact with to officials of the Ghana Health Service. “They quarantined my family and tested them nine days after but their test results came out negative,” he noted.

Nii further said although the results were negative, his family is still in quarantine.

Experience In Isolation

Talking about his experience in isolation at an undisclosed location, Nii remarked: “Isolation is not a good thing and I don’t wish it for any Ghanaian because your right of movement has been curtailed by virtue of this virus.

“You have family members who are worried about you. Sometimes, you hear things happening around the world and you get a little bit frustrated”.

He, however, applauded the health professionals at the frontline of the fight for their professionalism.

“The professionals over here taking care of us have been very nice to us, they treat us as human beings. Yesterday, I asked one of the nurses: ‘Are you people not afraid of us?’, and she said, ‘We are not’ and that makes some of us happy”.

Asked if he had ever thought the disease was going to kill him, he noted that “initially, it crossed my mind that I was going to die because I didn’t know much about the virus and watching what others had been going through, I was scared, especially for my family because my children are very young.”

 Treatment

 Nii said while some victims are experiencing fever and severe coughs, his condition is mild.

“Some of us, they tell us your immune system should be able to fight the virus. We are, therefore, given more of vitamin C, we are given more vegetables and we are asked to drink more water. They are telling us when you do these, you should be able to recover without any particular vaccine or medicine. So, I’ve been on vitamins,” said Nii.

 Appeal

 “We are appealing to all Ghanaians to stay home; if you don’t have anything important to do outside stay home…people are taking the virus for a joke, they think people are recovering, yes, it’s good if people recover and we are not supposed to spread fear but the point is the virus does not respect any human being, so, we urge all Ghanaians to stay home and wash their hands and drink lots of water and stay away from social gathering”, he advised.

Ghana as of Wednesday, 25 March 2020 had recorded 68 cases of COVID-19 with two deaths.