Despite how alarming the situation seemed at the onset of China’s COVID-19 outbreak, it was also quickly contained. In expat circles, it seemed no one personally knew of anyone who was officially diagnosed, or had died from the virus. However, that has since changed with the pandemic spreading rapidly across the globe. COVID-19 is no longer an obscure new strain of pneumonia whose origins are still in dispute. Rather, it’s a debilitating disease responsible for taking down people as high up as the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the first ladies of Spain and Canada.
Countries like America, Spain, and Italy have seen an exponential surge in numbers, which has uncovered a new reality for expats in Beijing. Now, the degrees of separation between those with the virus and those without have been massively reduced, with people seeing their friends and family back home stricken down.
While we are all trying to avoid contracting or unknowingly spreading COVID-19, the question lingers in our minds. What does it truly feel like to have COVID-19, and is it as horrible as the accounts say?
A Beijing based international teacher who requested anonymity shares his experience with what he believes to be COVID-19, and what you might look out for if you find yourself in a similar position.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
Disclaimer: All the information provided is based on the teacher’s personal opinion/experience and not a result of medical testing. We would urge you to seek medical advice if you suspect having contracted COVID-19 or any other serious illness.
Give us a bit of a timeline. When did you leave China, where did you go and when did you return?
Spring Festival was all I could think about. I’m an English teacher and like many expat teachers in China, I had a pretty sizable holiday break for Spring Festival. I stayed in Beijing for part of it, but did take a late flight out of the city. My flight was booked for Bangkok, Thailand on Jan 28, and everything went fine on my flight out. As far as I can remember I hadn’t heard about COVID-19 yet. There may have been some rumblings, but I honestly don’t recall.
It was only after landing in Thailand that news started to spread. Then my coworkers began messaging me every day soon after. I was only supposed to be in Thailand for one week, with the intent to return on Feb 2. However, while in Thailand, my return flight, a Chinese Airline flight, was canceled.
Thankfully, my arrival airline, which was not linked to China, allowed me to book a second flight back to Beijing. I was on the phone with the airline the entire time after the booking, checking in, making certain my second flight would not be canceled. It wasn’t, and I landed back in Beijing on Feb 8.
I got through customs fairly easily and immediately went to my apartment where I quarantined for two weeks.
How soon after your return did you feel the onset of symptoms?
I went the entire two weeks in quarantine, from Feb 8 to Feb 22, and did not display a single symptom. It was a relief getting through those first two weeks. I was going stir crazy. To celebrate having finished my two weeks, I treated myself to dinner. I went to Sanlitun, taking the proper measures to protect myself, face mask, social distancing, and hand sanitizer. After those two weeks, I loosened up a bit with going outside, but only just a little. After the 22nd, I stayed in my apartment most of the week, but treated myself to a Sunday reprieve called “Sunday Funday”, dinner in Sanlitun.
This went on for a couple of weeks.
Then on Wednesday, Mar 11, I felt what I suspect to be my first symptoms.
What were the symptoms?
If I contracted the virus, my symptoms would have been considered mild to moderate. At first, I thought it might be a cold. I had a little bit of a runny nose to start, but we’re talking barely noticeable. I went to bed on Feb 11 feeling a little off, but honestly, I wasn’t concerned.
When I woke on the 12th, however, that all changed. I felt strange. Best I can describe it was as a case of the “yucks”. It was a strange sickness I had never felt before. It felt mild at first, day one into day two, but suddenly almost out of nowhere, I felt struck down. I couldn’t put a label on it. It didn’t feel like a cold or a flu, but that’s the best I could describe it as.
I took DayQuil and NyQuil the first few days, but they provided me very little in the way of comfort. I checked my temperature regularly, but it didn’t break over 37c. It was a mix of hot and cold flashes. I’d wear a sweater with the heat cranking and get ridiculously hot. Then I’d switch off the heat, lose the sweater, and become frigidly cold. I couldn’t stay comfortable and the whole time I felt like my skin was on fire.
The best I can describe this sensation is “fire needles”. I felt like I was being stuck with fire needles under my skin but with no fever. It was the absolute strangest thing.
The oddity in all this is that I didn’t have a conventional dry cough or a fever. I had malaise, fatigue, hot flashes, cold flashes, heaviness in my chest, shortness of breath, and a general uncomfortableness in my own body.
The first wave lasted for a little over a week and then the symptoms dropped substantially. There were a couple of days I thought it was over.
Then around Mar 20, I felt struck down again. This time, the symptoms didn’t feel like the flu at all. This time, I struggled with headaches and that same yuck feeling I described, fire needles and all. One day after the 20th was pretty tough. I remember checking my temperature every hour on the hour. I felt really bad, but I kept telling myself that it was mild in comparison to what I was hearing about in the news. People were on ventilators, fighting for their lives. I never felt as though I was dying. I just felt god awful with no end in sight. I went 23 days feeling like absolute garbage. Once I carried over into the third week, I started to worry. Everything I had read from the news, COVID-19 usually left your system after ten to 14 days.
It was over 20 days and I still felt awful. The only reassuring thing about all of it was that it was “manageable”. I felt terrible, sure, but it didn’t feel life-threatening.
How did the infection progress and what sort of symptoms did you continue to feel or what symptoms escalated in intensity?
I am a generally healthy person. I go to the gym three times a week. I don’t smoke and I don’t drink heavily. Once I got sick, I didn’t leave my bed for the most part.
I drank juice and water every day. I took men’s vitamins every morning and used aspirin for pain. I read that ibuprofen may or may not make things worse, so I didn’t chance it. One thing that helped a lot for me was saline nose spray. I used it to keep my airways clear and it helped me to breathe. Cool showers helped as well. I’d feel bad and then take a shower. Almost immediately, I’d feel a drop in the symptoms.
They always came back, but I would have a mild reprieve after taking a shower. I took two, sometimes three showers in a day just to fight off the general discomfort. This went on for three weeks. Then, thankfully, on Mar 23, a Thursday afternoon, I felt better. It was like a switch went off and something clicked. The needles were gone and I felt like a human again. However, I still suffered from fatigue and a bit of dizziness.
On Saturday, the 25th, I went out for some fresh air and felt light-headed. Honestly, even now, I feel drained. I don’t feel sick. I just don’t feel fully recovered. I feel as though my body went through the wringer, a whole ordeal. I’m still taking it easy, one day at a time, but each day it gets easier and easier.
What did you do to combat the symptoms and try to regain your health?
I called my doctor during my sickness. I go to a private medical clinic and was informed that there were no COVID-19 test kits at my clinic, and if I were to go to any other hospitals, there were very few kits there as well. The likelihood of me getting tested was extremely low. I was told to stay at home and monitor my symptoms. I did not have a fever. Nor I did have a conventional dry cough, despite the heaviness in my chest. If I’d had a fever or couldn’t breath at all, I would have gone to the emergency room.
Thankfully, that never came to pass.
I simply quarantined a second time, three weeks of not leaving my apartment. It was difficult but it was the right thing for me, and the safest way not to spread the virus.
Before you got the infection, what sort of misconception or misinformation did you have about the virus and how it might be spread/transmitted?
I checked the news daily, reports on the virus. I watched some informative videos and visited reputable medical websites with helpful information. I tried to steer clear of bad news on the virus, deaths especially. That wasn’t going to help my situation. I did the best I could to take one day at a time and to not panic. I monitored my symptoms throughout the day and did things that kept my mind occupied. I noticed that if I watched TV or delved into a hobby, it made me forget about the sickness for a time.
What advice would you give the Beijing population and the rest of the world on how to best avoid this and take care of themselves?
The best advice I can give is “Do Not Panic”. Try to stay calm. I kept telling myself not to get worked up and to take calming breathes any time I felt rattled. Don’t ignore your symptoms though. Don’t be afraid to call your doctor. You can set up appointments over the phone. I didn’t leave my apartment but I was in regular contact with the doctor.
Uncertainty can cause a lot of stress.
Try to get answers from experienced medical professionals for your specific case. One thing I learned is that not all symptoms are the same and everyone reacts differently to the virus.
Has this experience dampened your desire to travel or interact with the rest of the general public?
Even after being sick, my outlook on life hasn’t changed. I want, like all people, to get back to a sense of normalcy. I want to travel again, to live my life the way it was before I got sick. I realize we are all in it for the long haul, but that hasn’t stopped me from wanting to go out and enjoy life. My outlook remains the same.
Any words of hope and encouragement for worried parents in Beijing and the rest of the world?
Words of advice: Stay Calm. Don’t panic. Contracting the virus does not mean you are going to die. Mild to moderate cases are manageable. Staying calm is the best anyone can do in this situation. Be considerate. If you are sick, contact your doctor ASAP, and do everything in your power not to spread it to anyone else. Quarantines do work. Please be safe and do not panic.
Photos: Unsplash
