Covid-19 positive in UK: M'sian woman and family recount experience

Rahmah Ghazali and her family, who live in Sheffield, UK, were supposed to receive their Covid-19 vaccinations two weeks ago.

However, on the same week, Rahmah, her husband Hisyam Salleh, and their nine-year-old daughter Sherynn all tested positive for Covid-19 within the span of days.

Rahmah (above), who was formerly a journalist in Malaysia and worked briefly as then-finance minister Lim Guan Eng’s press secretary, took to Facebook to share their experience as low-risk Covid-19 patients in the UK.

Hisyam started feeling unwell on May 8, with symptoms like dizziness, fever and breathlessness, but they did not think much of it because the last time he left the house was for work a week before that.

“I thought he was tired because he was fasting. I work from home and Sherynn’s school does not have any reported cases of Covid-19,” she said in her posting.

That night, Rahmah, 37, and Hisyam, 38, tested themselves using a rapid lateral flow test kit, which one can request for free from the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) website. The NHS will then send the test kits to the house.

“There were three kits, so my husband did it first. Positive. We panicked. He did a second test, it was also positive.

“We had one kit left, so I said, okay let me do it. After 10 minutes, there was one line, which means I’m negative (for Covid-19). I was relieved but still, we decided to self-isolate and I did not let Hisyam leave the room except to go to the bathroom,” she recounted.

The next day, her husband entered the details of his results into the NHS’ Test and Trace app and he was told to self-isolate for 10 days.

He also requested RT-PCR test kits from the government website, which were sent to their house a day later for free.

When the test kits arrived, Rahmah said they followed the instructions given, swabbed themselves and posted it back to the NHS.

On May 12, they received the results which confirmed Rahmah and Sherynn were also positive for Covid-19.

“I was sobbing, the whole works. One day before Hari Raya, we felt so sad because we could not celebrate, but Sherynn said ‘it’s okay mama, let’s get better together’. I cried even more,” Rahmah said.

She said they entered all their details into the NHS’ app, which will keep track of the duration of self-isolation.

That afternoon, an NHS officer called them to interview them about their whereabouts in the past week, whether they have any symptoms as well as the kind of support they should receive.

The NHS also checked on them every few days via phone call during their period of self-isolation, she said.

The local council also provided them with support such as grocery drop-off service or with their mental health during self-isolation, she said.

“On May 13, it was the saddest Hari Raya. Hisyam had started losing his sense of taste and smell. I still did not have any symptoms and was eating like normal. Sherynn was a champion, she did not have any symptoms."

But Rahmah soon developed symptoms two days later, first slowly losing her sense of smell and then her sense of taste.

She said she and her husband also had headaches, a low fever, and felt tired quickly.

“On May 17, I tried to work like usual… but when I looked at the screen for too long, I got dizzy. My boss was very understanding and he said to relax if I could not cope. You’re not expected to work at all.

“I realise Covid-19 is terrible because it robs you of your energy. I used to be a fit and active person before this but with Covid-19, I am just lying down.

“I have had to stop eating halfway because I am out of breath,” she said.

Meanwhile, their nine-year-old daughter still had no symptoms, which Rahmah was very grateful for.

“But I did think these children who are still active even though they are positive (for Covid-19) are dangerous because we do not know whether they are silent carriers,” she added.

Rahmah said her sense of smell and taste slowly returned by day eight of self-isolation, though they have become dulled.

“Now, I have my sense of smell but it is not as sensitive as usual and I can only taste food if it has a strong taste. Otherwise, it will taste like nothing.

“Until now, Hisyam does not have his sense (of smell and taste). He does not even know whether the food or drink is sweet or salty, sour or bitter,” she said.

The family ended their self-isolation on May 21, she said, which was a quarantine period of 10 days.

Rahmah said they were also advised to go for their Covid-19 vaccine shots 28 days after their positive test results.

“Please, please take care of yourselves, get the vaccine if it is your turn.

“The vaccine can reduce Covid-19 symptoms if we do get it and it is not 100 percent foolproof but once we reach herd immunity, you will be less likely to get the disease.

“Please, please get vaccinated,” she implored.