Blog of a Self-Isolated Doctor

Introduction

Coronavirus, according to the World Health Organisation, are a “large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).”

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain that was discovered in 2019 and has not been previously identified in humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

It surfaced in Wuhan, China late last year and has now spread to multiple countries. It has now been declared a Pandemic.

Up until the writing of this account, the timeline can be summarised as follows (Source World Health Organisation),

December 1st, 2019, first patient reported in the cluster of pneumonia of unknown origin.

December 30th, 2019, Wuhan Municipal Health Commission announced detection of a cluster of pneumonia of unknown origin traced back to a seafood market.

January 7th, 2020, Isolation of novel 2019 coronavirus by Chinese authorities.

January 11th , 2020, the state media in China report the first known death in Wuhan from an illness that has infected multiple individuals. The cause of the illness is as yet unknown.

January 20th, The first confirmed cases outside China occurred in Japan, South Korea and the United States

January 23rd. In Wuhan, 17 people have died, and around 560 have been infected. As a result, the Chinese authorities have suspended public travel within Wuhan

February 2nd A 44-year-old man is the first death reported outside China

February 5th 3600 passengers have been quarantined on a cruise ship in Japan. Officials screened the passengers and the number of people who tested positive was registered as the largest number of cases outside China. This was 218.

February 9th, Death toll in China exceeds the number of people who died with SARS in the epidemic in 2002-3 that claimed 774 lives. The death toll currently, 813. The UK reports its fourth case of coronavirus.

February 11th, The WHO has officially named the disease caused by the new coronavirus as ‘Covid-19’.

February 15th, France announced the first death associated with coronavirus. Worldwide death toll reaches 1526

February 23rd Italy sees a major surge in coronavirus and as a result, schools are closed and one death. Death toll rises to 2458. UK reports four new cases, now at 13.

February 29th The US reports its first death, new cases reported in Ecuador and Luxembourg. Total cases in Italy passes 1,000. Death toll globally has reached 2,900 and number of global cases confirmed is 85,000.

March 2nd, Globally, 3000 deaths form Covid-19, and 89000 confirmed cases. 45,000 people have recovered globally. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has risen the coronavirus risk level in the European Union from moderate to high. US death toll rises to 6. France has now reported four deaths. Number of patients testing positive for COVID-19 in the UK reaches 40. WHO states COVID-19 mortality is 3.4%. This is higher that the previous estimate of 2%.

The Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that Covid-19 “spreads less efficiently than flu” and that it “causes more severe illness than flu”, and as yet, “there are no vaccines or therapeutics for it”. https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19—3-march-2020

March 2nd. Whilst the Director- General was making their speech, I was working on the Intensive Care Unit, in a hospital in the UK, and treated a sick patient between the 29th of February and March 3rd. This patient was found to be COVID-19 positive. The following is a daily blog kept by me as a result of being asked to self-isolate. It is written in the form of a daily blog, as is the way these days, and is representative of the haphazard and unstructured manner in which my life was unfolding as I was getting to grips with the emerging menace that was spreading around the globe. Up until this point not much was known about COVID-19 and the NHS was not prepared for it.