Macharia Kamau: My ordeal with Covid-19 and how Panadol eased my pain
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Ambassador Macharia Kamau, who tested positive for Covid-19 last week, has narrated his ordeal with the deadly virus.
The PS, who in March was forced into a 14-day self-quarantine over coronavirus fears after returning home from an official trip in the United States, termed his battle with Covid-19 as a very interesting experience.
Amb. Kamau, who was speaking on Citizen TV’s show JKL on Wednesday night, told the host Jeff Koinange, who coincidentally is also recovering from the same virus, that as a symptomatic patient, his symptoms kept recurring.
“Some days I felt I was okay while other days it got bad and when you hear people say that the virus gets worse on the second week after contraction, believe me, it’s true,” said the PS.
Kamau says a concoction of ginger, lemon and garlic became his holy grail and that panadol got him through the painful days.
FEELING WEAK
The PS, who says that he keeps fit, also described how he noticed he started feeling weak and couldn’t keep up with his daily workout routine a week after he tested positive.
“I like to jog four to five kilometres every other day, after two kilometres you feel you are wiped out. I would do up to 50 press ups but suddenly at 20 I’d feel I’m running out of energy,” he said during the interview.
The PS also described how he once passed out after a sudden spike in body temperature.
“On that Monday morning, I got up and went to have breakfast. In the middle of breakfast, I had a sharp temperature spike and I began feeling dizzy and delirious. According to the person who was helping me, I actually passed out for a few seconds,” he narrated.
RECOVERED
The 62-year-old PS described it as having a severe hot flash and for a moment he was not coherent. Luckily within two hours, he felt better.
His advice to anyone who has the virus, is to be as active as possible.
“You must get up, don’t stay in bed, don’t play dead because Covid-19 will take you over. Be active, it’s like having a bad flu,” he said.
The PS said he has since recovered after being tested on Tuesday and that he is due for another test to confirm he is virus free.