Over 25,000 cases in Bucks: One man's coronavirus story
Craig says although his symptoms were fairly mild the recovery has taken weeks
The total number of positive coronavirus cases in Buckinghamshire has passed 25,000.
Case numbers appear to be dropping here, though.
Last week the coronavirus infection rate in Bucks was 417 people per 100,000.
On Friday we saw 231 new cases, down from 867 on 29th December.
One man's covid-19 story
Craig, 50 from Aylesbury, tested positive for Covid-19 in December, after caring for his wife who had tested positive shortly before.
The guidance is to stay away from members of your household who are positive, but for Craig that wasn't an option:
"We have one kitchen and one bathroom and one kitchen so it we had to share those things.
"But when she was really ill she wouldn't have been able to get out of bed to get food from the door, I know when I was ill I couldn't.
"People kept calling me up asking if I had it, and regrettably I was quite blasé about it.
"But, on day six of self-isolating I felt really ill with a bad headache and I went to bed around lunchtime.
"I have some really bad fevers over the next few days, and probably worse than that i had really bad body pain.
"All through my body, my muscles, and everything it was so bad I couldn't sleep. At one point I couldn't eat it was so painful."
These sever symptoms cleared up after a few days, but Craig says the more difficult part has been recovery.
Both him and his wife had expected to be back to regular health quicker than it took:
"It's sort of fluctuated? You would feel okay for a couple of hours and then you would feel really weak and have to go back to bed.
"So it was probably a week before the fevers and that went.
"But and this is no exaggeration it took around 5 weeks to feel well enough to work again, and honestly I probably went back too soon.
"I was kind of horrified to see how slow progress was.
"Now I am 50, Im not in my twenties or anything but I did expect to be feeling better much quicker.
"It was the same for my wife, she thought she would feel better quicker and be back at work within a couple of weeks but it took ages."
Overall, Craig says they were lucky and are currently at about 95% health.
He says it is really difficult when living with someone who has coronavirus to not have contact with them, but if possible to keep as much distance as you can.
The guidance on self isolation can be found on the governments website.
Covid-19 facts
What is Covid-19?
Covid-19 emerged as a virus in December 2019 as the first cases are reported in Wuhan, China. Scientifically known as SARS-CoV-2, the virus created a global pandemic as it began to spread around the world. Symptoms can range from very mild to severe, causing death in some cases. Some people are completely asymptomatic and do not realise they even have the virus.
Has there been a virus like this before?
The SARS pandemic in 2003 was similar to Covid-19 in that it was also caused by a coronavirus. SARS stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. The global outbreak of SARS lasted from 2002-2003, infecting over 8,000 people and killing 774. Covid-19 and SARS are both respiratory illnesses, but SARS was much more deadly and less infectious.
What are the main symptoms?
The NHS say the main Covid-19 symptoms are a high temperature, a new and continuous cough and loss or change to taste of sense or smell. NHS advises people with Covid-19 to take plenty of rest, drink lots of fluids, and take paracetamol for a high temperature.
What was the Government reaction?
The UK Government announced the first of several lockdowns in March 2020. By the end of the month, more than 100 countries around the world introduce full or partial lockdowns, preventing people from going to work, restricting everyday tasks and affecting the livelihoods of billions of people globally.
Which countries have been worst hit?
During the first year of the pandemic, the US recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world and the most deaths, reporting an unprecedented 100,000 new cases in one day on November 4th 2020. Thousands of new cases were recorded on the same date in India (46,000+), the United Kingdom (22,000+), Brazil (17,000+) and Mexico (5,000+), while Ireland records less than 1,000 (578). Hundreds of other countries also reported a high rate of infection.
How have vaccines fought against Covid-19?
Vaccines began being approved for use across the globe. By January 2021, the UK approved the use of three different vaccines. The Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and the Moderna vaccine are rolled out to the public, with older people and those with greater health concerns getting priority. In April 2022, just under 53 million people had received at least one dose of the vaccine.
What are new Covid variants?
Four new variants of Covid-19 were discovered around the world. Beta was found in South Africa, Gamma in Brazil and Delta in India, while the Alpha variant was first located in Kent, UK. New variants are not likely to make someone more seriously ill than Covid-19 would, but variants like Delta have a higher infection rate, meaning it can be more easily spread.
The Omicron variant was first detected late 2021 in South Africa. Since then, it has become one of the most dominant variants in the world, with its own sub strains - BA.4 and BA.5.