Man Met student and family in self-isolation after father becomes ill with coronavirus symptoms
- Psychology student, 21, says family has had difficulty accessing medical support
- Family under a lot of emotional strain due to situation
A 21-year-old student studying at Manchester Metropolitan University has been quarantined after her father developed coronavirus symptoms following a trip to Milan.
She was told by the NHS to self-isolate along with her family as her dad was having severe symptoms of the flu.
MMU student Hajra Begum, of Cheetham Hill, said: “My dad was in Milan and he was experiencing flu symptoms like high temperature, blocked nose and cough.”
Hajra, who is studying psychology with forensic science, says she has faced a lot of difficulties in contacting the emergency services and managing urgent medical support.
“It was very hard to get in touch with the medical department, the waiting time of 111 was between 1 to 2.5 hours,” she said.
“After three days of me calling them for support they sent the ambulance when my dad’s situation was a lot worse than the day when I first called them.
“It was frustrating going through the same questions repeatedly hoping to receive some support and then waiting for days without hearing anything back from the hospital.
“I understand it’s a very busy time and they prefer hospitalising just people in severe conditions but in the meantime everyone in the house is at high risk of getting infected.
“Also, they mention NHS 111 online service, but it didn’t help our situation at all because they never got in touch with us, we were the ones who had to chase 111 many times to get the required service.
“Moreover, they stopped doing swab tests in the community when people have mild symptoms which is not the best way to fight coronavirus as it doesn’t affect your health drastically in the first 14 days so people might think they have a normal cold but carry the virus and spread it to others without knowing anything.”
Coronavirus is affecting Hajra emotionally and physically as her whole family is told to self-isolate and they are not allowed to see their father.
She said: “My life has changed completely. It is a really hard time for my family, we can’t see my dad because they’re keeping him isolated, we can’t speak to him because they’re keeping him asleep.
“I am feeling very sad, but I can’t even be in the same room with my family because we have to self-isolate in our own rooms in case one of us has the virus and can spread to everyone else.
“I can’t have that emotional support that I need in this hard time. I came go to university or meet my friends or even my family in my own house because we must isolate ourselves.”
Universities including University of Salford, Manchester Metropolitan University and University of Manchester have ended the face to face teaching sessions and shift to online teaching.
Due to increase in cases the support and facilities from NHS and supermarkets is getting busier day by day, and people like Hajra are facing a lot of problems.
“The university is giving me a lot of support with online materials to complete my tasks,” she said.
“Other than that, I don’t think we have much support because it is a global problem everything comes after a long period of waiting such as support from NHS.
“Even online delivery from supermarkets where we have to order two weeks in advance if we need food at home.
“As I said before, not allowing people to get a swab test when they have mild symptoms is one of the reasons why there are so many cases.
“There’s no prevention, it is a very complex virus to detect when someone is infected and if there’s no prevention before the symptoms get worse, the person infected will probably affect many other people.”
If you develop flu like symptoms such as high temperature and cough, self-isolate yourself and call 111.
Or visit, https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/