BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
A former COVID-19 positive patient, Jeffrey Junior Houpara has urged citizens not to panic as COVID case increases to more than three thousand.
Jeffrey, a local Solomon Islands student studying in Fiji was amongst students who were repatriated last year back to the country. He said now that COVID-19 is here, there is no need to panic but people must follow health safety protocols and measures put in place by Health authorities, that is to get vaccinated, wear facemasks, practice social distancing and eat more fruits and vegetables.
Jeffrey recalled that the first symptoms he had when contracting coronavirus was minor cold, a minor increase of temperature, backache, and loss of taste.
” I also have a minor cough but not flu. These symptoms last for four days. I must say that, from my experience, Malaria is more dangerous than COVID.
“Headache from malaria is worst than COVID.
“For COVID, It only takes 3 to 4 days to feel COVID-19 symptoms. The difference here is that COVID patients usually lost the sense of taste when contracting the virus,” Jeffrey explained.
“I must say that misinformation is what causes the public to panic and causes people to be afraid. My advice for people is not to have fear and panic, just follow instructions,” he said.
Another former COVID-19 patient who is currently on the stage of full of recovery echoed the same sentiments urging people not to panic, “have the courage that you are handling a normal flue.”
Lawrence Makili who hails from Lord Howe Islands encouraged people to have the confidence to overcome the sickness and to follow advice from Health Authorities.
“My encouragement to friends is, do not panic, have confidence that you can overcome it, always follow advice from Health Authorities, steam with warm water every day, drink warm water with bush lime, and take Papaya leaves,” Mr. Makili encouraged.
He said pre-condition patients are highly vulnerable to severity, “They must be given special attention.”
