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In the Czech Republic the coronavirus officially emerged on March 1, immediately in three cases.
Since then thousands of infected people have been added and the numbers are still not final. However, according to some people it is possible that the deadly virus appeared here much earlier. We interviewed three women who probably contracted something that strongly resembles the illness covid-19.
Slept about three hours a day Mrs. Petra is not sure what illness she suffered at the start of this year. After New Year’s Eve it all began with a cold and then a cough developed, which she certainly will not forget for a long time.
„24 hours of a dry and choking cough, when I kept thinking I might have pneumonia. I was tired and slept roughly 3 hours a day. I drank a lot and had no appetite,“ she described her illness to us. She added that she is not often sick and usually doesn’t mind a cold, but the cough, she said, felt strange.
„Now it occurs to me that I went through it. I’m healthy, I avoid doctors, but I don’t want to feed that fear,“ Petra explained in conclusion.
„It might have been just a cold, which however lasted longer than a month. My non-itchy skin condition worsened; I started taking Plaquenil that I still had,“ the woman said.
She added that she only went to work and lay down in her free time. The last week she was on sick leave because of a dry cough and shortness of breath.
„It lasted from January 24 to March 13, standard blood tests were fine. Skin manifestations persist, but now no one will prescribe me Plaquenil when it’s needed elsewhere. There’s nothing to be done. And I feel great,“ Hanka described her current situation.
„My son had a raised temperature and a runny nose for two days, that went away immediately. At work there was only a runny nose and a cough,“ she added, saying that as soon as possible she will get tested for antibodies.
„I’m personally curious whether it was a common viral infection or not,“ she added at the end.
No sleep and only codeine helped
Mrs. Sylvie is also not sure whether she fell ill because of the coronavirus.
„I caught the virus just before Christmas, probably during the flight from Bogota to Prague, although the airlines used air disinfectant sprays the entire flight. In the first days I had a low fever. My lungs, head and throat hurt terribly. No runny nose. I had a dry cough, I had never had anything like it,“ Sylvie described her symptoms.
She added that she virtually didn’t sleep at night. At night she slept about 3 hours sitting up, otherwise she coughed every two minutes all night.
„Only some pills with codeine helped me. The cough lasted about 5–6 weeks until the beginning of February, then it somehow disappeared. I didn’t infect anyone,“ Sylvie continued.
„I told the doctor, but he didn’t know what it could be. He reluctantly admitted some type of virus,“ she said in conclusion and added that she is trying to contact him to discuss the whole virus one more time.
