Shropshire Star

From night sweats to loss of smell: Coronavirus patients describe their symptoms

More than 8,000 people have tested positive for the virus in the UK – and some have reported a number of different symptoms.

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While for some the coronavirus can lead to very serious illness and death, for others the symptoms may be so mild they may not be noticeable at all.

Those who do experience illness as a result of the virus have reported a range of different symptoms that can vary greatly from person to person.

Here is a selection of just a few patients who have come down with the virus, and what they experienced.

– Nadine Dorries, 62, Conservative MP for Mid-Bedfordshire

Health Minister Nadine Dorries was the first MP to be diagnosed with Covid-19. Both she and her 84-year-old mother came down with the virus at the beginning of March.

She said her symptoms included a persistent cough, achy muscles and intermittent night sweats.

Although the MP “turned a corner” after seven days, she said she still had not regained her sense of taste and smell by that time.

– Daryl Doblados, 29, project manager, Littleport, Cambridgeshire

Keen runner Daryl Doblados was diagnosed with Covid-19 after he dialled 111 and was taken to hospital by ambulance.

The father-of-two said he initially had a high fever and his body ached, then he began to get shivers and shortness of breath.

He was discharged from Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge eight hours after his arrival and is now self-isolating at home, where he is under instruction to dial 111 if his breathing worsens.

Coronavirus
Medical professionals arrive at the ExCel centre in London which is being made into a temporary hospital to help tackle coronavirus (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

He told the PA news agency: “The main symptom that I was really concerned about was the shortness of breath.

“I’m typically healthy, do a lot of exercises, run a lot as well.

“The main thing to describe the feeling is like your lungs filling up with smoke or liquid.

“It’s definitely a struggle to breathe. I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

– Idris Elba, 47, actor

The star of BBC drama Luther announced on Twitter last Monday that he was self-isolating after testing positive for Covid-19.

The actor said in a live broadcast on social media that, because he suffers from a “respiratory issue” and has had asthma all of his life, he fits “into the high category of most at risk”.

He said he was feeling “OK” and not experiencing any symptoms.

– Dr David Hepburn, intensive care consultant at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, South Wales

Dr Hepburn said he was left feeling “absolutely terrible”, despite being fit and young, and was left sleeping up to 18 hours a day.

He said: “It started off very innocuously – I had a burning sensation in my nose, I lost my sense of taste, I never had a cough, and then I’ve had a week of just feeling absolutely terrible.

“Aching muscles, aching bones and unable to get out of bed – sleeping 16, 18 hours a day.

“I’m on the mend now, thankfully, I hope, but I can’t emphasise to you how sick this can make you.”

– Chloe, 33, from London

Chloe told the PA news agency that the first symptom she experience was her legs aching “non-stop”.

She said: “I didn’t think too much of it as it was accompanied by no other symptoms.

“This continued throughout the week, constantly, to the point where they felt like they were throbbing and I couldn’t lie still. I was also feeling a general sense of malaise. I began taking paracetamol, which helped.”

Three days later she experienced a slight dry cough, and the following day woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, with her teeth chattering.

“I was generally feverish and fatigued throughout the day,” she said.

The next day the cough fully developed. A week after experiencing the first symptoms, she began to feel better with just a dry cough lingering.

– The Prince of Wales, 71

Heir the throne Charles has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Coronavirus
 The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus and is displaying mild symptoms ‘but otherwise remains in good health’, Clarence House has said (Aaron Chown/PA)

Clarence House said he is displaying “mild symptoms” but is in good health and spirits as he self-isolates.

Buckingham Palace said the 93-year-old Queen, who is staying at Windsor Castle with the 98-year-old Duke of Edinburgh, remains in good health and is following all appropriate advice.

– David and Sally Abel, 74, from Banbury, Oxfordshire

Retired couple David and Sally Abel were cruising on board the Diamond Princess for their 50th wedding anniversary when the ship was placed into quarantine, and they were later diagnosed with the Covid-19.

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David Abel receiving treatment for the coronavirus in a hospital in Japan (David Abel/PA)

Mr Abel developed acute pneumonia while in hospital in Japan and was later described as being “very weak”.

Speaking at the time, his son, Steve, said: “They are in a really bad way.

“Dad is very weak. He can’t walk around – he’s in a wheelchair now. I haven’t seen him in a wheelchair, but Mum tells me he has to be put in a wheelchair to go from the ambulance to the hospital.”

The couple both later recovered and flew back to the UK.

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