Early Covid-19 patients bring relief to thousands
Fame and the limelight have never been on Megan Smith’s radar.
Neither has the thought of being a go-to person for thousands of anxious, overwhelmed and frightened South Africans.
“It’s not what I am about. It is not my personality,” says the Cape Town hospitality businesswoman.
But because of Covid-19 her life changed overnight.
The disease has thrust her into new directions as thousands of South Africans, anxious about the virus and becoming infected, turn to her and her blog for advice, counselling and reassurance.
Smith and her family were among the first South Africans to be diagnosed with the deadly disease, which has killed about 5,000 fellow citizens and infected more than 250,000.
SA is ranked among the world’s top 10 countries for infections.
Smith and her family were on a skiing holiday in Switzerland when they became infected with Covid-19 in March.
“It happened on the one night that we went out while we were on holiday in Switzerland. We went out to a busy bar. I am convinced that while there we became infected.”
Smith and her family had no idea that they were infected until they had returned home.
“While there we thought, because of the cold and the wet, we had got the common cold.
“At that point in time there were only 18 cases of Covid-19 in Switzerland. It didn’t cross our minds that we had the virus.”
When they returned home her brother decided to get tested.
“When his results came back positive we all went and got tested.”
Days later the family had become SA’s first Covid-19 medical guinea pigs.
Learning that she was positive was not that alarming, she says.
“The shock for me was when my brother tested positive. By the time my results came back I think I had already begun to process and realise that the chance of me being positive was pretty high.”
She said she experienced different sets of emotions.
“There was definitely a feeling of shock. It’s like, oh no! I’m infected. Then you calm down and then you get worried again.”
She said that when they were diagnosed there were no set protocols on how they should deal with the disease, how long they should be quarantined for, or how long they would remain positive.
“The unknowns were huge. Three weeks after we first tested positive we were retested. We tested positive again. It just shows how many grey areas there are around this disease.”
Now negative, Smith said the help from the Western Cape health department and their doctors was “phenomenal”.
“Every day they would call, checking on symptoms, asking about how we had been feeling the day before, and whether we had felt any changes since then.”
Smith soon realised how the unknowns of the disease, along with media hype, were driving people’s fears.
“I realised that, because we were the first South Africans to be infected, and that this disease was rapidly encroaching on SA, it was important to talk to people about what we were going through, and how we were dealing with it.
“People wanted to know. That’s when I started the instagram account @livingcoronapositve which I have used to document exactly what we as family have been through.”
She said the interest has been overwhelming, with huge support and a growing number of followers.
“It has provided people, who are anxious, with a place to find answers and to hear from someone who has been infected and survived so that they can lighten their worries.”
Smith says the big message she gives to people is the importance of staying healthy.
“We are a very active family, and fortunately healthy, and that helped get us through this ordeal. It was definitely not fun and a very surreal and stressful experience, but we survived.
“My message to people out there as a survivor is that everything around corona is out of control, but one thing that we have control of is our mindset. Staying positive, looking ahead and keeping connected with family and friends is vital to surviving.”