(Eagle News) – A Filipina who has been living in Spain for eight years and who was recently confirmed to have been infected with coronavirus was interviewed by Eagle Broadcasting Corporation in Barcelona after she had been discharged from the hospital to recover at home.
Arianne Canopio, 25, said she decided to come out to tell her experience to give hope to those with COVID-19. Her message, they can beat the virus and recover.
In an interview via video chat with EBC’s Eagle News Service correspondent Lyn Tumbaga Diez in Spain, Canopio said that it all started with a flu and sore throat that felt dry on Monday, March 9. She had no cough nor colds, and still managed to go to work for a couple of days, although she felt exhausted.
When she consulted a doctor, Arianne was told there was nothing to worry about as it was only a common flu. She rested at home, took some medicines and got better.
But after a few days, she felt shortness of breath “as if I have asthma,” she said.
Resting at home did not change anything. That was when she realized this was not the usual flu, Arianne told EBC in an interview.
She went back to the clinic for a checkup. An x-ray showed her left lung had an infection, and that she may have pneumonia.
She was tested for COVID-19 on Friday, March 13. Her results came out positive the next day, Saturday, March 14.
“Natakot po ako nung sinabi na nag-positive ako kasi di ko alam kung kailan makakalabas, kung gagaling pa ako,” Arianne recounted as the check-up at the clinic in Barcelona progressed to admission to a public hospital.
At the hospital, she couldn’t receive visitors. Nurses and doctors “in full gear” checked her daily, checking her vital signs, and taking blood samples for tests. They were not allowed to stay for more than an hour.
She was totally alone in the room. The worst was not seeing her family all throughout her hospital stay, Arianne said.
She was given five tablets daily, while the antibiotics were given through dextrose.
When she got a bit better after six days, the hospital decided to discharge her without having her tested for a second time.
At that time, the hospital has been swamped with admissions by those needing more medical attention. It was filled with patients.
The hospital told her to rest and fully recover at home.
“Maraming tao na mas nangangailangan sa hospital,” Arianne said in the interview with EBC’s Lyn Diez.
She was just asked to call the hospital if the symptoms will return after two weeks.
-Importance of staying at home amid COVID-19 outbreak-
Arianne advises Filipinos to take this virus seriously, and to stay at home as much as possible.
“Kailangan nilang seryosohin talaga yung virus. Kasi hindi ito biro. Ako personally naranasan ko yung hirap. Yung epekto ng virus. Dati akala ko wala lang, parang trangkaso lang. Pero iba-iba ang epekto sa tao, lalo na sa nakatatanda,” she said.
She stressed the importance of staying at home amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“Mag-stay sa bahay para maiwasan lalo ang pagkalat ng virus. Sana maintindihan nila,” she said.
Arianne assures her family back home in the Philippines that she’s okay while recovering at home. She’s with her husband in Spain, while her daughter stays in another place.
“Pahinga lang po, maraming pahinga. Hindi pa po puedeng gumawa ng mabigat na bagay,” she says for those who are recovering from the infection like her.
Eating lots of fruits and vegetables, having enough sleep, staying positive while in quarantine at home, and being clean at all times, is needed as one recovers.
“With lots of courage, Arianne chose to tell her experience to serve as a warning to everyone that COVID-19 is not an ordinary viral infection. She also wish to be an inspiration to those who are still suffering with Covid19, that there is a chance of recovery, another chance to live our life and make the most out of it,” EBC’s Diez says in her report.
(EBC Spain Bureau correspondent Lyn Tumbaga Diez interviewed Arianne Joy Canopio, on Saturday, March 21, via video chat, two days after she had been discharged from the hospital.)
Eagle News Service
