Beating Covid: My son ran away after I was discharged from isolation

In the series dubbed ‘Beating Covid,’ we trace victims who caught the virus and overcame it. Robert Muhereza brings you the story of Paddy Mwesigye, a senior health official in Kabale District, who tested positive for Covid-19 in October,  last year, but recovered  after 14 days in an isolation centre where he received treatment.  

Mr Paddy Mwesigye tested positive for corona virus in October last year. At that time he was the officer-in-charge of Kamukira Health Centre IV in Kabale Town and the Covid-19 focal person for Kabale Municipality.
Mwesigye, who is the current assistant district health officer for Kabale in charge of maternal and child health, says he was very scared after health officials at Kabale hospital informed him that he had tested positive for coronavirus.

“I was at home at around 8.30pm when the Kabale hospital administrators called me on phone informing me that I had tested positive for coronavirus and all they wanted was for me to get prepared to be picked by the hospital ambulance that was to take me to Kabale hospital isolation centre. I thought I was observing the setout standard operating procedures (SOPs) as I did my coronavirus surveillance task that was given to me by the district Covid-19 task force, so I was shocked. I pleaded with them, assuring them that I would report myself very early morning the next day, which they accepted. I did not sleep the whole night because I was so scared,” Mwesigye says.

His wife was equally frightened after he told her about his health status. Luckily for him, all the family members tested negative for coronavirus shortly after he was admitted.
The first hour at the isolation unit, Mwesigye says, was the worst experience ever in his life as he started thinking about the future of his family members.
He later composed himself and started sharing messages on social media telling friends and relatives that he had tested positive for coronavirus.
 
The responses from them strengthened him as they all promised to pray for his quick recovery.
“After one day in the isolation unit, I started mapping out where I could have gotten the virus from. My mind quickly went to three Indians that I got in contact with as I was doing my coronavirus surveillance work in Kabale Town. I later confirmed that I actually got it from them when I saw them in the isolation unit,” he says.

The only symptoms he had at the time was cough and flu although he later developed deep venous thrombosis (a blood clot) that became a serious threat to his life. He started on expensive medication that included tablets and injections that were costly because one tablet cost him Shs12,000 and an injection cost Shs80,000, each of which he had to take daily for the 14 days he spent at the isolation unit.

“For flu and cough I was advised to take plenty of fruits and drinking water; I spent about Shs20,000 on these per day besides receiving Vitamin C and antibiotic tablets,” Mwesigye adds.
Another of the terrible moments he faced was when members of the public would ridicule him on social media as they claimed that he was faking sickness to prove that Covid-19 was real despite the fact that he was among the district task force members that appeared on different radio stations telling people to observe the SOPs to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

This was because at that time many people believed that Covid-19 was not real in Uganda and that the government was using it as a tool to suffocate the politicians that had started warming up for different political seats.

“After observing that there was tension in the isolation unit, I formed a committee of Covid-19 patients, and I became the chairman. Later on we developed a WhatsApp group for sharing experiences besides demanding for our rights as patients. This social media group helped us to alert the health workers that were attached to the isolation unit about our challenges, which they quickly responded to,” Mwesigye says.

The committee provided counselling services to the very sick colleagues, and by the time he left the isolation unit, there was no more stigma as all patients had gained hope and confidence of getting well.
The committee also raised money from friends, relatives and well-wishers, which was used to buy fruits and good food for patients that were needy.

Mwesigye believes opening up and telling people on social media that he had Covid-19 helped him to get well quickly, unlike those that kept it as a secret.
But he faced another tough moment even after he had recovered.

“After being discharged from the Kabale hospital isolation centre, I went home and on reaching there, my six-year old boy ran away from me telling others that I had brought coronavirus home. I developed serious emotional pains for some minutes but later composed myself. I told everyone at home that I was now healed and I had been discharged from the hospital isolation centre,” Mr Mwesigye says.

ADVICE ON COVID-19

Paddy Mwesigye’s advice to the sick is that they should avoid stigma by opening up and telling everyone about their illness, adding that most of those that developed serious complications was a result of stigma.

“If I had lost hope, I don’t think I would have been able to do interviews for the district job (assistant district health officer-in-charge of maternal and child health) after getting healed from coronavirus. My advice to those that are not yet sick is that they should continuously observe the SOPs to avoid contracting this killer virus. They should improve their body immunity by having a balanced diet.

The government should offer special financial support to the health workers that contract the disease while on duty so that they can afford to buy medicine in case they develop complications,” he adds.

He warns the public against self-medication saying that they rather seek medical services in case they develop symptoms related to those of coronavirus, in order to get better treatment by trained health workers because coronavirus is real and it kills.