Cape Town - When Botrivier resident Mariana Arends received the news that she had been in close contact with a positive Covid-19 case, she had common cold and flu symptoms and was not sure whether she should be worried.
But the 42-year-old self-employed mother is also a Type 1 diabetic and decided to test for Covid-19 to be sure.
At the time there was a huge backlog in Covid-19 testing and she knew her test results could take a while.
While waiting for them, Arends was required to quarantine and had to make a tough decision: to stay home to be with her family or make use of a quarantine facility.
Arends realised it would be impossible for her to safely quarantine at home without putting her elderly parents and her children in danger.
After being tested, Mariana was taken to a guest house in Caledon where she could safely quarantine in her own room with her own bathroom. However, after four days the results of another person who was also in quarantine at the facility came back positive for Covid-19 and the Health Department team decided to move Arends to a different facility to reduce any risk of her becoming infected.
Arends was transferred to Houw Hoek Hotel for the rest of her quarantine.
“When I entered the facility, it immediately felt like home. The manager welcomed me and did not make me feel like I had the plague,” Arends said.
Staff went out of their way to make her comfortable, she said, adding that she felt more like a hotel guest than a patient at the facility.
“Because of my chronic condition, they adjusted my meals and made sure I constantly had something to eat and drink. They even maintained my love for coffee,” Arends said.
The health team checked in regularly to make sure her symptoms had not worsened.
“I would like to thank the health team from Theewaterskloof subdistrict for constantly checking in on me and even going the extra mile to deliver my chronic medication. I would also like to thank the professional nurse at the facility for the advice and for providing me with wool and knitting needles to keep myself entertained when I did not use the wi-fi or TV at the facility.”
She received her negative test result after 19 days of quarantine and was then discharged from the facility.
“Although I missed my family, my stay at the facility felt like a mini holiday,” Arends said.
“Making the decision to stay at a quarantine facility was the best decision I could make for my family. I never felt alone as I was in contact with my family and friends via social media and telephone calls.
“If there is any advice I can give to the community, it’s that people should not stigmatise community members who test positive or are contacts of a positive person. This can happen to anyone and we need to support one another,” Arends said.
Cape Times
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** If you think you have been exposed to the Covid-19 virus, please call the 24-hour hotline on 0800 029 999 or visit sacoronavirus.co.za