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‘Living with Covid-19’ in Singapore: six days of home isolation, multiple ARTs and a care package from my MP too

  • When triple-vaccinated Alan John got Covid-19, he lost his sense of taste and couldn’t smell the coffee at breakfast
  • It felt no worse than the flu but he was tired all the time, even after being told at the end of Day 6 that he was free to leave home isolation

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Alan John’s antigen rapid test result was still positive 72 hours after he was first confirmed with Covid-19. Photo: Alan John

It all happened quickly. On January 18 evening, I had a sore throat and a cough. The next morning, I felt worse and went to a clinic, even though the do-it-yourself swab test I did at home was negative.

“This is probably not Covid but let’s test you because of your medical history,” the doctor said, referring to my age, 68, and the clutch of prescribed medicines I take every morning for this, that and everything else.

He did an antigen rapid test (ART) as well as a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test before sending me home, adding the results would arrive by text message from Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH).

The ART result came before lunchtime and was negative. Six hours later, however, the PCR test result arrived: Positive.

And just like that, I became a Covid-19 patient in the middle of January.

For all of us at home – my wife, two children, our helper and me – this was our “OMG Covid!” moment.

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