NEGATIVE RESULT DOESN'T ALWAYS RETURN POSITIVE REACTION

Having a cotton swab thrust forcefully up your nasal cavity is an invasive and extremely uncomfortable experience, as I personally found out. It’s also one way to get tested for COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus.

Victoria’s Austin Health states that coronaviruses are a type of virus that can affect both humans and animals, with symptoms ranging from similar to that of the common cold to more serious respiratory infections. The global outbreak we are currently seeing has been deemed COVID-19; the coronavirus disease of 2019, which first began in Hubei Province in China around November.

A fever, sore throat, cough, tiredness, shortness of breath can all be symptoms of COVID-19. Spread via respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or exhales, the virus has infected over 2 million people worldwide, with a global death toll over 158,000 people, as stated by the Australian Government Department of Health.

The Guardian reports that Indonesia’s first official case of COVID-19 was confirmed on March 2.

Several days later, I returned home from Indonesia following a two-week holiday feeling run down with flu-like symptoms. I had a bad fever and my throat felt as though I’d been eating shards of glass. I was exhausted and could barely walk up the stairs in my house without needing to lie down. I had an awful cough and a terrifying pressure on my chest, making it difficult for me to breathe.

I phoned my work manager and told him about my situation.

“I got back from Bali on Friday. I was sick for a few days before that, but now I’m exhibiting flu-like symptoms,” I said.

“Don’t you come anywhere near work,” he told me. “Stay home, rest up and keep me updated.”

That evening I went to the Box Hill Hospital COVID-19 testing facility. I arrived just as they were closing, but after taking one look at me the nurses sent me to the Emergency Room. I spent half the night in an isolation unit waiting for a test swab. It never came, the hospital was too busy with too few doctors on a long weekend. I was sent home and told to return to the testing centre in the morning.

The next day was a public holiday: Labour Day. I sat in a waiting room in at the overcrowded and understaffed testing centre with well over 100 scared and confused other people. We were all waiting to get tested for the dreaded virus. After over five hours, I had my details and test taken by a doctor. Then I was sent home to wait. And wait.

On Wednesday, I received a call from the doctor saying that whilst they don’t have my COVID-19 results, I’d tested positive to Influenza A and there was still a possibility that I could have the coronavirus as well. Great.

By Friday I got a negative result and was told that if I felt well enough, I could stop self-isolating and return to work the following week. So, I did return on the following Monday. However, my welcome back to work was not what I expected. My otherwise friendly and welcoming colleagues seemed guarded and hesitant to even speak to me.

“But I tested negative, it was just the flu!” I’d exclaim, confused and hurt. My doctor had said I was no longer at risk of spreading Influenza A.

“That’s not the point,” I was told by my workmates. This treatment continued for around a week, even though I was displaying no symptoms whatsoever. Not even that of a cold.

The stigma surrounding COVID-19, regardless of a negative result, has begun to affect how people interact with and treat those around them.

I am not alone in my experience with coronavirus-related stigma.

Caroline Lunny, an American woman that appeared on The Bachelor US in 2018 and Bachelor in Paradise Australia 2019, has spoken out about how her positive diagnosis is affecting her.

"I have coronavirus," she captioned a photo of herself wearing gloves and a mask on Instagram. "I don't know why I feel embarrassed by this, like I feel like no one is ever going to want to hang out with me ever again."

67-year-old Denis Swift tested positive to COVID-19 after experiencing some mild symptoms. Swift says the trail of contagion was identified at the Eagle Bar in Eaglemont on March 17.

“Although the symptoms [were] flu-like, the more unique features were a dry cough and difficulty with breathing… [which] was scary,” he says.

Swift says that missing out on Good Friday and Easter lunches with family and friends was difficult, but that “any concerns [or] uneasiness by people were resolved [by] the 14-day quarantine period.”

He says that he is still not visiting his grandchildren and has cancelled one interstate and two international holidays, but that “the Department of Health has provided letters… indicating [he has] completed [his] quarantine period and… can return to work.”

21-year-old Melbourne woman Laura Scott is an airline cabin crew member, employed amongst other essential workers continuing to provide important services amidst the health crisis.

She says most passengers are desperate to get home. In such high-emotion situations, everyone reacts differently: though some passengers have been kind, most have been negative, irrational and verbally abusive.

“Whilst [some] have thanked our crew for putting ourselves at risk to get them home to their loved ones, I have experienced passengers verbally abusing other passengers for coughing or sneezing. I’ve even had passengers request to be re-seated as there was a person of Asian descent [seated] next to them,” she says.

Scott is even facing criticism from friends and members of the general public who’ve seen her in her flight uniform.

“I’ve been told that I shouldn’t be allowed out in public, that I’m helping to spread the virus,” she says.

In such a trying time, people should be banding together in support of recovery, not tearing each other down. Making work and daily life hard for essential workers is not doing anybody any favours.

We are still able to protect our wellbeing and that of our family without using harsh words and actions against others.