Read on Twitter
Ok, Twitter, let me add my two cents as I am recovering from #COVID2019, enfin. Unstructured thread...
While I've not maintained a detailed diary like many others out there, I've had the chance to trace the most likely transmission chain leading up to myself and further on. As to the letter, I believe that I have managed to notify the entirety of my contacts.
I most likely got infected 9 or 10 March and began developing symptoms in the evening of 13 March. Those were respiratory issues and partial loss of odour. No other symptoms, in particular none of those overlapping most with flu symptoms.
Having informed anyone I could have potentially infected prior to going in full self-quarantine, I embarked on roughly two weeks of fighting the virus. The first week was particularly harsh, not least given that I never had any respiratory problem or disease in my life.
On 17 March, four days after the onset and having gone through 4–5 moments in which I was about to call an ambulance as things were fairly scary, I decided to go for a 5 minutes walk to reach the nearest university hospital in a bid to get tested and/or diagnosed.
Having reached I witnesses a fairly makeshift but nonetheless professional environment to receive Covid19 suspects, separated from clinic business as usual. After a one-hour wait I was received.
While I was told that "only people about to die" would get an actual test, I was thoroughly checked by dedicated and competent nurses and doctors. Diagnosis: "we would not see anything else you could have contracted [than Covid19]".
I was discharged, sent home and put on sick leave for one week, and told not to leave my home until then. Having read stuff, I wondered and asked for the medical basis of that timeframe. The doctor's response (with rolling eyes): "it is the current government rule".
My visit to the hospital made me understand two things: first, medical staff is doing a Herculanean job despite the fact they are overwhelmed and serious knowledge is work in progress, and second, they do not receive the level of competent institutional backup they deserve.
Back in quarantine, I was lucky to receive daily phone consultations by two doctor friends – both Congolese – an epidemiologist and a specialist on genetics. Thanks to them, I managed to stay mostly calm while observing my own state of health and learn an awful lot of stuff.
After around two weeks of first deteriorating and than improving symptoms, including a few rebound moments, I went from actual Covid19 symptoms to after-effects. As respiratory problems and thorax pain subsided, I went on with slight muscular pains in that same area.
As per medical judgment (which I am unable to muster myself), those meanwhile subsiding pains are typical as the body slowly recovers. And my passage through the weirdness that is Covid19 was pretty much a medium case, not too mild, not life-threatening.
While I pertain to no risk group (age, predisposition, auto-immune problems etc.), it is likely that having been a regular smoker until 9 months ago, having not had holidays since August 2018 and too many nightshifts at work got me from a mild or no-symptom case to a medium one.
Now, three weeks of solitary confinement and a lack of strength and stamina regarding my actual work offered lots of time to watch around and read stuff. I realised that we basically still don't know much (even though self-declared pundits pretend...).
Yet, one of the few studies I found encouraging and solid (I stand corrected if there is more...) as I began checking on questions of contagion was the following @TheLancet piece: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2820%2930566-3/fulltext
Based on a sample of 191 patients in Wuhan, it finds – in a nutshell – that Covid19 patients are not contagious anymore after an average of 20 days after first symptoms, the full range oscillating from 8–37 days and a tendency of longer periods for more severe cases.
However, I haven't found a solid answer to the question of immunisation as doubts persist in the virologist community. However, as some stated, it is unlikely that Covid19 that different to other Coronaviridae and other viruses that there wouldn't be any antibody creation at all.
Moreover, I followed (open) debates on the question of mutation. We know Influenza mutates at extreme pace, while Ebola doesn't at all. As for Covid19, some argued there is mutation (cf Influenza) while others contend strains of the same virus develop in parallel (cf Ebola).
As a reminder, this is all my own mediocre digestion of debates and observations done by competent other people so let's not take this for granted but as ongoing reflection which we must continue patiently and carefully.
However, Covid19 is not the only global pandemic we are facing right now. There are at least two others, and they're as contagious and infectious, perhaps even harder to tackle. Capitalism, colonialism and racism. Unsurprisingly, they all work very well together.
Bear with me if I forget the majority of thoughtful and timely contributions that have been made by folks smarter than I, but here are a few things that stuck to my mind as I tried to understand how neoliberal austerity has beefed up Covid19.
I leave all these uncommented except the fact that there is so much more to dig up on the possible and probable intersections of global pandemic, neoliberal capitalism, colonialism and racism.
There is also, and that's one of the best byproducts of this situation, an unprecedented move to render broader streams of knowledge accessible. Free access by @haymarketbooks @VersoBooks @DukePress and many others are a blessing in time of crisis.
As we see gruesome bits of apocalyptic imagery wandering around the world and as we waver between trust and skepticism towards our institutions, it is beyond doubt, for the least that we must simultaneously employ key individual measures and not panic but take things seriously.
We also need to carefully balance between implementing and questioning the rules that are imposed here and there and everywhere. As humans, we ought to make efforts and be capable to jointly juggle multiple challenges. Therefore, ten things, unexhaustively:
1) Keep your distance, wash your hands, stay at home unless you must carry out an indispensable errand (food/water, medical, essential tasks for society).
2) Places are different in this world and one good measure for one place may not be the best fit. Challenge your governments to apply measures that both contain the pandemic and avoid secondary effects as much as possible (spoiler: yes, they do exist).
3) Propagate medically-sound and common-sense rules but call out repression and fake news. Physical abuse and FOX-like lunatism have been legion as of late, justified and/or triggered by Covid19.
4) Fight racism, colonialism and bigotry everywhere. And be kind to humans. Consider that you may be more privileged than others.
5) Demand serious engagement by everyone, including yourself to effect on the smaller and larger scale. Do errands, be in touch, offer solace and jokes.
6) Participate in reflections on what can be done better. Western countries evacuate their citizens from poorer countries (to which, ironically, Westerners brought the virus). But why doesn't each evacuation flight bring one ventilator in return?
7) Learn your lessons, don't fall back in collective amnesia. If Covid19 will wake us up to finally elect serious leaders where we can, and stand up to fight for that chance where we can't yet, then humanity has won something.
8) Learn from Covid19 – it does not make a difference between human beings (at best, it hits harder on the jet-set in the short run), it is us allowing a difference in the medium- to long-run impacts...
9) Learn solidarity. I've got no lessons to teach myself but I am in awe as to how many sisters and brothers from anywhere but the Global South in particular (
ba ndugu na ba dada...) have consistently checked on me in the past three weeks.
ba ndugu na ba dada...) have consistently checked on me in the past three weeks.
10) Let's disinfect ourselves from each of the pandemics we're facing right now: #Covid19, #Capitalism, #Colonialism and #Racism. Stay safe, wherever you are 
