My Bizarre Experience With a ‘Mild’ COVID-19 Infection

This was like no flu I’ve ever had

“This is the most bizarre virus I’ve ever had,” my boyfriend said for what felt like the fiftieth time as he put the kettle on. But I knew exactly what he meant.

Both of us had fallen prey to Covid-19 just ten days before Christmas. And while we were incredibly lucky to experience mild cases, neither of us had faced anything like this before.

His illness had started with a headache on a Sunday–just a day after we had spent the day in York, enjoying the Christmas market and shopping for the holidays. Neither of us had any symptoms. There was nothing to indicate anything was amiss.

By that Sunday evening, my boyfriend had a fever and was shivering. He sat curled up on the swivel chair in the living room and looked wiped out. I helped him book a Covid-19 test at a nearby testing facility, and he called his boss to let him know. He was told not to go back to work unless he had a negative test result.

On Monday morning, he took a test. By Monday evening, his results came in — he was positive.

For me, the anxiety was crippling. I watched him sit in the living room, blanket wrapped around him, completely sapped of energy. I panic bought cough syrup and supplements and a thermometer and paid obscene amounts to get our shopping delivered. I read every article and panicked even more — so many people had a mild case and suddenly took a turn for the worse.

He explained to his parents that we wouldn’t make it to theirs for Christmas. It was one of those rare occasions when your love for people could only be shown by staying away and keeping them safe.

A week later, my boyfriend lost his sense of smell and taste. I’d made a chicken roast and he couldn’t taste any of it. I remember him saying: “The texture feels lovely.” Bless him, he was trying to compliment my cooking but could find no other honest way to do it.

It is estimated that around 40% of people with the virus experience a loss of taste or smell.

Six days after my boyfriend tested positive, I started feeling ill. It was my last day at work before the holidays — I was working from home. I felt like I was in a bit of a daze and I had a bit of a head too. By that evening, I had developed a fever.

My virus progressed just like his had. I developed a low-grade fever. I felt completely sapped of energy as I curled up in the living room and watched Boris Johnson cancel Christmas.

So far — nothing out of the ordinary. A mild illness progressing like a mild illness might.

Then, I lost my sense of smell and taste as well. But this wasn’t your usual congestion where food tasted a bit off and your nose was a little stuffy. Oh no. This was a complete and total loss of senses that came on instantaneously.

One minute I could smell the lavender incense stick we lit, the next minute I couldn’t. That was it. I mean — I remember it clearly because I decided the incense stick was “broken” and walked right up to it and took a biiiiig whiff. I burned my nostrils as I inhaled the hot smoke but could smell nothing.

But what does nothing smell like? Surprisingly, a bit like stale seawater — or a faint whiff of the ocean when you’re underwater. That’s your constant companion.

The shower gel smells like nothing, the garlic, and onion frying in the skillet smells like nothing. The food barely registers.

We still made a massive Christmas feast — it was just for us and we could barely taste it, but it felt like a small act of defiance. We couldn’t be with our loved ones, but we wouldn’t be moping at home.

The fever ended and the cough came. The lack of taste and smell remained. In some cases, people do not regain their smell or taste for months.

At night, anxiety plagued me. Thoughts of the illness suddenly turning worse, shortness of breath that I hoped I was imagining, stories of people who were dead within three weeks of contracting the virus swirled around my head.

During the day, I never knew what to expect. Some days it felt like we’d both made a recovery. Then, light exertion made me feel ill. Coughing fits came on. The whole thing felt like moving through a sort of fog, unsure of what would come next. That was the most terrifying part.

It was a couple of days after Christmas that both my boyfriend and I realised we were ‘out of the woods’. His taste and smell returned first — gradually.

For me? My sense of smell returned in snippets. I was in the shower and caught a whiff of my shower gel. I lit an incense stick and could faintly smell it. I’d taken all of this for granted. I’d never experienced such gratitude and relief — being able to smell and taste again felt like a victory.

This virus is bizarre — for some, it is a death sentence, for others, a mild inconvenience. The most terrifying bit? You don’t know where you’ll end up until you’ve fully recovered.

A week later my friend said a mutual acquaintance was in the hospital with the virus struggling to breathe. I knew him well from our childhood–a healthy, active 25-year-old with no underlying health conditions. He was terrified because he lost his grandpa to the pandemic, not a month prior.

This virus knows no rhyme or reason.