Derry Journal Editorial - Old foe, we meet again: Covid still very much with us

Things are different this time round. There are no daily briefings from lecterns, no case breakdowns, lockdowns, mandatory social distancing and masks. And yet, anecdotally at least, we are hearing more and more about relatives, friends, neighbours either testing positive or displaying symptoms. This time though without PCR centres and readily available home test kits it’s often harder to know if you have it, given the symptoms can be similar to other viruses, and it is also harder to gauge just how prevalent it is.

If you are anything like me, with Covid it had become a case of out of sight, out of mind. And so it came as something of a surprise after a night of shivering and feeling extremely tired a fortnight ago to realise I might have Covid again. I found a few old lateral flow tests and there it was, the dreaded double line. Cue a week of isolation, coughing and spluttering and feeling generally pretty terrible. Déjà vu.

I’ve still no idea where or how I got it. This was my fourth bout of it since the pandemic started. Thankfully, bar some sinus trouble, I’m not experiencing the debilitating fatigue that lingered on previous occasions. But it affects everyone differently, and for some people it can be very nasty indeed. So it might be an idea just to take a few precautions to protect ourselves and those we love. Just in case.