I was excited on 21 March 2020, as it was two days before my birthday. My twin sister and I had plans to celebrate it in a special way, but on that day President Ramaphosa announced a national lockdown due to COVID-19.
We started researching the virus symptoms, what the lockdown meant and things that we should and shouldn’t do. My sister is an essential worker and we have toddlers in the house, so she had to be very cautious. We followed all of the safety precautions, but unfortunately we still got infected and were quarantined at home. We started to feel lonely and weak from being in isolation, and also lost track of time. I lost my appetite and became weaker day by day.
Luckily we were able to share what we were going through with family, friends and colleagues who assisted us with moral and emotional support. The telephonic communications helped us a lot through those difficult times because we felt that we were not alone or being discriminated against. Although it wasn’t easy for us or our children, we have a story to tell about the meaning of the words love and care.
Thankfully we both recovered and gained our strength – we survived COVID-19!
