This is definitely not flu pain: COVID-19 patient

KIRKLARELI, Turkey

Having recovered from the novel coronavirus, a Turkish woman recounted her painful ordeal with aches from her joints to her fingertips, which she said was "definitely not flu pain."

"I had sore eyes for two days. I couldn't open them. The aches in the back of the neck, the back and muscles are very severe, as if from a car accident. I gave birth twice, I had never experienced any pain like pain," said Gulumser Dogan, an employee at a local health directorate in northwest Turkey.

"This is definitely not flu pain. All your joints hurt up to your fingertips."

Dogan, 47, went to the hospital on March 27, suffering from a high fever. After testing positive for the virus, she began treatment.

She remained in the hospital for six days and in quarantine at home for 14 days, she related, adding that the disease had taken a toll on her mentally as well.

"After six days of treatment, I stayed in quarantine at home for 14 days. Within this time, we even separated our bathrooms with my husband and daughter," she lamented.

However, these precautions did not stop the virus from infecting her husband, Saban.

Dogan told Anadolu Agency that she had later been hospitalized again as she did not recover despite treatment.

Saban, 55, said they did not leave the house with his wife for about four months.

Urging people to be more careful as the pandemic continues to spread, he said: "It's actually easy to protect yourself from this disease.

"You should wear your mask, you should follow social distancing, you should take care of your hygiene. People don't pay much attention to masks, hygiene and social distancing rules outside. If they had experienced this disease like us, believe me, they wouldn't even put their heads out the window."

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 694,000 lives in at least 188 countries and regions since emerging in Wuhan, China last December.

Over 18.3 million cases have been reported worldwide, with the US, Brazil, India and Russia currently the hardest-hit countries, according to figures compiled by US-based Johns Hopkins University.

The data shows more than half of all patients -- over 10.9 million -- have recovered so far.

* Writing Seda Sevencan