Yes. I can humbly say I have been Covid-free and I hope staying like that. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been lots of articles on what to do when you test positive and people were freaking out until it became something ‘acceptable’.
According to figures released on March 14, 2022, Seychelles registered 39,761 cumulative cases of Covid-19 since March 2020 and so far 39,367 have recovered with 163 deaths and 231 active cases.
Among these numbers we have also expatriates and tourists. So many of us have not caught Covid-19 yet and what are we doing to stay safe or are we just lucky?
Personally, I am a vulnerable person being diabetic and I had two doses of Sinopharm and one dose of Pfizer. I travelled twice last year: once to attend a conference alongside 2,000 people and the other time to see my dad who is in hospital in Mauritius. For 31 days I visited the hospital twice daily and still managed not to catch Covid-19. I did go to restaurants and also to some shops.
What did I do extra…nothing much. Every single day I was wearing my mask religiously and also sanitise or wash my hands. At home also we are all very conscious of our daily routine and our masks have become part of our daily outfit.
We make it a must to protect each other as both my husband and I work with the public and our daughter is at school. We do not take any unnecessary risk or even visit friends etc.
After my travel to Mauritius, which I was sure I was going to be positive, I kept wondering why I did not get Covid-19? So I asked a few of my friends and our readers, who like me, have not been Covid positive yet, around the world about their daily routines.
Here is what they had to say:
Kenny: “For me, the basic: at work social distancing, wearing mask and change it two or three times a day and always having sanitiser (one should be always in the car). At home: nothing changes, same habits like before Covid. We use to forget about it to live our normal life. But do instruct our children to apply sanitary measures set outside of the house.”
Dave:“It’s all about breathing. Wearing masks is primordial. Do steam inhalation when suspected to have been exposed.”
Malika:“No socialising and I stayed home to work, I followed protocol by wearing mask, avoid crowded areas and sanitise. And most importantly get vaccinated.”
Shama:“I’ve never had Covid. I’m double vaccinated. I go to work every day. I do socialise. I try to always remember to sanitise but sometimes it slips my mind. I wear mask whenever in areas with lots of people, but have also been without a mask when at restaurant or office. Also travelled this summer and was in a country where mask was not mandatory so didn’t wear and didn’t catch Covid.”
Robelly:“I was already vaccinated twice since February 2021. When my daughter got infected early January 2022 and we were abroad sharing the same room and with me being pregnant. I removed my mask only for eating/drinking/bathing and I even slept in it. I washed my hands constantly and sanitised regularly. We used separate plate/cutlery/glass. We did not share beds. We changed the bed sheets every day. Disinfect the entire room floor/all surface with disinfectant every morning. We ate a lot of fruits and drunk vitamin C and Zinc every morning. Sad part is we could not hug or kiss for 15 days because we had to keep at least one metre away from each other.”
Ana:“I’ve been vaccinated and in general I’ve always been obsessed with hygiene. However, I do socialise, eat out, and was never worried about Covid as I’m a healthy person and tend to gravitate towards a positive mindset. We also travelled this past summer and didn’t wear masks. I’m making more of an effort to live our lives as normal as possible and I’m OVER Covid as we just have to live with it.”
Tracy: “I have worked out of the home. Keep socialising minimal to only a few friends and family. I kept away from older relatives and worn my mask in public places, washed my hands often…kept positive and tried to live a normal life.”
Sasha:“I can’t confidently say that my habits are the reason I didn’t contract Covid-19. Many like myself have done everything “right” and still ended up quite ill. I do believe the vaccine helped more at risk persons like myself though. I fulfilled my civic duties, followed guidelines strictly at first. But I wasn’t always careful; it became exhausted both physically and mentally. I shared meals with colleagues who got Covid twice already in less than six months, sat close to people in restaurants, been around family members who tested positive ? and yet I’ve been spared. My husband works in the medical field and despite being exposed to positive cases, he also has not contracted it. There’s a lot we do not know about this illness. We could have had it in 2020 and not even known, at this point. Perhaps some people just don’t contract Covid at all, as we’ve seen in some cases with the HIV epidemic. To me the global response to the pandemic was scarier than the pandemic itself – driven mostly by fear and lack of common sense. It shows we are nowhere near ready for any existential threat or global challenge. And let’s face it – if Covid first started and spread on the African continent, we wouldn’t have had such intense restrictions.”
Bob Benoni:“Well, first I am very grateful that I did not get infected with Covid-19 during the whole pandemic. Since the beginning, about two years ago, I have avoided big crowds. I just go to the gym early in the morning, go to work at my office and then go home. In my home town Tromsø, far up north in Norway, beyond the Arctic Circle, I was the first one to start wearing cloth masks and people looked at me strangely and laughed. They didn’t expect the virus to spread so far and so much. Whenever I go out of my house, I have my mask on, when I take the bus and when I go shopping for groceries, my mask is on. I wash my hands as often as I can. I always have a little bottle of hand sanitiser in my bag. I take social distancing very seriously; 2 metres distance at least.
“Since I am diagnosed with a little bit of asthma, my doctor made sure that I quickly became vaccinated with two doses of the Pfizer vaccine when it became available in Norway. I travelled to Praslin, Seychelles last summer (summer of 2021) and stayed for two months. There also, I kept the same measures: no big crowds, mask on, good hygiene, work and then go home to relax. When I came back to Norway last autumn, I took the third dose, this time the Moderna vaccine.
“But what mostly kept me healthy all the way through the pandemic and made me avoid being infected with the Covid-19 virus is that I have a routinely habit of drinking warm tea made of ginger, garlic, lemon and honey (all raw). I even chew the raw ginger. That I have in my pocket. And when I go to bed, I rub my forehead, neck and chest with Tiger Balm (fantastic Chinese medicine). All these measures, precautions and my carefulness made me avoid being a victim of this gruesome Covid-19 virus. Yay!”
Cecile Françoise:“I followed the procedures as advised by the ministry of health. Had lots fruits especially oranges and lemons, intake of a homemade concoction once in a while, veg, plenty liquids, mind exercises and mediations (training myself not to be friendly with any diseases) and always having a positive mindset and being happy I guess. Keeping fingers crossed and hoping for better days…”
Siva Murday:“I follow a vegetarian diet and do lots of exercises. I eat lots of fruits, spicy food and rasam. I regularly drink tea with ginger, lemon honey. I listen to classical music, certain raga evoke emotions that affect immune system and by the way I am not vaccinated.”
Noella Gappy:“I wash my hands, sanitise my hands, wear my mask and keep social distancing. Have taken my two doses and booster. I do not mix with other people and respect the protocol of the Ministry of Health.”
Maureen Payet:“Well I think it’s because I wash my hands like every minute and I always wear my mask.”
Source: Seychelles Nation
