“Initially, I was surprised I caught Covid as I had no symptoms”, my brother says while sitting on his bed watching a YouTube video of the Sidemen.
Antonio’s first semester at Hartpury College was nearly over for the Christmas holidays. He was planning to meet his friends and go to family Christmas dinners. But on Friday morning, he and my mum tested positive for the virus.
“I felt really upset as it meant I had to isolate for 10 days at home” he remembers, as this was when the number of positive cases were rising high.
This meant that he couldn’t leave our house to celebrate the festivities with his friends.
Although Antonio had to wear masks around the house, and keep his distance from the rest of us, he still had the comfort of his own bedroom, where he spent most of his time playing games.
Throughout his isolation, having his Xbox and social media meant he was still able to socialise with his mates to keep him entertained.
“This made me feel ten times better than I was to begin with as they supported me throughout, which prevented me from feeling sad”.
In a recent study by Barr & Copeland-Stewart from the University of Glasgow, they found that playing videos games during the pandemic helped improve mental health. It enabled people to socialise with friends in an extremely lonely time.
While nodding in agreement, my brother continued, “it’s a lot easier to keep in contact with mates when you’re in times like this with Covid”.
However, on the third day of isolating, he came back with a negative test. What a relief!
“I was so relieved to see my 3rd result come up as negative”, Antonio remembers joyfully. Even though he still had to isolate, my brother was glad to be free from the virus, and we both helped our mother with chores around the house as she still had Covid.
Antonio then gives out some advice for those currently in isolation. The important one was patience. “This is only temporary and life will get a lot better” he assured me, as he put on the Xbox to play GTA online. My brother also recommended to “listen to the rules and regulations from the government and take the vaccines as soon as possible”.
The last thing he told me was his luck that he has already had the virus, and hopes that having it will mean he won’t get infected again. “It felt a bit surreal as I can say I’ve had Covid” Antonio recalls, “and I know what it’s like to go through the experience of isolating”.
As I left his bedroom to let him socialise with his friends, I felt glad to know I understand more about what it feels like to isolate while being infected with the virus.
I’m lucky I have him as a brother.
