On December 3, last year, 30-year-old Jean Léonard Dukuzumuremyi, who hails from Musanze District, woke up feeling weak. He woke up with a number of Covid-19 symptoms, but thought it was just fatigue and needed more rest. Ten days later, the illness worsened, so much that he opted to go to hospital for a Covid-19 test. “I did not expect to have the virus because, like many other citizens, I used to adhere to the Covid-19 guidelines,” he recalls. Dukuzumuremyi recalls the mental pressure he encountered upon being informed he had tested positive for the virus. “The doctors came and asked me to enter a room. Of course, I started to get afraid. When I got there, they informed me that I had tested positive for coronavirus,” says Dukuzumuremyi. But how did he receive the news then? “To learn that you are suffering from a disease which has no cure is mentally troubling,” said Dukuzumuremyi. Near breaking point Dukuzumuremyi’s illness intensified as he experienced difficulties in breathing. This prompted the doctors to transfer him to a Rubavu District-based Covid-19 treatment facility. After the first night there, he became severely ill, prompting the doctors to place him under intensive care where he was put on a ventilator. He started to imagine how long he would be confined to an isolated room. This is the one particular moment that haunted him the most during his illness. “Imagining that I was on oxygen-breathing support, I started to lose hope. I did not believe that I would heal,” Dukuzumuremyi says. “I thought I would be one of the statistics of the Covid-19 fatalities.” These fears, coupled with loneliness and physical weakness, aggravated Dukuzumuremyi situation. “Covid-19 becomes worse because you are alone, no one to comfort you,” he said as he talked about the severe effects of Covid-19. “Coronavirus weakens all your internal organs and you become unimaginably painful.” After three days on the ventilator, Dukuzumuremyi started recovering and after a week, he was released to be treated under the home-based care. Ten days later he tested negative. Commendable approach by the government Dukuzumuremyi commends the government for its effective approach in the fight against the virus, especially on sensitizing the citizens. Dukuzumuremyi has some advice for people who still disregard the Covid-19 national guidelines, especially the youth whom, he says, continue to indulge and organise parties in their houses. “Covid is real, painful and is claiming lives,” As of January 26, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year was 13,885. Of these, 8,861 have recovered while 181 have succumbed to the virus, according to Rwanda Biomedical Centre.
