Sam remembers being told to work from home in March 2020 when the pandemic first hit the UK. He remembers being a bit worried that his business would dry up. As he explains, “being a freelancer, of course, I was fully aware that I was on quite thin ice given most companies were looking to make cutbacks.” Sam says these next few months were hard on his mental health. He says he was bored and wanted to return to work.

Sam caught Covid in February 2021. He is unsure how he caught it because he was working from home and rarely going outside. Sam’s only explanation is that he caught it while going to the supermarket or fetching a takeout. Sam says that he did not think he had Covid at first because he only had a fever, and he did not lose his taste or smell. He did not even feel unwell enough to skip work.

After a few days, Sam said he was pressured by his housemate to get a Covid test which came back positive. Sam said he was feeling pretty much ok by this point, but he did lose his taste. He says, “there wasn’t one particular food that was unbearable.” At this point, Sam deliberately rested and started to feel better after two to three weeks. Sam says that he feels that he has fully recovered from Covid. He has reinstated everything he was doing before Covid such as running and playing football.

Sam caught Covid again later that year in the summer. Not realising that he had Covid, he had his second dose of vaccine at the same time. His initial symptoms were similar to the first time he had Covid, but he found that some symptoms persisted for several months. Managing tiredness was a particular challenge. Sometimes he felt his energy levels were so low that it was like being ‘unplugged’. He found that rest and changing his diet helped with managing his fatigue.