June

Age at interview: 60s
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Black Caribbean
Background: June is in her 60s and is Black Caribbean. She works for the council as a registrar and is also doing a part-time Masters course. June ordered Covid tests online after feeling unwell in December 2020, which confirmed that she had been infected. As June’s symptoms worsened, she called NHS 111 and her GP, who recommended calling an ambulance. A paramedic told her that she would be alright to recover at home. June experienced symptoms of long Covid which lasted for several months.

When the pandemic started, June’s supervisor asked if she wanted to work from home. June felt like this was very generous given that there was no national lockdown. June initially hesitated, but then realised it was probably the right thing to do given that she has underlying health problems and this change could reduce her travel time.

After a while, June did not like working from home. She missed her colleagues and decided to go back to the office. One day, in December 2020, she was driving home from work and felt a bit odd, similar to a cold or flu at its early stages. After a few days June felt worse. June thought of going to a Covid test centre, but she felt too unwell to drive. She decided to order a test through the post.

June says she felt awful. She was having a combination of different pain-relieving medications which were not very effective. She also tried some herbal remedies that her friend recommended, which included a mixture of lemon, lime, black pepper, turmeric, and ginger. June lost her appetite and was not eating much.

June’s condition got worse, so she rang the NHS 111 helpline. She was also called by her GP who recommended calling an ambulance. An ambulance came and a paramedic assessed June. He felt like her stats were within safe levels, and that she could recover at home. June recovered from some of her initial symptoms, but experienced long-term fatigue that meant it was several months before she could return to work.

June recalls when Belly Mujinga, a transport worker, died of Covid following a racist attack.

June was sceptical about the vaccine but changed her mind because she was so ill with Covid.

June liked being able to monitor her blood oxygen with a pulse oximeter.

June is concerned about asymptomatic Covid and won’t ‘throw off her mask and skip down the road’ just because she is fully vaccinated.

June took an ‘awful’ concoction of citrus, pepper, turmeric and ginger.