CT mom advocates having action plan after testing positive for COVID-19
Natheera Hermans (27) tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of last month but because she lives with other family members, she had to make use of quarantine and isolation facilities provided by the provincial government.
by Kevin BrandtCAPE TOWN - A Cape Town mother has stressed the importance of every household having an "action plan" should a family member test positive for the coronavirus.
Natheera Hermans (27) tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of last month but because she lives with other family members, she had to make use of quarantine and isolation facilities provided by the provincial government.
Now fully recovered and back at home, Hermans shared her experience with Eyewitness News.
The mother of two from Belhar said that she started having flu-like symptoms on 23 August and was sent for a COVID-19 test at Tygerberg Hospital as her doctor wanted to rule out the virus.
Hermans, who's also asthmatic, explained that three days later her diagnosis was confirmed.
"I was so worried and I was thinking 'I'm asthmatic, my children and family... what about work, what about the people I've been in contact with, what about all of those things?' It was really a big shock."
Hermans, who shares a two-bedroom house with her two children, her parents and her grandfather, said that it was practically impossible for her to safely quarantine at home.
"From the moment I got to the facility, the staff were waiting at the door, I'm not even joking, it's like they were waiting for me. They were standing at the door, took my bags to my room and from the moment that I got there, everything was organised and I didn't feel like I needed to be scared and they reassured me that everything was going to be OK."
Natheera stressed that people should stay committed to practicing measures geared at reducing the spread of COVID-19.