I’m Negin. I’m 32 years old and have been working at a governmental hospital in Tehran. Dealing with patients, especially old ones is never easy. We have long shifts and short breaks here. Most of us don’t spend enough time with our loved ones. I guess we are sort of married to our jobs.

I’m a registered nurse, so I have worked in almost every section and unit of this hospital. My nightmare has always been the unit of infectious diseases. I can’t step into it and feel safe later. After leaving my shifts I get paranoid from the thought that I might transmit germs to others. I’m also a fan of zombie movies, and before COVID-19 I would sometimes imagine germs spreading out of a lab and causing a chain of events that result in a pandemic to the whole city.

Well, not long ago I was passing by a tv playing the news in a hallway, and I couldn’t believe my eyes!! I used to laugh at the name of the coronavirus and called it Corolla (the name of a car) or as the famous beer brand. I just couldn’t imagine that the coronavirus was spread in my country by Chinese Imams (Muslim priests).

I contracted COVID-19 three times and the first time was the worst. I remember not being allowed to have long hours away from work, and even getting called for on-calls. I don’t know how but COVID-19 wasn’t as severe for me as it was with many others. It felt like a common cold. And I kept working until I got better even though this was more tiring than usual.

They gave me a promotion for not giving up on my work regardless of my health conditions. Now I know how much I love this job. I guess I was really lucky with COVID-19 and I thank God for that every day. I pray for all the patients in the world to survive with the least pain possible.