I wouldn’t have known how serious the coronavirus is until my friends and family got infected. The first time I was impacted by COVID-19 was when two of my employees got infected. Our shop was forced to close down due to lack of employees and all the employees needed to be tested.

I was shocked! I never expected that my family would be infected. I worried about my family members all the time and made sure we took all the precautions but they still got infected with the coronavirus.

Initially, my dad and my sister got the symptoms of fever and sore throat. At first, we thought it was just normal sickness, but they ended up testing positive for COVID-19. I’m usually in close contact with my family but I’m lucky that I tested negative. I’m so scared that my dad will get serious damage to his body because of his 3-highs (high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol). I couldn’t hold my tears back when I saw how my family suffered.

My mom was the one who took care of my dad and sister and she subsequently got infected from them and also another two members of my family got COVID-19. I stopped my work in order to take care of my family’s meals, household essentials, and food supply. There was nothing I could do more to help in this situation, but just support and keep them in prayer.

Besides, my vacation plans were delayed and then cancelled due to the announcement of a lockdown and new lockdowns from time to time. Most of the places had restricted entry as a result of the lockdowns. We were restricted from dining-in throughout the lockdown period so I often had to cook at home and pay for the food delivery. There was so much despair when the friends and family reunions needed to be cancelled because of COVID-19.

I would like to advise people to really stay at home so we can stop this coronavirus pandemic together. Sadly, what I noticed was that despite the lockdown season, lots of people were still hanging around as if there was no COVID-19. Every restriction or rule executed by the government is for a reason. So please, let’s hold our hands together so we can end this pandemic soon. I wish all COVID-19 patients have the determination and faith to fight against this virus and get well soon.