Dr Amara Allison, the medical practitioner who discovered Nigeria’s index case of the novel coronavirus on February 27 in Osun, has shared her experience during the 14-day quarantine period.

Apparently, she had to observe the necessary 14 days quarantine period having been exposed to the 44-year-old Italian man.

It happened that Allison was on duty the day the Italian man came to the medical centre in Ewekoro area of Ogun State.

The patient had turned up with flu-like symptoms and she had ordered that the Italian be isolated after examining him; and he turned out to be the first confirmed case of the virus in Nigeria.

Subsequently, the doctor together with 39 other people including four health workers who came in contact with the Italian was quarantined for two weeks, according to the protocols of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

Speaking of her time in quarantine, she said she was busy studying, watching movies and engaging in physical exercises during that period.

Sharing her experience with the World Health Organisation African Region team, she said, “I woke up on day three, and I just couldn’t get out of bed.

“That was the day the protective shock wore off. I was now unavoidably afraid. This point was where I realized the importance of a support system,” she said.

“Luckily my family didn’t fall short. They called to reassure me and in some way themselves.

“The psychological trauma was my greatest challenge, just being with my thoughts alone for 14 days, good, bad, ugly.

“I also had to deal with the accompanying boredom and missing real human contact.

“It hit me really badly because aside from all that was going on, I’m a very physically active person and I couldn’t be that during this period.

“However, it wasn’t all fear if I’m being honest. The quarantine period also gave me time to self-develop as much as possible (through online courses) which was also a very welcome form of distraction.”

She said her organisation sent in a psychologist to check on all those quarantined, adding that the WHO team in Nigeria also supported her.

“By my fifth day in, I learned to dispel my boredom and persistent anxiety with movies and books.

She continued, “I’m a fitness enthusiast and as difficult as it was for me to muster the mental energy to workout, whenever I did eventually work out, it lifted my mood significantly and left me feeling healthier.

“Having several means of entertainment would remedy these to an extent.

The power of a good support system cannot be over-emphasised, but overall maintaining a positive outlook as much as possible is imperative to getting through any quarantine period,” she said.