Everything was set for Christine Nyirarukundo (not her real name) to give birth to her second child but a week to the due date, her husband fell sick.

Doctors at Legacy hospital diagnosed him with tonsillitis, gave him medicine and sent him home. He did not get better. Second time round, the doctor said it was malaria and treated him accordingly.

Eventually, he was tested but as he waited for results, his wife went into labour and had to be rushed to hospital, too.

By the time she reached the hospital, she had also developed a fever, cough and general body weakness. The medical personnel at the hospital carried out tests on her and found the baby's vitals were okay.

After a short while the baby's heart beats were faster than normal, forcing the hospital to carry out birth by caesarean section.

Unknown to everyone, Christine was already Covid-19 positive. A few days a­fter delivery, she went back home, where she asked for isombe. She found it tasteless.

Her husband had not yet received results. This was around November last year, when positive results were not posted on the RBC portal.

A few days a­fter her return, Christine’s cough grew worse to the extent of breathlessness.

“He told me to quickly get ready as he called the ambulance. It came within a few minutes with people dressed in white astronaut-like suits."

She was straight away put on oxygen once in the ambulance. “My heart was torn apart as I was leaving my five-day-old baby. My oldest son kept telling me, goodbye mummy, and something told me this could be the last image I see of my family, I felt overwhelming sadness.”

Once in hospital, she was placed on oxygen. From time to time her husband would send her photos of the baby, but this was like torture to her so she told him not to send any more photos. “Coronavirus is a killer disease, and it destroys internal organs, but it first kills you psychologically, and this is what was

happening to me.”

At the hospital, she was told that she only had three minutes everyday to get off the oxygen. Christine says that although she had faith that she would be well, another voice would remind her about Robert, whom she knew, who had died of coronavirus a few days before.

After taking her to Kanyinya hospital, the RBC team went back to her house and tested everyone for Covid-19. Her husband and oldest son tested positive, while her aunt and the maid tested negative. Her husband and son were isolated and given medicine.

At the hospital, a few days later, a coronavirus patient, a woman, was brought into the room next to hers, screaming in pain. “She came in on a Wednesday. I could hear her scream all day, but after a few days I didn’t hear her anymore. Then on Saturday I overheard people in the next room sharing protocols of handling her body. She had died” “My heart sank. I thought I would be next to die.”

She continued receiving treatment, all the while praying that God would reunite her with her family.

The wound from the C-section was raw but it was being attended to. One week away from her five-day old baby and the stress associated with the virus were enough to dry her breasts of milk.

Upon returning home, she tried all she could to restore her breastmilk to feed her baby but nothing worked. She made a full recovery after some time. Her husband and son had recovered faster than her.

Up until the time Christine was taken into the ambulance and rushed to hospital, Covid-19 was something that happened to other people. Not anymore.