Similar symptoms suffered could have been virus

I also have a home in Berwick upon Tweed in addition to my home in Shropshire and I know that thousands of Chinese tourists call into Berwick on an almost daily basis returning from their whistle-stop tours of Scotland in coaches, and flood into supermarkets where I have encountered them both in the aisles and even closer in the checkout queues.

These tours certainly were still taking place in February.

Following an emergency call for paramedics I was admitted to Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, on 5 January and my symptoms were high fever with delirium, high blood temperature, a dry non-productive cough and chests pains through extreme shortage of breath.

The first consultant physician who examined me said that he was confident that I had some form of chest infection but he wasn’t sure what. I was put on ventilation and admitted to a ward where most of the other seven patients seemed to be suffering from similar symptoms to mine. Following nine days of treatment I was judged fit to be released but no one said what I had been suffering from. The other patients appeared to follow a similar path to my own.

Following my release from hospital, two of my grandchildren and their mother who live with me suffered chest problems with runny noses and coughs but not as serious as mine. My partner who is in her 80s also suffered from breathing difficulties and a cough so I took her home to Berwick so that she could receive treatment from her own doctor. My youngest son, who is rarely sick, also suffered from similar flu-like symptoms following my release. We are all now recovered and fine.

I am 75 years old and have several illnesses like chest problems and diabetes. I contacted the ward where I was treated two days ago to enquire if they thought that I might have suffered the virus infection but was told that no swabs or blood were taken to check at the time.

Adrian Williams, Bratton

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