'Don't be afraid of the virus': financial executive on living with Covid-19

Financial executive Andrew McPherson is one of 202 South Africans confirmed by Friday to have Covid-19, after testing positive eight days ago.

“Don't be afraid of the virus," McPherson told TimesLIVE in an interview on Friday. “But you do need to be afraid of spreading the virus. Behave as if you have the coronavirus!

“I honestly thought I was fine, and it was a big shock when I tested positive. I would not want to have infected anyone.”

Switzerland had only one confirmed case on March 4 when McPherson arrived in Zurich for a skiing trip, after a business meeting in London.

By the time he left four days later, they had 200 cases.

When he arrived in Cape Town on March 9, after flying via Dubai, Switzerland had another 350 to 400 new cases.

“The infections started to escalate, and I saw the footage from Italy and Iran and realised that this is not like the Sars virus. This is very serious.”

McPherson said he was not worried about his own health but became aware that older and weaker people would be at risk.

“I had a slightly scratchy throat and cough and didn’t know yet those were symptoms,” said McPherson.

“At the airport they scanned me for fever, and I said that I had a slightly sore throat, and they said that was fine.”

He refused his mother's offer to fetch him at the airport, as a precaution, knowing by then that 10% of people his parents’ age were likely to die of Covid-19.

“Old Mutual was very responsible and they told me not to return to work for three weeks and to take a test because they were aware of the risk.

“I self-isolated and phoned my doctor for a test. When he got permission from the NICD to test, I went to a private hospital to test for it.”

McPherson said he was put into a waiting room with other people, including a pregnant woman, and he warned them that he was there for a coronavirus test.

“I sat in a corner and told them not to come near me,” he said.

Nobody had gloves on at first when they checked his vital signs, but when they came to do the test for coronavirus they were suited up.

“When they phoned me the next morning I honestly expected to be fine, but I was told: ‘Unfortunately you are positive for coronavirus. You must stay at home.’

 “I’ve had the flu before and this is not close to a bad flu,” said the fit 45-year-old.

He felt sick but said the symptoms were “like a mild flu”, nothing to be anxious about, and a week later he felt better.

“I felt really stiff and sore and felt like I had been in a rugby game. I got tired and found it difficult to concentrate, and I had a headache behind my eyes. My chest got a bit tight, but I am asthmatic.”

McPherson said people must not feel anxious about getting infected, but must be responsible about keeping the required distance (one metre minimum) from each other.

“After I got my test result, I started panicking about how lackadaisical people were,” he said.

He then went on a campaign to raise awareness, even contacting Western Cape premier Alan Winde about promoting the safety message to prevent the virus spreading.

“I commend President Ramaphosa 100%. He put SA ahead of Europe and the US,” he said, of the president's Sunday declaration of a national disaster.

“People need to stop panicking and hoarding. For 85% of us, this won’t be an issue, unless we have a car accident and there are no beds in an ICU which is overrun by coronavirus.

“As long as you wash your hands, you don’t have your hands in your mouth, nose or eyes, you keep your distance and nobody spits or sneezes on you, you should be fine.

“The biggest danger here is spreading the virus. We need to slow it down,” he urged.

“Unless everyone is OK, nobody is OK. We need to have a strong sense of responsibility for ourselves and our actions, and for the community.”