A GRANDMOTHER who has been ill with a suspected case of Covid-19 has told how the virus ‘wiped her out’.

Trish Sullivan, and her husband, Paul, have both been unwell recently and displayed symptoms of the illness.

They have not been tested but Mrs Sullivan said her GP believed they had been infected.

Mrs Sullivan, 51, who works as a cleaner in a chemist, has been in isolation with her husband and son at home in Sunderland.

She said: “Initially, I had a high temperature of 38.2 degrees.

“I had the cough and was just dead lethargic. I was knackered.

“I took myself to bed, and the temperature did settle but I still had the cough.

“Then I lost my sense of smell and taste after that.”

“I have spoken to my GP and he has said that I probably did have it.”

The Northern Echo:

Paul and Trish Sullivan

Mrs Sullivan’s husband, who is 52, works as car service engineer and began showing the same symptoms two days after she fell on Saturday, March 21.

The illness has lasted around nine days and she only began to feel normal again on Monday.

She said: “We just followed the doctor’s advice and went into isolation

“I could not have gone to work anyway. All I could do was sleep.

“But it is not as bad some people have had it.

“It wipes you out, but I did not have breathing problems or anything like that.

“I am on the mend now, but it has taken nine days to shake it off.

“My taste has only just come back and my smell is not 100 per cent.”

Mrs Sullivan, a mother-of-three, is urging people to follow the Government guidelines to help people stay safe during the global pandemic.

She said: “We have to do as they say. I think I have been quite lucky.

“Initially, I thought I could have been one of those hospital patients on a ventilator.

“You can’t say how it is going to affect you. It has even taken people who are healthy. There is no way of knowing which way it will affect you.

“I am not so worried about myself, but I worry about the other people I could have given it to.

“There are a lot more people who are more vulnerable than me.

“If we don’t follow the guidelines there is going to be so much more sadness and loss.”