中国记者记录在英国确诊新冠历程:一度失去味觉,最大心得是耐心等待病毒消退
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2021-01-25 12:53:25

近日,中国日报英国分社记者用文字记录下了他从确诊新冠到最终康复的全过程。最开始他只是感到嗓子疼、鼻塞,以为这不过是一场感冒,没想到他被确诊为新冠阳性。痊愈后,他通过记者手记的方式回溯了这一经历。

起初,我感到嗓子疼和鼻塞。我没多想,觉得自己大概只是感冒了,因为我并没有新冠的典型症状,没有发烧、没有持续咳嗽、也没有失去味觉或嗅觉。

For me, it all began with a sore throat followed by a stuffy nose. I didn't think too much about it, other than possibly having caught a cold, as my symptoms were nothing like those for the coronavirus — a high temperature, continuous cough or loss of senses like smell and taste.

王铭洁/China Daily

但我还是觉得有必要做个核酸检测。第二天,我的口腔出现病损,头也有点疼,于是跟伦敦办公室告了病假。很快,检测结果犹如投下一颗重磅炸弹:是阳性,我确诊新冠了。

Still, I thought it was sensible to have a COVID-19 test. The following day, now experiencing some oral lesions and light headaches, I called in sick at the London bureau of China Daily. Shortly afterward, the bombshell landed — my test result came back as positive, meaning I had contracted COVID-19.

我始终不敢相信,拼命想要找到自己没有感染的证据:我去闻威士忌酒瓶、去尝酱料、老干妈辣椒油……没错,我的味觉并没什么问题,一定是检测结果出错了。

In a state of denial, I tried to contradict the fact that I had caught the virus, smelling the contents of the whisky bottle, tasting the soy sauce dip, and even savoring the "Old Grandma" chili oil — all of which indicated my sense of taste was still intact. Surely the result was a mistake, I thought.

我盯着“阳性”两个字良久,好像我盯久了,这两个字就能变成“阴性”似的。但这明显不可能。我曾经觉得,我年轻爱运动,还常跑马拉松,即便感染了也不会有事,但我现在有点后悔这么想了。万一我挺不过去怎么办?随着可能的结果飞速从我脑中闪过,我的呼吸也变得急促起来。

For quite a while, I gazed at the word "positive", as if the result would miraculously alter the longer I stared at it. Obviously, it did not. I began to regret my own previous thinking that "I am young, sportive, and a regular marathon runner, so even if I am infected with the virus, I should be fine …" What if I'm not? My breathing became faster as my brain was racing through the potential consequences of the illness.

“我需要住院(就像首相鲍里斯·约翰逊那样)在重症病房里吸氧吗?或者更糟,我会成为英国6.8万新冠死亡病例中的一个吗?我要告诉我在中国的父母吗?母亲会作何反应呢?我现在该怎么办?”

"Do I need to be hospitalized (like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was) and given oxygen support in the intensive care unit? Or even worse, would I end up like one of some 68,000 people in the United Kingdom who have lost their lives as a result of COVID-19? Should I tell my parents in China? How will my mother react? What do I have to do now?"

根据英国政府“检测和追踪”的政策,我需要回忆我确诊前几日的行动轨迹,以此判断我是什么时候、怎么被感染的;还需要找到我的密接者,告诉他们我的检测结果。我想到:“是我在诊所检查膝盖的时候感染的吗?还是我在超市买东西的时候感染的?或者是我和互助群的人一起在室外跑步感染的?”

As part of the government's Test and Trace scheme, I had to review my recent activities in the days prior to receiving my result, to identify when and where I could potentially have got infected, and the people with whom I came into contact so that I could notify them of my result. The questions tumbled into my head: "Was it when I went to the GP (general practitioner) clinic to check out my knee, or during my visit to the supermarket for grocery shopping, or even the weekend outdoor running with mysupport bubble?"

(“support bubble”是英国的抗疫措施之一,直译是“支持泡泡”,指单身成年家庭可以与其他任何规模的家庭形成一个“互助群”,群内成员可以去彼此家里过夜,而不必保持社交距离。)

我的确该通知我的密接者,这是毫无疑问的,因为他们也有感染的风险,我确实也这么做了。但我不能否认的是,在告知他们的过程中,我是带着些许惭愧和不安,是有一丝不情愿的。

Undoubtedly, it was the right thing to do to inform the people I have been in contact with while being potentially infectious, and I did so. But I cannot deny, there was a moment of unwillingness when I felt a bit ashamed and anxious to make such a move.

心理压力

Psychological pressure

作为员工,我也有义务告诉我的雇主。那天编辑日常询问我的健康状况,我坦白了:“知道自己确诊新冠,心理上承受的压力要远大于身体上的。”但我也很有信心地告诉他,我很快就能复工。

As an employee, I had the obligation to inform my employer. While my editor was going through the routine procedure to query about my situation, I confessed to him: "Knowing that it is COVID-19, I felt more of a psychological strain than a physical one." But I was confident to tell him that I would be back at work soon.

但遗憾的是,我并没能立马复工,病情比我想象的复杂得多。虽我没有发烧,我确实感到头晕,头也针刺般地疼。

Sadly, that did not happen as the illness turned out to be more convoluted than I had imagined. Although I did not have a fever, I did suffer from some lightheadedness and tingling sensations in my head.

过了几天,我失去了味觉。不论我在饭里加几勺老干妈,也食不知味,尝不出一丁点辣,只能尝出食物的质地口感。

A few days later, I lost my sense of taste, and no matter how many spoonfuls of "Old Grandma" I added to my dish, I could not detect even the slightest of flavors, except the plain texture of the ingredients.

还好,失去味觉只是暂时的,过了一周,这些不适的症状开始消退,我现在已经痊愈了。回想起来,最大的心得莫过于要耐心,静待病毒消退。我原本想打破查理斯王子7天康复的记录,但我并没能做到。我后来意识到,年轻和健壮并不意味着好得快,病毒对人体的作用是因人而异的。

Thankfully, the loss of taste was temporary and all the major discomfort started to dispel after a week, and now I am recovered. On reflection, the main take-away for me is to be patient and let the virus run its own course. I was hoping to "beat" Prince Charles in terms of his seven-day recovery time, but again it did not happen, and I later realized that youth and fitness do not necessarily mean a quick recovery. The virus interacts with everybody differently.

这几日的考验是我生命中难忘的一段回忆,也是自身融入人类历史的一段经历。

It was a few days of challenges, forming part of an unforgettable chapter in my life that I can place in the broader course of human history.

栏目主编:秦红 本文作者:中国日报/王铭洁 文字编辑:宋慧 题图来源:视觉中国 图片编辑:朱瓅