I have lived my worst nightmare. It wasn’t the coronavirus, but the long-term treatment [read: observation] in isolation it made for one hell of an experience. Imagine being confined to a small room with no social interaction whatsoever for almost a month. Doctors and nurses were the only visitors, who also checked on me once or twice a day.

If you are sick, you need your loved ones around you. The feeling of having someone who cares about you gives you strength to fight illness. Conversely, social isolation makes you more vulnerable to illness. Your immune system does not respond properly in isolation and it takes you longer to heal.

In my case, it wasn’t just me; my wife also shared the isolation test at Mohammadabad Hospital in Danyore, Gilgit-Baltistan. Interestingly, she had no symptoms but tested positive for the virus. We were both in the isolation ward, while our five children were at home – alone and worried.

The ordeal started after a trip to Iran. My wife and I went in a group of 22 pilgrims to visit the holy shrines of Iran. We mostly stayed in Qom, although our pilgrimage also took us to Mashhad and to neighboring Iraq.

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On February 22, we were preparing to return to Pakistan when we heard about the outbreak of an infectious disease in Qom. Until then, I didn’t know much about the coronavirus.

On February 25, we took a flight to Lahore. At Tehran airport they did not allow anyone to board the plane without screening. None of us were sick. At Lahore airport we were screened again. We drove to Rawalpindi where we stayed for two days. While other pilgrims dispersed, we took a bus to Gilgit on February 28 and reached our village Nomal, about 15 km from Gilgit city, in the evening.

At night I had a fever. I took it for travel fatigue, took over the counter fever reducers from my neighbor and tried to sleep. It didn’t help. I started getting chills.

The next morning I called up the district headquarters hospital Gilgit and told the doctors about my journey and fever. A team of doctors immediately came to me and my wife. We were then taken to the DHQ hospital in an ambulance. They took samples to test us for the new coronavirus while we were moved to the Civil Hospital Basin. The samples were sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad for PCR testing because the facility was not available in Gilgit-Baltistan. I lost my appetite, but I tried to force feed myself so that I could gather some energy to fight my illness. After a few days, our test reports were received from the NIH: we were both positive for COVID-19.

After the diagnosis, they shifted us to Mohammadabad Hospital, where we were to stay for the next 25 days. Interestingly, my fever was now gone, while I had no cough, no muscle soreness, no sore throat and no shortness of breath. My appetite returned to normal [I started eating more than I normally do]. My wife remained asymptomatic throughout this time.

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I am a 51 year old former serviceman and my wife is 45. I had heard that the coronavirus could be fatal for people my age and older. The doctors tried to calm me down. But honestly, I wasn’t scared. It is part of our belief that every living being must die one day. I knew that if I was destined to die, I would die no matter what. But if my time is not up, this virus can never kill me.

We were tested several times during our 25-day nightmarish stay. We had no symptoms but still wanted to test positive. I have heard that my wife’s reports were mixed up with another patient’s at the NIH.

Fortunately, the PCR testing facility was made available in Gilgit in the meantime and we were tested locally for the first time. The results were negative and a repeat test a day later confirmed that the virus was out of our bodies. It was a huge relief.

We were discharged from the hospital on March 28, but the doctors told us to avoid socializing for 14 days. We have rented a house in Gilgit city to spend these two weeks here. It’s been five days now and we’re counting the days until we’re all set.

My advice to the sick: Do not fear this virus. Keep your faith in God and strengthen your will, Inshallah you will defeat it. To everyone else, I say take every possible precaution. If not out of concern for the virus, think of the ordeal isolation can create.

(told to Naveed Hussain)