I passed out: PS Macharia narrates Covid-19 experience

Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau has described his battle with Covid-19 as a very interesting experience.

Macharia said claims by people that the virus gets worse on the second week after contraction is true.

He said as a symptomatic patient, his symptoms kept recurring with some days when he felt he was okay while other days it got bad.

Macharia has since recovered. He took a test on Tuesday and is due to take another to confirm he is virus free.

The PS said a week after he first tested positive, he noticed he started feeling off, he was getting tired even though he is an active man.

"I like to jog, I like to keep fit and I like to go to 50 press ups but suddenly at 20 I'd feel I'm running out of energy. Your usual four to five kilometre run , after two kilometres you feel you are wiped out," he said during an interview with Citizen TV on Wednesday night.

According to the PS, he once passed out after a sudden spike in body temperature.

"On that Monday morning, I got up and went to breakfast. In the middle of breakfast, I had a sharp temperature spike and I began feeling dizzy and delirious. According to the person who was helping me, I actually passed out for a few seconds," he narrated.

He said it was like having a severe hot flash and  for a moment he was not coherent.

Within two hours, he felt better. 

Macharia urged all coronavirus patients to try to be as active as possible.

"You must get up, don't stay in bed, don't play dead because Covid-19 will take you over. Be active, its like having a bad flu," he said.

At 62 years, he hopes that his recovery will be encouragement to Kenyans that self management is a thing.

He revealed that panadol got him through the painful days while a concoction of ginger, lemon and garlic became his holy grail. 

Last week, Macharia regretted that "the government’s contact tracing has collapsed, there is no access to proper care and even more tragic is that there is no medical insurance cover for the virus".

 “For all the billions that have been spent on this campaign, it’s hard to imagine that at the point of contact where the disease actually happens, there is no system to make sure that we have access to proper care and the proper contact tracing is actually done to keep track of those who are not well or maybe infecting others,” Macharia said in a WhatsApp group of top government officials, seen by the Star.