UK virus survivor describes ordeal

Dany Schuchman said he fell ill on March 15th with a high fever and a cough and got progressively worse until he felt he couldn't breathe. Schuchman was eventually taken to hospital although he said he had been lucky not to have needed to be put in a ventilator.

London: A COVID-19 survivor said the illness felt as if he had run the London marathon without ever having exercised or trained for it.

Dany Schuchman said he fell ill on March 15th with a high fever and a cough and got progressively worse until he felt he couldn't breathe.

"It's as if somebody had taken a scuba diving tank while I'm under water and and turned it off completely," he told Sky News on Tuesday.

Schuchman was eventually taken to hospital although he said he had been lucky not to have needed to be put in a ventilator.

"I think it took me a good three or four days to gain that energy, to gain that strength, to really start fighting this virus. And it is quite lethal," he said.

Schuchman praised the hospital staff who nursed him back to health and urged others to take social distancing guidelines seriously, adding he still takes a mask and wears gloves when out for walks with his family.

"We still don't know if somebody else can contract it from me as well so I'm even taking the precautions myself to protect others around me."

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.