From chasing news to catching coronavirus

The first symptom he presented was fever. With fluctuations. A week later he tested positive for coronavirus. Greek journalist Giannis Efstathiou, from his isolation at home, describes how he experiences this health pandemic, as a human being and not as just another statistics number.

Ο δημοσιογράφος Γιάννης Ευστραθίου Source: Supplied

It was Friday night, the last of March, after reporting on the TV channel he works for, when journalist Giannis Efstrathiou developed a fever of 38.3. At the doctor's suggestion, he stayed home to monitor the course of symptoms. For days in the morning it was without fever, but at nights his temperature was raised. One week after the first symptom, the diagnosis came. Ηe tested positive for coronavirus.

Στο Νεοχώρι Αργολίδας. Στο χωριό του επιδημιολόγου καθηγητή κυρίου Σωτήρη Τσιόδρα. Source: Supplied

Speaking on air at the Greek program of SBS radio, Giannis Efstathiou describes the moments when he had to be admitted for tests at the Attica hospital. When asked if he knows how he got infected, he answers:  

Unfortunately no, I don't know. The task of information is imperative. We have to keep the world informed. Although we take precautions, the risk of exposure is constant.

Could have been anywhere. At the ATM, the supermarket, where he took a walk with his dog and may be sat on a bench. It could have happened during the reporting, when he spoke with expatriates who returned to Greece with flights from abroad. Personally, he did not know a patient, an obvious person to whom he could attribute it.

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