Like many people, I tested myself regularly between 2020 and the start of this year and, even on the occasions I had been feeling unwell, the tests were negative. 

Had my pedantic hygiene regime been a huge success or had I in fact caught Covid but with only mild or no symptoms? There was no way of telling. But having had it now, there is no mistaking that it is not something I have had before. 

When a sniffle and irritation in my throat began several weeks ago, I reached straight for the lateral-flow test which came back negative. I continued to test while the symptoms came and went and everything was fine. 

“People still get coughs and colds” I reassured myself and anyone who pulled a face as I continued sniffing and spluttering.

But last month, things got worse and I began to ache and feel rotten all over. My scalp and even my hair began to hurt when I brushed it and I knew this was more than a cold. I felt groggy, dizzy, unable to concentrate and had no energy. Out came the lateral-flow test with two bright red lines.

Right. Now what? Covid laws in the UK have been removed and there is no requirement to isolate or inform anyone of the result. Test and trace has been dismantled and pop-up testing centres are now car parks once again. I scanned the barcode on the test which gave me an error message instead of taking me to the NHS website to record the positive result. 

Does anyone care that I’m positive, or with the vaccination programme fully rolled out, is Covid now being treated like indigestion or diarrhoea – treat it yourself and keep it to yourself?

But we are being encouraged to ‘do the right thing’ and try to stay at home and away from others to stop it spreading, even though we don’t have to. Despite a positive test and symptoms in full swing, we are free to do about our daily lives as we please. 

As far as work is concerned, being absent with Covid is like being off with a migraine or chicken pox and is counted as ordinary sick days. If your employer allows you to work from home, great, but they are under no obligation to do so and they do not need to make arrangements for you to continue working while isolating. The nicer ones do, though.

Working from home and running my own business means I was fortunate not to have to overcome these hurdles, but it wasn’t just about coming into contact with people. I felt awful and was unable to work for nearly two weeks.

Although I have been clear for about a month, I have not fully recovered and the strange, heady sensation lasted a couple of weeks, making it difficult to focus. And simple tasks like walking up the stairs left me feeling as if I had run a half-marathon.

Whether it is because of the vaccination or I happened to catch a mild case of it, having Covid isn’t as bad as I had spent two years fearing. But it isn’t something that can be dismissed as similar to having a cold or the flu and isn’t something I would want to have again.

I will never know where I caught it, but this is the situation the government has wanted to get to since March, 2020 – when catching this virus wouldn’t be a life changing or threatening and we could all carry on with everyday life as normal.