Our three weeks with the COVID-19 virus: Op-ed

We thought for the first three days that it was a simple cold. But our sickness did not go away. Then, in the morning of March 28, my wife Zeynep woke up complaining of severe headaches and pains in her joints.  Soon her temperature rose to 38.5 C.  Realizing what might be happening, I immediately contacted our friend, Prof. Dr. Haluk Özen, the rector of Hacettepe University in Ankara, one of Turkey's best medical faculties. We were advised to go straight to the Department of Infectious Diseases at the hospital.

Upon our arrival, we saw that a new, special service area had been constructed just outside the Emergency Service to assist Covid-19 patients.  We were then directed to the unit for infectious diseases. My wife was admitted to where a Covid-19 test was administered, followed by an X-ray. More important, a computer tomography scan was promptly performed upon her.

The hospital staff informed us that the test results would take two or three days to come through. In the event, a phone call came through not long after we got back home telling us to return immediately, as there was indication of pneumonia in my wife's lungs. As she was feeling very weak, I asked if she could return in the morning instead. They responded by saying it was absolutely obligatory to come back. So, we went back to the hospital late at night where she was admitted to the special Covid-19 ward with single rooms for every patient. This was a specially isolated ward, where all medical personnel looked as if they were dressed for a spacewalk.

In my case, since there were no symptoms (yet), and in accordance with the algorithms, I was told that I could return home. However, the next morning, a specialist doctor from the infectious diseases department called and told me...