Tuesday, 17 March

Schools haven’t shut, but my coach has just announced that swimming will be shut indefinitely. At this point, everyone was just sobbing as we had our main competition this weekend, which has also been cancelled and all the weeks of preparation have become futile. However, Adam (my coach) thinks swimming will only be closed for a month or so, so we are all keeping our hopes up.

My parents are keeping me home from school because my dad is working on the front line as a doctor and doesn’t want me or my brother to increase our chances of contracting the virus at a public place like school. The media aren’t covering the coronavirus too much as there hasn’t been that many cases in the U.K. yet, which is slightly less worrying, but we still want to take the necessary precautions.

That day my mum and I visited Costco (a supermarket which sells items in bulk). The government has suggested not to stockpile. However, because my dad is someone who could contract the virus from his workplace, he suggested creating a pile of enough food for two weeks if we had to self-isolate at any point. Costco was crazy. There has been this need to buy excessive amounts of toilet paper in Britain, which is strange because if the coronavirus does hit Britain badly, the chances are toilet paper won’t be a game-changing cure or something that will protect us.

Tuesday, 24 March

My school has officially shut and all our classes have now moved online. I miss swimming, but it’s quite fun having a break as I usually only get two weeks off in the entire year. I played football in the garden with my brother, followed by a Zoom call with my swimming friends where we did a team workout to keep the morale high.

I think it’s especially important to keep fit at this period in time because we (my swim team) all think that we will be back in the pool in no time, so jogging is something that our coach has suggested to keep our aerobic system up. The death toll on the news hasn’t been terribly alarming as of yet and it seems that people are social distancing from what I saw on my jog today. My dad hasn’t been particularly busy and he seems to be spending more time at home with us than he did before the pandemic, which is optimistic because if the virus was rapidly increasing then he would be spending more time at the hospital than he did previously. I also painted today to pass some time. I am no Picasso, but I painted a dog, which is now sitting on the top of our mantle.

Wednesday, 1 April

My dad has woken up with a small fever, which is slightly alarming. He is now self-isolating in my parents’ bedroom. My dad works at the Royal Free Hospital, one of the first hospitals which had COVID-19 patients. I am not too surprised he caught the virus, but I am still worried because it is a serious and very infectious virus. We have also found out that our prime minister, Boris Johnson, has tested positive for COVID-19, which is scary because he could have infected other ministers and his pregnant wife. I was worried about my dad’s fate because we have seen some cases where people experience symptoms like a normal flu, but some people suffer greatly.

I went spinning today (spinning is a stationary bike) as my main source of exercise. I did 40 kilometers in just over an hour, which was surprisingly fun. The past few days my family and I have been playing board games in the evening to make the time pass. My mum decided to play charades on FaceTime with my dad to lighten the mood. I also started to miss swimming more and more in the past days. At first, I was enjoying the break but now I realized how much I actually enjoy swimming and miss it. My AS exams (nationwide exams for 17-year-olds) this summer have been cancelled, which was expected due to the pandemic. I am a little disappointed because I was hoping to do well in them. But our teachers are giving us predicted grades instead and I feel I have been consistent throughout the year, so hopefully, they go well.

Tuesday, 7 April

My dad says he’s feeling much better. He didn’t get tested for the coronavirus because in England, they aren’t testing a lot of people and the tests are only showing 70% accuracy. But given the circumstances of a pandemic, we are assuming it is coronavirus. He didn’t have shortness of breath but did have a sore throat, headache and fever. The symptoms of each patient can be different and some people say they lost certain senses such as taste and smell.

The coronavirus is also spreading toward Nepal, my home country, which is worrying because personal protection equipment (PPE) is limited there and unlike the National Health Service (NHS) in the U.K., they haven’t got the facilities to handle the virus if it blows up. However, the government in Nepal has ordered a strict lockdown, which I think is very smart in order to slow the spread of the virus and ensure it is less fatal. I am struggling to grasp the fact that I probably won’t be swimming for a while, but I think that the health and well-being of everyone else is the primary focus. It would be selfish to want to swim and think about swimming at a time when people are suffering. I have kept myself busy with college applications and online lessons as my school is offering at-home learning on Zoom, which I am very grateful for.

Recently, my mother and I have been really into baking and have been making all sorts of healthy treats such as banana bread, low-in-sugar meringue, low-fat tiramisu and no-egg cake. We are very fortunate for our neighbors who are helping tremendously by buying us groceries and dropping them off to our door. We cannot leave the house for at least 14 days because my brother, mother and I could be infected like my dad and the symptoms can take up to 14 days to show up.

Saturday, 11 April

Just as my dad was getting better, he relapses. His fever has now come back and he has slight dizziness and a headache. I have read many articles on people’s experiences having the coronavirus and relapse seems to be a common theme. The main symptom he has now is body aches, so he has been in bed all day. My mother cooks his food and my brother and I bring the food on a paper plate with plastic cutlery (he reuses them) and leave it outside his door. Once my brother and I have gone back downstairs, my dad collects the food and shuts the door. This is an easy way to prevent direct contact and reduce the spread. My family and I are lucky that the room my dad is in has its own bathroom so we don’t have to share it and catch his germs.

I did spinning again today. I also did a Zoom call with my swim team, Camden Swiss Cottage, which I enjoyed because I miss my swimming friends and a lot of them are going off to university this year so I won’t be able to see them. I have started to play with my brother more in the garden (when we don’t bicker) and I find that the less we argue, the better it will be for everyone. Our household is undergoing some stress due to my dad’s sickness and we don’t want to add to that with our futile disputes over who gets to watch their TV program. My main joys nowadays come from baking. I have also started to cook more Nepalese food, which will be useful when I go off to university.

My grandparents call us every day from Nepal to see how my dad is doing and we try to reassure them. We have also told them that it is important that they wash their groceries in warm water and soap before bringing them into the house to reduce the spread of the virus. They are a vulnerable category of people if they ever (God forbid) caught the virus so we want them to be safe. My grandparents have also started to bake more. They used to bake when they were younger, but they have reignited their passion as all the jobs in Nepal have been but on halt. They have time to do the things they used to do now such as baking and gardening.

Saturday, 18 April

My dad is feeling much better, which is a relief as his state was very worrying for a while. The past couple days my family and I have done interviews in hopes of spreading awareness in Nepal as the coronavirus outbreak has just started out there. We want people to understand the symptoms to look out for and to tell my dad’s story. I think it is very important to spread my dad’s story as many people do not understand the severity of the virus until someone you know actually has it. Many people in Nepal do not even know the symptoms, so my dad, being a doctor, told his part of the story and shared facts regarding the virus during the interview. I tried to express my feelings of concern and explain how I helped care for him.

Today, to keep myself busy, I again cooked some traditional Nepalese dishes and did some extra revision so I am ready for classes to start again. I feel like many people aren’t looking at the positive aspects of lockdown such as having extra time to prepare for postponed exams, spending quality time with family members who normally are busy working and trying to learn new skills. Understandably, the whole lockdown and having to stay indoors has taken a toll on my mental health, but I am trying to do small yet effective things to help me to stay positive and active. I find that yoga and meditation has been very comforting and helped to relax and put me in a good mindset to start the day.

I also went for an hour and a half walk today. In England, we are allowed to go out for one to two hours of exercise a day. Even during the walk I wore masks and gloves. I went at around 7 a.m. to avoid any contact with people and was lucky to not have encountered anyone as I took a quiet route and was sure to maintain social distancing if I were to encounter another person. Luckily, the weather has been beautiful the past few days, which has put people in a better mood. However, many people think the weather is an excuse to go out and sunbathe, which is irresponsible. The death toll is rising exponentially.

“I think it is very important to spread my dad’s story as many people do not understand the severity of the virus until someone you know actually has it.”

— Gaurika Singh

Saturday, 25 April

School is now in full swing and I am preparing for my mock exams, which will go towards my predicted grades along with my SATs (a standardized test used for U.S. university admissions). I hope to go to an American university. It is the weekend so I relaxed and I finished off some homework. The weather has been amazing for the past week or so and it makes me feel happier given the circumstances. I do still worry about my dad as he has now started to go back to work in the hospital and I am scared that he could contract the virus again. But I understand that millions of children across the world feel the same as I do and I have been speaking to other children in my year who can relate to my position.

My school friends and I set up a Saturday night Zoom call today to talk to each other. It is small things like this that make the lockdown that a bit better. I also spoke to my grandparents in Nepal today who are still utilizing the lockdown to garden and bake healthy snacks. I think it is important right now to take the time to reflect on everything and understand that this virus will have a huge impact on how we as human beings are to go forward in life. The government is under a lot of pressure to open small businesses such as restaurants and shops as many people are suffering due to not having incomes. I think it is unwise to open small businesses, but I relate to the people and feel bad for them as they are in a difficult situation. The death toll fluctuates between 700 and 900 deaths every day and the virus is showing no signs of stopping. I feel scared and worried but have to continue the lockdown with a positive mindset and hope.

Guarika Singh

is a 17-year-old student and international swimmer from Nepal living in England. Her favourite subjects at school are history and politics, and she wants to work at the United Nations someday. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.