Within five days of arriving home from the cruise of a lifetime on board the Ruby Princess one NSW Central West woman says she was so sick with coronavirus she feared for her life.
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She lay alone at home too sore to get up, too nauseous to eat and too weak to stand.
"I have never felt as sick as what I did. There were a few times that I thought I should call for an ambulance," she said.
This woman would only speak if her name was not used as she fears the social repercussions from those in her community.
She was among 2700 passengers aboard this ill-fated cruise which has lead to sickness and, in some cases death, across the world.
In NSW alone, 369 people who were on board tested positive to COVID-19, with eight of those people dying from the virus.
The woman is a retired paramedic and says she knew exactly how serious this virus could be for those who contract it.
She disembarked on March 19 feeling fine and happy after an enjoyable cruise, even though it was cut early due to COVID-19 restrictions on cruise liners.
The day it arrived back into Circular Quay she stayed the night in Sydney and the first sign of being unwell occurred.
"I'd woken up in a sweat like I'd just showered and it wasn't a hot night," she said.
The following day she caught the train home and not long after received a text that would change everything.
"About an hour after I got inside my yard I got a text message that four people on board had tested positive to COVID-19," she said.
"I rang the hospital and said I had a fever and I think I need to be tested.
"Two days later I got phone call from NSW Health saying I'd tested positive. It stunned me, but I felt fine at that stage."
By Tuesday, five days after her cruise, she woke up with a headache and by that afternoon "felt dreadful".
"I had muscle soreness, I felt like I'd just run a marathon. I had extreme nausea ... couldn't face any food. I had lethargy and dizziness and headaches," she said.
"I felt so weak, I couldn't get up and have a shower I just stayed in bed.
The woman said a lot of people aren't taking government lockdown restrictions seriously.
"I just wish I could go up to them and say 'what are you doing, are you serious, I could have died from this'," she said.
