The Covid-19 case in Indonesia has risen again. As of February 5, 2022, positive cases had increased by 33,279 cases with Jakarta as the province with the highest addition reaching 12.744 cases. This daily surge of cases is caused by the quicker transmission of the Omicron variant compared to the previous ones. This variant can also infect people who have been vaccinated or re-infect those who have recovered from Covid-19.

In general, the early symptoms of Omicron are fever, headache, and sore throat. However, those who develop mild to moderate symptoms can recover without hospitalization and go through self-isolation instead. Self-isolation is only allowed for people under the age of 40 years old and do not have any chronic illness. During self-isolation periods, the activities they can do are limited which often makes them feel bored. Various ways are being done to relieve their boredom and speed up the recovery process.

Imam Prasetia: Gained New Hobby during Self-Isolation Period

Imam was tested positive on February 1, 2022. A few days before taking the PCR test, Imam admitted that he had fever, flu, felt dizzy, and his throat felt dry. Then, he no longer experienced those symptoms after two days. 

“I had a fever on the first day, my body aches, I have a headache, runny nose, but oddly there was no cough. My throat felt dry, it feels like after doing exercise and not drinking anything. I also caught a cold but I think it may be due to the weather. It is the transition season now,” said Imam. Even though he had felt the symptoms, he still went to the office. He did not think that he had been exposed to Covid-19. In the office, his condition got worse and he began to feel pain all over his body up until the next day.

On the third day, Imam’s condition began to improve. The only remaining illnesses at that time were a runny nose and slight headache. On that day, he heard the news that his co-worker was tested positive for Covid-19. “After hearing the news about my co-worker, I decided to take the PCR test. The last time I went to the office, I had close contact with him,” he said. Imam finally took the PCR test on the fifth day. “Actually, I had intended to take the PCR test on the fourth day, but unfortunately I had work to do and I had a meeting to attend, so I did the test on the fifth day,” he added. He did the PCR test after telling the public health center worker about his symptoms. He did the PCR test in the morning and the result came out at midnight through a text message sent by the Ministry of Health and he was confirmed positive for Covid-19.

Two days later, the local health center worker contacted Imam to check on his condition. During the self-isolation period, he consumed beverages containing vitamin C, fruits, and drank a lot of water. He also drank UHT milk sometimes. He also added that during the self-isolation period, he liked to sunbathe and do some exercise.

There are not many activities that the Imam can do during the self-isolation period. He also felt jealous with his friends who still can hang out together. "We usually hang out together, now I can only see them through Instagram," he joked. Due to the limited activities that he can do, Imam now has a new hobby. He admitted that during the self-isolation period, he became fond of reading. Previously, Imam did not really like to read, but now he likes to read, especially the daily news.

For Imam, even though he did not experience severe symptoms, undergoing self-isolation was uncomfortable. With the recent surge of cases, Imam appealed to the public to reduce activities outside and follow the health protocols. "So everyone, if it's not really important, it's better to just stay at home, don't go out," he said.

[Omicron Variants: How To Prevent Its Transmission?]

Muhammad Gyas Sufy: Exposed to the “Quickly Come and Go” Virus

One day before experiencing the symptoms, Gyas was still doing his favorite activity, which is skateboarding until late at night. After going back home, he still did not feel any symptoms so he decided to rest and go to sleep. The next day, after waking up, Gyas felt dizzy and did not feel well.

The early symptoms experienced by Gyas include dizziness, fever, and a mild cough. The fever he felt was quite high, up to 38.9 Celsius degrees. In addition, Gyas also experienced other symptoms such as anosmia. According to Gyas, the symptoms that felt very great are the dizziness and fever. At first he only took paracetamol, but his condition did not improve. "Usually, I feel better after taking the medicine, but on the second day my fever did not go down, so I immediately decided to take an antigen test and the result came positive," he said. After being tested positive, Gyas immediately contacted people who had close contact with him to speed up the tracing process.

He felt fortunate having a younger sister who works in a hospital. His sister quickly gave him some medicines to speed up his recovery process. Gyas got antiviral medication, paracetamol, and some vitamins. He also consumed herbs and honey given by his mother. However, the effects of these drugs were only felt on the third day. “On the first few days the medicine did not seem to have any effect. From the third day onwards, the condition started to improve. On the fifth day, the symptoms had completely disappeared," said Gyas. The symptoms he felt quickly attacked his body, but these symptoms did not last long in Gyas' body. "Just like the news that had been spread that the Omicron variant is really quick. It is gone after four days. It is different from the previous one which took about 14 days to recover. The virus comes quickly and quickly disappears," he added. On the 10th day of self-isolation period, Gyas claimed to have felt healthy and fit again.

[What is the difference between Covid-19 variants?]

There are not many activities he can do during the self-isolation period. Since the initial illnesses were quite severe, he spent the first four days on complete rest. On the fifth day he started doing light activities such as watching and playing games. However, boredom started to set in because of the limited activities he could do in his room.

Feeling tired of having to do self-isolation, Gyas also advised everyone to stay at home and stay away from the crowd. Always wear a mask, follow the health protocols and wash our hands regularly. Reduce activity in public places to protect ourselves and the people we care about.

Saffar Masyhur Abdul Salam Hamid: Exposed to Covid-19 for the Second Time

In July 2021, Saffar was exposed to the Delta variant. For him, the symptoms he felt last year were quite severe. Saffar had a fever of up to 39 Celsius degrees. Even though he did not have a cough, Saffar had difficulty breathing and had to use oxygen, his saturation dropped and he even called a doctor to his house. At the beginning of 2022, Saffar was infected with another variant of Covid-19. However, the symptoms he experienced this year were quite different from the symptoms he had last year.

With the shifting system in his office, Saffar often comes home at night. When he started to cough, he thought it was due to exhaustion and the effects of the cold night wind. The intensity of the cough he experienced was getting more frequent and he began to feel unwell. Other symptoms also began to come, such as sneezing, sore throat, body aches, and anosmia. Unlike last year, Saffar now has a very severe cough. "It felt like a dry cough. I kept waking up when I was sleeping, the cough is really bad. The cough sometimes even made me want to throw up," said Saffar. The next day, unexpectedly, his wife was also sick. They finally decided to take a swab test on January 18 and the results came back positive.

After being confirmed positive, Saffar received an electronic message from the Ministry of Health and was given instructions to redeem the drugs. The Ministry of Health cooperates with several teleconsultation services for patients to consult online. Medications are delivered according to the prescription given by the doctor at the teleconsultation service. In addition, the local health center worker also came to see the condition of Saffar's family and gave them the medicines. After taking the medicine and vitamins, Saffar's condition became much better. The severe symptoms he experienced only lasted the first four days.

Safar feels grateful to live in a community that has high solidarity. His neighbors kept sending some food to his family. The local residents showed how much they care and hope for the recovery of Saffar and his wife. “I got a lot of food from the neighbors. Alhamdulillah (thank god)," said Saffar.

Although he was still in the recovery process, Saffar continued to work remotely at home. There were not many activities that he could do during the self-isolation period so he decided to continue his work. The severe cough that he experienced sometimes interfered with his work, especially when he led a meeting. In contrast to his condition when he was first exposed to Covid-19, which required complete rest, this time, Saffar was still able to carry out his usual activities.

After the self-isolation period was over, Saffar's condition has recovered and he is able to do his usual activities outside now. He admits that his body is more sensitive to cold now. "If my body is exposed to some cold, I cough. For example, drinking cold water or when the air conditioner is too cold, the cough returns. But it is not that bad," he said.

Considering many people have started to neglect the health protocols recently, Saffar advised the public not to underestimate it. Get vaccinated for those who have not received vaccines at all and get the booster shot for those who have received up to two doses of vaccine. Vaccines help to boost our immunity and reduce the risk of contracting viruses.

Dina Raniah: Received Counseling from the Local Health Center

A few days before, Dina had to come home late at night and in pouring rain, Dina did not suspect that she had been exposed to Covid-19. On January 15, 2022, Dina and her co-workers did not feel well. The weather was not that good recently, so they assumed the symptoms they were experiencing were caused by the weather. The next day, Dina's throat started to feel sore. She admitted to having difficulty swallowing and decided to buy lozenges. After two days, she felt better and went straight to the office. Once she was at the office, she received the news that three of her co-workers had tested positive for Covid-19.

The next day, Dina started having a cough in the morning. She then went straight to do the antigen and the results came out positive. Dina then underwent a PCR test. The results came out at midnight and Dina was confirmed positive for Covid-19.

The next morning, Dina received a few electronic messages from the Ministry of Health and the local health center. She also received a call from the health center to check on her condition and symptoms. At that time, the fever and sore throat that she had felt had disappeared, replaced with a cough that was getting worse. In the afternoon, the local health center worker came to see her condition and gave her some medicine according to her symptoms.

After taking the medicines from the local health center, Dina's condition was getting better. The fever she had felt went down on the third day. Dina's cough made her slightly out of breath. The cough and flu she was experiencing had disappeared on the fifth day of self-isolation.

While she was undergoing self-isolation, the local health center where Dina lived also held online counseling for sub-district residents who were tested positive for Covid-19. The local health center held the counseling event to educate residents and as a forum for sharing among patients. "The local health center held a counseling event, a Zoom meeting was created for sub-district residents that tested positive, they also told their stories there," she recalled.

Since she felt better on the fifth day, Dina felt tired of waiting until her self-isolation period was over. Due to the limited activities she can do, she bought a painting by numbers package to relieve her boredom. "I am looking for some activities so I do not have to look at my cell phone, that was why I decided to buy the painting by numbers package. It was good because I did not feel dizzy from looking at my cell phone," she said. Dina also often did light exercise and sunbathed when the weather was good.

Even though she felt better and could do her activities again, Dina continued her self-isolation period of up to 14 days. On the 14th day, she did an antigen test again to make sure she had fully recovered and could return to do activities outside.

The limited activities that we can do while undergoing a self-isolation period can make the movement of our bodies decrease. Therefore, Dina advised those who are undergoing self-isolation to keep exercising and increase body movement. "Do a lot of exercise, a lot of movement, light movement is okay. After what happened to me, honestly, when I came back after self-isolation, my body felt sore,” said Dina. She also added that for those who are doing self-isolation to stay motivated because good thoughts will also affect the recovery process.

[Self-Isolation at Home: A Guide and What You Can Do]

Indira Ayu Maharani: Started to Exercise Regularly since Exposed to Covid-19

Indira's initial illnesses were not much different from the others. Indira felt a headache and had a sore throat when she was in the office. After taking paracetamol, instead of improving, her condition actually worsened. The headache she felt got worse when she was on her way home. After arriving at home, she then rushed to rest because of the unbearable headache.

The next day, her body temperature rose to 38 Celsius degrees. She still thought that the symptoms she was experiencing were symptoms of strep throat and only took light medicines to reduce the symptoms she was experiencing. She then had a severe cough all of a sudden. Indira also has a history of asthma so breathing became more difficult for her. Since her condition had not improved, Indira then decided to go to see the doctor. After consulting with a doctor, she was only advised to rest because it was suspected that she had a common sore throat.

The next day, Indira began to lose her ability to smell and taste. "The next day I started not being able to smell anything, when I tried to smell the perfume there was no smell, I tried to eat too but the taste was really bitter," said Indira. The fever she had felt had gone down, but she still had the flu and cough. She then finally decided to do an antigen test and it turned out to be positive. The husband who was with her also took the test and the results were also positive.

Due to her history of asthma, Indira had experienced shortness of breath due to frequent coughing. "I could not sleep every night because of the cough," said Indira. However, Indira did not use an oxygen can because she could control her breathing, such as breathing through her mouth when she felt congested and calming herself down.

After being confirmed positive, the local health center came to Indira's house to see the condition of Indira and her husband with complete PPE. “I was also monitored by the local health center workers, they came to our house with complete PPE to control the condition of me and my family. They check our oxygen saturation and blood pressure,” she explained. After being given medicine by the local health center workers, Indira's cough did not go away. Indira decided to buy her own cough medicine and her cough started to go away.

The severe illnesses she felt only lasted for the first three days. The cough she was experiencing was not as bad as the cough when the initial symptoms appeared. He also consumed the boiled water of Bajakah wood to relieve her cough.

Having a feeling that she could do her activities, Indira kept herself busy during the self-isolation period by cleaning the house, continuing her work remotely, and exercising. Indira revealed that she kept doing some exercises during the self-isolation period. "Now exercise has become a routine every morning, every time I wake up, I take at least 30-60 minutes to sweat," she said. Indira and her husband played badminton in their yard with masks on. For Indira, it is very important to do activities that can move the body during the self-isolation period to reduce body aches.

She started doing many activities to make her body move. Indira admitted that she rarely cleaned the yard. Due to the limited activities she could do, she likes to clean and mow the grass in her yard now. She often kept herself busy so she did not think too much about the virus in her body.

The rapid transmission of the Omicron variant makes us have to be more careful. According to Indira, we have to take care of ourselves by taking vitamins, eating nutritious foods, and starting a healthy lifestyle to prevent the transmission of the virus. Indira also added that we should not be careless in keeping our distance and washing our hands regularly. Always take care of ourselves wherever we are.

Having received a complete vaccine up to booster shot does not mean we can be careless about this pandemic. Wear a mask, stay away from crowds, and always follow the health protocols. In the midst of rising cases of this Omicron variant, if there is no urgent need, it is better to stay at home. For Smartcitizen who have not vaccinated, register immediately and choose a vaccination schedule through the JAKI app or visit corona.jakarta.go.id. Stay safe and stay healthy, Smartcitizen!