Patient 4: Battle vs COVID-19 is psychological, not physical

Patient 4, the country’s first Filipino case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), said his battle against the disease was more psychological than physical.

In an interview for the Atom Araullo Specials, Atty. Carlo Navarro said his family and positive thinking helped him endure the “psychological pressure” of being a COVID-19 patient.

“Think positive. Always talk to your family, it will help so much. The breaking point is really psychological,” he said. “You know, in the morning, magigising ka kasi you hear wailing sounds of people who have lost their loved ones, and then you don’t know if you're the next one.”

Navarro tested positive for COVID-19 on March 5, shortly after his return to the country from Japan.

“‘Yung symptoms lumabas, siguro mga March 3. This was seven days after I returned from Japan. May chills ako, although wala akong lagnat... but I was coughing vigorously and I couldn't sleep that night kasi malala talaga ‘yung ubo,” he recounted.

Navarro recalled that he was initially denied testing but he insisted out of fear for the health of his daughter and wife.

“Sabi ko, ‘No, I live with my daughter and my wife. So I need to be tested.’ So after insisting, they tested me, and then true enough, the following day I got the call from the Department of Health saying I tested positive.”

Luckily, none of his relatives or other close contacts tested positive for COVID-19.

The 48-year-old Taguig resident was confined at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and later on transferred to a private hospital.

“Siguro on the fifth day, lumala ‘yung lagnat ko. And I think that was the time that I contracted pneumonia, kasi that time I also had diarrhea, I was vomiting everything I ate… It was really getting bad, it was getting worse by day and I was so scared,” he said.

Navarro has since been discharged after he was informed by his doctor that his condition had improved and he was recovering quickly.

He remains in quarantine at his home as he waits for the results of his COVID-19 test.

The lawyer penned a Facebook post detailing his experience with the disease that has gone viral on social media.

He encouraged other patients battling COVID-19 to stay strong physically and mentally.

“‘Pag nagkaroon ka ng virus, hindi ‘yan automatic na mamamatay ka agad,” he said in an interview on Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho.

“Sa tingin ko, ‘yung pagdadasal, pagkain nang tama, pagtulog nang tama, lahat iyon makakatulong sa inyo.”

COVID-19 has so far claimed 33 lives and infected 462 people in the Philippines. — Julia Mari Ornedo/DVM, GMA News