A British teenager begins to recover from a 10-month coma with no knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic that shook the world around him, despite being infected with the virus twice.
As reported by the Guardian19-year-old Joseph Flavill was hit by a car while walking in Staffordshire, UK, on March 1, 2020, when fewer than 40 cases of COVID-19 had been reported in the country. He was left with a traumatic brain injury that put him in a state of unconsciousness for months. During this time, COVID-19 took over the world and tens of millions of people became infected with the virus, including Joseph, who reportedly contracted the infection twice in the hospital.
He has now reportedly regained consciousness and is starting to show some promising signs of recovery, such as answering yes and no by blinking and following basic commands. But how can anyone catch up with the past year?
‘He doesn’t know about the pandemic because he’s been asleep for 10 months. His consciousness is now starting to improve, but we just don’t know what he knows, ”his aunt, Sally Flavill Smith, told The Guardian.
‘I just don’t know where to start. If someone had told me a year ago what was going to happen in the past year, I don’t think I would have believed it. I have no idea how Joseph will come to understand what we have all been through. “
His family has set up a campaign called Joseph’s journey, which has raised more than £ 32,000 to support the teen in his long-term recovery. Due to COVID restrictions, only his mother has been allowed to see him so far and she had to be socially aloof and wear full PPE.
“I think that was really challenging because from Joseph’s point of view, you have someone who is not close to you, who is wearing all those personal protective equipment and is clearly unaware that we are in the middle of a pandemic,” said his aunt, talk to Sky News.
In the first phase of the pandemic, the world had quite a few groups of people who were unaware of COVID-19. It will be in March 2020 was reported that many sailors aboard nuclear-armed submarines were unaware of the pandemic in order not to undermine their morale and keep them focused on their task. Officials working for the United Nations Migration Program also said they had encountered many Ethiopian migrants in June 2020 who were unaware of the pandemic.
Also in March, producers of the reality TV show Big Brother in Germany were left with the question whether they should tell their participants about the pandemic in the outside world. Ultimately, the housemates were told live in the broadcast and after being reassured that their loved ones were okay, they decided to stay in the house. After all, an isolated house cut off from the rest of the world was the ideal quarantine situation.
[H/T: The Guardian]