Jenene Crossan has been urging New Zealanders to listen to the advice of experts. Photo / Twitter
Jenene Crossan has been urging New Zealanders to listen to the advice of experts. Photo / Twitter
A Kiwi entrepreneur who has been hospitalised with coronavirus has urged people to heed official advice.
Speaking to The Hits after a full night of sleep in North Shore Hospital, Jenene Crossan talked about her Covid-19 symptoms and urged others to take the right precautions now.
"I see on social media far too many people not taking it seriously," she said.
"I was a pretty fit and healthy person, and it took me down pretty well."
Crossan is the founder of online hair and beauty booking website Flossie.
Upon her return to New Zealand she went into self-isolation in a remote Coromandel bach, without seeing any of her family.
That 'bach' is a tin shed found in the remote bush after 30 minutes down a 4WD track.
"When I was down there I started to feel worse, but of course I couldn't really decide whether I felt worse or if I just felt anxious because the news was getting worse and worse," Crossan told The Hits.
"I finally got a hold of Healthline and they said they felt I should get back to somewhere a little bit less remote so that I could get some help."
VirusFacts2
Crossan's husband hired a campervan so she could stay closer to home but maintain her distance with her own space parked up in the driveway.
"When I was in there, my cough just got out of control."
Crossan told The Hits that was when she also began vomiting.
Medical professionals in full hazmat suits tested her for Covid-19, she said.
The next day Crossan received the results she was Covid-19 positive and the day after it was decided her cough was bad enough to warrant staying in hospital.
"I'm in a fully-sealed isolated room, it's like being in jail to be honest - not that I've been in [one]," she told The Hits.
She sees medical professionals about three times a day in periods of five minutes, she said.
"It's mostly just completely and utterly on my own," she said.
"I'm still the only patient [with Covid-19] at North Shore Hospital so they are not over-loaded as yet with Covid-19 patients, perhaps I'm a bit of a test case study.
"What I do understand is that when my cough disappears I'll be starting the 14 days quarantine again from scratch so I still have got a few more weeks of being on my own."
Crossan urged people to stay home if they could and listen to the experts.
Jenene Crossan, founder of Flossie. Photo / File
New Zealand could avoid a situation like Italy's, she said.
