Covid-19 spreads further in Auckland plus breaking news of two additional unlinked cases in Northland and a positive case in Tonga that arrived on a flight from Christchurch. Video / NZ Herald
A Far North man who tested positive for Covid today said he felt like his head was being squeezed and his hands were holding broken glass when he came down with symptoms two days ago.
The husband of Far North woman Rosalina Puhi, who outed herself as the region's latest Covid case, received a positive test result this morning.
Documenting her family's journey on Facebook she said her husband, Manga Puhi, had been hit harder by the virus than she had.
On Wednesday morning he was showing symptoms including a throbbing head, temperature and shortness of breath.
Manga Puhi received a positive Covid test result today. Wife Rosalina tested positive a week ago. Photo / Supplied
Just after 9.30am that day his symptoms had become so bad she had to call for an ambulance.
She said his "head was at a nine pain level - felt like it was being squeezed and trying to exit through his sinus cavity" and his hands felt like they were holding broken glass. He had a temperature, aching body, had a sore throat and neck and had to go to the toilet every half an hour.
Ambulance staff treat Manga Puhi when he was knocked down by Covid 19. Photo / Supplied
Ambulance staff said he was to stay home, be tested again, keep isolating and ride it out, although Puhi was told to call an ambulance again if he started struggling to breathe.
"To see my strong healthy Demi-God take a fall from grace opened my eyes to how things could have been much worse for me," she wrote.
She had experienced mild flu-like symptoms since the positive test last Friday, by Monday her taste buds were working a little better.
Today she posted they were both out of bed and feeling well although she expected her husband would be worn out by the afternoon.
Puhi made headlines at the weekend after she composed a Facebook post last Friday to let the Mangamuka community she and her daughter had tested positive for the virus.
She had since been isolating at home with her husband.
Puhi told the Herald last week she was nervous about the response she'd get and was "ready to defend myself" but instead the community had rallied around her family.
Puhi had received an exemption to travel to Auckland on October 16 to drop off her 11-year-old daughter, who had stayed with her during the school holidays. On the way back, she picked up her adult daughter and grandchildren to move back in with her.
Everyone tested negative before leaving Auckland, she said. But then on October 19 they learned that a family member in Auckland had tested positive and they immediately began isolating.
Far North resident Rosalina Puhi and her children. She was diagnosed with Covid-19 along with her adult daughter, left. Photo/Supplied
While she could have remained relatively anonymous, Puhi said she felt a duty to ease fears.
"I saw a lot of elderly people really worried about it and I didn't want people to be afraid to leave their house," she explained.
It turns out putting a face to her Covid-19 diagnosis helped humanise the virus for people in the community. The encouragement and support she had received since had meant a lot, she said.
"I think it just hit really close to home," Puhi said. "I think a lot of people have been in disbelief about it because names didn't get released and they didn't think they knew anyone who had it."
