DUBAI: While most people infected with the coronavirus would be sulking, praying that they make it, a 60-year-old overseas Filipina worker (OFW) in Abu Dhabi instead took it in stride, dancing on TikTok to “entertain” her loved ones back home and allay their anxieties.
Emma Wenceslao Sentones of Isabel, Leyte, who lives alone in the city, spent the recent holidays in the hospital, finally pulling through on the eighth day of confinement after having her second negative test result on New Year’s Eve. She was admitted a day before Christmas Eve and was officially declared fit and was discharged on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I was on my second day (when I danced on TikTok). I was still positive and vomiting,” recalled Sentones, who went to the hospital by herself on Dec. 22, 2020 to be checked due to symptoms – vomiting, slight fever, shortness of breath, coughing, diarrhea and back pain. In short, a textbook case. She was admitted on Dec. 23.
Sentones said she did the TikTok gig “to show my family that I was okay, though I was still fighting.”
“Kasi, ayoko na malungkot sila,” said Sentones, a prominent figure in the Filipino community, being in the leadership of major organizations whose day job is being an administrative officer at a conglomerate here, where she has been employed for the past nine years.
Wenceslao, a mother of four and grandmother to five kids, the eldest being 14 years old, recalled how weak she was when she took a taxi for the hospital that day.
“On Dec. 23, I got a text message from the authorities that I was positive. I also received a call from the hospital at 10 in the morning confirming that I’m Covid positive and was advised to proceed to the hospital soon as I was ready.
“I brought a few clothes, managed to take a taxi alone and was very weak. I had no food to eat because I couldn’t manage to cook anymore and I have totally lost my appetite. At 3pm I was brought by ambulance to the Covid recovery center,” Sentones said.
Sentones said she took comfort in the thought that three doctors were responding to her case while nurses kept an eye on her.
“I was always asking the nurses about my blood pressure and I also learned how to operate the oxygen…because I was very curious,” said Sentones, adding that she had never been hospitalized in her entire life.
Now back to work, Sentones has this piece of advice: “Always wear facemask, clean and disinfect. Know the symptoms and be a responsible individual. Kapag alam mo may sakit ka, umiwas ka na. Immediately do the swab test para may agarang gamutan.”
The UAE has, in the past several days, been seeing an upswing in the number of new daily Covid-19 cases. There were 1,506 new cases, two deaths and 22,307 active cases on Dec. 29, 2020, according to the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP). Number of tests done was 153,157, also according to MOHAP.
On the other hand, there were 3,432 new cases, seven deaths and total of 26,962 active cases on Jan. 16, 2021. There were 151,096 test done on this day, still according to MOHAP. Total number of deaths was 740.
Related links:
The Daily Bread 