“It is crazy”: 25-year-old woman stricken by Delta strain reveals ongoing symptoms
25-year-old Claudia Waitsman is still experiencing lingering COVID-19 symptoms more than a month after contracting the virus.
The Eastern Suburbs woman was exposed to the virus during a trip to Joh Bailey’s hair salon in Double Bay, where the Delta strain outbreak started on June 16.
However, Ms Waitsman has said she initially did not show symptoms.
“I had been to the hairdressers on the Saturday, then I was told on the Wednesday I had to get a test and isolate. I started to get a headache on Wednesday evening but didn’t think it was related,” she told news.com.au.
“On the Friday, I thought I might have symptoms so I got tested on the Saturday - which turned out to be positive.
“Once it hit I had shortness of breath, my body aching, that kind of agony, a headache. It was similar to the flu or glandular fever. I lost my sense of taste and smell which I still don’t have back almost a month later.”
Since the start of the Delta strain outbreak, there have been 864 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in New South Wales, with the state recording 97 new cases on Wednesday.
Ms Waitsman, a real estate agent, said she was not surprised by the rapid spread of the virus.
“It is crazy,” she said.
“I was in lockdown in my bedroom, like completely in there I didn’t leave. But somehow my dad caught it, it is an absolute miracle my mum didn’t get infected.
“I was even wearing gloves to eat my food to try and stop it from spreading.”
Most of the cases recorded in the last few days have been revealed to be close and household contacts of those who are already infected.
On Tuesday, three out of four new infections were found to be household contacts, according to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
Image: Claudia Waitsman / Instagram