A young student at a top London fashion school had no idea she was infected with coronavirus when she hopped on a packed plane back home to Australia.
Isabella Snelson, 23, from Sydney, has been living abroad for nearly a year but decided to cut her time short when the pandemic forced her university to shut.
She wasn’t due to return until May but decided to book a last-minute flight last Friday after learning Australia was tightening its borders and cutting its international flights.
Just two days after landing in Sydney, Ms Snelson found out she had contracted the deadly and infectious disease that has killed more than 21,000 people worldwide.
Isabella Snelson, 23, (pictured) found out she had contracted coronavirus on Tuesday after flying home to Sydney from London on Saturday
‘I decided to fly back to Sydney because my school turned into remote learning… so I booked a flight 30 hours before getting on it,’ Ms Snelson told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I was worried that when my visa expired in two months I wouldn’t be able to come home.’
Ms Snelson said she didn’t think she was experiencing any of the symptoms of COVID-19 when she booked the flight.
‘I felt a bit run-down but that’s normal when we have a lot of things due at uni,’ she said.
The student said three of her classmates were worried they may have been infected but were unable to get tested due to how many cases there were in London.
‘And every day I was getting the tube so there’s a lot of contact in that,’ she said.
Ms Snelson had an entire row to herself from London to Dubai but said the plane from Dubai to Sydney was full.
‘In hindsight I’m very worried I may have infected people at the time because I didn’t know that I had it,’ she said.
‘I also think because everyone was coming from Europe I would have likely caught it anyway because everyone was so close.’
She said that during her flight nearly everyone on board were wearing face masks – including staff who also had gloves on – but no temperature checks were done.
Ms Snelson (pictured in face mask) has been isolating in her beach house with her mother after finding out she contracted the disease and said she had lost her sense of smell
Despite not knowing she was infected, she kept her distance from her family and didn’t hug her parents who she hadn’t seen in more than six months.
‘The night I arrived in Sydney I had a sore throat and a bit of a cough so I got tested the next morning,’ Ms Snelson said.
‘The nurses were pretty certain I had it so within an hour me and my mum drove to our beach house (to isolate).’
Ms Snelson said the worst symptom she experienced was having shortness of breath.
‘I just feel really run down and I have no energy. The worst day was on Wednesday when I felt a real shortness of breath and I started to freak out and couldn’t breathe properly,’ she said.
‘I have a bit of a sore throat and I have absolutely no sense of smell, nothing at all.’
Ms Snelson, who has been staying with her mother since Sunday, said she was doing everything to ensure she wouldn’t pass on the virus to her mother.
‘We use separate bathrooms and separate bedrooms. Mum is the only one who uses the kitchen and prepares meals,’ she said.
Ms Snelson who was studying fashion abroad has said the worst symptom was feeling so run down and having a shortness of breath
‘I’ll wipe down everything I touch and every three hours we wipe down all the surfaces.
‘We wipe down the TV remote about every 15 minutes,’ she laughed.
Ms Snelson admitted she thought the virus wouldn’t affect her so badly.
‘I thought because I was so young it wouldn’t hit me as hard as it did. Within the last couple of days my body just feels so smashed and I am so exhausted,’ she said.
‘I’m not scared but I’m wondering how long it’ll last. I feel like I’ve been hit with a second wind.’
The 23-year-old urged others her age to be cautious as anyone can be affected.
‘Even though you can fight it because you’re young, it’s not about you. You could pass it onto your parents or grandparents.
‘That’s my biggest fear.’
Source: dailymail UK
