In the beginning of March I started to feel a little bit under the weather, but I missed only one day of work. I didn't attend my own practices, but on Sunday I felt good enough to start practicing again. All went well for the next day on my off-day, but during the evening I got a bad fever. I was shivering in my bed sheets. Obviously I wasn't to attend Academy Practice the next day. I informed my roommates that I was sick, as at this point there were starting to be reports of Corona, but it still was in the very early stages of the spread of the virus. We didn't really have any worries about the virus at this point.
In the next couple days I got extremely sick. On Thursday we had to call an ambulance as I was feeling like I could pass out at any moment. My roommates tried to call for one, but they wouldn't send one because of the situation in the city. They wouldn't send anyone when there could be a risk of infecting others. After about an hour I started to feel better but I was very tired in the middle of the day, so I went to sleep. As I woke up maybe an hour later that same feeling of passing out returned. This time the emergency services sent an ambulance. The paramedic came in to the apartment and informed me that it was not Corona as I didn't have a fever at that time. I was packed ready to go with the ambulance and even with the information from the paramedic I decided to go to the hospital. He said we would go to the hospital and we would take the Corona test in the ambulance and return back to the apartment, so I only got my jacket to go with me. They provided me with a mask and we were set off towards the hospital
At the hospital I waited for a while until they decided to take me in. Then they gave me fluids and other medication and after a while I started to feel better. I had to lie in wait in the operation room until they eventually took me to a patient care room. That's when I knew for sure I was going to stay.
During the whole experience I kept my family, friends and roommates in the loop of what was going on. In the morning my phone had died so there was a little bit worry on how I was going to keep everyone up to date. Fortunately my roommates found out where I was transported and delivered my backpack to the hospital.
While in the hospital I found out that the insurance the school had for me wasn't in use. So there was some trouble regarding that. But the school did take ownership of their mistake and promised to pay all the fees. Because of this incident the school will take extra care in confirming all the insurances for the student are in order before letting them leave for an exchange trip.
I ended up staying in the hospital for two weeks. It never got worse than that day when I went to the hospital. I still had some problems with oxygen levels and a low heart-rate along the way, but for the latter week I felt good enough to leave.
After I got out of the hospital, I was to stay in my apartment for another two weeks or have two negative tests. After a couple days I found out that the latest test I took in the hospital was actually negative, but getting another test would have been next to impossible with testing facilities in their early stages and somebody with no symptoms having already gotten the virus trying to get tested only to be exluded as a carrier. With the quarantine lasting another week and a half, even if I had gotten a reservation for a test, getting the results would have taken at least the same amount. I also tried to contact various places to grant me to leave the country, like the Finnish embassy in Berlin and the Covid hotline, but either I got unofficial grants to leave the country or no help. And just to be clear, after two weeks of not feeling sick and with a negative test it certainly seemed as though I wouldn't have been a risk for anyone's health. But with possible legal implications for me if I were to leave the apartment, I decided to throw the towel in the ring and power through the rest of my quarantine.
In the apartment were only left two other roommates along with the cats. Will had gone to stay with his girlfriend and another went to his girlfriend in another state, as the borders could be closed at any moment. So I stayed in my room and the smaller bathroom was left for only my use. Even the kitchen was off-limits. The roommates made me food every day and got me groceries and for that I am truly grateful for them.
One of the best moments of my quarantine was the day I found out about the negative test. I thought I would be able to get out, because the doctor had told me that I'd need one negative test, but I found out my papers said I needed two negative tests. Nevertheless that one negative test was enough for my roommates so they invited me to dine in the kitchen dining table instead of my bed that I had been confined to for the last week. It was like being introduced, at least partly, into society. Also getting to use the bigger bathroom with the shower was just great.
Another week later my quarantine was done and I was free to go. I booked another flight for the end of quarantine, having now stayed an extra week in Germany. I went from the front door of the apartment straight to an Uber and to the airport. In Finland I was to stay in quarantine for another two weeks, but I won't get into if I stayed or went through the county's closed border with a bogus work permit in order to see my parents and my cat...
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