(Caroline Barghout/ CBC News) — If Al and Martha Bradbury hadn’t been on a cruise ship where there were confirmed cases of COVID-19, the Winnipeg couple say they would never have associated their symptoms with the virus.
“We didn’t get the traditional [symptoms],” said Al. “There was nothing with a fever. There was nothing with a cough. But it was quite exhausting. I was quite exhausted. My body was sore, headaches.”
The couple boarded the Costa Luminosa for a Caribbean and trans-Atlantic cruise in March but had to cut their trip short because of the pandemic. Including Al, 549 passengers have since tested positive for the virus.
Martha’s test came back negative, but a public health nurse told her she most likely had COVID-19. She had the same symptoms as her husband, for the most part: body aches, dizziness and headaches.
“They haven’t done a very good job of communicating that there are actually other symptoms to this virus. They are so focused on the fever over 38 degrees, the cough and the respiratory issues that they don’t realize that there are so many other symptoms that come along with this,” said Martha. (…)