MP Kamal Khera is seen on April 22 at her Brampton, Ont., home after her mandatory self-isolation period. “I am a young individual and a healthy individual and this virus can get to you,” Ms. Khera says.The Globe and Mail
After a month of fighting COVID-19, 31-year-old member of Parliament Kamal Khera is warning Canadians the coronavirus does not discriminate based on age or health status.
Speaking to The Globe and Mail Wednesday, Ms. Khera said she experienced every COVID-19 symptom, including fever, cough, extreme fatigue and loss of taste and smell, and some other rare side effects, such as a rash. Now that she has recovered, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of international development has a message for anyone who thinks the virus only affects older adults.
“I am a young individual and a healthy individual and this virus can get to you,” Ms. Khera said in a phone interview from her Brampton, Ont., home where she has been self-isolating. “For lack of better words, it kicked my ass.”
Ms. Khera, a former nurse, is the only MP who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 to date. She started experiencing mild flu-like symptoms on March 21, so she got tested and self-isolated. She said she was “shocked and scared” when she received a call confirming her positive test results.
In the weeks following, Ms. Khera experienced a variety of symptoms that would come and go.
“I had some good days, some bad days, some days I just couldn’t get out of bed. I started off with having shivers and then I would be sweating buckets."
Nurses from Peel Public Health called her every day to check in on her symptoms. She was never hospitalized, instead treating herself at home with Tylenol, cough syrup, lots of water and rest. She spent all of her time in her bedroom, with her family leaving her meals outside of the door.
The recovery was long, she said, recounting how just as she was starting to feel better, she would find herself short of breath after climbing a flight of stairs. Ms. Khera was finally declared free of symptoms Tuesday.
Ms. Khera’s symptoms started just more than a week after she met with World Food Programme executive director David Beasley, who revealed on March 19 he had tested positive for COVID-19. She doesn’t know if she got the virus from Mr. Beasley when they met in Ottawa.
“This virus is literally everywhere," she said. “Public health cannot trace specifically where someone can contract this virus so I think it’s hard to say where I contracted it.”
After a month of self-isolating, Ms. Khera has been cleared by public health officials to leave her house, as long as she respects physical-distancing measures like everyone else. She said the virus has given her a new perspective on the simple things in life, such as going for a walk around the block.
Ms. Khera is also awaiting a potential call from the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario after putting her name forward to help respond to the pandemic.
“It was a complete no-brainer for me to do that, to ease the nursing shortage. That’s one of the reasons why I got involved in politics and it’s one of the reasons why I continue to make sure I am at the front lines and serving our community."
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