Former Dynasty star Emma Samms has revealed she’s still feeling certain after-effects of Covid-19 almost six months after first contracting the virus.
The actor fell ill in March of this year, and during an interview on Wednesday’s Good Morning Britain, revealed she’s still experiencing what she has described as “panic-inducing levels of fatigue” long after getting over the disease.
Speaking to presenters Adil Ray and Kate Garraway – whose husband contracted Covid-19 in April and is still in intensive care – the 59-year-old star explained that she was denied a test when she first started showing symptoms, as at that time they were only being offered to people who needed hospital treatment.
“I had shortness of breath, chest pains and various other symptoms but they sent me home and said, ‘Come back if it gets any worse’,” she explained.
Emma noted that she now has “good days and bad days”, saying: “[When I was first ill, doctors were] saying ‘it’s two weeks and then I’m going to feel better’, and I just didn’t.
“There would be a good day, and then I’d get back out in the garden and try and do some gardening, and then the next day I’d be completely wiped out.”
She continued: “I do want to stress, though, obviously, I’m still one of the very lucky ones. You know, I wasn’t hospitalised and I wasn’t in [intensive care]. Relatively speaking, even with these ongoing symptoms, I haven’t got little kids to look after, so I do consider myself still very lucky.
“It’s just very frustrating that there’s not much awareness out there, both in public and in the medical world, of what ‘long Covid’ is. Doctors have not known about it when I have seen them. So I’ve tried to tell them about it.”
When asked whether there was a “danger” she could fall ill again, the actor said: “Nobody knows. This is the thing. I’m assuming that eventually I will get better, but nobody knows.
“And weirdly enough, the doctors who I’ve spoken to who say ‘we just don’t know, this is a new virus’, those are the ones that I trust the most.”
In the last few weeks, a number of stars who were diagnosed with coronavirus earlier in the pandemic have spoken out about how they’re still feeling after-effects of the illness.
Both US actor Alyssa Milano and TV personality Linda Lusardi have revealed they’re still experiencing considerable hair loss, with the former sharing a video on Instagram showing just how much hair is coming out each time she brushes it.
Linda also spoke about the effects falling ill had on both hers and her family members’ mental health, echoing comments previously made by British actor Idris Elba.