Former federal minister Christopher Pyne has Covid-19

Former federal minister Christopher Pyne has given an insight into his experiences in isolation while suffering Covid-19, and why a certain French general is looming large in his thoughts.

I had vowed not to write about the virus that dare not speak its name again, but in the

circumstances, I don’t have much choice.

You see, like Napoleon Bonaparte on the island of Elba, I am in exile. The master of my own little world here in the Adelaide Hills.

I’m thick with Covid-19. In isolation.

Thousands of South Australians are either in the same boat or have been – some as close contacts, some as Covid carriers, some as both.

I’ve now done both. Isolation in Robe as a close contact. Isolation in the Hills with Covid-19.

Former federal minister Christopher Pyne has contracted Covid-19.

Because we have ten days of quarantine in South Australia, I am here until midnight on Tuesday. As I write this, I am into my seventh day.

Fortunately, I have not been too sick with the virus. Second day wasn’t much fun. But unlike many others, my symptoms have felt like a mild flu through to a dense head cold. But it hasn’t been life threatening. Of course, I have had both my vaccine shots and was scheduled to have my booster when I was struck down.

For those who are more seriously affected, I can imagine it being very unpleasant.

For those who have found Covid-19 a death sentence, my heart goes out to them, their families and friends. They should not have had this happen to them. The fault lies squarely from where the virus emanated, however it came about, in Wuhan in China.

While our state and national governments have done their level best to mitigate the affects of the crisis, there is only so much anyone can do to stop such an insidious killer.

When I write that “I am master of my own little world”, I use the phrase advisedly.

I am no more master than when not a patient. Carolyn and the children are still in charge.

Sometimes, I feel I might have sovereignty over the West Highland terriers, Miss Jean Louise Finch (aka Scout) and Daphne, before I realise that the call of the Good’Os or My Dog has real currency over a scratch under the muzzle.

It’s amazing how you can stretch tasks that you would normally do in moments into ones that can fill up tracts of time over the course of a day.

Normally, I am “at and up ‘em” in the morning. I break my fast, shave, shower and dress, read the papers and often walk the dogs before leaving for the city by 7:30am.

Isolation is just like what faced French statesman and military leader Napolean Bonaparte.

In isolation, I find I can still be fiddling around even as late as 9:00am! It isn’t an existence I want to continue past Tuesday.

My low expectations of the support and care from SA Health have not been met – the support and care has been fantastic.

While I have not needed daily phone calls with SA Health professionals, they have been offered every day. The apps and website have been easy to navigate and use.

The daily health check that comes over the mobile is enough without being too much and, if necessary, could be more. When you call SA Health, the different options available for help are clear and present.

While I haven’t needed to access anything other than the minimum, it has been comforting to know that help is not far away.

While there has been a lot of whingeing going on in the last few weeks, I have had nothing to

complain about. I suspect that is the case for most South Australians but that the whingers make the most noise and find a ready outlet on social media in particular.

Being in isolation is certainly disruptive. For everyone. All my family are close contacts. They are either not working or working from home. I am one of the lucky ones, I can work from home and I am.

I feel very sorry for the thousands of hospitality, retail, live music and entertainment workers and business owners who have been cast into a deep pit of despair. It must be awful. They still have mortgages to pay and credit cards to balance. Rent to pay and children to get off to school for the start of the year (whenever that is going to happen). I can’t imagine how stressed they must be.

And that is the great unknown – the mental health toll of isolation. Being in isolation in the Adelaide Hills is hardly the worst experience ever.

Imagine being in Melbourne in an apartment, potentially on your own or with small children for months on end as was the case throughout 2020 and 2021?

There would be fellow South Australians really struggling in similar situations right now. We need to be thinking about them, supporting them and being kind to each other and all those trying to help – from policy makers and politicians, to health workers and public servants.

Everyone is trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Like Napoleon, I plan a grand return in the short term. Unlike the Little Corsican, I doubt it will be as dramatic and hopefully not end as badly!