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The literary community has not been spared the onslaught of the covid-19 pandemic. Activities ranging from festivals to book tours have been canceled in line with social distancing policies intended to contain the spread of the virus.

Perhaps more distressing is the impact of the virus on the health of our authors. Award-winning author Chigozie Obioma reportedly tested positive for the virus after experiencing symptoms.

He has since recovered and took to Instagram to briefly comment on his experience battling the virus, as well as his gratitude at having defeated it.

He writes:

I feel thankful to be able to take a walk in a park now, after these past weeks. I don’t speak too much about myself on social media, but I will say that of my experience, what surprises me the most is how things can escalate. You could be playing football and six hours later, be trying to reach the emergency ward. You could be feeling perfectly healthy in the morning and by evening, you have a fever, sore throat, nausea, chills, sweating, palpitations, severe wet cough that then turns into a dry one. By the next day, you could be struggling to breath. Even if you recover from this thing as most will, you could be traumatized by the experience. Stay safe. #stayhome if you can. Avoid the virus.

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I feel thankful to be able to take a walk in a park now, after these past weeks. I don’t speak too much about myself on social media, but I will say that of my experience, what surprises me the most is how things can escalate. You could be playing football and six hours later, be trying to reach the emergency ward. You could be feeling perfectly healthy in the morning and by evening, you have a fever, sore throat, nausea, chills, sweating, palpitations, severe wet cough that then turns into a dry one. By the next day, you could be struggling to breath. Even if you recover from this thing as most will, you could be traumatized by the experience. Stay safe. #stayhome if you can. Avoid the virus.

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