When Helen Hypolite got covid-19, the Cork woman was terrified by the symptoms, including struggling to write and speak in the weeks and months that followed.
Today, many would spot this as brain fog from long covid, but five years ago, this condition was unknown. Indeed, a clinical definition of over 200 symptoms was only agreed by the World Health Organisation in late 2021.
Helen, a nurse living in Ballincollig, said during 2020 they often received new safety guidelines twice daily from the hospital’s covid committee.
“The country was under restrictions and so were our hospital visitors,” she said.
“We all worked through that year and were all highly stressed because of who we…