My 10 Day Experience With COVID-19 in Mongolia

I contracted the Covid-19 virus in the middle of 2021 through my family. The symptoms were mild and were very close to catching a cold/flu but with extreme fatigue. The WHO (World Health Organization) and CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends staying in isolation for at least 10 days and per this recommendation I have stayed home. I wanted to share what those first 10 days of contracting the virus was like in Mongolia (specifically in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar).

DISCLAIMER: I need to put this out there that this is what my experience with the COVID-19 virus was like. I cannot vouch for other people and everyone’s experience with COVID-19 will vary! Therefore the type of medicines and the type of recommendations you receive from your doctor will vary too.

8am: Cold like symptoms are showing. Sore throat, little bit tired despite the fact that I’ve had 8 hours of sleep which is the optimum hours of sleep I need to start my day full of energy. However, that wasn’t the case today. Immediately started feeling shivers down my spine and this is odd especially since I showed no symptoms the day before and I had a warm bath before bed. So, I shouldn’t have caught a cold or showed signs of it.

11am: Luckily I had booked an appointment for a PCR test early in the morning so I’m on the way to get tested. It’s expensive at 98k (around $35). For your reference that would equate to about 8% of the average wage (average monthly wage for 2020 was 1,220.6k) of a Mongolian. That’s a lot. Cars were packed and everyone was blocking somebody’s car. I had to block two cars and leave my number to get my test done. The test itself was quick and took only about 10–15mins. Everyone was super nice and helpful.

Showing symptoms wasn’t good so I had to get the 5 recommended medicines just in case! The total cost was over 100k…that’s another blow to my bank account. I can’t imagine everyone with COVID-19 paying for these medicines when there are some struggling to buy food.

1pm: Do some quick grocery shopping just incase I need to go into isolation. I’m feeling tired and fatigued. My eyes are starting to shut down on me and I can feel my body tremble. I need to lie down. I quickly do my food shopping and head home just in time for lunch. Soup with lots of vegetables. Shoved it down my throat. Phew appetite is still there. I can still smell and taste food. But I’m tired so I lay down and a quick nap turns into an hour long sleep.

3pm: Mind you I’m still on work clock but luckily it’s my turn to work from home, but I can’t work. My body won’t allow it. I can barely lift my head up. My whole body aches and my head is turning in circles. Feeling nauseous and I feel like I might faint if I get up. Phone is buzzing with notifications from work but I have zero strength to read what’s up. Quickly do a scroll to see what’s up.

5pm: I’m squeezing in all my energy to sit up right and do some work. But I’m unable to finish it at the last minute. My body is failing on me and I cannot avoid these signals. I lay down again and I fall asleep.

9pm: I’m still tired. The PCR test results aren’t due for another 20 hours at least. I don’t want to get out of bed. I think I have the COVID-19 virus.

10pm: Eat leftover lunch soup but my appetite has decreased and I don’t feel like finishing my bowl. I eat half the vegetables and meat and drink all the soup. I have to eat to keep up my strength.

11pm: Back in bed. Can I finish off my work? I can’t. The one word to describe my situation is “sh*t”. I can’t walk much, I can’t do much. I can’t even lift my head up. So doing work in this state is a lie. If anything I’d probably mess up my work. I have to sleep it off. PCR results are not in (they recommended giving it 28 hours at least) but I can already predict that I’ll be positive. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow morning. Hopefully.

6am: Still no results. But based on assessing my own condition it’s pretty clear what I’m going through.

7am: Results are in and I’m POSITIVE. Well there’s no surprise here because I feel like a living corpse. I notify my boss immediately about my condition and tell them that I’ll be unable to work at my normal rate and won’t be able to take on any new tasks. Luckily I only need to hand in one project and then I can concentrate fully on my health and getting better.

10am: I’ve started taking my antiviral medicine along with a few other medicines. The medicines are helping because as soon as I take them my throat and nose feels better and the blockage is immediately gone. But the fatigue is still there and I don’t feel like getting out of the bed…

12pm: Lunch time. Noodle soup with broccoli and carrots. I get a call from my district asking how I’ve been feeling and if I got my medicines and if I have any questions for them. Suuuuper surprised that someone even called to check in. They take information on where I live, where I’ve gone the past week, what my condition and symptoms are and if there’s anyone living with me and if I’m pregnant.

1pm: It’s either my body fighting against the viruses or it’s the medications. I’m constantly tired even if getting a ton of sleep. And standing up or walking makes it even worse and I get dizzy in an instant. I decide to keep laying down.

5pm: I’m done with work and hand it in. It’s getting late so I should have something to eat. I eat the leftover lunch. Pleased to see that I still have an appetite. And I do some reading to catch up on a book I had left off.

7pm: Nap time.

8pm: Surprisingly I’m super energized so I do my dishes and a little organizing around the house while listening to some YouTube videos. And while I’m at it I do a little bit of laundry too. (looking back on this I shouldn’t have moved much because the district doctor told me not to move and just keep on resting)

11pm: Exhausted. I wash up and do my skincare routine and go to bed.

7am: Wake up. Surprised to see that I slept without complications. Also surprised that I had a full 8 hour sleep because I thought I’d be waking up much earlier because of the hours of sleep I got the day before.

9am: I prepare my granola breakfast. Somehow I’m not feeling too energized and it might be because I overdid myself with the house chores. I quickly eat my breakfast and my medicines to lie down. I’m starting to think that the mornings are the worst time and the evenings are the best for those with COVID-19 virus. This is just a theory and this may not be the same case for everyone.

10am: I’m beginning to cough a little bit. I hardly coughed before. Should I be alarmed? I’ll have to take notice of the frequencies of the coughs and how severe the coughs are.

12pm: I’m still in bed. I have no interest to go on my phone or my laptop or read. I find myself staring into the open space reflecting and taking notice of the little things surroundings in my room. Don’t think I ever felt like this before when I fell ill with a cold, a bad stomachache or a hangover. But it does remind me of the time I caught the chickenpox and was bed ridden for a month. I never thought we’d come full cycle for me to be battling another virus.

1pm: Lunch time. I’m reheating leftovers from yesterday. Don’t judge. When I say I don’t have any energy I mean it. It’s soup and vegetables and it’s exactly what the experts said we should be eating and it hits the spot just right. Slight sweating which is normal from eating the hot soup.

2pm: One word. Lingonberries. A common fruit you’ll find in Mongolia along with sea buckthorns. They taste amazing and they’re perhaps the most commonly used fruits or flavors in food like chocolates and snacks. Lingonberries are said to be excellent for colds and flus and helps in improving your immune system. I made a big batch of lingonberries smoothie and have it slightly heated on the stove. I’ll be consuming this as a warm drink throughout the day.

3pm: Calls from the family. They’re saying that I sound like I have a blocked nose. I didn’t recognize this but I do feel like I have a blocked nose but it’s not fully blocked. P.S they’ve been calling everyday. I’m starting to yawn so I take that as a sign for an afternoon nap.

8pm: Received a small food delivery from my older sibling, so I’ll be eating that for dinner and chucking down a lot of tea.

9pm: I mopped the floor because I haven’t done it in the past 3 days and although I’m not suppose to put any sort of strain on my body I also have to keep my area clean. I take a shower afterwards.

10pm: I get in bed. And I was suppose to watch only one thing but that ended up turning into a couple dozen and now it’s 2am. Not good. So, I force myself to sleep.

7am: I hear the car honk and it’s our garbage man. Our place has a gate at the entrance so the only way in and out is by having a chip to open the gate. I open the gate for him so he can collect the trash. And since I’m awake I decide to set the laundry, eat my breakfast, send a few work emails (yes I know I said I’m not doing any work but these were important. Hate being too much of a burden to my colleagues when they’re already busy. It’ll only take a few minutes tops anyway.)

8am: Yikes. I’m a bad person. I forgot to water the plants in the house. I quickly water them before I forget again. I also decide to change my bed sheets and I’m surprised that I have this much energy because the last two days have been rough. Maybe the medicines are working? And maybe I’m recovering slowly? Who knows. We just have to wait a few more days to make any conclusions.

9am: I’m still having these small coughs but they only seem to happen in the morning. I’ve been getting them without fail for two days straight. They’re only a few coughs but not consistent.

10am: I have started gargling food soda and salt mixed with water to cleanse my throat of any bacteria and virus and clogging. This was also recommended by the district doctor and also this is a household remedy that us Mongolians do when we catch a cold/flu or when our throat hurts.

1pm: I make chicken soup but I’m not feeling that hungry. I try to eat so I have 2 drumsticks and some clear soup.

2pm-6pm: In between doing some work here and there and scrolling through social media…

7pm: Nap time.

9pm: I get a call from a fellow graduate school classmate and we discuss our plans to take this exam we’re interested in.

10pm: I get another call and its from dad.

11pm: I can’t sit still and decide to catch up on some work. I know I shouldn’t be working but I feel the need to do something at least while I’m feeling better. And it’s a Friday-last day of work until the weekend.

12am: Finally going to bed to sleep.

9am: I wake up. and I feel well rested. But I still have the same symptoms as day one. My voice sounds nasally but I can still breath just fine through my nose. Weird. I’m having granola and eggs for breakfast.

10am: My cousin has gotten word of me catching the virus and he calls to check in. I also receive calls from my parents. I’m feeling fine so I decide to finish reading a book I started months ago.

11am: I’m finally going to throw out my trash because I’ve just been accumulating them at the door because I feared going out for other people’s safety. I somehow accumulated 3 large bags of trash in the span of 5 days. I throw them out and one of them turned out to be heavy and now my head is starting to spin and I’m sweating like crazy. Bad bad bad. Thought I was fine but looks like I shouldn’t overwork myself. I can’t forget that my body is battling a virus. And in order for my body to fully fight off this virus I can’t do heavy work which would get in its way. So I immediately get back to my bed to rest.

1pm: I make chicken soup again with noodles.

2pm: I do some more laundry and clean the bathroom.

3pm: Nap time.

5pm: I wake up. And despite the hours of sleep at night time I still have an appetite for taking long naps. I do little bit of light reading.

6pm: I have leftover chicken soup from lunch. I’m done with the meds for the day and tomorrow is the last day of the remaining antiviral medicine. But I continue my other medicines for few more weeks.

7pm: I wash up my dishes and call mom. I get another delivery and this time it’s fruits from my older sibling. Thanks bro.

8pm: I do a little bit of moving around by doing some house chores. I end up sweating…How is it that I’m getting this tired over dusting and mopping? I keep forgetting that I’m ill…this is the struggles of being such a worker and unable to stay still. I take a shower afterwards because there’s no way I’m going to bed all sweaty.

10pm: Okay, this is going to sound boring but I’m staring at my back account but specifically my savings account. 1 year ago I didn’t have a savings account. And that was alarming to me because I didn’t know what the future held and I needed to be financially secure. I decided to commit to investing money into my saving for 1 year. Well the time is up and I’ve reached that 1 year and now I don’t know what my next goal is. Do I set a specific amount? Or do I set a specific date? I’m stuck. Also dad called and he says not to use too much technology and to air out the room as much as possible. Well noted.

11pm: I do some reading and then it’s time for bed.

I realize I don’t do much this day. I guess it’s just one of those days you know.

6:34: This is a surprise. 6 hours of sleep today. Am I tired? Meh. Back hurts so that means I didn’t get enough sleep. Back to sleep some more.

9am: Finally waking up. It’s a beautiful sunny day. I make some quick toast for breakfast and take my medicines.

12pm: I take a nap.

2pm: Super late for lunchtime but I quickly fry up some vegetables and throw in some miso paste to make some vegetable soup. I’m not feeling like doing much today. I have my lunch quickly so I can take my medicines per the instructions. Side note: I can still taste and smell food without problems but it’s not as strong as before. So this virus does affect your senses but varies person to person.

5pm: I stay in bed the whole day like all the days before. But I just scroll through YouTube and my social media just to pass the time.

6pm: I’m reheating my lunch and also have some of the oranges and apples I was gifted.

The remainder of the day I stayed in bed until I fell asleep. Told you it was one of those days…

6am: My body automatically wakes up at this hour but I decide to go back to sleep…

9am: My mom calls and I wake up. I make my bed and head to the kitchen to make breakfast. I don’t feel like making much so I have fruits and cookies. Today is the last day of me taking my antiviral medicine so now I’m just on vitamins and aspirin (FIY I didn’t get the AstraZeneca, instead I had the Sinopharm).

10am: I just stayed in bed and decided to clean out my YouTube “watch later” section. I had over 4000 videos and managed to cut it down to 300…I couldn’t go down any further.

12pm: Lunch time. I’m starting out with some potatos, carrots, cellery and onions by cutting them up to make vegetable soup and also because I need to use them up or else they’ll go bad. I’m notorious for not using up food…

1pm: Nap time.

2pm: I do a bit of writing.

3pm: I take out the trash. And I return to measure my oxygen level and it’s low at 92/93 (normal range is between 95–100). I decide to wait an hour to check again.

5pm: I check my oxygen levels and it’s 96. Okay, looks like everything’s all in order. Good good. Also I call my district doctor to confirm what medicines I need to stop and continue taking. I need to stop taking my antiviral medicine. But I can continue with my vitamins and aspirin.

6pm: It’s dinner time and I decide to watch a movie on Netflix. I’m finally spending some time outside of my own room and the kitchen.

8pm: I’m starting to yawn…why am I sleepy already?

9pm: I’m in bed. I have to listen to my body.

9am: There was lots of thunder and heavy showers last night. The thunders kept waking me up and I had to keep going back to sleep. So, that was a little bit annoying…and that’s why I ended up sleeping too much. Moms call finally wakes me up.

10am: Breakfast is fruits and bread with jam and peanut butter. I starting having peanut butter when I was studying in the U.S.A. because high school started super early and I would have to wake up at between 5–6am, so I desperately needed something quick and filling and that’s when I discovered peanut butter. I only need one slice to keep me full until lunch.

11am: I mop my floors because our floors and surface level stuff gets dusty easily. Welcome to Mongolia because our climate is super dry and dusty.

12pm: Lunch time. I’m starting to get sick of making soups so I organize my fridge to throw out anything rotten and expired, and decide to make pasta for today. I didn’t realize the pasta sauce had mold until I looked at it’s cap…I’m starting all over again with making my pasta…

2pm: I eat my lunch.

4pm: I reheat some of my lunch because I’m hungry.

5pm: I watch some YouTube and do a little reading here and there.

6pm: I finally do the dishes because I have two days worth of dishes pilled up.

7pm: I put the bath on.

8pm: I watch some of my favorite late night show hosts before going to bed.

9am: I had a weird dream that felt super real. It’s plausible that the events that unfolded could become true but who knows. Also unlikely I guess.

10am: My mom calls as usual and dad calls too. I’m gonna make some breakfast. Also, weirdly enough I remember a quick work thing I need to do. My dream reminded me or it was my subconscious mind 🤨 even though I didn’t take note of it the day before.

12pm: Lunch is fried vegetables and tofu. I’m just not feeling like making much today.

1pm: Nap time.

3pm: I’ve been trying to finish this book and it’s taking me forever. I’m not a big book reader…And I’ve been trying to change that since last year. And something that I noticed with my multiple attempts at reading have been to pick up a book that interests you because you’re more likely to read it. I’m almost at the finish line. Almost there.

5pm: I have a light dinner by making a quick toast and also have some yoghurt cuz it’s about to expire tomorrow and it’s brand new. And no I had the yoghurt removed from the fridge few hours before so it wouldn’t be cold when I consumed it.

6pm: I’m resting and reflecting on life for a bit. But mostly just resting.

9pm: Omg I have spent hours watching tiktok videos. Time for bed.

8am: I realize that I sleep a lot but I take it as a sign for my body needing this rest to recover from battling the virus the whole day. I quickly make some breakfast because I just absolutely dislike getting out of my bed.

9am: I called mom to check in and I can finally be reunited with her. She also contracted the virus and has been given the permission by her doctor because she has recovered enough to be released from her hospital.

10am: I go to the garage to get my car and pick up mom. This is the first time I’m driving in weeks. I’m excited but I know better not to overdo it because I’m still recovering. Luckily the hospital is only a few miles away or about 3 traffic lights away.

12pm: We finally get home and I’m sweating and exhausted. It was hot outside yes but I was wearing light clothes and hardly moved. This just proves that I’m not ready and I haven’t fully recovered yet. This virus is killing me…I’m tired and ready to be fully recovered and accumulate into society.

1pm: For lunch we have bone soup, fried noodles and pizza. Yes, we went all out for lunch.

2pm: I have a little movie time with mom. I missed my mom a tonnnnnn and also missed having some company around.

3pm: Nap time.

4pm: We watch Entourage. It’s such a dude movie.

6pm: I make pizza on tortilla wraps and also make another pot of bone soup.

8pm: Mom and I chill in the living room catching up and also watch some National Geography before going to bed.