Last updated on 1 April 2026
On January 5, 2021, around 12:00 PM, my father called to tell me that my mother had a fever and was not feeling well.
It was on that occasion that I learned of her contact with my sister.
I told my father to take her immediately to get tested for Covid.
A few hours later came the verdict: my mother was positive for Covid.
I was angry and did not know what to do; the directives were clear for those who tested positive, but not for people who had been in contact with them.
We had been in contact with my mother, but at the time of our meeting, she was fine and had no symptoms.
But it took very little time; the dark beast had already struck.
On January 6, Aaron and Asia had fevers, bone pain, headaches, backaches, and exhaustion, while Mirna and I had sore throats and colds, but nothing more for the time being.
A memory that surfaced a few days ago (November 2023) while watching television describes that day of madness (January 6, 2021), when a large group of rebels stormed the United States Capitol following the outcome of the presidential elections.
That day, I was relaxing in the living room, watching in astonishment the news being shown by the media—a day of extraordinary madness.
There was a certain similarity to what was happening with Covid; in this case too, many people did not accept the findings of the scientific communities and the political decisions that imposed limitations on personal freedoms. On this occasion as well, many people rebelled against the decisions and impositions dictated by the state; some expressed their opposition in the streets, some on social media, and some, without any shame, felt they had the right to disregard the rules set by the authorities.
Also on that day, my mother was hospitalized, first at the Beata Vergine Hospital in Mendrisio and then transferred to the Clinica Luganese Moncucco around one in the afternoon.
Given the situation, I contacted the Cantonal Covid Hotline to find out how I should proceed, but above all to arrange a swab test and verify our positivity for the virus, even though by then we were almost certain we were infected.
In fact, we soon received the quarantine order from January 3 to January 13, 2021.
My request for information and Covid test to the Cantonal Hotline
First quarantine order – From January 3 to January 13
Quarantine regulations and instructions
The following day, my father also began to feel unwell, and he too was immediately admitted to the Clinica Luganese Moncucco as his oxygen saturation was insufficient.
I was worried because he already had previous lung problems; furthermore, both he and my mother were former smokers.
I was furious about what was happening and especially about how it had all occurred—due to superficiality and for not having taken the dangers posed by this virus seriously.
That day I called my sister; I was angry because, despite having been ill in the preceding days, she had not worried about having contact with my mother and had taken no precautions.
I told her to take the test, but she replied that she did not know how to proceed or who to call to do it; annoyed, I gave her the hotline number and told her to do it as soon as possible. Although physically recovered, she tested positive.
I have never spoken to her again about this episode or what happened.
In my heart, I have always remained and am still convinced that my parents and all of us had to endure all this because of her superficiality and recklessness.
She had not deigned to inform us that she had seen the dark beast!
In the meantime, I had to cancel the appointment for blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy at the IOSI in Lugano; I had called the doctor and explained the situation, but all in all, I was still feeling fairly well, having only a sore throat, cough, and cold.
Early on Friday morning, January 8, all four of us set off to take the test and confirm the presence of the virus; it was a formality to determine if and for how long we had to remain in isolation. We were sure we were infected, but we still hoped it was a simple flu and that we could soon return to our daily lives.
By 8:30 AM, we were already at the Covid-19 checkpoint at the Monza Pavilion in Lugano.
It was striking how it had been set up logistically; it felt like being projected into a war movie—a bacteriological war.
We were the first of the day; there were few people ahead of us, they too wearing masks, all at a safe distance.
One after another, we entered this path guided by arrows, signals, and signs until we reached the “bacteriological” booth where the nasopharyngeal swab was administered.
In a few moments, a person—or rather, someone who seemed more like a robot—inserted this swab into our nose until it made us tear up and feel a natural sense of repulsion.
The swab was done; now we had to wait for the result, but for that, there were no fixed times—it could be a few hours or one or two days.
There was nothing left for us to do but return home and wait for the test results; we could not go where we wanted as we were in quarantine, and to be honest, we didn’t even want to, given our physical state. The virus, if it was indeed the virus, had drained our energy and the desire to go out.
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A few hours passed and the text messages arrived confirming the Covid positivity; now we were no longer in quarantine, but rather in ISOLATION!
ISOLATION Order – the same was also received by my wife and children
National instructions on isolation
We were all at home and had to remain isolated, but we were consoled by the fact that all four of us were positive; consequently, there were no restrictions between us.
This situation worried me as I was confined to the house and could not see or know how my parents were doing.
I knew that both had been transferred to the intensive care unit of the Clinica Luganese Moncucco, but I did not know much more.
Contact with the doctors was infrequent, and to make matters worse, I began to feel ill myself.
I was at home, in bed with a cough and fever; initially, I wasn’t too short of breath, although my saturation barely reached 92.
Mirna had purchased a pulse oximeter on the doctor’s advice to monitor her mother, who was 87 years old with heart problems.
In the following days, the fever, the sore throat, and an incessant cough caused me chest pain and difficulty breathing—initially when I made even the slightest effort, and later even at rest.
At night, lying down was a nightmare; I kept waking up searching for air and a deep breath, which, however, became increasingly rare.
To breathe, I had to remain in a semi-seated or even seated position, and this was not compatible with my idea of rest; I had never slept sitting up, but I soon learned to sleep even in that position, as there were no alternatives that allowed me to breathe and sleep at the same time.
They seemed like two incompatible activities.
Given my condition and the pulse oximeter’s tendency to “spit out” increasingly lower values, my family doctor decided to request hospitalization via ambulance.
After a few minutes, the ambulance was already at my house; this was not due to the urgency, but rather because the Lugano Green Cross branch is just a few steps from my home.
They examined me, performed routine checks, and connected me to the electrocardiogram and the pulse oximeter; everything was fine except for the saturation, which barely reached 91-92%.
I thought it was a matter of days and then the dark beast would leave me; I thought I was still able to fight it and win, so I decided to refuse hospitalization.
It was not so; slowly the disease was consuming me, my energy was thinning with every breath, and I was not eating because the fever had exhausted me and taken away my appetite; without me realizing it, the virus had brought me to my limit.
My body could no longer fight; the beast was conquering my body.