Board of Deputies vice-president Edwin Shuker has spoken about his “life-changing” experience of being hospitalised with coronavirus.

Mr Shuker was diagnosed with Covid-19 last month and taken to Barnet Hospital with mild symptoms after his pulse oximeter detected a low blood oxygen level.

He was given oxygen and spent six days in hospital but said he began to recover after three days, feeling like “a cloud” had been lifted. He was kept under observation for the remaining period.

“My breathing became better,” he told the JC. “I was on the verge of a corona-related pneumonia. But because of the treatment I got, it was gone.”

Mr Shuker said the experience had reinforced his view that community members should take all necessary precautions against the virus, abide by lockdown rules and get vaccinated against Covid.

“You’re thinking that you’re healthy, you’re invincible,” he reflected. “You’ve got a home, a family, a car.”

Then suddenly, “you are reduced to one thing, [trying] to breathe normally. That’s all you have in mind, nothing else.”

Mr Shuker said he felt “very safe and very well taken care of” in hospital and thanked NHS staff for their round-the-clock care.

“I was sleeping very soundly knowing I didn’t need to watch the oximeter. I’m so unbelievably grateful to these people.”

He now felt “very good most of the time” although there were some lingering side effects, such as fatigue.