Dalam Bahasa Indonesia/Read a version of this story in Indonesian
Leonhard Dengah was enjoying his day off when he felt a sore throat.
The Indonesian national lives alone in Melbourne, where he works long hours as a chef at a restaurant.
Hearing about Mr Dengah's symptoms, the restaurant owner dropped by his apartment with a rapid antigen test (RAT), which confirmed he had COVID-19.
"It was very hard to find a RAT, but fortunately he had one," Mr Dengah said.
He said he was fortunate to be double-vaccinated and experienced mostly mild symptoms: a fever, muscle aches, headaches, a sore throat and a cough.
But the biggest challenge for him was living in isolation on his own, without any relatives or family in Melbourne.
"The homesickness is way more severe than the COVID symptoms themselves," Mr Dengah said.
Mr Dengah said while he was in isolation, someone contacted him and offered to help almost every day.
Finding the right medicine
Nandya Gita had a similar experience after she and her husband, Radityo Wicaksono, tested positive for COVID-19.
"We received lots of offers of help, which we didn't expect. Even after all our needs were met, there were still many who offered, but we politely declined for fear of wasting food," Ms Gita said.
The fashion entrepreneurship international student has lived in Melbourne for the past four years, and said while being separated from relatives was hard, fellow international students had become like a family to her.
Unable to get a RAT, Ms Gita said she lined up for a polymerase chain reaction test (PCR) to confirm her diagnosis.
"I waited in line for four hours, and to be honest I felt like I was about to pass out because I was so tired of standing," Ms Gita said.
"If I turned out to be positive, I was also worried about infecting other people in the queue who might actually be negative."
Ms Gita said another challenge for her was knowing what kind of medicine to take.
"Back home [in Indonesia], I am more familiar with [the types] of medicines and I can get help from my relatives or my family doctor if I need some help," she said.
"So it was a real struggle when I had to choose the right medicine here.
"I was so confused. Even, let's say Panadol, there are many variants of Panadol out there."
Reaching out through free meals
Apart from getting a helping hand from her friends while in isolation, Ms Gita and her husband also received free meals distributed by a restaurant in Melbourne.
Intan Kieflie*, the owner of Dale Lapau restaurant, saw a need and distributed 100 free meal packages earlier this month — including to Ms Gita.
"A lot of customers don't have access to food because they have to be isolated," Ms Kieflie said.
"So, if in the past they were the ones who visited us, now it's our turn to reach out to them."
Ms Kieflie is not alone. Some other restaurants have followed suit, although many are struggling themselves, and various cultural and community groups have been assisting those far from home during the Omicron wave in Australia with food and medical needs.
One of them is charity organisation Sikh Volunteers Australia (SVA), which has recently started distributing free meals again to those isolating due to COVID-19.
Jaswander Singh, SVA's secretary and spokesperson, said the group was delivering meals three times a week to COVID-positive people in Frankston, Casey, and Dandenong councils, and people in need from those areas can send an SMS to the SVA.
"Last week people started contacting us [for meals] and we feel like it's our responsibility now to upkeep that hope we have and we have to do it again," he said.
He said they delivered an average of 500 meals a day last week, and that they cooked, packed and distributed nearly 80,000 free meals in 81 days for Victorians during the state's sixth COVID lockdown.
'A little bit of joy through the act of giving'
For individuals wanting to help out someone with family far away, offers to shop for, cook and deliver food are practical ways to assist, said Dr Sandro Demaio, a public health expert and the chief executive of VicHealth.
He said the best thing to do was to get in touch and ask what they need, or what they want in terms of comfort food.
"I had a friend recently who was in isolation — she had a sore throat and wasn't really able to eat a lot of food," he said.
"So I dropped off some electrolytes and some gelato because for her having something cool and liquid [was needed]."
"While it's not exactly a balanced diet, it was what she really wanted and brought a little bit of joy in a time where she wasn't feeling terribly great."
He said food that was easy to cook and wouldn't spoil if it needed to be left on a doorstep were ideal.
"Maybe they've got family living overseas, and they really missed a certain recipe that they used to have, or that their parents cooked."
Being prepared for COVID-19
But something everyone can do is prepare for potential isolation with a COVID kit.
"Make sure that you're staying hydrated, because dehydration can set in quickly and can be a real risk, particularly if [you] don't feel like eating and drinking because of a sore throat or you're running a fever," Dr Demaio said.
Body temperature and, in severe cases, oxygen levels need to be monitored regularly.
"If you find that your symptoms are getting worse and you're worried, call nurse on call or your GP," he said.
"And if you find that you have chest pain, shortness of breath, or that you're really worried, then obviously you can call emergency services — but really keep those for only emergency situations."
In terms of medicine, Dr Demaio said if someone needed pain relief, the recommendation from the College of General Practitioners was to just take simple paracetamol (the active ingredient in Panadol).
He said he wouldn't recommend anti-inflammatories, like ibuprofen or aspirin, because they act on the immune response of the body.
He said while some products such as nasal sprays and throat lozenges weren't always effective, they were safe when taken correctly and could help alleviate soreness in some cases.
In addition, he said it was also important to keep a record of the symptoms you experience every day and check in regularly with friends or family.
* Ms Kieflie's husband works for the ABC.
Dalam Bahasa Indonesia/Read a version of this story in Indonesian
