By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

ELLIS Stuart has diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems.

With Mr Stuart categorised as high-risk amid the COVID-19 crisis, he and his wife are taking all the necessary precautions to avoid contracting the disease.

Health experts say elderly people or those with pre-existing conditions such as cancer, hypertension and respiratory issues are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and death.

Still Mr Stuart, 64, said he is not afraid of catching the virus, because he normally spends most of his time at home.

“The virus hasn’t inconvenienced me because I’m staying at home anyhow and I could get my medication and everything else,” he said.

“I’m just waiting on this angiogram operation, but now they are saying that they are putting it off to some time in May from the looks of it.”

Mr Stuart added that his daily routine has not changed much since the spread of the pandemic.

“What I’m reading and what I’m seeing is that I’m high-risk because I have (pre-existing conditions): high blood pressure, heart problems, hypertension and diabetes. I have all of them, but I’m not necessarily afraid. Like I said, I stay home anyway so nothing’s changed that much.”

Asked what precautions he was taking to reduce his chances of developing the potentially deadly disease, he added: “I didn’t get any specific instructions because I had left the hospital before all this panic over the virus started.

“I just take my medication everyday. The doctors prescribed me some new medication which seems to be working well.”

Mr Stuart said he was first admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) in early January because he had developed a “touch of pneumonia.”

“It was something that I picked up when I was with my daughter in Orlando,” he explained. “When I left there, I came to Nassau then I went to Abaco the next weekend. When I was in Abaco, they said it looked like I was having a stroke so they fly me out to Nassau.”

Since then, Mr Stuart has suffered three heart attacks and two more strokes all in the span of one month. To date, he has been in and out of the hospital and is currently awaiting surgery.

“I don’t know whether they will reschedule my surgery as yet, but I’m not concerned about the surgery being postponed. I had an operation about five years ago when they had to cut the main artery in my neck, but I was up and moving about two days later.

“Like I said, I’ve been through this before and it’s only a matter of keeping still and calm and not getting agitated.”

His wife, Vangie Stuart, 50, added that they were not paranoid because they were following all of the instructions issued by health officials to keep Mr Stuart safe.

“He isn’t going out anywhere and if he needs anything, I would have to go out and get it,” she told this newspaper.

“He ran out of his medication and I went and got it for him because I don’t want him to leave the house. And then, I’m always sanitising the room and wherever else he goes.”

Mrs Stuart said she had also been limiting the amount of time she leaves the house so that she does not expose her husband to infection by being around a lot of people.

“I’m trying to avoid anything so I wouldn’t bring it to him, so we rarely go out anywhere. We’re not too worried about the situation, because we’re taking precautions and listening to what they’re saying to do and we’re doing it.”