Nikesha Patel, who is in the UK, tested positive for COVID-19 recently. She has isolated herself in her house and is under medication. She says she’s recovering well.
“It was quite a shocker for me to learn that I tested positive for the virus because I follow all the Covid health protocols and also get my house frequently sanitized,” says the actress.
It started off with high fever and headache, she says, adding that she has had both doses of the vaccination and was due for a booster. Now that she has contracted the virus, she needs to wait for a month for the booster.
Nikesha has been living in the UK for the last two years. Filmmakers in India have been contacting her to resume shooting, but she says she can’t travel now.
“I was supposed to travel to India to complete my shooting schedules but had to stay back in the UK for family reasons. This could further delay things,” she says.
“I had nothing to do in the last two years. Now, when I am down with Covid, filmmakers are asking for dates,” she rues, adding that she had decided not to travel to India during April last year because the second wave of the pandemic was raging at that time.
Looking at the brighter side, Nikesha is thankful that her condition isn’t as bad as that of some others. “Perhaps because as an Indian my immunity is stronger, my recovery is faster,” she says. “I am not worrying about it too much; I am drawing strength from people around me.” With Omicron spreading fast in the UK, the actress says there’s a partial lockdown in several places. “I am spending time by reading books, browsing the Internet and watching lots of films,” she shares.
‘Not in the race’
Interestingly, Nikesha, who was active on social media, seems to be going easy on it. Her last post was in October 2021. “I lost interest in social media; the entire process of getting ready, holding the camera at a certain angle and posing is taxing now,” she comments. Nikesha also says that she’s not in the race to become an established actress anymore.
“Social media is important for established actresses but when you are out of the industry for over two years it can be toxic,” she feels. She recalls that she used to upload photos of herself in bikini on her fans’ demand.
“I wanted to show people how hard I had worked on my body and lost weight. But it backfired because I was a South actress. I realised social media and the film industry are toxic,” the actress says, and adds that having stayed away from the industry for quite some time now, mentally, she feels clean.
