Eighteen months since the world entered the coronavirus pandemic – and while the vaccine programme has been rolled out and restrictions have eased - people are still testing positive for the virus. 

Last month, West Suffolk councillor and businesswoman Sarah Stamp, was among them. 

Despite being double jabbed, Sarah of Bury St Edmunds caught the virus following a job interview with a prospective employee – with both her and her managing director John testing positive just days later. She is still suffering from the effects, weeks later. 

“We asked the person we were interviewing to do a lateral flow test before they came in, which they did. We were all sat socially-distanced, but we were in an office and did take our masks off during the interview,” explains the director of operations at Infusions Group. 

The next day, the interviewee started showing symptoms. “They took another lateral flow test, which came back positive. And just four days later, John and I both tested positive.

“We had been so careful, and this was the first time any of us at work had contracted Covid. We’ve got a fairly robust Covid policy at work – we wear masks, regularly sanitise, do lateral flow tests, and take our temperature every day. Coincidentally, two other members of the team also caught Covid the week after we did. It’s been a fairly rocky couple of weeks for us at work.” 

Before contracting the virus, the pandemic had already greatly affected Sarah’s business and day-to-day life.