CORONAVIRUS survivor Adriana Kurti today urged everyone to have the Covid-19 jab as soon as they are eligible.

Speaking at her home in Trowbridge, 45-year-old Mrs Kurti said she was lucky to be alive and urged those who haven’t had the vaccination to get it.

“I am glad that I am alive because I came very close to death,” said Adriana, who spent nearly two weeks in a coma at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

“People need to understand that the Covid-19 coronavirus is still around and they need to be careful. I still see people walking around with no masks and no social distancing.

“I hope that it gets better so that the country can get back to normality as quickly as possible. If people do as they are asked, we should get past this sooner.”

Mrs Kurti, of Upper Broad Street, Trowbridge, works as a senior care assistant at the Wingfield care home.

She caught the Covid-19 coronavirus in May last year and spent 13-14 days in a coma at the RUH before making a recovery from the deadly virus.

She went back to work on August 25 after spending months at home being nursed by her husband Fatmir, who also caught the virus but less severely than his wife.

Even now, Mrs Kurti, who comes from Albania, says she struggles to walk the distances she was able to manage previously.

“I used to be able to walk for miles and miles. I can’t do that anymore. I get short of breath,” she said.

Her muscle strength has also been affected by the coronavirus and she gets tired more quickly.

But she insisted: “I’m fine. I have not recovered 100 per cent but I am feeling much better.

“My muscles are not as strong as they were before and I get tired so easily but I am able to lead a normal life.”

She added: “My illness was very severe. It took a long time to get back to how I was before and I can now do the ironing and cleaning.”

Mrs Kurti said it took a long time for her sense of smell and taste to come back.

“In the hospital, they gave me no chance of living. I am so grateful to be alive.”

She has since been back for MRI scans which have shown no permanent scarring on her lungs and she was given the first Covid vaccination just after Christmas. She is now waiting for the second jab.