A 25-year-old who has been in hospital suffering from Covid-19 has warned other young people not to underestimate the virus, saying that he had ‘completely the wrong attitude’ before contracting the infection.

Calum Wishart has been suffering from debilitating coughing fits and breathing trouble and has been unable to move from his hospital bed because he’s been laid so low by the virus.

Now, he wants to warn other young people that they are not immune, and that this pandemic can affect anyone regardless of age or physical health.

This comes after some people have defied the UK government’s advice to leave their houses and go to parks, beaches, and other gatherings this bank holiday weekend.

Having recovered from the virus after a week in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Calum told BBC Breafast: “I had the completely wrong attitude.

“I would not say I was hugging strangers or anything like that, I think I just underestimated the real impact of it.

“I had the perspective that because I was young it would not affect me, that it would be like a kind of flu.”

Calum’s sister Rachel added: “Young people think they’re invincible, they think that it’ll just be a cold or a 24-hour bug.

“People need to listen, they need to take this seriously.”

For Calum, it started with a slight fever, but eventually deteriorated into bouts of vomiting, diarrhoea and uncontrollable coughing. Eventually, he was rushed to hospital as he was struggling to breathe.

He continued: “In a strange way, it was a relief to get the diagnosis because the thought of going through what I was, then potentially getting coronavirus later was terrifying.

“But also because I had in mind that I wanted to do a post with a proper account of what it’s like to have the virus and how awful it is.

“I feel like I was seeing a lot of people take too many unnecessary risks and going out when it’s not absolutely essential.

“I want to try and help as many people as I can and crucially help the hospital staff, as they are going to struggle badly to have the resources to cope if loads of people get this.”

Calum, who is from Paisley in Scotland, has admitted that before he caught the virus he was guilty of the belief that younger people who are in good health and have no underlying conditions would not be badly hit by the virus.

Now, he knows that isn’t the case.

The good news is, if we all stay inside and keep our distance from others, we can turn the tide on the virus.

Calum is now out of hospital and is currently self-isolating.