Grainne Gallanagh has revealed that she tested positive for coronavirus on New Year’s Eve.
The former Miss Universe bravely returned to work as a nurse last year, in order to help those on the frontline amid the pandemic.
While spending the festive season at home with her family in Buncrana, Co Donegal, the model tested positive for the deadly virus, admitting it was a “horrible time of year to be sick”.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, the 25-year-old explained: “A close contact let us know they were positive and we knew Dad had been in contact, so we decided to restrict our movements.”
“And then we got Dad’s test results on Christmas Eve, so we started to isolate as a family from then on.
“I got my positive test result on New Year’s Eve, so it hasn’t been the best Christmas holidays we have had.
“Thankfully none of us are very ill. We have all been coughing and feeling tired and have flu-like symptoms,” the former Dancing With The Stars contestant shared.
“The fact that 2020 has been such a write-off, I thought 2021 was going to be my year but it hasn’t been the best start.
“Hopefully it will only get better from here,” she added.
Sharing a photo to Instagram on Friday, Grainne wrote: “Day 9 in isolation and we still haven’t killed each other – so 2020 really just said not finished with you yet.
“Covid has a lot to answer for (we’re doing fine- symptoms are mild) Cheers to a better 2021 ✨”.
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Grainne previously admitted she’s “cried herself to sleep” while working as a nurse during the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to the Sunday World in October, she explained: “I have worked as a nurse for a number of years but this is a completely new scenario.
“Working with people and seeing sad and horrible situations or just having horrible days; I have had to deal with that when I became a nurse.”
“But this is extremely tough. And not every day you come home and you feel OK. I have, like all nurses, I have come home and cried myself to sleep over certain situations,” she confessed.
“We are only human. You just learnt to adapt and come up with ways to cope. I like being around my family.”
“If I have had a bad day I need to talk about it and vent. I have nurse friends and we talk to each other and once you have it off your chest you feel better.”
“I am lucky, I live near the sea, and if I am overwhelmed that is the first place I will go because I know I will feel better there. But it is something that every nurse has to learnt to cope with in time.”
