I’ve not got coronavirus, honest! – Hayley Matthews

Hayley Matthews is prone to getting a bad cough, prompting alarm amid the rising number of coronavirus cases.

There's no need to wear a face mask if you bump into Hayley (Picture: AP)

Those who know me well know I have the worst cough. I’ve always had it and most probably always will. It’s more like a bark and it gets some looks.

I blame having my tonsils out at an early age, leaving me susceptible to chest infections and coughs. Everywhere I’ve worked I’ve had tuts, looks and comments on “the cough” but it’s never been an issue – until now.

With all the fear of the coronavirus going about people are really jumpy. I’m always dealing with some sort of snotty issue in my house and more often than not get a touch of the sniffles which leads to “the cough”. Recently the looks I’ve had have left me in hysterics.

I’ve seen people cross the road to avoid me whilst I’m coughing, people staring at me in the supermarket like I have two heads and I’ve even had blatant eyerolls. One man actually asked me to go to the doctor to get checked whilst another looked at me with the kind of fear you only see in horror movies.

I’m not worried because I know this is normal for me. I’m not trying to play down how worrying the coronavirus is because it is serious. I just want to reassure anyone who chats to me whilst I start barking away that everything is all good and that you don’t need to wear a mask – unless I have a bad breath issue that nobody is telling me about.