Now having recovered the Dungog woman counts herself lucky to have "dodged a bullet".

On March 9 she left Dungog for Sydney to board the Cunard Queen Elizabeth bound for Tasmania. She thought the trip with a friend would be a good change of scenery since losing her husband Brian in October last year after a long illness.

Coronavirus was certainly on the radar but Cheryl and her friend were assured none of the 2000 passengers on board were from Wuhan, China, the original epicentre of the virus.

The pair enjoyed the sights of the Apple Isle, especially Eden and Hobart where they hired a car to catch up with friends in Oatlands.

But the first day back home in Dungog after the luxury cruise, on March 16, Cheryl woke up "as sick as a dog".

She had a sore throat, hacking cough, headache, shortness of breath, a high temperature and a lack of appetite.

Testing for Coronavirus back in March was not as commonplace as it is currently and because she was not a returned overseas traveller, with the cruise never leaving Australian waters, she did not immediately fit the then testing criteria.

She was eventually tested for Coronavirus on March 24 and suspecting her prognosis she had already been quarantining at home.

Earlier: Cheryl's high seas hiccough

Following getting the all clear for the virus she was aware of her compromised immune system so was initially reluctant to venture out too much.

"I have been to the lung specialist and he is pretty happy," she said.

"My liver and kidney function is great."

Several times during this interview Cheryl had to stop talking completely to cough. The coughing fits she says she can roll with - what has really found difficult is the lingering fatigue.

"I can go three or four days and everything is fine," she said.

"Then I'll be up at 7 and come 9 o'clock I'll go back to bed.

"It's not just a case of having a nap for a half an hour.

"I'm out to it for four or five hours."

While she says this is her "new normal for now" she remains upbeat.

"With the symptoms and how sick I was, to come out on the other side as well as I am - and I say well in inverted commas - I dodged a bullet.

"All I can say is I am happy that I did."

She has now been able to get out and about a bit more, resuming her volunteer work at Stroud once a fortnight. She was also able to travel to Queensland before the border closures to visit a vulnerable friend in need.

She also does her own grocery shopping.

"The day I walked in to do my shopping for the first time I was officially allowed out (following her diagnosis) and had my mask on, everyone looked at me as if I was a leper," she laughed.

"You walk in to (Dungog) IGA now and everyone has a mask on."

She is concerned when people on social media claim that the illness - its spread and affect - is being exaggerated.

"The problem is that different age groups seem to have different reactions to it," she said.

"Some people it's affecting quite badly, others seem to breeze through it.

"It's hit and miss."

She says in the different - and sometimes strange - world we now find ourselves in, lots of plans have changed including her relocation to Tasmania.

"I've had enough drama in my life, at the end of the day when you've gone through some of the things I've gone through, you think it is what it is, you've just got to dig deep and get through it.

"We all have our good days and we all have our bad days.

"People just need to be a bit kinder to each other."