58 year old Shane Clayton is recovering at home after being diagnosed with coronavirus. His wife Gillian is in the high risk category, being a diabetic with heart disease. The couple live in Wakefield, near Nelson.

For Shane Clayton, contracting coronavirus was as easy as touching a pen, he believes.

When someone from the Ministry of Health got in touch to tell the 58-year-old from Wakefield, near Nelson, that he had been exposed to coronavirus, he thought it was a joke.

Clayton had not been overseas, and had been practicing social distancing, he said. He'd had a sore throat, but he put that down to breathing in mortar and old bricks while doing some landscaping.

"I thought it was a crank call until they said my name."

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The caller told him he had been exposed to the virus, and instructed him to head to the Tahunanui testing centre. He received a positive diagnosis on Thursday.

Clayton wasn't told who it was he'd crossed paths with, but working backwards, believed he could pinpoint the transmission.

"My best guess is that I was exposed to someone that had contact with someone who had just come from overseas," Clayton said.

The person had borrowed his pen, holding it for just 30 seconds, he said.

"It was easy as touching a pen they'd been holding."

Clayton's first thought was for his wife, Gillian. As a visually impaired diabetic with heart disease, she is in the "very, very high risk" category, he said.

Clayton moved out of the couple's home and into their caravan. Now, he waves at his wife through the window, and picks up his meals from the deck.

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So far, Gillian is not showing any symptoms.

"Her immunity is low but she seems to be clear. I'm very grateful: [coronavirus] would probably kill her."

Seven days past the point of transmission, Clayton was achy, tired, and wheezy. However, the virus had not hit him as hard as the flu, he said.

"I'm doing fine."

While the couple have been inundated with offers of help, Clayton would like people to stay well clear, he said.

They're planning to spend the coming weeks ordering groceries online, and catching up on sleep.

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