OTTAWA -- Ottawa's Pure Country 94 morning co-host Jeff Hopper is feeling much better, five days after being admitted to the Ottawa Hospital with COVID-19.

“This has been something that I didn’t think would happen to me in any way, shape or form," said Hopper during an interview on CTV News at Six with Patricia Boal. "I’m a 44-year-old high-energy, two stairs at a time guy."

On Nov. 22, Hopper's father Robert Hopper passed away after contracting COVID-19. Jeff Hopper tells CTV News Ottawa he was with his father, and contracted novel coronavirus from him.

"I didn’t think too much of it, I thought I’d be asymptomatic probably, but in the end it really knocked me down. By Friday, I had to come to the hospital," said Hopper.

"Very short of breath, extremely high fever, headache, body ache, I mean really bad symptoms - black diarrhea, coughing up blood, very graphic situation happening to me. On Monday I really, really thought I was in big, big trouble."

Hopper received a steroid that improved his condition.

"I have to say the staff, the doctors, the nurses at the (Ottawa Hospital General Campus), and, of course, across our entire medical system, are the only reason that people are making it out of these severe situations because of their strength and their incredible ability to push us through."

On Wednesday, Britain approved the COVID-19 vaccine candidate from American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech.The first vaccinations within the country are expected within days.

Hopper says while he understands the vaccine news is "very exciting" and everyone wants life to return to the pre-pandemic normal, "We don't have it in our arms yet. The reality is it's not here yet."

"Keep the mask on, protect yourself, but more importantly protect the people you care about so that we can make it to that vaccine finish line and then we can party man, we can all get together and we can have a great time again. We are going to have to stay really strong here."

During CTVNews at Six, Hopper joked he was growing a playoff beard while in hospital, and he plans on winning.

"I just got a bad lottery card! Someone else won’t have any effects from this," said Hopper. "But you got to remember that friend of yours, that neighbour, they could be the one that ends up like me or much worse.”