Close Encounter(s) of (the) Covid (kind) by Lynn Joyce

As I hear about the surge of Omicron multiplying exponentially each day, and testing sites being overrun, I decided to share our personal experience with this variant. It is certainly not to make light of the situation, but an attempt to ease the mind of others.

A week before Christmas, one of the kids  woke up and complained of a stuffy nose and scratchy throat (similar to the start of an allergy flare up or typical cold). The knowledge that there were cases in the school led me to check the temperature. The thermal thermometer registered a slightly elevated temperature- a degree higher than this kids’  normal temp. Although it crossed my mind that this kid may  be trying to get out of taking 2 school exams that day, my gut told me it was Covid.

I immediately told everyone to mask up inside the house, instructed my parents to isolate in the basement since they have underlying conditions, and had all of us get the Covid19 test. We all quarantined while waiting for the results. Two days later, we learned that 1 out of 7 of us in the household got that dreaded virus- and you got it, it’s that kid who had the active symptoms. After explaining to everyone that we had to cancel our original Christmas plans, and consoling a kid who cried tears of dissappointment, we put our “Covid-19 Emergency Contingency Plan” into full effect. We contacted everyone we had close contact with. It took DOH 2-3 additional days to contact us about the result. I told DOH I saved them time and did the contact tracing for them already(ha!). I even told our neighbor even though we don’t really enter each other’s houses.

Isolation and keeping 7 people away from each other in a small space is a struggle. The infected member isolated in the attic (or at least attempted to), the most vulnerable, (but boosted) isolated in the basement. I sprayed lysol like a mad woman, put the air purifiers in full blast, opened windows- all in the attempt to lower the viral load in our house. I put a surgical mask mandate around the common areas in the house for the infected and the most vulnerable. I gave a choice for the rest. 

Everyday I asked everyone about their throat, checked their temp, used my pulse oximeter to check oxygen levels, and even pulled out my stethoscope to listen to their lungs- yep. My family eventually got ‘sick’ of me constantly plying them with  hot tea with honey and lemon, and asking them how they feel everytime I heared someone clear the throat. The one thing that reassured me was the fact that all of us had our full vaccinations.

I don’t know why this kid only had mild symptoms , or why the rest of us didn’t get it. Maybe it’s because we were all fully vaccinated, our natural immune system is strong, or this variant is weaker than the others. Perhaps it’s a combination of all these things. One thing is for sure, we are all grateful it wasn’t worse.

May the year 2022 be the “beginning of the end”- the end of this pandemic.

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