Just Another Statistic
One week ago today, I tested positive for Covid-19 after having some symptoms for about 4 days. Headaches, shortness of breath, and post-nasal drip are easy to brush off as those of the common cold, overexertion, dry air, or overindulgence (all of which I could justify). Based on those symptoms and the dates, I’m estimated to be on day 10.
My list of symptoms is not unlike most. Chills, headache, sinus pressure, pain, drainage, shortness of breath, fatigue, headaches, body aches, and brain fog. The scary thing about Covid-19; however, is its unpredictability. I have high blood pressure and am overweight, which are two risk factors for serious infection complications. I won’t consider myself “out of the woods” for a good long time. The virus can stay in your system for months. A negative test is the only reliable way to know for sure if you are truly free of it.
I didn’t start this piece to talk about what most people already know. I wanted to talk about the effects that this can have on one’s mental and social status. Let me begin by saying that since this all began last year, my husband and I have been super cautious. He is disabled with multiple health conditions, which itself has been a source of worry, especially with the threat of Covid-19.
During the summer, I began venturing out again for chores like grocery shopping and even went to the gym once or twice. At that point, I was not employed, but pre-pandemic I had been job searching. Once the pandemic reared its ugly head, I decided to delay that until it was deemed safe again to go back to work, provided everyone wore their trusty masks and kept the appropriate six-foot distance. Mask wearing and social distancing became the gold standard for safe interactions. Need a haircut? Wear your mask! Need your teeth cleaned? (Boy, I sure do!) Wear your masks! Want to get together with friends and family? Wear your masks, eat outside, and keep your distance if eating inside. Some places, like doctor’s offices and medical buildings, started doing temperature checks. No fever? You’re good to go! Everyone was finally able to start living life again. Things were looking up. Sure, there were a few folks who refused to follow the CDC’s guidelines, but my friends and family were very good about following the guidelines.
I had been working for a little over a month when I was diagnosed last week. A positive diagnosis requires a quarantine of 14 days and isolation for 10. Based solely on speculation, I probably contracted Covid-19 from my workplace. On Thanksgiving, my supervisor had a gathering with her family in which all of them tested positive, except her. She was still required to quarantine for 14 days and allegedly tested negative multiple times. When she came back to work, my training resumed and she and I spent a lot of time in close contact in her office, me wearing my mask and her not wearing one. This kind of scenario played out in the office many times with several different people. A coworker in our sister office has worked from home for months due to many in her office not practicing social distancing and mask-wearing.
It’s been a week and I have heard nothing from any of my co-workers. No well wishes, no inquiries about my health. The only contact I have had from them is a reference to me in a group chat as “someone at the office tested positive and now we have to sanitize the office and by the way, I cannot reveal who tested positive due to HIPAA. If you had close contact with this person, you’ll be informed.” By now, due to my absence, everyone there knows it is I who is the spreader even if it hasn’t been made “public.” They know I am the one who is ill, but discomfort and worry about their own vulnerability about contracting Covid-19 seems to have overridden any sympathy they may have had. https://www.verywellmind.com/shaming-others-for-getting-covid-5085064
I found out that in Iceland, patients who test positive are put on a national registry at the hospital and are followed up by health professionals throughout the course of their illness. I called my doctor the day after my diagnosis to report it and was merely told that if I worsened, go to the hospital. I had to go to an Urgent Care center for treatment of a secondary bacterial infection.
Forgive me if this article sounds whiny or entitled. That isn’t my intention. I didn’t expect to contract Covid-19 and I was shocked when I did. I never knowingly put myself in a risky situation. I have appreciated the texts and messages from friends and family so very much. That is the only thing that has kept my spirits up. What bothers me so much about the current situation here in the United States is the way we, as ill patients, are being treated (or not.) I joined an online Covid-19 support group on Facebook and so many people there are reaching out for medical advice, a virtual shoulder to cry on, and a safe place to voice their anxiety. Why is it that some of us are compelled to turn to strangers? So many have reported no contact by their medical providers even as their oxygen saturation dips to dangerous levels. It’s almost criminal that people have resorted to this. I am one of the lucky ones who have friends and family who care. So many poor souls only have a Facebook support group to help them get through this very scary and unpredictable virus. Thank God for the ones who take the time to reach out to those seeking comfort, but we really need to do better.
Another thing that I have seen happening is people being forced to go back to work before they’re ready and sometimes before the quarantine period is up. Also, just because your quarantine period is officially over, doesn’t mean you’re well enough to function at work.
It’s time that those of us who were unfortunate enough to contract Covid-19 stop being treated as an object lesson or as a leper who knowingly infected others. Medical providers need to step up and reach out to us. A phone call to see how our symptoms are progressing would do wonders. Workplaces need to value us enough as employees to allow us time to take care of ourselves without the added worry of losing our jobs or being made to feel like human scum for having the audacity to have our immune system fail us during a pandemic.
