Beginning Over, 3. Caught It!

I was expecting it, and I wasn't let down. I tested positive yesterday evening for Covid.

Ever since I began my classes after Christmas break, I was expecting it. Children were falling like flies, including some of my students. This past week, three tested positive, including two the day right after they had been here. Despite the masks, the open window, and the air purifier, I decided to stock up supplies in case I couldn't go shopping today.

In effect, yesterday morning I started noticing something wrong. I woke up with a slight headache that went away, and came back with more force at midday. I had had a slight sore throat in the night, and my body ached, though not too much. I did a test, and it was negative, but I decided to cancel yesterday's classes, all the same. Throughout the day, the headache went away with the help of paracetamol, and the sore throat was a mere tickle, but my nose began to run a bit, and I started running the slightest of fevers, at 37.1ºC/98.7ºF. The worst was the aches, especially my lower back. In the evening, I did another test, and this one was positive. My husband went to sleep at the house next door, empty ever since my father died. He tested negative this morning, still, though he has a bit of a runny nose.

Today, I feel much better. The only problem is my nose, and a bit of phlegm at the back of my throat. My nose isn't even bothering me as much as when I have a severe cold. I have taken my asthma medication methodically, as I have been doing ever since this pandemic started, and don't expect to get much worse. In part, it's thanks to the latest variant, which is not as severe. But I also very much appreciate the three vaccines I have had. Modern medicine has saved my life more than once, and I trust medical science.

Denmark has decided it is time to lift all restrictions regarding the pandemic, and is now treating it like a common cold. Might it be time to do so here? That depends. As long as the hospitals are overwhelmed, no. Covid patients are still taking up ICU beds in disproportionate numbers. Either the health service spends the money to set up separate Covid ICU's, to keep normal ICU beds free, or the illness needs to still be controlled. And I don't think they're going to be spending any more money any time soon, since they're still looking to cut back in many different areas. Covid is still also a threat to immunodepressed people, who could suffer severe illness. In fact, most of those who have died these past weeks had other underlying illnesses. Can we justify opening up and living life as normal while these people run much greater risks than the majority of the population?

In the meantime, I have to organize my time so as not to be bored silly this week. I really shouldn't go on my walks, even if I don't meet anyone. So, I should continue to edit my story, which I have been editing and re-editing until I'm not sure of anything, anymore. I have also found a way to download books onto my phone. I still adore paper books, but money is tight, and there's no way I'm going to Santiago to the foreign language bookshops. Nor am I going to wait umpteen weeks for a book bought online to be delivered. Perhaps I should also give the house a nice spring cleaning. The good Lord knows it needs one deseperately. 

Hopefully, tomorrow I won't be any worse than today, and by Monday I should be recuperating, following the usual timeline of when I get a minor cold. My blood pressure is normal, and my oxygen level is good. (Yes, I have had those monitors for a long time, and it's good to have them.) At the moment, I'm not worried. Right now, I have to consider what to make for lunch for myself, since my husband is going to eat by himself. My appetite is good, and I was even hungry yesterday after my very slight fever broke, which is not a bad sign, at all. Feed a cold, starve a fever.

Life continues.