And may you have the happiest of new years!
The observant amongst you may have noticed that last week’s post was conspicuous by its absence, and there was a reason for that, one which means this particular entry will be slightly shorter, and slightly less dazzling in its self-effacing prose.
Slightly.
But what, you may ask, could have caused this state of affairs? Was Xmas a little too merry? Was New Year a tad too happy?
Well, in a word, no. In fact, the reason for the missing post is less about overdoing things and more to do with an unexpected Xmas present that didn’t even come with a receipt.
Covid.
Up To The Test
Yup, after nearly two years of self-imposed isolation from all things social, even to the point of missing family birthdays, Xmases (Xmasses? Xmasi?), and foregoing planned trips away (Nothing too exotic, but a couple of days in Harrogate had to be postponed), myself and the lovely Tina (my always amazing wife), have finally succumbed.
It all started on the 28th of December, so just in time not to spoil Xmas completely. Tina woke up feeling less than stellar, and took the wise decision to take a Lateral Flow test. This brought up a positive result, although the read out seemed to be a little compromised, so, just to be sure, we repeated the test and, lo-and-behold, received exactly the same result. Covid positive.
Good For The Goose
Of course, living together as man-and-wife, and sharing, amongst other things, the air we breathe and a bed to sleep in (I know, the scandal!), I myself was feeling a little under the weather, too. We decided that, on balance, if one had it, the other probably did too, and forwent a test for myself, preferring to keep it in reserve for what looked likely to come (I.E. coming out of isolation).
This began what is currently an 8 day self imposed lockdown, in which we have stayed safely home while our temperatures soared, our heads, and indeed whole bodies, ached; our throats felt increasingly scratchy and our airways tight. The idea of doing, well, anything, apart from maybe taking a nap, soon became a far-distant fantasy. Our minds willing, but our bodies completely knackered.
Good For The Goose
Of course, living together as man-and-wife, and sharing, amongst other things, the air we breathe and a bed to sleep in (I know, the scandal!), I myself was feeling a little under the weather, too. We decided that, on balance, if one had it, the other probably did too, and forwent a test for myself, preferring to keep it in reserve for what looked likely to come (I.E. coming out of isolation).
This began what is currently an 8 day self imposed lockdown, in which we have stayed safely home while our temperatures soared, our heads, and indeed whole bodies, ached; our throats felt increasingly scratchy and our airways tight. The idea of doing, well, anything, apart from maybe taking a nap, soon became a far-distant fantasy. Our minds willing, but our bodies completely knackered.
The two things we did manage to achieve were to contact our recent contacts and to send off for a confirmatory PCR test (one each). These were ordered on the Tuesday (and from news reports, just in time to avoid a nationwide shortage), received on the Thursday, and returned in Friday’s post. A weekend and New Year meant we then had a wait, but we finally got the results of the tests back on the Tuesday of this week.
It was negative.
So, at this point, we had one positive test, one negative, and in the middle of them, a week choc-full of Omicron's reported symptoms (Albeit, not to the horrendous severity of some reported cases, but then we are triple-jabbed). It made it a little difficult to know what to believe. Did we have it? Did we not? Will we ever know?
Under Caution
It was negative.
So, at this point, we had one positive test, one negative, and in the middle of them, a week choc-full of Omicron's reported symptoms (Albeit, not to the horrendous severity of some reported cases, but then we are triple-jabbed). It made it a little difficult to know what to believe. Did we have it? Did we not? Will we ever know?
Personally, knowing how unwell I’ve felt (and, to a much lesser degree, still do) I’m willing to believe we did (or do), but what does that mean for when we finally get back to ‘normal’? Will we still need to be careful? Will we need to take the same measures we were before this last week? Personally, I’m of a mind to lean on the side of caution. If the PCR test is right, and we’ve just had some variety of bad flu-bug, then nothing has changed. If, however, we have had Covid, then perhaps something has. Perhaps there's a little more immunity. Perhaps once bitten will mean twice safe.
I’m not sure that I have the knowledge or the experience to make that call, at least not until we can get our hands on some more Lateral Flow tests to make sure, and with all of the rumours and counter-rumours floating about, it's difficult to know what to believe. As there still remains a risk of becoming infected, and there's still the health and the safety of others to consider, above all other things, I think a degree of caution still seems wise.
It would just be nice to know. You know?
Until next time.
***
Hey, folks! If you would care to take a look at some of my more creative writing, then the links below will transport you to the magical worlds of two anthologies my short (and in one case, very short) stories have been included in. Feel free to check’em out!
Death ShipReaperman
It would just be nice to know. You know?
Until next time.
***
Hey, folks! If you would care to take a look at some of my more creative writing, then the links below will transport you to the magical worlds of two anthologies my short (and in one case, very short) stories have been included in. Feel free to check’em out!
Death ShipReaperman
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reaperman-Drabbles-3-Legends-Night-ebook/dp/B099NNPTQ1A
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