3 vaccines, proactive social distancing, home-cooked meals, and adequate supplementation. I‘m invincible. Or so I thought.
Yet I got hit by Covid.
How I Got It
One day, I noticed a red bump on my chest. In a few days, more bumps appeared on other parts of my body. It was chickenpox.
The infection was brutal. I had a ton of body aches, chills, headaches, and several sleepless nights.
After 3 weeks of fighting the virus, I was finally okay. I could scratch myself again, carefree.
Though my immune system had taken a beating. Being more vulnerable, I got hit with another disease — Covid only a few days after recovering from chickenpox.
I’m pretty certain that I picked it up from the hospital I visited for treatment.
It started as a little tickle in my throat. “Probably nothing”, is all I could say.
2 days later, the soreness in my throat got worse, and my sinuses were blocked.
I got very worried and took a test at a clinic. They sent me the results 5 hours later stating that I was positive. No big deal. Stay at home. Drink herbal tea. Eat good food. Rest.
I was in Mumbai when this happened. The clinic shared my data with the city’s municipal corporation. The next morning, they sent 2 representatives in bunny suits to seal the entire building. No one could get in or out for a week. Any items we needed were to be delivered to the portico.
Only a month prior, I used to brag about how I had avoided the dreaded virus.
I’ll live to regret it.
Although I tested negative 2 weeks later, that short period taught me 2 valuable lessons.
1. Seriously, Don’t Endanger Others
My family members kept testing themselves at home but the results were always negative.
So my dad thought that he is untouchable. He resumed going to work in person soon after the government restrictions were lifted.
At lunch one day with his colleagues, he casually mentioned his son having Covid. This sent off alarm bells within his business unit. He was made to take an RT-PCR test, and sure enough, he was positive.
The entire unit that he worked for had to be sent home for a fortnight.
That’s what selfishness can do when people that live with others who are clearly sick don’t stay home.
If you’re sick, staying away from people you care about is the only way you can protect them.
2. Don’t Shy Away From Helping Others In Trying Times
One of my friends tested positive for Covid soon after I tested negative. Her grandparents, who lived with her, were at a high risk of getting terminally ill. She couldn’t simply quarantine at home.
So my family and I hosted her.
This pandemic has made life miserable for countless people. Can we do our bit to help out?
We were caring for a sick person. This meant we couldn’t wander about the aisles of a supermarket looking for a tub of ice cream. But we were okay with that. We prioritized someone else’s well-being. After all, Covid will stop wreaking havoc only when we take care of our friends and neighbors as if they’re family.
Closing Thoughts
Your health matters. As does everyone else’s. Be alert. Take precautions. Don’t do things that can prove detrimental to the people around you.
This pandemic will only go away once we start caring for each other.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism | Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box | The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer | What We Talk About When We Talk About Men |
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Photo credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash