For almost a year now, we have all been hearing and reading about the disease that caused this global pandemic: COVID-19. Especially closer to the beginning, I read all the information I could get my hands on: who’s the most vulnerable, how to prevent getting it, how to prevent spreading it- the list goes on and on. Based on all this info, I always wear a mask in public, social distance, and strictly limit the number of people I interact with in person. In all this time though, I think deep down I never really faced the idea that maybe I would be one of the people to actually contract COVID-19, but as the health department official I recently spoke with said, “you can do everything right and still get this disease.”
There’s a wide range of emotions that come from living through a global pandemic, but possibly the two the most prevalent are fear and anxiety. I know personally I’ve felt anxious for months thinking about what might happen if I were to test positive. Well, now I know, and I’m here to share my story in the hope that after you hear the details of the process you might feel more equipped to handle this situation properly. Though I truly hope that no one reading this ever has to face this virus, it’s always better to be over-prepared than under in my opinion. So without further ado:
Earlier this week, I woke up with the slightest stuffy nose you can imagine– something I never would have given a second thought if the calendar didn’t read “2020.” In an abundance of caution, I wanted to get tested ASAP. The first thing I did was call student health. They asked me a series of questions, and after they’d affirmed that I met the criteria to get tested through their facility, they set up an appointment for that same afternoon. When I arrived (mask on of course), someone with a security uniform was waiting outside the door. He asked if I had an appointment, I said yes, and he told me someone would be out to get me soon. Moments later, a nurse opened the door and asked if I was here for a covid test?. When I replied yes, he directed me towards a path that led to a side door where another nurse led me directly to an examination room. Almost immediately, someone came in and administered a nose swab before directing me out of the building. The whole interaction took less than 10 minutes, and it was clear that they were well prepared to be as effective and efficient as possible.
The next day, I got a phone call and found out I had tested positive. They told me to quarantine for 10 days (not the 14 I expected) starting from the day I first showed symptoms. They also said that on the 11th day, if I felt well and hadn’t had a fever for at least 24 hours, I was safe to leave isolation. I live in an apartment where I am lucky enough to have my own room and bathroom, so they told me my roommates would be perfectly safe as long as I stayed in my room with the door closed.
The next phone call I received was from the Charlottesville Department of Health. They first told me the same thing I already knew: I needed to isolate myself for 10 days, but then they began asking me a series of detailed questions about where I’d been and who I had seen, specifically people who I had been within 6 feet of, without a mask, and for more than 15 minutes. One interesting thing I found out through this process was that the 15 minutes of exposure don’t have to be continuous- you could have 5 different 3-minute conversations with someone, and that would qualify as an exposure. After I’d answered all of their questions, the woman I was speaking with wished me good luck with my isolation, and my mind turned to sorting out the logistics of how I would be able to best undertake my isolation.
Three things that I think are key to a pleasant isolation period: the GoPuff/Kroger apps, Grubhub/Doordash, and hopefully (like me) you have some very loving roommates who are willing to bring supplies etc to your door when necessary. If you haven’t started using GoPuff, you’re making a big mistake. I highly recommend that any and everyone download the app, but it’s particularly useful for COVID patients. You can order any kind of drink, snack, or supply that you can think of with a delivery fee of only $1.95, and it will generally arrive in 15-20 minutes. Alternatively, the Kroger app allows you to get as many groceries as you want for a more expensive delivery fee of $9.95, often within 2 hours but you can also schedule a delivery ahead of time. These combined with restaurant delivery apps like Grubhub and Doordash will set you up nicely to have anything you need in the comfort and of your own bedroom.
And so, with delivery apps and helpful roommates at the ready, I face isolation in my room for the rest of this semester, an ironically appropriate way to close out a semester that has been filled with so much COVID-induced anxiety. Luckily, my symptoms are extremely mild and will hopefully continue to lessen. Now if anyone needs me, I’ll be binge-watching anything and everything…