Well, I caught up. Or Covid caught up with me. The delay was due to the China Zero Covid policy, the lockdowns, etc. And when the country started opening up, we went to contribute to the wave/ tsunami.
Day 1:
Symptoms: Shivers, running nose, fever
I shared (silly) views of the general population and thought it would not happen to me. First things first, it was so out of fashion. All my friends outside China had had it a year or two back. Moreover, our family had traveled to rest of the world where masks were clearly out of fashion. We had traveled with the assumption that we would have got it in those months, even if it were an asymptomatic case.
Also, we had dutifully worn masks, avoided crazy crowds, etc.
The day was spent in preparing a room for isolation and the antipyretics were kept on standby. I did end up having two a day for the next two days.
Day 2:
Symptoms: Fever, Weakness, Shivers, running nose
My friends are jealous of my eyes, in particular - their unique (and enviable) abilities: They can scout the nearest pub in the street, and 24 seconds later, they can find the cheapest drink in the menu. While the left eyeball is eying the menu, the right eyeball can already establish an eye-contact with barman/woman. The eyes - with these enviable abilities witnessed a dramatic change now. They were tired all the time and started scouting for all the heating systems at home (I never knew where the air conditioning vents were) and the hands, which in their days were good to pour beer, magically gravitated towards the devices scavenging for hot air or anything that could render them some warmth.
Day 3:
Today I felt old indeed. More specifically, I could recollect all the conversations with older generation and could better connect with their pain:
- 70+ generation in my family complaining of joint aches. Today I understand how they feel.
- My mother's aunt's complaints about being breathless after walking a few steps. Check
- The senior generation's comments on how cold it was, and that the chill was getting to the bones. Now I understand what you mean.
- Mind often wandered, making simple tasks tough. Pouring water required quite some concentration . Every element of work seemed to have been transformed to elements of the Navier Stokes' fluid equations accidently mixed with Hawking's radiation equation. Reverting to a mail as 'ok, regards- my name' seemed to be a mystic mathematical formula way beyond my intelligence.
The day was a reminder to be nicer to the aged and lend a better ear to understand their pain. On the capitalism front - a reminder to invest smarter in the next year, and be an even better investor in the year after. And the one after. Old age is coming, and better be ready for your family and yourself.
Day 4 and beyond:
- Antigen Test started turned negative but PCR gave a positive result. Blimey!
- PCR turned negative on day 5
- The body felt revitalized after the quarantine ended (my wife got it unfortunately - making this quarantine attempt redundant). This was more so because of the role the mind plays, and ability to move out does elevate your spirits a bit.
- Weakness stayed for a couple of days, the running stamina had to be given time to recuperate.
- I do have a reason to believe those google stories for one or two long lasting side effects, including bloating etc., but I hope time will sort those bits out.
Lessons learnt:
- No use wondering how or why it happened to you. Let me explain with some real life questions (from me and the general public) and possible answers:
- Q: How could it happen to me when I was holed up in my home for X days?
- A: Maybe you ordered something like vegetables, fruits or other essentials. The parcel may have carried the virus. Maybe the pipe length between your sink hole and your neighbor's is less than 15 meters, and the two converge to a common drain. The virus discovered this route and chose to attack you.
- Q: My colleague's husband's colleague has an aunt whose grandson attends kindergarten in which a kid got Covid last week, and the aunt had visited by colleague's home the other day. Is it safe for me to talk to my colleague?
- A: Not at all. There is a probability of 0.083% that your colleague could pass you Covid because of that close contact scenario you elaborated. There is also a probability of 23.2% that she could ask you to share her workload. Eyeing the two of you talking, there is a probability of another colleague could accost you and bore you to death (probability - 35%). So for your own good, stay put in your office, don’t talk and listen to Iron Maiden (if you are getting old) or Sabaton (if you are young).
You see: the answers above do not make sense. And this is because the questions do not make sense at some point. While analyzing the responsible population: who have avoided social events, crowded places, etc. and have sworn by masks: we have found it tough to concretely pin point their infection source with a high confidence level.
There are many funny recommendations on recovery and prevention, and you cannot escape stories of how boiling a rare herb or keeping a cow helped your will wishers in their recuperation journey; which of course you must do. My advice is to keep antipyretics handy, keep a steady head, and the reduce unnecessary stress associated with heading to the Himalayas for procuring that magical herb. Rest, work or dance - do what you like.
- Keeping the mind right can make a difference:
- Once I knew I was infected, I headed to the internet. Everyone seemed to be talking about the internet these days and some website called google.com (or baidu.com, if you are in China). Searching for my fate on these websites led to some pretty dark pages - some confidently predicting my death or an impending heart attack, lung failure, etc. as a result of Covid complications.
- However changing a few keywords did bring some laughs and I found out some of the stars. Whatever makes you laugh:
- A politician eradicating Corona by chanting slogans:
- A politician warning you against vaccine, lest : god forbid, you become a crocodile
- In the end, it is just extracting humor, and promising not to be stupid in your own life.
Every Covid story is different - ranging from extreme brutality by fate from a walk in the park situation for some. But we have to hang in there and do what the human spirit is notorious for: Fight.
