After two years of reading the news and hearing rumours of cases happening to friends-of-friends, it finally happened: COVID reached my doorstep.
What followed was possibly one of the busiest months I’ve ever experienced. Both my husband and I had been exposed to the virus, so we braced ourselves for the worst. But for some reason – most likely the fact that my own vaccination had been just over a month prior to the exposure – while my husband got infected as expected, I didn’t test positive.
Our living situation was both a blessing and a curse: it was just the two of us in our household, so no one else was at risk, but it also meant that it fell to one person to take care of everything.
That meant nursing a sick partner, planning and buying meals for both, doing household chores, working, and fielding questions from concerned relatives – all while managing my own symptoms that manifested despite testing negative daily. Honestly, if it weren’t for technology (shoutout to our food delivery riders) and the help of family and friends, I don’t know how we would have survived those few weeks.
If you have a friend or family member who’s experiencing the same situation, here’s how you can help: