Last Updated on February 23, 2022 by Tina
In the first week of January, I got infected with COVID-19. Ever since the pandemic started I have been extra careful so as not to catch the virus. I practice social distancing, I sanitize my hands all the time, I avoid crowded places and I wear a mask every time I go out. And it’s not just ordinary masks. I wear a KN95 mask especially when I go to crowded and confined places like the grocery. My ex sent me plenty of it last year when the Delta variant was spreading.
I have been really careful. Some of my friends who have been seeing my posts on Instagram remind me not to go out too much because the virus is still around. They tell me that even if I am fully vaccinated I can still get infected. And I tell them that I avoid crowded places. I visit a tourist spot during my break during weekdays because there are few or no tourists.
So how did I get it? I got it in our staff house. Before going back to the site, I had a Rapid Antigen Test and it was negative. The day after I got back to the site, our colleague started having a fever. We live in the same house, eat together and he was the one who cooked our dinner the day before he got sick. The fever was so bad he couldn’t get up from bed. But me and another colleague didn’t think it was Covid back then.
I informed our boss about his condition and told him we will have him tested when he gets better. He couldn’t drive in his current condition and we don’t have an extra driver. Two days after he got sick, he was already feeling better. I on the other hand started having a fever too. I reported it to our boss and he told us that we should go get tested already.
The hospital where we usually go for Rapid Antigen Test is a 45-minute drive from our staff house. It’s a good thing I remembered that you can get tested for free at the Rural Health Unit clinic of Mankayan as long as you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. The clinic is closer, just a 10-minute drive from our staff house.
When we got there, they interviewed us first and asked what symptoms we were experiencing. Then they checked our blood pressure, temperature, and the other routine checks related to COVID-19. After that, we were checked by the RHU doctor. I was told to submit a urine sample. After that, they took a swab sample for the Rapid Antigen Test. My colleague tested positive, while I tested negative.
They took a swab sample from both of us for the RT-PCR test because he tested positive, and I am a close contact. Our swab samples were sent to Baguio because there is no laboratory in the municipality for that. They said we will get the result after 3 days.
The result of my urinalysis is that I have a urinary tract infection. I was hoping that it was the reason I had a fever. They gave me an antibacterial medicine for the UTI and I was also given anti-asthma. I also had a swollen throat. The doctor advised me to drink warm water for that.
Because we only had mild symptoms, we were told to just quarantine for 10 days. When we got back to the staff house, my temperature went up again. But when I checked, it was lower than 38 deg Celcius. I asked my cousin who is a doctor if I need to take medicine for the fever and she said that I need to if it is higher than 38 deg Celcius. So I only took the medicine that the RHU clinic gave me, and drank lots of water.
Three days after we got tested, I received a text message from the RHU telling me that the result of my RT-PCR test is positive.
I am very lucky and thankful that I only experienced mild symptoms. It was probably the omicron variant because I never lost my sense of smell and taste. To be honest, I never got worried even when I found out I was positive. Maybe because I was already fully vaccinated so I was not worried that I will get hospitalized. I had a fever and headache for two days. My throat was swollen for 3 days. When my throat was okay, I started having a mild cough.
The only medicines I took were the antibacterial and antiasthma medicine given to me by the RHU. I got rid of the cough by drinking lots of warm water and tea with honey. Yup, I drank lots of water. And no coke for more than two weeks. I also ate a lot of fruits. I actually lived a very healthy lifestyle while I was in quarantine. And I lost 12 pounds.
So what did I do on those two weeks that I was in quarantine? I watched lots of series and movies on Netflix. And because I am trying to learn how to speak Spanish, most of the movies and series I watched are in European Spanish audio with English subtitles. Instagram reels also kept me busy, I watched a lot of reels. I also attended our weekly online work meeting. And of course, I still posted regularly on my blog.
I would like to thank some people for making my quarantine less boring. To Hanna, Violet, Aleix, Borja, Smith and Aristides. I probably would have died of boredom if not for them. It’s fun watching Netflix all day, but after a few days, you will actually get bored.
I’m glad Hanna and I never run out of things to talk about on Instagram chat. From diets to politics to the latest showbiz couple who split up to planning trips to Europe and Singapore. Whenever I talk to her it feels like we are still in college.
Thanks also to Andreu for checking up on me after reading my post on my blog, and for the follow-up. And for reading my blog (coz he wouldn’t have known I had Covid if he didn’t read my post.)
And to end this post, let me add that aside from living a healthy lifestyle and losing 12 lbs., another good thing about getting infected with COVID is that I got immunity. So when I went home for my field break, I didn’t have to isolate myself. And I was able to spend a lot of time and play with my nephew and take him to the beach.
