Covid-19. A Personal Perspective

[Anmer]

I'd like to apologise for my reduced support on the forum over the last two weeks.  There was a valid reason for this which I'll share as others may find it useful.

At the beginning of January 2021, I received a letter inviting us to join the UK's Office for National Statistics Covid-19 Infection Survey.

The survey aims to enrol 400k persons in the UK for regular Covid-19 testing to provide a statistical estimate of the virus transmission and infection rates.

All of our household were invited to participate but we thought my wife's 94 year-old mother could be spared the invasive nose and throat swab.

We signed up by phone and then it all went quiet until a phone call on the Sunday evening asking if we could provide our fist sample the next Monday morning, nearly two weeks ago.

We'd agreed to also provide blood samples so the tester arrived around 9:00 am, telephoned from the car to run through a list of questions with my wife and I.  Then, all PPE'd, she came in to do the tests.

First the blood sample and then the swab.

I was a bit wary of the swab test as it looked invasive and unpleasant.  It is invasive but not as bad as I expected.  One swap per person with a 10 second swab at each side of the tonsils and then a few seconds up each nostril.

The plastic swab handle has to be snapped and the swab end placed in a tube and then a bag.

In all, quick and painless.  And a chance to speak to another human being, the first person in our house since the beginning of August 2020.

We signed up for one test a week for the first month and once a month for the next year.  Since we get paid for taking part it was "in for a penny, in for a pound".

So far so good.

Then on the following Wednesday morning I got a phone call to tell me I'd tested positive for Covid-19.  Not what I was expecting.  My first question was "what about my wife" but the caller only had access to positive test results and my wife would have to wait to be called.  Not hugely reassuring.  The caller was polite and told me I'd have to self-isolate for 10 days and my details would be passed to "Track & Trace".  He wished me well.

So, I immediately told my wife, grabbed my Chromebook and headed for the room above the garage, home for the next 10 days.

No one in the household had any Covid-19 symptoms and, luckily, my mother-in-law had her vaccination a few weeks ago.  My wife and I were due ours at the end of last week but they had to be postponed.

My main concern was not to pass the virus to my wife and her mother, so the garage was the best option.  I was also curious as to how I'd become infected as we've had no visitors for over 6 months and only a few, socially distanced, masked up trips to the local shop.  Our main, fortnightly supermarket shopping is delivered and handed over outside.

Later on the Wednesday afternoon I received a call from the local NHS "Track & Trace".  The lady, I think her name was Tracey  , was polite but wasn't too sure about dates and days.  Maybe she was new to the job?

She wanted to know where I'd been during the 48 hours before the positive test and if I'd had any close contact with anyone.

In that time I'd driven my wife to the local shop.  She did the shopping, I stayed in the car.  I'd had a delivery on the Saturday, some floor tiles which the driver placed inside the garage.  He was here for no more than 10 minutes and was masked.  We kept more than 2 metres apart.

I was not asked where I'd been between the test and the phone call, an important omission in my view.  Track and Trace called everyday afterwards.  My wife thought it considerate whereas I think they were checking up on us, to make sure we were still self-isolating!

I gave up trying to work out where I'd caught the virus as I could never be sure and it made no difference.  I also thought the test result was incorrect but that wouldn't change anything.  As far as "officialdom" was concerned, I'd tested positive.

Then I started counting the days, reading up as much as possible about incubation and symptoms.  I also bought an Oximeter and took regular readings of my oxygen levels.  It was "one day at a time".

One thing I found interesting was when a positive test is most likely to occur.  Typically 3-4 days after exposure.  A test taken sooner will probably be negative as the virus hasn't had time to get a hold.  In which case, my infection could have occurred the Friday before the test.  Symptoms develop, on average, 5-6 days after infection.  In which case, should I expect to see symptoms by the time I was notified of a positive test?

There are a lot of unknowns but as each day passed and I remained symptom free, maybe I'd get through this unscathed?  But what about my wife and her mother?  Each day was a routine check to see if everyone was well?  The whole household had to self-isolate so no trips to the shop were allowed and no visitors.

Two days ago we received our letters with the official test results.  Fortunately my wife had tested negative.  But that was at a point in time so I'm still concerned I may have infected her but only time will tell.  As I write this, all is good and I'm about to leave "Cell Block G" after 10 days.

We are fortunate as we have a self-contained annexe above our garage, well away from the rest of the house.  It has a shower and toilet, TV and WiFi access.  Netflix and Amazon Video kept me sane in the evenings.

But what about families living in a tower block and the only wage earner has to self-isolate?  I don't condone those who don't self-isolate (the vast majority) but I can understand why not.  I'm on a pension so my income wasn't affected, though we have spent more on heating and energy.  And it was just me in a self-contained facility not sharing the space with others.  But I too was getting bored!

I decided to use the spare time to work my way through thousands of photo prints spanning 30 years, throwing away hundreds of no value and researching a fast scanner to digitise the remainder.  Then my daughter-in-law sent me a 2,000 piece jigsaw of military aircraft and that was the end of the photo sorting!  Now both tasks still to be completed.

Family Zoom and Skype calls became three way and my wife managed to do both without my assistance.  A worrying development!

On a more serious note, I made arrangements for the forum to continue for the immediate future should I not be around.  However, that needs more serious planning as age isn't on my side.

So, in summary, I was probably an asymptomatic Covid-19 carrier.  Dangerous but possibly less infectious than those with symptoms.  My self-isolation will have reduced the likelihood of me infecting others but we've been living in virtual self-isolation for nearly a year.  I'm still worried about my wife and mother-in-law and hopefully, we'll get a new appointment for our postponed vaccines.

But I'm still left asking myself where I caught it?  And roll on the next ONS test.  We need the money!

Keep safe.

[Faramir]

That must have been a real roller coaster ride! I admire your perseverance and one can only imagine the worries you have for your loved ones... Not knowing seems the worst to deal with...

Please, stay strong and be safe!

[Smudger98]

My other half had covid over xmas and new year after a positive test, like you she had no idea where jt was caught, I had my jab on Wednesday - by Thursday morning i was in bed with heavy flu like symptoms and slept for almost 24hrs solid.. back to normal now..

Im glad to hear you and the family are all back to good health.   

Smudger.

[mhm]

Glad to here you are ok Mike
Nephew and partner have both got it and look dreadful told him to drink plenty brandy. That should wash it out maybe make him feel better

[IanH]

Had my jab two weeks ago - just snuck into the age group by 3 weeks so amazed to have been recognised as eligible. Wife is younger so has to wait for a later group.

Unlike Smudger, absolutely no effects at all. Indeed for all the vaccinations we have had over the past two years for foreign travel, the only one with any side effects was a result of the nurse suggesting we top up with the standard UK injections. So had the MMR and a week after suffered a splitting headache for a day - that is the timeframe and typical adverse event for measles vaccine!

We know a few people whose children have had Covid but they have avoided it themselves. We have been very careful, essentially isolating apart from a quick trip to Lidl on Monday at 0830 and Aldi on Tuesday at the same time. Both are local to us and fairly empty at that time. If only all those oldies would keep their distance and go with a list of what they want instead of browsing for what they might want for dinner! Anything else except food is ordered online.

We have enough hobbies to keep us occupied and now the weather is improving, the garden will provide another activity.

@Mike "fast scanner" is probably an oxymoron. Photo scanners are inherently slow because of the dpi they are achieving. I upgraded to a faster Nikon LS-50 but the increased dpi means it is really no quicker. Current methodology suggests using a digital SLR to capture negatives/slides displayed on an LED lightbox. Current digital SLRs have similar resolution to the original analogue photo. I will probably try this in parallel to see how it compares with the scanner.

Keep safe everyone - not a time to let down your guard with a vaccine now available. Also don't be put off by the efficacy values. The annual flu jab is only about 50% effective - these are much better than that so kudos to the scientists behind the scenes.

I will be continuing my cruise travels before too long 

Ian

[Anmer]

@Mike "fast scanner" is probably an oxymoron.

I'll give the Epson FastFoto a go when it's available again:

https://www.epson.co.uk/products/scanners/consumer-scanners/fastfoto-ff-680w

Or if one of the earlier versions appears on ebay.

I don't need exhibition quality images, just get them digitised and secured for fast retrieval and sharing.  Suitably tagged so others will know when they were taken and of whom.

When we cleared out the mother-in-law's we found hundreds of B&W prints and she can't remember who the people are!

[IanH]

When we cleared out the mother-in-law's we found hundreds of B&W prints and she can't remember who the people are!

Probably in a box all mixed up?

My mother passed on 8th January from "old age" (not what the death certificate says) and fortunately not from Covid.  I suspect there is still a box of B&W photos in her house although not seen the contents for many years. Hopefully my sister will deal with that so I don't need to be scanning them.

Hence my personal perspective of Covid is a remote funeral ceremony transmitted from the crematorium. Actually very well done by the celebrant with 6 younger relatives/partners present but many more viewing on line. Managed to get even the oldest relatives included thanks to their children.

Fortunate that the crematorium already had this facility. Given that it had snowed overnight, would have been my first car journey of more than 20 miles for over a year and none of us could have congregated after for a wake, I am thankful we could pay our respects at a distance instead of not being able to participate.

This is not a "feel sorry for me" tale - just telling it like it is.

Ian

PS I live in Nottingham, mother lived in London, so 240 mile round trip. Was I even allowed by current restrictions to drive to the funeral ceremony? Now probate is being done remotely, although my sister does live in London suburbs, which makes it somewhat easier.