I got my 2 vaccinations and the booster shot of Pfizer plus the flu vaccine. Son went to school and I went to the office 4 days a week. We masked when going indoors to shops and only recently started going a few times to a restaurant. Other than close trusted friends and relatives we did not socialize much. In December my pleasure activity was 2 restaurant visits and a holiday party. Well after these activities, I got a sore throat on Christmas day. Since I was expecting my niece and family, I wanted to make sure that this was not anything more than a common cold.
I drove to the 3 sites listed on the county website along with 100's of others only to find that they were not open after 5 hours of waiting and driving. When I came back home, I took an in-home test and that showed that I was #covidpositive. I immediately messaged my doctor's office and arranged to have a tele-consult the next day.
Tip: Keep stock of in-home tests handy even if you are not sick and test if you come into contact with people in situations where you did not wear a mask
Checking the conversations in my Neighborhood app, one of my neighbors had posted that they were able to get a test within 2 hours at Patient First, Rockville. I drove there to find about 50 people in front of me. The system in Patient First is that you line up to register and then sit in the waiting room or in your car till they call you. I liked that since it was very cold and I had forgotten to get any earbuds to listen to podcasts on my phone. Sitting in the car, I was happy that there was a Roy Rogers so I could get a coffee. Patient First obviously had restrooms. My next interaction was with the reception where they took my information ( ID and Insurance) and then I went back to the car to wait for the nurse to call. They were quite thorough with the nasal swab. I was stumped by the question of whether I wanted a PCR or a rapid antigen test. I chose the Rapid Antigen Test as I would get the results immediately.
Tip: If you have mild symptoms and have already tested positive, you may not need to confirm the positivity again.
I isolated myself from my family in the master bedroom. My family isolated themselves from others. We ordered an oximeter just to check. The doctor said to check for shortness of breath and high temperature, both of which I do not have.
This is a time for rest and reflection. My biggest worry is not to spread it to anyone. Till this phenomenon becomes just the flu and everyone is vaccinated to the extent that there are enough hospital resources available, let's be careful.
Resources:
Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/12/23/tips-quarantine-isolation-omicron/
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