Remember the time the entire family and I got Covid? This was it. It started when Hana came home from school one day with a fever. She felt warm all over and could barely get out of bed. We suspected the dreaded virus so we had her tested immediately and sure enough she was positive. At first we got her to quarantine in the guest room downstairs. I thought I was careful enough to wear masks and gloves whenever I wanted to interact with her, like passing the food and drinks etc. But apparently that was not enough.
Two days later, it was Mia’s turn to be positive. Not surprising because the two were literally roommates. So Hana moved her quarantine from the guest room to her own bedroom. Three days later it was my turn to feel feverish. My temperature was high when checked and I had a really bad headache. I could barely sleep at night, waking up every hour until morning. Of course my wife got it too, we slept in the same bed after all and I presume Asif too because he showed all the symptoms.
What was it like having Covid-19? It’s like having a really bad fever and headache. Those were the two major side effects. I did not cough much but my body felt weak and lethargic all over. There’s no magic pill to cure that apart from popping paracetamols 4 times a day at the height of the symptoms. A little bit of cough syrup also helped. After confirming positive, I updated the test result into MySejahtera and got my status changed to confirmed case with the red background. Next I emailed my bosses and HR about the news and got to stay at home for a week although I still got to work from home for the final three days.
You know me, I’m the staunchest pro-vaccine person around. I got the vaccine shot not twice but three times and I was careful to wear masks most of the time and wipe my hands with sanitizers after touching anything remotely dirty. But no matter how careful you are, if just one of your family members got infected, it’s virtually impossible not to get infected as well, especially if you live under the same roof. The only sure way is to live elsewhere separately until the infection subsides. That’s what Adam did, our only family member not to get infected. He was incidentally working at The Mines shopping centre so right after work, he crashed at his friend’s house in Bandar Mahkota Cheras nearby for five days straight.
At the end of the week, the worst was finally over. The first three days were the worst and then we gradually got better. Curiously, Hana and Mia had a fever for three days only and quickly got better. The adults fared considerably worse. My wife was coughing until the next week and so did Asif. In the early days post-Covid, I was short of breath when doing anything slightly physical like climbing the stairs or jogging.
I always thought that it was inevitable that someday I will get the virus. I mean they’re everywhere and unless you become a reclusive hermit, the risk is always there. The important thing is to get vaccinated and be vigilant amongst crowds. Vaccination is especially important because when you do get Covid, the symptoms and side effects won’t be that bad. Bad as in hospitalized or admitted into the ICU.
