On Friday (30 July 2021), Malaysia hits the 500th day of the Movement Control Order (MCO). The day before, I got tested positive with COVID. Panic ensued where all my family members decided to get tested before the end of the day. I was the only one who tested positive as an unintended consequence of meeting my aunt and her toddler last Sunday. All this for picking up her cat, Bunny because it got injured from cat-street-fights.
On day 499 (Thursday) at midnight, I started coughing while my throat was feeling sore. I figured that it must be due to the decline of my immune system resulting in a sore throat. It has been a pattern for me to fall sick when I am stressed out and are not sleeping well. At this point, getting COVID was unthinkable. By 11 am, my eldest sister received a call from my aunt — the one I saw on Sunday. She informed us that she got COVID, and my eldest sister started to panic. She confirmed with me a few times to trace our point of contact. I knew that I needed a COVID test.
My youngest sister went to the clinic with me because we were in close contact with my aunt and her toddler. She was more tensed up than I was because she has been seeing her clients for physiotherapy. I was distracted with work which helped. In my mind, the worst thing that could happen is to get COVID and have it spread out to my family, especially my grandmother. When in the car, my sister and I double-masked and rolled down the window. We try to maintain the distance and ensure no contact throughout. After a while, I was certainly expecting that I would be COVID positive. I said to my sister, "I am sure that I tested positive".
I went to the counter to get the results, and the nurse said she will see me outside. I figured that one of us has COVID. The clinic got confused by our names and clipped my receipt to my sister's test results and vice versa. I did not check the name on the result slip just the receipts, so I thought my sister tested positive. For a very brief moment, I smiled amused -- as a reaction to an unexpected outcome. When I told my sister, her face resembled the painting, “The Scream” by Edvard Munch. She was in disbelief that she swiftly grabbed the result slips and said, "IT IS YOU".
My youngest sister put on her mask quickly and reported her result to her boss. I called my eldest sister to figure out the next step. We decided that the safest thing was for me to be in home quarantine with my aunt. I arrived at my aunt's place with high adrenalin. I decided to use my energy to inform my boss and colleagues while making work arrangements. Whereas my sister was at home cleaning and sanitising my space. She also got a list from me to pack my essentials so I could comfortably settle in for my quarantine. I knew that I needed to stay calm because I am already experiencing one of the worst things that could happen in this particular situation. The only valid question from here is "How do we respond to fate with care?".
There were a lot of questions about how I could get COVID. While trying to address the questions, it could have been easy to fall into the trap of blaming each other and experience immense guilt for not preventing this situation. I was even more concerned about the outcome for any possible contact or saliva exchange (from sharing utensils and food) with my siblings, mom, and grandmother that Thursday morning.
It is fair to wonder nonetheless, as I have been very careful and have been avoiding going out. My work is fully online and I have no urgent errands on my side to fulfil. Thus, I have been home pretty much since early May. It was a weird situation to be in — it felt like I had to time travel to that Sunday as an attempt to visualise what I did to justify this particular circumstance. Mostly, I had to do this because everyone was asking me how it happened. After a while, it was important to clear out misperceptions and judgement. It was exhausting.
As far as I remember, here's what happened on Sunday night.
My aunt lived about 4 kilometres away. Our main agenda at my aunt's place was to pick up Bunny (the cat). My sister and I both agreed to stay no more than an hour. My sister had with her some kind of juice from Boost juice and as soon as we arrived, she gave it to the toddler. The toddler drank it, and then passed it to my aunt. We were just sitting around in the hall and chatted. I remember my aunt had her a/c turned on. My aunt's toddler was playing with me and he was on the floor. At one point, I remember I took the juice from him and took a sip from the straw. He also fell, so, I picked him up to put him on my lap, and somehow the toddler's face was on mine as I lost control of holding him. I remember wiping his saliva off my face. When this was all happening, neither my aunt nor her toddler was showing symptoms. However, my aunt has been complaining of body ache which she was certain that it could be the vaccine shot she had.
Remembering all this, I realised that there were so many broken conditions or protocols that have kept me and my family away from COVID so far. I regret ignoring my gut feeling — the hesitance to take a sip from the drink. But alas, the temptation of Boost juice, I succumbed. I must tell you that I had no intention to kiss the toddler or rub faces. I was still somewhat conscious of the protocols that break the chain of COVID and I tried to practice it as much as I can. However, the most crucial fact that I did not realise was my aunt has been outside daily to run her eatery for the past month. When I took the drink, and when I was wiping off the toddler's saliva, I brushed it off by saying, "It's okay, I'll be fine". I was either unconscious of or had chosen to neglect such fact that she had been facing all kinds of people running her eatery. Whether I remember it or not, it doesn't matter anymore. I still got COVID and I had put my family members at risk.
I chose to see this experience as a blessing for many personal reasons. However, I must highlight the fact that we were experiencing only Stage 2 of COVID where we experienced mild symptoms in stages. I definitely cannot speak for the rest who has different experiences with COVID under very different circumstances. It is a blessing in itself where my aunt, her toddler and I did not get worse symptoms and that none of my family at home tested positive. It was also a blessing that I get to quarantine with my aunt as her husband decided to move out temporarily. That certainly made home quarantine easier for us as we could rely on each other and move freely in the house.
Most importantly, we were able to do contact tracing (by memory) and get tested as quickly as possible. We ensured to inform these people when and how I got the symptoms so they can decide for themselves if they want to get tested. I have been lucky that my eldest sister affirmed me with the reality: 1) We did all we could base on the information we have, and 2) Whoever we met and were in contact with was consensual and we are aware of the risk of getting COVID because it is literally everywhere. I was lucky that I have my siblings to affirm me and none of my family members were tested positive.
The biggest lesson for us: we should all practice more of the protocols with care in all that we do. The science works — avoid crowded and closed spaces, wear a mask(s), avoid touching your face, and always be mindful of the COVID protocols. As I firmly believe that knowledge is power — for more information about COVID-19, check it out here: COVID ADVICE FROM WHO. Prevention is better than cure — please do your best to prevent yourself and people around you from getting this virus.
On a side note, I won't be able to share a lot of information about the procedures dealing with the home quarantine processes. Unfortunately, the procedures and flow of information from the Ministry of Health, Malaysia are inconsistent. Some of my family members decided that going to the COVID Assessment Centres (CAC) was unnecessary. I decided to go because I have another health issue. Those who went there got their home quarantine letter, the patient ID bracelet, and a QR code leading to a Google Form for me to report my symptoms daily to the clinic. I was also required to report my symptoms daily on MySejahtera, so I did. For me, it was helpful to report my symptoms, temperature, and oxygen saturation level daily. After all, it does require some level of discipline and time for the symptoms to be gone completely.
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