Confined to quarters!

I suppose it was inevitable really, and the only surprise is that it has taken so long. After all, the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2, virus, has been with us the best part of two years. So, after managing to successfully evade Covid-19 since March 2020, I tested positive yesterday morning, and have now been confined to quarters.

Now I am not one of those people obsessed with testing themselves every day, so the reason I took a lateral-flow-test was that I felt somewhat under the weather during Saturday. Come Sunday, what I first thought was just a minor sniffle had turned into more of a full-blown cold., with a runny nose, sneezing, headache plus aching limbs.

So out came one of the lateral-flow kits I’d obtained from work, and whilst at first everything seemed fine, before the 30-minute cut-off time had elapsed, a thin red line appeared next to the “T.” It was quite faint, and whilst I was at first, tempted to dismiss it, I checked further on the NHS website. Their advice was even a faint line nest to the “T” must be regarded as positive.

It was then panic stations in the Bailey household, whilst wife and son checked their status. Fortunately, and for the time being at least, they both tested negative, but I was unceremoniously bundled up to the back bedroom and shut in – locked away from the world, only allowed out to use the bathroom.

I also had to scan the QR code on the test cassette and submit it to the NHS Test & Trace service, so that they could contact me, and tell what I already knew. The last day of my 10-day self-isolation is 15^th February, although from day 5, which is the 10^th February, I can start taking lateral flow tests. If I record negative tests, two days in row, I can end my incarceration after the second negative test. All quite intriguing, but also very efficient after the cock-ups that occurred when Dido (without an “l”), as in charge.

And so, here I am. I don’t feel that bad, as the symptoms are more in line with a bad cold and can be kept in check with regular dosed of paracetamol. Mrs PBT’s understandably is taking no chances, so it’s meals on a tray, left at the foot of the stairs and communication my mobile, or failing that, by shouting. Despite her feigned grumpiness, she’s a very good nurse, and I’m being well looked after.

I was somewhat puzzled as to how and where I’d managed to pick up this particular dose which, from the sound of things, is probably the Omicron variant. A call in to work this morning, revealed that two colleagues had also gone down with Covid, one on Thursday and the other the following day. 

Because I only work Monday to Wednesday, I was unaware, until this morning, that mycolleagues had gone down with the same ailment, but as the three of us sit in the same part of the office, it all falls into place, and also points to Omicron being responsible, due to its much higher rate of transmission.

I’ve had quite a busy morning though, as I can pick-up and answer emails from my desktop PC at home, so I’ve been re-scheduling appointments, and also re-arranging the Manual Handling Awareness training, due to take place this coming Friday. I imagine my Covid-stricken colleagues will be doing the same, especially our sales manager.

I don’t actually mind, as to helps to pass the time, but the one area I am concerned about is the lack of exercise. I am quite an active person and with the aid of my Smart Watch – soon to be upgraded, monitor my step count, on a regular basis. Whilst I don’t usually reach the magic 10K over the course of a normal working day, I do get past 7K, so yesterday’s total of 786 steps is quite derisive. Today’s quantity is looking even worse, as it’s only just passed the 300 mark!

 

So, tomorrow I shall head out into our lengthy garden at the rear of the house, but without passing through the living room and kitchen. It will be straight down the stairs, and back along the passage at the side of the property, followed by numerous circuits of the garden. I might even put in some more work on my greenhouse restoration project, which is coming to fruition, quite nicely. With the first week in February already behind us, it’s getting closer to the time when the greenhouse will be needed to bring on seedlings, and protect vulnerable plants, and because of the reduction in my working hours, I have now had the time to get stuck into these projects.

Indoors, I’ve made a start on sorting through various accumulate paperwork, especially that relating to the three pension schemes I’ve been a member of. Because I am still working, albeit part-time, I haven’t drawn on any of these investments yet, but they do need keeping an eye on, and collating the paperwork.

If I really get bored there’s a TV in the room I can watch, along with a pile of books I’ve yet to read, but before signing off, I will echo the words of one of my colleagues, who copped a dose of Covid, during the run-up to Christmas. Although it’s unpleasant, she said, just imagine how much worse it might be had the vaccines not come along, so to all those unvaccinated souls out there, and there are still quite a few, do yourselves and the rest of us a favour and get a shot!