A close relative who’s very gregarious and always going places tested positive for COVID this past week, and I’ve been in relatively close contact with them recently.
So I have been re-tested for COVID (thankfully, I tested negative, I’m vaccinated, and I wear my N95 mask religiously and wash/sanitize my hands on the rare occasions I’m out and about, grocery shopping or whatever). Everyone else who has been in contact with said relative was notified promptly as soon as the test came back positive and has gone into isolation for ten days (re-tested or not) to avoid the potential of spreading it any farther.
Most of my relative’s associates and acquaintances are vaccinated, so the risk to them is slight, but they can still transmit it to unvaccinated children and others who can’t (or won’t) get the vaccine who are vulnerable, so they’re doing everything they can do prevent the possible further spread of the virus.
Some of the people who were potentially exposed have to miss out on work for at least ten days. I heard from one that her sister’s church south of us recently had an outbreak and at least six people have tested positive for COVID, including the pastor. (So, yeah, praying for immunity from the virus, or trusting in God to keep you safe, isn’t the answer here.)
So, the chickens are coming home to roost. There is no more denying that it’s real, that it’s here, and that it can throw a huge monkey wrench into the life of everyone we hold dear–and everyone beyond them with whom they come into contact.
The symptoms were slight: bad headache, dry cough, sore throat.
If you think you have a cold, get tested. (It’s free here in Washington State. There are drive thru testing sites in nearly every town and city.)
If you think you have a touch of the flu, get tested.
Don’t assume you have a summer cold this year. The experts say that those who remain unvaccinated WILL (not may, will!) contract the Delta strain of COVID; it’s just a matter of WHEN.
So be vigilant. Wear your mask — an N95 when you’re out and about, or in a gathering of family members from different households.
Wash your hands frequently. Limit travel. Save lives.
If we don’t extinguish this cruel disease by way of enough vaccinations, it will mutate further and at some point it may mutate to a point where nothing we’ve developed so far can even fight it. That’s what the expert-of-all experts (Dr. Fauci) says is keeping him up at night. We have a limited amount of time to get a handle on this curse.
COVID has already killed more than four million people across the globe, 600,000+ in the U.S alone. (This is most likely a conservative estimate.)
Don’t be a denier. It can get you and the people you hang out with and love most sick or dead. And many COVID victims suffer from long-haul symptoms; some have had to go on disability, with no end in sight…
COVID IS NO JOKE.
(I HOPE I’M NOT JUST PREACHING TO THE CHOIR, HERE.
I CARE ABOUT YOU AND THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE, WHOEVER YOU ARE!)
