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Take Care

Thank the lord, I do not have COVID-19, probably, and neither does my daughter, probably.

The tests came back negative but I have read that the rate of false negatives can range from 2 percent to 37 percent, so, no, I am not going to throw a party celebrating our negative test results. And remember that the tests are a snapshot and don’t mean that you won’t get the virus if you’re exposed the next day or the next week, not that I want to be the voice of doom.

But it still feels good to know that we probably don’t have the virus that’s infecting and killing millions around the globe. Yes, I would say that’s in the “it still feels good” category and yes, I will have a small celebration tonight.

I went for the test for a few reasons. First, I am 70 years old have had a cold and been sneezing and coughing, some. No fever, no loss of taste or smell, none of the telltale signs of the virus. It’s not like the good old days when my symptoms meant I had a cold. But though I doubted that I had COVID-19, I went for the test because it was free and I could use some peace of mind after losing most of my mind during the presidential election and continuing to lose it while Il Duce refuses to leave the White House.

I wanted my daughter to be tested because she has special needs and attends a program where the clients are at high risk of complications from COVID-19. If my daughter had the virus and attended the program and spread it to others, it could force the program to shut down indefinitely, a very unfortunate and preventable scenario.

The special needs program does what it can to screen clients. A worker takes temperature every morning before the client enters the building and asks a series of questions about whether the person has felt ill, traveled out of state or been in contact with someone who tested positive.

But it is still dependent on the vigilance of clients and their caregivers. My daughter threw up last Wednesday morning and vomiting can be a sign of the virus. She was fine after throwing up with no other health issues. It was probably the hot sauce she puts on her cereal but you can’t be too careful.

So off to the testing center we went and I have emailed the negative test results to the program so my daughter can return on Monday and everybody concerned can breathe a sigh of relief and the program won’t have to close to quarantine its clients.

I know that the majority of people survive COVID-19 relatively quickly and with no major complications. So, a major reason for taking the test is to protect others. Even if I showed no symptoms, I could still have the virus and could still spread it to unsuspecting older people and others who are at high risk of complications if they get the virus.

I had the test at an urgent care center in Hackettstown where the parking lot was full and I waited about three hours last Thursday morning before I was instructed to drive to a designated area behind the building and a doctor would come out and stick a swab up my nose. Two days later, I could read the results on the Labcorps dashboard.

It is easy to forget that many people don’t read the newspapers or watch reputable media sources and are not up to speed about the facts concerning COVID-19, a polite way to say that many people are about as informed as a fly. While I was in the parking lot, a man got out of his parked car and approached me and asked if I thought the test was necessary. At least the man was wearing a mask as I politely told him that the tests are pretty reliable, are free and would give him one less thing to worry about. I don’t know if he stayed for the testing because I was swabbed a short while later and left.

So get tested, wear masks, keep away from large gatherings, maintain at least six feet from people and try to stay healthy. Or ignore it all while a third wave of the pandemic is sweeping the country and face the possibility of getting the virus, being hospitalized or dying and possibly spreading it to your children, your wife or husband or your aging grandmother. Your choice.

And just because a person is younger than 65 it doesn’t mean he or she is not at risk. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people who “are at increased risk” includes any one with cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies, immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant, obesity, pregnancy, Sickle cell disease, smoking and Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Adults of any age “might be at an increased risk” if they have asthma; cerebrovascular disease; cystic fibrosis; hypertension; immunocompromised state from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines; neurologic conditions, such as dementia; liver disease; overweight; pulmonary fibrosis; Thalassemia; or Type 1 diabetes mellitus.

So as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so don’t be a fool.