I was exposed to SARS-CoV-2 on around March 9, two months ago. I was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 16. I started getting sick on March 18, and was discharged from the public health unit on March 25.
I am still sick.
I am still sick.
I am exhausted all the time.
I can’t walk for more than about fifteen minutes at a stretch without stopping for a break. I used to walk 15km because I was bored and wanted to listen to podcasts.
I can’t sing because I don’t have the lung pressure to get to the end of phrases.
I can’t walk for more than about fifteen minutes at a stretch without stopping for a break. I used to walk 15km because I was bored and wanted to listen to podcasts.
I can’t sing because I don’t have the lung pressure to get to the end of phrases.
Every now and again I have to stop mid-sentence to take a breath because I ran out halfway through.
I can’t walk and talk on the phone at the same time because the gasping for air freaks people out.
I can’t walk and talk on the phone at the same time because the gasping for air freaks people out.
So this new Government plan scares me. It has built in an “acceptable” level of infection, which can be managed locally.
My epidemiology training tells me that this is justifiable, that this is a sensible and rational way to move forward. But as a person, I’m terrified.
My epidemiology training tells me that this is justifiable, that this is a sensible and rational way to move forward. But as a person, I’m terrified.
I’m worried about human beings’ risk tolerance. We’re already seeing the Overton Window of risk shifting, seeing people rush back to supermarkets and abandon PPE as they acclimatise to the risk of infection.
I’m worried by an economic system that is built around the idea that people’s worth can be measured by what they own and what they are paid. There isn’t time to to the root and branch reform of our economy necessary to protect people without condemning them to poverty.
So I understand why we need to relax restrictions. But I’m still scared.
Because I am still sick. I am still convalescing. I am still in pain and not sleeping properly and acutely aware of how many people will die of this awful disease.
Because I am still sick. I am still convalescing. I am still in pain and not sleeping properly and acutely aware of how many people will die of this awful disease.
And yes, maybe that will be fewer people than will die of poverty, of isolation, of depression, were we to maintain restrictions and pursue deep economic and social systems change. The political system makes the comparison moot anyway.
But every time I have to catch my breath I am scared that the next one won’t come.
Nobody should have to die like that.
And the fact that we can speak with a straight face about an “acceptable” level of infection and death sickens me to my core.
Nobody should have to die like that.
And the fact that we can speak with a straight face about an “acceptable” level of infection and death sickens me to my core.
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