Positive

 

Steadily and scrupulously for the past two years I have avoided covid, using my common sense, following all of the public health directions, and discovering the benefits of lockdown. I can recall a time when the Premier’s morning press conference was the main viewing of the day. This came to an end at the La Trobe University carpark, local site of testing moments for many over time, on Tuesday morning. The now familiar ritual of pokers in mouth and nostrils was carried out in a thoroughly civilised fashion. Just over twelves hours later, nearing the midnight hour, my phone went ping to advise via message that my result was positive. It felt a long two years to end with this simple advance in learning. While part of me thought about how I had just joined the other half of the human race, another part was tracing for clues as to where and who and how positive could be the result. We are in isolation until next Tuesday, at least. It is observable how easily we slide into lockdown mode, with supermarket deliveries online and orders for a Doherty Half-Dozen from Dan Murphy’s. The difference with this self-imposed lockdown is the machine that goes ping. Austin Health has my number and sends messages of appreciable length, stacked with information and questions. First contact was a woman from Austin Health who went through most of these. My favourite was “Do you have an oxygen tank in your home?” My answer to this question was, “No, we do not have an oxygen tank in our home.” Later I thought, if it was that bad, I’d already be in ICU. It’s omicron, we think to ourselves, as though the most natural thing in the world. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, coughing, tiredness, the very symptoms we have been reading on every second public wall and official communication for two years. When she asks if I experience chest pain, I say I did have a slight pain in the night. This was a mistake, as she wishes to know if it is lung or heart, brief or prolonged, left side or right side. I tell her I don’t what side it was on, it was just pain. This reply won’t help with the statistics., but at least I got it off my chest. There has been no pain since, so that’s good. Later she asks me about my mood. I tell her I’m grumpy because I’ve got covid. She laughs at this reply, which tells me it’s not a standard reply to the question. So here we are at home in isolation. I live on buttered toast and beakers of Hydralyte. Panadol is the nurse’s friend. My workplace has had to close, yet another minor instance of how covid slows work and social life all over town. The world itself is suddenly over there again, beyond our private radius. Sleep is most of the day, broken only by the untimely ping of Austin Health with more updates, more questions. I can’t say I’m complaining. Triple vaccination tides over this result most effectively.