What was supposed to be a dinner with friends turned out to be a life lesson for me.
It was a cloudy Wednesday on Dec 29, but the weather did not deter us from having a good time after a long period of isolation due to the pandemic.
As part of my preventive measures, I try not to go out for a few consecutive days, except for work.
In fact, being an introvert, I could go weeks not seeing the outside world, cooped up in the house with my cat.
Little did I know that my health would be affected by attending that dinner.
I started feeling feverish on Saturday, but didn't give much thought to it since I was working from home.
I turned down an invite to a catch-up session with another group of friends as I had gone out the day before.
On Sunday night, my temperature rose to 39° Celsius.
As I was assigned to the office on Monday, I took the Covid-19 self-test.
The dreaded double line on the test kit (for positive) showed up. I had half expected it, and I promptly updated my status in the MySejahtera app.
All the knowledge on Covid-19 I had gathered for almost two years and preparations I'd made since the emergence of the virus were meant for that moment
on.
I conducted TRIIS (Test, Report, Isolate, Inform and Seek), except the last one as I was classified as Category 2A with fever and flu and did not require further medical attention throughout the home quarantine period.
Thermometer and oximeter were at the ready and I had painkillers on the dining table, the most I've consumed in a week.
I religiously used the Home Assessment Tool that people under Home Surveillance Order (HSO) must update twice daily by 9am and 2am.
Ah, this is what it meant to live with the virus. I was careless enough to get infected. The least I could do is take care of myself without burdening others.
My three dinner friends also tested positive, while journalists whom I had close contact with were not infected
I had read about people exposing themselves to the virus, which I thought was selfish as we could spread it to people who didn't choose to be infected, especially vulnerable ones with comorbidities or weakened immunity.
Gambling with one's health is no way to live a life. According to experts, there is a degree of unpredictability in who might be hospitalised or develop long Covid.
After testing negative for Covid-19 after about a week since the first result, I've had a persistent minor headache and tiredness with joint aches, and at times, I could almost sense fogginess hanging around my head.
Maybe it's my mental state for not knowing when these post-Covid effects would disappear.
But I consider myself lucky and even got a booster dose about a week after the HSO ended.
Some Covid-19 patients were not so lucky and succumbed, especially during the early phase of the pandemic, when information on the virus was scarce and vaccines were not yet ready for the public.
My thoughts and prayers are with those fighting to recover and return to their daily lives.
In between struggling with Covid-19 and post-infection symptoms, it was a time for reflection for me.
The author is a NST specialist writer
