I had a test for Coronavirus

I started feeling a bit unwell on Wednesday. I had a sore throat and was feeling a bit fatigued. Miraculously, I felt much better the following morning. However, my healthy body was short lived. By the afternoon, I was an achy, pained, sniffly mess. So, I went home. One of the first things I became aware of was that I had quite a few symptoms of Coronavirus including; aches and pains, fever and chills, and a sore throat. Given these crazy times, I was a little worried.

Perhaps most worrying of all was my activity over the past week. I had been everywhere. I had worked and study on campus during the week, walked throughout the city, gone to the market, been up in the Adelaide hills. If I did have Coronavirus, I would single handedly have taken down the entire city. On Friday it was bad, but I thought, “there’s no way you have it. It’s impossible, right?”.

Why do people keep working when they're sick?

What made matters worse was that I had a shift for my job on Friday that I had to make the decision to cancel on last minute. For a moment, I understood why some people just keep on working even when they’re feeling sick.  It was tough for me to let down my employer and pull out of my shift last minute. I also felt terrible missing all the classes and meetings that I did. I had to sit myself down and say, "it's not worth it. You don't feel well yourself, you could get others sick and given the pandemic there is one clear thing to do".

Why did I get a test?

At first, I thought I would just stay at home and wait out the sickness and hopefully recover. However, it wasn't until my partner made me a really strong ginger tea (and I mean really strong with about half a bulb grated in) that I decided to go get a test. I couldn't taste it! This was another red flag for Coronavirus that I thought I couldn't ignore (roughly 80% of people have reported loss of taste and smell). So, with much grunting and sniffling I strapped on a mask and walked down to the hospital. The staff were helpful and professional, (with the nursing even asking if I was pregnant. A condition if so she said, "would probably make me millions"). One thing I can say is the Covid test hurt! Whether it was because of my blocked nose or how far the swab was jammed up my brain i'm not sure. But it was a searing pain right up in my brain and I did not like it! However, it was quickly over and I was on my way back home and back to bed. 

As soon as I had gotten the test I was told to stay in my room isolated until I was contacted with the results. Of course I worried as soon as I had done it. However, I felt an immense sense of relief that I had got it done and was followed the health advice. On Sunday when I received my negative results I was relieved, but still sick. Now that I am feeling much better, the whole ordeal was not how I wanted to spend the weekend but at least a reassurance that if you get sick, it's not a drama to go and get a Covid test.