Are you tired of COVID-19? A million times me too. And even after all the precautions we’ve had, the testing at school and the testing at home, COVID-19 still hit our house. And if we didn’t test, we would never have known we had it.
So how did we get COVID-19?
Our kids went on a trip to DC from Seattle with a group from their school. We knew the risks of going on a trip like this and weighed them against all the losses these nearly 14 year olds who were 11 year olds when the pandemic started have had. (Do not get me started on this being the worst age to live through the pandemic. I cannot imagine losing my 11 year old or 12 year old self. So many of our WHOLE LIVES are based on our 11 and 12 year old selves) So my husband and I ultimately decided to let them go and planned to be in the area after 3 days just in case they caught Covid-19 so we could take care of them. We also arranged to pick them up from the east coast so we could potentially quarantine there as a family if we needed to as well. These contingency plans ended up being unnecessary- their trip went perfectly. We picked them up in New York City and both of them said “it was the trip of a lifetime.” And then we carried on for a couple days in Connecticut and a couple days in Brooklyn before we flew together home as a family back to Seattle, WA.
So it was there, right? COVID-19 from travel?
If how and where we get COVID-19 was so easy to pinpoint we would be out of this by now-the incubation period is different in everyone. Because the only points our guys were unmasked or indoors was with their group trip that seems the most likely place but it could have happened anywhere there is air. We tested a few times during the trip and we were all negative. It began to feel like a bit of a joke because we were so cautious and everyone in the world seemed out and about in New York City. We were also masked every time we were indoors and we only ate at restaurants with outdoor patios. We masked on the airplane and when we ate at the airport/airplane where we pretty much just removed our masks to shove food or drink in our mouths and replaced them after that. So after my dad picked us up from the airport (where all of us masked in KN95 masks and had the windows open) and we all tested on our back patio before we were going to eat together, it was a complete shock when one of the guys’ tests had a faint “T” line.
If we hadn’t tested we would never have known we had COVID-19 in our house
No one had symptoms. We tested because we have made this part of our routine. We masked the whole time because we’ve heard that spreading can happen anywhere indoors. And ultimately this testing made sure that we did not pass this on to others. We were often the only ones masked in any of the museums we visited. We did not eat indoors. And we were part of the less than 1/3 of the airplane (and this was the most masked I’ve seen an airplane recently) wearing masks. Even the flight attendants were not wearing masks.
As of today my son has tested positive again-still a faint T line and he has been isolated from the family. We all have taken up our own spaces and we mask in common areas. We have air purifiers and windows open. And I’m curious to see how COVID manifests in our household.
Have you had COVID-19 yet? And do you still test on a regular basis?
And does it feel fair that we got it after all these precautions? Totally no. But this is a disease that has killed more than 1000000 humans who used to be on the earth at the exact same time as us. We will not take something like this lightly. And even after we figure out how this progresses in our household we will likely to continue to test and mask when we know there is a higher risk of community spread. (We are also the people who have an umbrella in the car just in case….it’s really not that difficult but it’s saved our adventures so many times.)
(PS. You can often get Covid-19 tests for free. We’ve received some using this resource (Say Yes! Covid Test) that works for Washington State. And you can check the Washington State Department of Health site here too. )
(PPS. This is not a sponsored post. We just really want to be done with COVID-19 and after this experience, testing for COVID-19 feels like it might be one good way to help.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)