Tuesday morning I woke up with a strong head cold. Obviously, the first thing that came to mind is: oh my god, it’s COVID! However, I didn’t immediately do a rapid test because I felt bad enough that I emailed in sick to work. No point in wasting a test just yet if I weren’t feeling well to even leave the house. Besides, it was a only a head cold, nothing more.
On Wednesday I woke up feeling immensely better. I would put it as about 80 percent of normal. Much of the head congestion is gone, no doubt thanks to the heavy hydration routine the day before. I certainly felt good enough to go to work. But first things first: a rapid COVID test. No way I would go to campus with a positive result.
It was actually my first time doing a antigen test of the nasal swabbing type. The procedure is simple enough: swab each nose canal five full turns, then dip the swab onto a solution. The solution gets poured onto a result pad - not unlike a pregnancy test. 15 minutes after that you’ll know the result, provided you’ve done the steps correctly.
I luckily tested negative. It was indeed just a severe head cold. I guess as we head into the waning days of the pandemic that’s turning endemic, we are once again experiencing common respiratory ailments. Say what you want about mask wearing and hygiene theater, but they’ve really saved our butts from the cold and flu. As we relax those preventative measures, it’s only natural those ailments make a triumphant return.
It was kind of nice to stay home for the day, honestly.
Hey, buddy!