We all want to get back to ‘normal’ but Covid isn’t beaten yet

I’ve just had a desperate 24 hours.

My daughter, Charlotte, woke up the other day complaining about a sore throat. A very sore throat and a headache and a touch of nausea.

I began to do what someone who is immunocompromised and has Stage 4 COPD does in such situations: I panicked.

It’s only ever me who panics.

‘Why do you work all the time?’ My son’s question felt like a punch to the gut

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Connie didn’t.

She calmly called our GP, described Charlotte’s symptoms and he prescribed an antibiotic…

…and said he believed she should have a Covid test.

Covid test. Two words guaranteed to scare the living daylights out of me.

We were booked into the testing centre at the Citywest Hotel – and the meantime, Charlotte was confined to her room which in itself is no hardship equipped, as she is, with laptop and phone while she's isolating there.

I wasn’t allowed near her and Connie served meals to her and disinfected the bathroom every time Charlotte used it and generally supervised things in a calm manner.

I may be double vaccinated but that’s no guarantee – I am immunocompromised, so the GP was, wisely, adopting a safety-first policy.

But I had a restless night thinking about it.

I found Citywest Hotel without once losing my rag, an achievement in itself.

Why did I drive if I’m at risk? Well, I wanted to be with Charlotte and save Connie having to find the place and mind Charlotte. Mainly, though, selfishness. I didn’t want to be at home worrying, I wanted to be with them. And we were all fully masked and had all the windows open.

And I have to say the set-up there is amazing.

It is a vast site with tents for walk-ins and tents for drive-through and polite and patient staff everywhere offering help and advice.

Overnight wait

I think we were there for a total of nine minutes between driving in the gate, being shown where to park and Connie accompanying Charlotte to the tent for her test.

Then came the overnight wait.

Although I don’t believe anyone thought Charlotte had Covid, it was of course right to take precautions.

But those precautions also meant I had to cancel a long-awaited appointment with my respiratory team. There is no way I was going to put that team, or the other patients, at risk by attending before I knew the result of Charlotte’s test.

And almost exactly 24 after she was tested we were told it was clear and there was no sign of the virus.

Now, I realise we’re not the only family who have had that worrying wait. Indeed, there are tens of thousands of families who had an elderly or chronically-ill member who cannot afford to risk coming into contact with Covid. And while the wait after a test seems interminable, though it is actually quite short.

But I do wonder if those who constantly shout about abandoning restrictions, about opening everything up, about getting back to “normal” ever think about all those who – right now – are anxiously awaiting the result of a Covid test for themselves or a member of their family.

Of course we all want to see an end to this terrible period. Of course we all want to see the hospitality industry open and all those people who work in it safely back in their jobs.

But this thing isn’t beaten.

Keyboard warriors

And while those in hospitality – and other industries that have been suffering – have to be heard when they suggest ways of operating safely, their case isn’t helped by those keyboard warriors on Twitter and elsewhere who spend their days urging people to ignore restrictions, to break the law, to defy regulations and even to avoid vaccines.

I’m pretty sick. Terminal is the word they use because I’m not going to get better.

And yet, for 24 hours, I worried about my daughter, about my wife and, yes, about myself as to what would happen if Covid came into our home.

It didn’t.

Thank God for that and thank God for the efficiency of the staff at Citywest Hotel.

I wonder what it would be like there if we do open up against medical advice and more and more people are sent for tests.

I think it is appropriate that the word “patient” has two meanings.

Right now, both are appropriate.