A Blog through the COVID Fog

Well, my plans to get the new year off to a great start failed miserably. Apparently, while breathing a sigh of relief for getting through last year I inhaled a floating blob of the coronavirus.

The strange thing is, I knew I was fated to get it at some point.

Some might call this prophetic intuition, but I didn’t need the gift of prophecy to read the writing on the wall. It was clearly legible: Three out of six members in my household were already infected.

In the end it was Omicron that got me. It skirted my immune system early on a Wednesday morning when I awakened with a sore throat. By morning I felt congested and had a headache. Later that afternoon a mental fog had penetrated my thoughts and my motivation to do anything had dissipated.

This is it I thought . . . Should I start prepping for my demise?

When it comes to getting COVID, whether it be the Alpha, Beta, Delta, Delta AY.4.2, or the Omicron BA.2, it seems that sooner or later we are all going to be infected long before Omega hits the scene.

I suppose we should be grateful that those responsible for naming the COVID variants are using the Greek alphabet. They could have chosen to use characters in the Chinese language. After all, China is where COVID originated from in the first place right?

There are only 24 characters in the Greek alphabet. (A fact I learned translating Greek for 2 years in college.) Yet there are some 100,000 characters in the Chinese language. Meaning, that were it not for the optimism in using Greek characters human civilization might still endure thousands of more variants!

Either way, one does not need the gift of prophecy to know that sooner or later they are going to be infected. Divine inspiration isn’t needed to foresee this inevitable. Nor will prayer and wishful thinking prevent a person from being infected. We know this, because both religious and irreligious peoples from around the world are equally susceptible to becoming ill.

About the only thing that will save a person—or at least make getting sick far less deadly—is a healthy belief in science. For there’s plenty of data regarding the effectiveness of wearing masks and getting vaccinated that can prevent people from dying. All people need to do is believe the science and then take the appropriate measures.

But I get it. There are some among us who can’t grasp a concept the medical community learned about 120 years ago, when . . .

In 1897, Dr. Carl Georg Friedrich Wilhelm FlÜgge, a prominent bacteriologist and hygienist in Germany, developed the droplet theory of infection. His theory revolved around the idea that microorganisms in droplets expelled from the respiratory tract are a means of transmission.

I also get it that many believe vaccinations to be an assault on their individual liberties. What these individuals fail to appreciate, however, is that living in a modern world requires everyone to give up a measure of their individual liberties in order that everyone may live peacefully with one another.

(See my article on Mandates and Mayhem.)

Aside from having a belief in science, however, it’s important that people also have faith in humanity; specifically, all those whose mission is to serve others.

They should be appreciative of the work being performed by all the miracle workers from around the world who dabble in the DNA arts. This includes the virologists, chemists, lab technicians, nurses, doctors, and many other medical professionals who continue to work tirelessly to stop the spread of COVID.

I survived COVID. You can too.

If and when you get COVID there’s going to be a few days in which you’ll think you’re going to die. Literally speaking, thousands of people are still dying from the virus every day. So, why not you?

As the virus starts ravaging your body you going to be hypervigilant about the symptoms you’re experiencing. Will the nausea, headaches and chills get worse? Just how high can my temperature go before I start to convulse? And when you start to feel congested you’ll wonder what it’s going to be like breathing through a ventilator in an intensive care unit with no loved ones to support you through what could be your last remaining hours.

You see, despite what you’ve heard, fighting COVID is not like having the flu. It feels more like riding a medical gurney strapped to a rollercoaster in which symptoms hit you at every turn and vary with intensity in diving and slowly arching waves.

You might just skate right through your COVID and be back to work next week. But almost as easily, you could be out of commission for weeks and months—if not forever. This is just the way the virus works; it affects everyone differently.

If you’re like me, sometime within the first week of getting covid you’ll start wondering what all the hype was about. I began feeling the faintest of symptoms on a Wednesday, and by Monday the only lingering symptom I was experiencing was that I still felt exhausted.

But I must be quick to add that during my weekend with COVID I also watched all four NFL playoff games, blew through a bag of Sun Chips, and even enjoyed a few bottles of hops. The buzz is, this weekend’s playoff games were the best in NFL history. So, had I not had COVID the weekend would have wiped me out anyway!

Now, I don’t mean to gloat, but to borrow a cliché, I dodged a bullet. I beat COVID. I survived. And I’m feeling darn good about myself. Like I’m smart. Like I’m a better person or neighbor than I give myself credit for.

But I did everything right. I’ve been wearing a mask to protect myself and others since I was advised to do so. When the vaccine first rolled out, I took the time to get vaccinated. When it was time for me to get my second shot, I rolled up my sleeve again. When boosters became available, I went and topped off on my protection.

What I did not do was whine about wearing a mask. I did not complain about having to stick around the house more than I wanted to. I did not join a Facebook group touting the tyranny of getting the vaccine. I did not hang posters of Dr. Fauci on my wall and throw darts at him. I did not buy weapons in anticipation of overthrowing the government.

I did not pray.

I merely studied the facts, believed the science, valued the advice of professionals, and did what I needed to do to protect myself and others.