COVID Rears its Ugly Head

I can hear in my head the theme music for the movie Jaws:  duunnn dunnn… duuuunnnn duun…

Well, I can confirm that it is not necessarily safe to go into – well in this case not the water – but places where people gather – like churches – if you let your guard down about the reality of COVID.  I can hear the murmurs – COVID?! – that’s no longer a thing, is it?  After all, we have the vaccine for COVID and there are no reports in media or government press releases about COVID outbreaks, are there?

Well, let me assure you, or perhaps scare you, that COVID still is with us.  My wife Lorna came down with COVID after contact with someone – not quite sure who – in our church a week ago.  You know, church is where two or three or more are gathered in the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Well, that’s just it, we are called as Christians to gather together.  That means if someone has symptoms of COVID and joins the gathering anyway or perhaps has no symptoms – they will likely infect others.  Our collective memories of COVID and the pandemic and all that we had to do, such as masking and hand washing and getting vaccinated have faded as time has passed.

Lorna came down with symptoms much like those of a cold – sniffles, cough, fever, and feeling lousy etc.  Due to unrelenting brain fog (her words), she suspected that it was more than a cold and dug out an old COVID test kit and, sure enough, the two lines appeared showing she tested positive for COVID – not a good thing in this case where you want to see a negative result. 

Now Lorna and I are fully up to date on our vaccinations.  Being vaccinated does not make you immune but will just lessen the severity of the symptoms.  I am symptom-free at this point and may have escaped.  Perhaps as result of being a special person; actually, just a matter of good luck.  However, that doesn’t mean I am free of COVID and have been lying low until I get a test kit and check it out.  These are not as readily available as they were at the height of the pandemic. 

There is also conflicting information online at government websites.  One site I checked said that if you are symptom-free you don’t have to isolate, but others say you should isolate if you are in contact with an infected person. 

We both stayed home from church last Sunday.  We have heard of a number of people with symptoms who have tested positive or suspect they have COVID - there may be more who are infectious but don’t know they are.  Our church – like many – has a demographic that skews to the older age – so they are in the vulnerable category, as Lorna and I are, and may be susceptible to symptoms that are more serious.  I believe it is a good idea that organizations where people congregate have policies that reinforce the necessity for people to stay home if they have symptoms that could mean they are infectious.  Also reinforcing rules around hand-sanitizing and providing hand sanitizing gel are good ideas.  We must not let our collective and individual guards down. 

Remember, the water may look safe – but who knows what lurks beneath the surface.  Blessings indeed.