Perspective: We May Be Done With Covid-19, But Did Anyone Tell The Virus That?

I had managed to avoid getting the infection almost miraculously. I don’t say this lightly: I was exposed multiple times from February till May this year – my close contacts being the humanitarian worker who gave me a ride to a clinic so I could get my typhus vaccine before flying to Afghanistan, the Wisma Putra diplomat who sat across from me as we had lunch together on board the Kabul-bound flight and a women’s rights expert I interviewed at a labour rights’ workshop – but somehow tested negative throughout.

The reasons could not just be due to the precautions I took. Although I donned the KF-94 or KN-95 mask every time I stepped out of my house, I was not 100 percent compliant every second of the day. I was careful about washing my hands but did not wash them as often as I used to. Nor did I use the hand sanitiser all the time.

These close shaves made me wonder if I was possibly immune to COVID-19, that the vaccines and mRNA boosters had trained my immune system so well that it neutralised any coronavirus before it could really gain a foothold in my body. At the same time, researchers around the world are also trying to determine if some people really do have a genetic resistance to the coronavirus.

As the number of family, friends and colleagues who tested positive outnumbered those who have never gotten sick, I started calling myself a unicorn.

 

That was why I was somewhat confident about traveling overseas to accompany my husband on his work retreat despite news of Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants, which are the dominant strains in the world right now. They are the most transmissible strains as of now and have the best ability to cause breakthrough infections. 

If anything was going to pierce the bubble that the vaccines and boosters gave me, this was it. And if there was a worse place to test positive for COVID-19, it was in a foreign land.

In my case, it was Bali, the place that loomed large in my mind as I recall my halcyon days of the pre-pandemic era. Bali was a symbol of pre-pandemic freedom and joy when global travel was easy and commonplace and the worst disease you can reasonably expect from a vacation was a sniffle.

Three days after we arrived, my husband started complaining of a sore throat. He thought nothing of it as he had inhaled some sunscreen spray earlier. The following day, he started coughing and sounded worse off than before.

I suggested he take a COVID-19 test. Luckily, I had packed a few saliva RTK tests with me. He took one, not really expecting anything of it having taken numerous tests before and always testing negative, only to see a faint line on the T after 12 minutes.

He had just tested positive for COVID-19.

We notified the hotel which was really not prepared for their guests to be that honest about their COVID-19 status. Instead, they seemed to be operating under the idea that ignorance is bliss, perhaps hoping that guests would not test till after they went home. They certainly did not have a plan for us or provide us with any information on what to do. 

So if you are planning to travel, make sure you know how to contact your country’s representative. Google is your friend. The Malaysian representatives in Bali had the necessary information, such as testing sites and hotels that have received the CHSE (Cleanliness, Health, Safety and Environmental Sustainability) certification from the Bali health authorities where we can quarantine in case our hotel kicked us out.  

Considering we were both vaccinated and boosted, we were not too worried that our cases would be severe. Luckily, our hotel did not kick us out either, although I did spend a few frantic hours trying to find a hotel that would take us without melting down our credit card.

Our hotel was fine with us isolating ourselves in our room, agreeing to deliver our meals to us. The rest of the week, my husband and I just watched a lot of television and wished we had gone to the beach more often when we had the chance.

Also gone were my plans to visit all my old haunts in Bali and write about how their tourism industry is faring. The only interview I managed to do was with my Grab driver when we arrived, who described Bali’s recovery as “limping forward”.

It was an unfortunate return trip to Bali for us and yet it was also the perfect microcosm of travel during the age of COVID-19 and Omicron.

 

We also had a new concern: that we would not be able to fly back to Malaysia because of me.

As someone who has covered COVID-19 and read many studies on it, I knew the chances that my husband would still be infectious when we fly out, on his fifth day, would be low, especially if he kept his mask on continuously. The problem though was me.

When it comes to husbands and wives, and highly infectious COVID-19 strains, by the time one spouse tests positive, the damage is usually already done. I tested negative, and we slept with our masks on.

The day before we were scheduled to leave, my husband tested negative. So did I.

By this time, I wasn’t sure if I really believed the results. I had some congestion but no sore throat and no fever. The congestion could be caused by COVID-19 but it could also be due to my allergies. So we took whatever precautions we could vis-a-vis masks and sanitisers as we headed to the airport.

Any concerns I had about being an irresponsible plague rat disappeared once I boarded the flight. The amount of coughing I heard on that plane – let’s just say I kept my KN-95 tight on my face in case I was actually not positive.

Once I was home, I decided to do both the saliva and nasal swab test. The saliva test was still negative. But the nasal swab was faintly positive.

No more unicorn status. I now had to spend a week of isolation at home which would be fine except I had just spent five days locked up in a small room in one of the most relaxing and beautiful places in the world. 

Looking back, I think my husband caught it on the plane out to Bali, probably when we had lunch on board. It was the only time we took off our masks.

So a word to the wise, if you are traveling or planning to travel, don’t let your guard down. Stay masked. Bring nasal swab self-test kits. Get travel or medical insurance that will pay for your stay if you get COVID-19. Know who to call if you get sick. Most importantly, get your vaccine and boosters.

It is a new world out there, folks. As much as I hate to admit it, COVID-19 will be with us for a long while. 

 

Edited by Rema Nambiar

 

-- BERNAMA