You Can Only Outrun A Global Pandemic For So Long

Tyneesha.com
Tyneesha.com
You Can Only Outrun A Global Pandemic For So Long
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So, I got Covid.

To my credit, I’ve managed to avoid it for longer than I thought I would.

I had every symptom under the sun and moon. Sore throat, cough, headache, muscle aches, difficulty breathing, runny nose, etc. It’s been an adventure for sure and not a particularly fun one. I do, however, have some stories to tell and some misinformation to spread. You might think – “Tyneesha! Good journalists prioritise the TRUTH”. I’ll take this opportunity to state that a) truth is subjective and b) I never said I was a good journalist. If Buzzfeed offered me a job right now, I’d snatch that gig up and never let go. I didn’t come here to teach you anything today; I came here to talk absolute trash. Feel free to go read the actual news if you’re in the mood to be bummed out.

I have a very annoying starting point when covering my thoughts and feelings regarding contracting covid. It’s no longer impressive or novel that I got Covid. Back in March of 2020, the golden age of the pandemic, if you will, a healthy 20-year-old uni student getting sick would have been the story of my career. I could be a shining light in the haze of misinformation. However, it’s been two years, I no longer believe in the validity of upholding truth within the media landscape. Yeah, the one conveniently owned by the same four rich men who definitely have our best interest at heart. I do, however, believe in entertainment value and sarcastic humour.

As I said before, I did manage to avoid covid much longer than I thought I could. The government’s “we’re all going to get it” approach could have fooled me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been careful, but I haven’t self-imposed a lockdown lifestyle. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s not to take our freedoms for granted. I’ve got to take my 20s for all they have to offer while I still can. Draining my 20s for all the dopamine I can does not involve laying in bed for a week, and it does involve going to Kmart instead of doing my washing. Right now, I am Kmart-less. Horrifying.

Many people in my life got covid right after Christmas, and I managed to miss that wave. It was evident that my immune system was thriving because I was eating my mum’s food at home. I’m not saying that my mum’s butter beef cures covid, but I am saying that it would definitely help me right now.

Nonetheless, I’ve been a close contact multiple times. I went to Sydney a few weeks ago; I’ve been in numerous crowds since being back at uni. On more than one occasion, I got suspicious and took a RAT in sheer disbelief of the negative. I even thought that maybe, somehow, I’d gotten it at some point and just didn’t know. But alas, it caught up to me eventually. Fortunately, it very much is a situation now where all of my friends (metaphorically) jumped off a bridge and naturally, I jumped too. The 445 Million other people who have Covid right now will not deter me from acting like I am the only person suffering through the week.

I also managed to get my period two days into my isolation, at the height of my covid symptoms. I’d apologise for giving too much information there. Still, I’m writing this on international women’s day, and I’m incredibly exhausted with pretending that women don’t bleed and shit like everyone else. I talked to some friends who had experienced the same thing. Of course, our phones listen to us, so I also saw TikToks, where someone got the deathly Covid-Period combo. I’ve got to say, I didn’t even think of that as a possibility, but clearly, it’s pretty standard. The biggest issue is that the magic from the painkillers went straight to the covid headache, and I was left in pain everywhere else.

Last Sunday, I took a RAT. It was my 6th day of isolation, and I was supposed to be out of isolation on Monday. However, I tested positive, and my symptoms have not subsided enough; I’m writing this on my 8th day of isolation. I’m hoping to feel better by Friday so that I can finally participate in on-campus classes and enjoy my weekend. For now, I’m playing it safe. My sheets need to be washed, as well as my favourite clothes. So when I’m okay to come out of iso, my first trip will be to the laundry room, and the second is to the supermarket. I also need to make a celebratory Kmart trip, it’s a life and death situation. In the meantime, I have a can of Glen 20.

I don’t know if I even gave it to anyone. I ran around the day before I tested positive, seeing family, and none of them got it. Some of my friends got it, but they said it was more likely that someone else had given it to them. My roommates also had to isolate, even though they were all covid negative at first. One of them tested positive a few days ago. I had a hectic week in 0-week, so I barely spent any time at home. Great in the sense that I didn’t infect them, horrible for the fact that they had to isolate anyway.

Anyway, I’ll be back next week with some content that isn’t all about me. But I had the government-mandated need to rant this week. Get your booster, so you don’t actually die when you get it. Wear masks wash your hands. You probably won’t kill anyone, but it is really annoying to cancel my week. To my germy friends, I hope you’re feeling better. To me, a-symptomatic friends, you suck. See you when I see you.