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Making the Most of Our New Normal
Quarantines were different during the Spanish Flu pandemic.
This morning my sister texted to say she might have coronavirus. “I’m coughing and don’t feel well,” she said. A few minutes later, in another text, she said she was feeling better and didn’t think she had it. But her initial text had sent me into worry mode. My sister’s business as a yoga and exercise instructor at senior living facilities brings her into contact with a lot of people.
Not only was I concerned about her health. She had been to my house the day before, and I was worried about exposing our 100-year-old mother, who lives with me. I’ve heard the virus is highly contagious before a person becomes symptomatic, so I asked my sister if she planned on getting tested.
“I tried,” she said. “I called my doctor and the health department and they don’t have the test.”
Trying to help my sister find a place to get tested, I spent the next hour on the phone, mostly on hold, with the CDC (Center for Disease Controls). With the coronavirus threat spiralling out of control, they were inundated with calls. When I finally reached someone and explained the situation, she advised me to call the family doctor or the health department.
