Birthday over, my main concern now is to finish a big job due for delivery so I can concentrate on Mum’s funeral.
When it might be safe for Dad to come out of isolation and back to mere lockdown is also exercising my mind a lot.
Eventually I or someone else will have to come into contact with Dad, not least to take him to Mum’s funeral. I’ll have to go into his house to start sorting through Mum’s things. But when?
Opinions vary wildly about when people are no longer contagious after having covid-19. The seven days recommended on the UK Government website seems over-optimistic. There are reports of people being contagious for much longer and even having a recurrence of the infection.
I liked this timeline on theconversation.com. It recommends that people should leave isolation when they’ve been symptom-free (particularly fever-free) for three days: much more tailored to the individual than a one-size fits all approach. I’m not sure about the cough. I’m prepared to accept that it might linger on long after Dad’s no longer infectious.
Not very hopefully, I looked on the Government website to see if home tests were available. Amazingly enough, things have changed and I managed to order one for Dad. To be successful, the tests have to be administered within 5 days of first developing symptoms. Dad will have had symptoms for 12 days by the time the test arrives, so I’m almost sure it will be negative, but at least it will show he’s no longer shedding the virus.
Time, lack of symptoms and a negative test result will go a long way to reassuring me. Another precaution will be for Dad and me to wear masks and keep our distance.
I’m sure that when the moment comes, it will still feel like playing Russian roulette! Not least because other potential vectors of transmission – the care workers – are also going into the house.
Am comforted only by the fact that this nightmare tightrope walk or Poker game is taking place in thousands of other homes throughout the world. I’m not alone.
2022 and all that 