Self-Isolation - VII

Testing for science

I was invited on Thursday for an International Entrant Test for the purposes of ascertaining if on my return from South Africa I had contacted the CoVID-19 virus and if I had, it needed genetic analysis to gain some knowledge of the strain. By law, I was supposed to self-isolated for 10 full days without the option of a privately resourced Early Release Test after 5 days of self-isolation.

Much as I can, I have endured many days of being indoors without stepping out to check my mailbox. On Thursday at 6:00 PM, I was at the nearest testing centre where I was instructed on how to swab my tonsils and far up my nostril before the sample was packaged and sent off post paste to London for analysis.

A result, a reprieve

This morning at 6:50 AM, the result was posted to me by SMS text message and by email informing me that at the time of the test, I did not have the virus. This in addition to the test I have taken in South Africa the Thursday before was proof that I had not contracted the virus at any time. My concerns heightened by travelling for almost 11 hours on a busy flight, the lounge in Paris brimming at capacity and the transit bus to the flight to Manchester packing us in like sardines.

The message also indicated I only had to self-isolate if I had symptoms, I was soon going into hospital, someone I lived with tested positive, or I had been traced as having been in contact with someone who had tested positive. Knowing that none of the aforesaid applied, I was free to exit the regulatory self-isolation requirement.

Out walking again

Spending most of the morning in bed, I eventually got on my walking gear, dressed for the cold which was barely above zero and set out on the usual walking route that takes in a few stretches of the River Irwell in the City of Salford, getting in just over 11 kilometres in just over 100 minutes, with some time for a bit of shopping.

The return to form salutes a form of normalcy with a sense of regret that I am not far away in Cape Town with Brian. I do miss him very much, but we know we would soon be together again barring any of the unfortunate circumstances of 2020. On the scales, there is some work to do, I gained some and need to lose much. When it is just walking, it indeed is working.