Disclaimer: I know that COVID-19 is a total cluster regardless of viewpoints on vaccines, masks, and politics. None of those viewpoints will be addressed here. This article is not meant to judge, offend, or be the boss of anyone (except for my kids; boys, if you are reading this, I am still the boss of you). My intention of this article, like all of my articles, comes from a place of love. If my strategies help you to not catch this from your housemates, helps keep a nurse or teacher at work, or helps a few more people not get sick then my mission has been accomplished.
We made fighting COVID an extreme sport, and we won this round.
When my teen son came home from school and went straight to bed without a snack, I knew it had to be COVID. He is always hungry and doesn't need a normal amount of human sleep. It had to be a bad sign of whatever it was he had. Unfortunately, I was right, and he tested positive soon after. Here is how the rest of us in the house managed to not catch it under the same roof.
1. At the first sign of illness we all isolated. We remained in separate rooms for 10 days total (he had no symptoms after day 8). If he had still had symptoms we would have extended the isolation timeline. We had a plan to test him the next day, but treated it as positive before that. My son literally only left his room to use the bathroom, and the rest of us used the other bathroom. My mom and I took turns delivering food to his room. My other son isolated in his own room, too. We kept our dog out of their rooms. It was a long 10 days and I didn't expect to miss them so much in our own house, but I did.
2. We all masked up. The boys used comfortable, dual layer cloth masks with an activated carbon filter insert (PM 2.5 filters). I knew N95s would not be kept on their faces all day long, so this was the next best thing. My mom and I both wore N95s; sometimes I wore a cloth mask over that when I had to be in his room. We took the masks off only to eat and sleep. Mom and I ate quite a few meals outside. From all the hours of masking, the inside of my nose developed a gunky sore spot (gak!), however, the N95 provided a lovely microdermabrasion spa effect and my complexion is now clear and glowing.
3. I cut the HVAC. It got chilly, I'm not gonna lie. But we are in California, and fortunately it's been lows of 36 ish and highs of 65 ish. The uptake vent is right outside the boys' rooms and I really did not want to redistribute infected air all throughout the house. We bundled up, wearing our jackets inside on more than one occasion.
4. I blasted HEPA air filters; one in my son's room, one in mine, and one in the living area. I made sure the filters were new.
5. I opened up windows and doors in the main living space and turned on the ceiling fans every day to keep a fresh air current going. I did not open my son's window as I hoped to just contain the virus in that space.
6. We sanitized, a lot. My mom and I had cracked and peeling skin on our hands from all the washing and swabbing down. I warn you now, this level of commitment is not pretty. I won't even mention the Medusa-like witch hair that masks create. Yikes.
7. We were all vaccinated/boosted. However, I do not think that the remaining three of us in the house were asymptomatic because of that. I honestly think we just didn't catch it from him. (Him being vaxxed could have been a contributing factor, though; he had received his vaccine exactly 6 months prior).
8. We took probiotics and a Zinc/Vitamin C supplement. I don't think this necessarily prevented us from catching it as much as it maybe would have helped us if we had caught it, but it's still worth mentioning to keep your immune system as healthy as possible.
9. I prayed. A lot. We all did. I am seriously immunocompromised, with a rare blood disease. I've faced down death before and was not super excited to rush into that experience again. And for my sanity, I had to turn my fears and worries over. As humans, we can only do so much.
My son is super healthy, an athlete, and this kicked his arse for a good week. We are still making up the schoolwork and he is skipping this week's athletic practices and trainings. We made fighting COVID an extreme sport, and we won this round. Over two weeks have passed since he tested positive, and no one else here has caught it. I wish the same for you.
Love,
Dax
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