Isolation and Testing Confusion

On Monday January 3rd, we went to look for a new small upright freezer for our guest flat. There are several people booked to stay there over the next few months, including some families. Our old guest flat freezer was very inefficient to run by today's standards, and likely to stop working at some point due to its age (close to 24 years). 

One of the shops we went into was in the Metropolis Mall. I was aware, while there, that people were not really distancing from each other, and many were rather casual about mask wearing. There were a few coughs and sneezes, too. We didn't end up buying the freezer there, but we did find one at our favourite white goods' shop, George Theodorou, where health protocols were correctly observed.

On Tuesday I walked first thing with my friend Sheila as usual. Later, she and her daughters came over to help me put the Christmas decorations away, and to play some games. In the afternoon I finished cleaning the guest flat and made up the beds.

On Wednesday I did some shopping first thing for the first guests, due to arrive in the evening, since Thursday was a public holiday. Later in the day, we put away Tim's bed, turning his room temporarily into a kind of sitting room, soon to be occupied by Richard's electronics projects and repairs. 

On Thursday morning, I woke about 4am for no obvious reason, and couldn't get back to sleep. I was a bit headachey, and felt as if I were starting a cold. I didn't worry about it particularly; Sheila's daughters have all had colds recently and since they have twice-weekly antigen tests for their 'safe passes', I knew they were 'just' colds. So assumed I had finally caught one of them. I took extra Vitamin C and manuka honey, dozed for a while, and hoped it would be short-lived. At 6.15 or so I went out to walk with Sheila as usual. 

Gradually, as the day progressed, I started sneezing and coughing more and more. The headache got worse, and I felt incredibly tired. Waking up at 4am would have contributed to being tired, of course. But in the current pandemic crisis, my mind was, unsurprisingly, on the possibility of Covid. 

In the UK, most people we know test themselves at home a couple of times per week. We haven't had that possibility in Cyprus (possibly because the rather more authoritarian government here doesn't trust the rather less obedient public...) until mid-December. But as Christmas approached, each adult was allowed to collect one set of five lateral flow self-tests, intended for use over the festive season. It was a good idea, so that people could make sure they were Covid-free before spending time with elderly or vulnerable relatives.

We hadn't used any of ours, so I thought it would make sense do so. I knew that cold symptoms and headache could be a sign of the latest Omicron variant. The instructions were lengthy and confused, but Richard worked it out, and I did my test.

Negative.

I was slightly surprised but highly relieved. However I was so tired that instead of playing a game with our friends in the evening, I went to read in bed with a warm wheat bag for company.  

On Friday morning I woke at 4am again, this time with an absolutely raging headache, right across the front of my head. There was no way I could get back to sleep. I got up, and took some Solpadeine (after eating an apple to ensure my stomach wasn't empty). It helped somewhat, but not nearly as much as I would expect. A few hours later I took some aspirin and it did get a bit better.

But I felt quite grim; so before we headed out to do our weekly shopping, I did another home lateral flow test. 

That, too, was negative.

So we shopped, and went through the day although I felt washed out, and in the evening we went to our friends' home as we usually do for a shared meal, though I could barely stay awake and we left well before 9pm. 

On Saturday, another raging headache woke me up at 4am. I did not appreciate what seemed to be turning into a new daily routine. This time I just took paracetamol and dozed in my study. It very slowly got better, so that by 6am I was able to walk with Sheila. And for the first time in ages there was rather an attractive sky, though as ever a photo can't really do it justice: 

As I said to Sheila, I thought a good walk would either make me feel better, or wipe me out for the rest of the day. It seemed that the former was the case. Though very tired by the end of the walk, through the morning I did start to feel more myself again. I put clean sheets on the bed, and cleaned the bathrooms, and put away Friday's laundry, and mopped the floors... I took breaks in between each burst of activity, but I felt less much less washed out than before. 

I still didn't feel up to playing a game in the evening, so when our friends came over, I went up for another evening with a book and a wheat bag. I was tired, but I also had a hunch that I really shouldn't be sitting close to folk and breathing on them. Even though my cold, as I thought, was almost entirely better.

On Sunday morning I woke early yet again... but only a slight headache this time, and getting out of bed eased it. I had a bit of a sore throat too, but more a tickle than anything. A glass of water helped that.

I went downstairs and since I felt quite wide awake for a change, I decided to finish a baby blanket I've been knitting off and on for the past six weeks or so.  I not only finished the knitting, I sewed it all together - much easier while the cats were still asleep in the dining room.  

Then I squeezed orange juice and made our breakfasts, and turned the water heater on. I planned to go to church at 9.30 so couldn't wait for the sun to warm the water. 

And then... being, basically, quite a responsible person (I hope), I thought that it would probably be a good idea to do one more home lateral flow test, before going out, just to be sure. There are some vulnerable folk at the church, after all, even though we are masked and distance. I had a busy day planned on Monday, too, with two different groups of people, and some of them are also vulnerable. 

I want to say I was surprised that this test proved positive, but I had a strong hunch that it might.  

Richard took one too, and his was negative, so he was able to go and set up the livestream at church. Vaccinated close contacts don't need to isolate here though tests are recommended.

Chatting online with my son later, I learned that with the Omicron variant it's not uncommon for lateral flow tests not to pick up an infection in the first few days. That's because it mainly replicates in the throat rather than the nose. This is why it's less likely to lead to lung problems, which is good; but it means that the home tests are less helpful in ensuring that someone is safe to visit vulnerable relatives.

Instructions are (we thought) clear: On receiving a positive home test result, we are supposed to contact our personal doctor who will arrange for a PCR test. And, indeed,  this article is a clarification that was published a couple of days ago, including: 

As soon as they test positive, the confirmed cases must:

• Go in self-isolation
• Inform their personal physician
• Inform their closed contacts, employer, school, military camp, and so forth
• Will get out of self-isolation only after the days, provided by the protocol, have passed

(There's also a rather mystifying comment that confirmed cases cannot use any mass media... I suspect this is a mistranslation of something, as I see no possible reason why I shouldn't watch television or read a newspaper if I wished to.)

However, as it was Sunday, we couldn't reach our personal doctor by phone. I sent a text to her mobile number, but had no response.

So I called the official hotline and a helpful man asked if I were vaccinated (yes, but not yet boosted), and if I had any symptoms (not really, I said, other than a slight sore throat and explained that I had symptoms the previous few days). 

Okay, the guy said, the best thing was to isolate for the day, and contact the doctor on Monday morning.  She would then give me a code to authorise an official PCR test, he told me. And then I would have to isolate for ten days, although possibly I could count Sunday as the first. 

I stayed in my study all day. Richard cooked, and did the washing up, and re-made Tim's room back into a bedroom so he could sleep there while I isolate, even from him. I had already contacted our friends - we had only seen members of this one family all week - and they went for tests, which were negative.  I let folk know I wouldn't be at any meetings on Monday. 

I read a book, and wrote emails and Facebook messages on the computer, and did a few bits and pieces... and then slept pretty well Sunday night. I don't like having to isolate from my husband but we're fortunate to have a big enough house that it's possible without my being stuck in just one room. When I go into the kitchen, or other shared space, I wear my mask. Also when I am with the cats, who totally refuse to isolate from me. 

On Monday morning Richard called our personal doctor. The receptionist said that since I didn't have any serious symptoms, I didn't need a PCR test. Instead, she said, I should just go for a rapid test, and if it was positive the result would get recorded in the system and my official isolation could start. When Richard queried this, the receptionist checked with the doctor who said that yes, that was correct. 

We drove to the underground carpark at the mall where the official free testing happens, but there was quite a long queue. So we decided to go to the lab we went to in the summer and pay five euros rather than waiting around for half an hour or more. 

And.... the lab test came back negative. 

But by this stage I was feeling as if I had a slight cold - and my intuition still told me that I probably did have Covid, even if so mildly that it couldn't be detected by an antigen test two days later. My intuition can, of course, be wrong. But I don't think I'm a hypochondriac, and besides, it's better to be over-cautious as far as Covid is concerned than to risk other people's health.

So we agreed that I would continue isolating for the rest of the day, and Tuesday too, as minimum. On Tuesday morning I would do another self-test, and - if negative - I would be careful for a couple of days until the slight cold was gone, and then go back into circulation.

But this morning's test was not negative. It looked even more strongly positive than the one on Sunday: 

What to do? There didn't seem to be any point contacting the doctor again, since the negative lab test yesterday effectively released me - I only took the one today to be certain. I would probably be told to ignore the home tests. I don't want to have to pay for a PCR test, which could take a few days to come through anyway, and I would then have to isolate for ten days further. 

A bit of research turned up this page relating to the home tests. The instructions on that, right at the bottom, are rather different from those quoted above: 

In case of a positive result, citizens must contact the Coordination of Public Health Clinics via email... by sending their identification details... as well as a photo of their positive self-test.

Okay.

So I composed a lengthy email (no, not as long as this blog post!) describing my symptoms and the tests, attaching the photo of the second positive home test as above. I said I have no more symptoms other than a mild cold; I haven't had a fever since Thursday, and then only a mild one (if at all). I mentioned the official negative test. I told them I have been isolating since Sunday.

I asked them what I am supposed to do. 

About half an hour later, I received a response. It said:

Your request has been received.

Should we require further information we will contact you.

I have done my duty. Indeed, I feel I have gone above and beyond, by taking the tests on Sunday and today, neither of which were required after the negative tests. I will continue to isolate for at least another couple of days but am not sure what else I can do. 

If anyone has any words of wisdom, please comment... 

(Continuation, official recovery and release in the next post: https://cypruslife.blogspot.com/2022/01/isolating-in-cyprus-recovering-and.html)