Self-Isolation: Day 7

Today is Thursday, April 23rd 2020

It's official - for seven days we have been at home, self-isolating.
I took down the sign in the window at our front door.
Anxious to hear back from Alberta Health about my COVID-19 test results.
Fuck it.
I didn't get laid off. I continue to work-from-home, self-isolation in Calgary is a blessing. Compared to the seriously vulnerable communities, those already at risk, we have nothing to complain about. Alberta Health is doing their job and so should we. But we're not really doing anything.
We can do better as I touched on yesterday - but we have to do more.

We simply must provide access to testing everywhere in this country.

{10:08 a.m.}
AHS COVID displays on my Samsung Galaxy S7
Incoming call, I answer.
It's an automated message for (insert my legal name here)
"The results of your COVID test are N E G A T I V E"
That's it?
Thank God, I mean, but, I mean, that's it?

According to my calculations, COVID-19 testing in Alberta takes approximately 7 days from requisition to results. I must continue self-isolating for 10 days or until symptoms stop (whichever is longer). This is the recommendation I received after a nurse phoned me on Friday last week following my COVID online self-assessment through Alberta Health.
I still have a runny nose.
Yesterday, I started the day with a headache. This is the main concern with Coronavirus: it is a number of viruses contained in one. We've seen COVID-19 already before.

My husband pours me a bowl of Jordans Morning Crisp this time. He slices half a banana. Fuck Yeah! And all of this seems like such a normal thing to do, but in the background a lot has happened in our lives since Friday the 13th.
I almost feel like that was the last day normal things really occurred.
Millions of Canadians have since lost incomes.
Even if the layoff is considered temporary, we have to think big picture. The majority of people will not look at our Prime Minister, or security of any kind, (emotional, financial, social, economical, etc.) the same way again. Asking for change all this time and only now do we clue in - we didn't get our shit together... last year? Now how does the government suddenly think they know, when, and how we're safe to resume work at full-speed?
Thankfully we have the boss, Dr. Deena Hinshaw.
I heard her say, "we are our best defense."
She's the only one we really trust.

Some of you know we got married about 8 weeks ago. You could say we're honeymooning in our home. Our friends have started to receive 'Thank You' cards in the mail - sending us well wishes via text message. We've remarked how lucky our wedding went off (without a hitch, ha!). Our last time together in a large group before gathering restrictions were put in place, was our wedding reception on the Leap Year Day.

Some of our family was unable to leave Asia to make our wedding. Because the borders between Laos and Thailand had already closed, aunts, uncles and cousins could not obtain travel visas to come to Canada. The sad part about this was it would have been their very first time visiting the Great White North. Where did that come from anyway - Great White North?
I guess it could have been Bob and Doug Mckenzie back in the good old days of Second City Television.

SCTV ran between 1976 and 1984 as a Canadian Television Sketch Comedy Show.
The comedy tells the story of a fictitious TV broadcast station (later network) in Melonville. To this day I'm not sure anyone really knows where Melonville was supposed to be. It was a funny show and I think six seasons aired on NBC. During its network run the show received 15 Emmy nominations. Sometimes episodes would compete for the Emmy. I watched a couple clips on YouTube tonight.

Right after, we learned The Calgary Stampede is cancelled for 2020.
It would have started on my birthday this year. But it was the right move.
Thank you for the opportunity to protect and scribe.
Until tomorrow.