QUARANTINE DIARY
DAY 1. PRIMARY CONTACT
My friend/officemate tested positive for COVID last Sunday and as one of her close contacts at the office and since we had dinner together before she had a fever, I became a primary contact.
As soon as she found out the result, she called me and I started my home quarantine Sunday night. Unfortunately, I had colds, mild cough and slight sore throat by Monday morning. Probably because of the changing weather here in PH. So when the contact tracers called me on Tuesday, I had to tell them my condition which was already considered mild symptoms for COVID.
I was living with 3 vulnerables: My Dad and my uncle , who were both seniors already, and my nephew who was staying with us for his vacation. He stays in my room. They were my main concern.
Given the situation, the contact tracers suggested that I go to a quarantine facility to isolate myself from my family. Our physician friend who heads the health office in our town also suggested that I isolate as soon as possible since my family have no symptoms yet and I can receive medicine at the facility. I agreed.
And so I packed my bags and I got taken to the Quarantine Facility by Tuesday night. It was my old elementary school. Each room had a bathroom.
We had to walk a few distance from the back gate of the school and past the occupied rooms. I was taken into a separate building, a 1 floor building with a row of several rooms, which was on the other side of the school. It was dark. It didn't seem like I had neighbors in the building yet. I was probably separated because I was symptomatic.
The room seemed cool enough. There were 2 ceiling fans, 1 wall fan and I brought a table fan myself just in case. It was also well lit with 2 fluorescent lights. As I said, the room has its own bathroom. There was also a sink. The room was separated into 2 rooms by tarps and woods, probably if they needed to put more than 2 persons in a room. But since I was alone, I got to use one room as my bedroom and the other room with the table as my study room.
The monitoring team interviewed me via phone regarding my health condition and later, they provided me with antibiotics and vitamins.
Several people checked on me that night. I videochatted with my family and some of my friends. I was really grateful that they kept me company. I was really scared that first night. The door to my room doesn't have a lock inside. I only had 'alambre' as lock. so i had to put 2 chairs bybthe door just in case. I did not dare close the lights.
I didn't get much sleep that night...I was a bit scared and worried. but talking to my friends til I slept helped.
