A dad’s journey as his young family tests positive

KEPALA BATAS: The one thing I feared most about this pandemic has reached my doorstep.

My wife Azimah Abdul Aziz, 37, and six-year-old daughter Maryam have tested positive for Covid-19.

Prior to this, our brush with the virus was merely narrowed down to “casual contacts”. We had no idea who the source was.

My 68-year-old mother, who is living with us, promptly did a self-test upon hearing that my wife and daughter had contracted the virus.

Fortunately, she was not infected. I was spared, too.

My daughter was given her vaccination on Saturday. That weekend, she and my wife travelled to Penang island for their weekend stay at my in-laws’ house.

On Sunday, both mother and daughter attended a wedding in George Town. I suspect that this was where they contracted the virus, as my mother-in-law, who was at the wedding, had also tested positive for Covid-19.

Then again, who knows? They could have been infected anywhere, given that the Omicron variant is 70 times more contagious than Delta.

I am not overly worried about my wife as she has been fully vaccinated and has received a booster jab.

But I am fretting over my little girl as it was only three days earlier that she had taken her first dose of the vaccine.

Apart from a mild fever, Maryam is doing fine so far but she has been longing for my attention while being isolated in a room on the upper floor of my house.

The tricky part is to appease her as she can’t cling to her father, or carry out her normal routine at home, at least for now.

After much reassurance, she finally understands the need to be isolated from me.

My wife, who works as a Human Resource specialist, is having a sore throat and mild fever.

I do hear her coughing but other than that, there are no other serious symptoms although I will continue to monitor her situation.

With both of them testing positive for the virus, I have isolated and placed them in our master bedroom while I sleep in the living hall.

I am grateful and consider myself lucky compared to others, because the ancestral house I live in now has four rooms, three bathrooms and a big living hall, giving us more than enough space to isolate ourselves.

Being a journalist, the risk of getting infected with the virus is high and I anticipate this every day.

I even bought a tent to isolate myself just in case I get infected.

As a precautionary measure, I have informed my sister and brother not to come to my house for the time being. However, being loving siblings, they offer to help buy groceries and other necessities for our week-long quarantine.

As for my mother, she has a room to herself on the lower floor of the house and constantly monitors herself for any symptoms.

And as the most able-bodied person in the house, I have to be a jack of all trades – work, prepare meals, and take care of my family members – all while under quarantine.

As I sit alone, apart from my wife and daughter, I realise that this can happen to anyone and none of us should take Covid-19 precautionary measures mandated for granted.

Hand sanitising, physical distancing and avoidance of crowded places are important to keep infections at bay.

This has been a lesson for me to be more vigilant about our surroundings and to minimise movement as much as possible.

My hope is that Maryam’s and my wife’s symptoms would not worsen, and for them to be healthy again.