I Have the Symptoms

I have symptoms suggestive of coronavirus: headache, sore throat, chills, lethargy, reddish eyes. I’m fine. I’m typing this normally. I’m breathing normally. I have no health issues that would make me a member of a high-risk group.

But my family and I have been staying home for over two weeks. We’ve gone outdoors only avoiding all people and people-touched objects. We haven’t gone to the store or the bank or the post office. We’ve had food delivered and cleaned the packaging. We’ve washed our hands like maniacs.

Now, maybe I have something else. Who knows? But I can’t recall having had chills in years. It’s not a common thing.

Two weeks ago, our six-year-old had symptoms that could have been coronavirus including fever and tiredness. What he had was worse than what I’ve had thus far. He got better after a few days. Maybe he had something else. Or maybe he had it and just now gave it to me. Or maybe he gave it to me two weeks ago. Or maybe I gave it to him. Maybe our whole family has had it this whole time. My wife thinks it’s possible she may have had it earlier.

The point is that it’s entirely possible that this monster spreads despite sheltering in place and/or that nobody started soon enough, that in fact everyone ought to have been ordered to isolate around the time senators were cashing in on Wall Street rather than when circumstances had compelled Congress to engage in more corporate welfare and Trump to pretend to give a damn while taking steps to suspend environmental laws in case further destruction of ecosystems might produce additional deadly diseases.

7 thoughts on “I Have the Symptoms”

  1. I never know what to write about situations like this without looking like an idiot. I wish nothing but the best for you and your family.

  2. Thomas Schwertscharf

    Get well soon Mr. Swanson. Your leadership is needed now more than ever. The instability of our economy where 78% of people live from paycheck to paycheck shows that the economy isn’t great except for the rich. Our medical system is overwhelmed and for God’s sake would people stop saying we have the greatest health care in the world. The military has wasted 6.4 trillion dollars on senseless wars in the Middle East but we can not provide medical workers with proper medical protection. To paraphrase Camus: It is the duty of a writer not to concentrate on those in power and instead concentrate on those subjected to it. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

  3. David, If you get worse there is hope that the anti-malaria drug has been OK’d for emergency use by the FDA. Rest drink lots of water (no ice) and soup. Watch a lot of movies on TV to get your mind off the world’s problems and get lots of sleep. Take a first, a vacation of rest.

    And a good time to hear Dylan’s new Song about Dallas.
    https://variety.com/2020/music/news/bob-dylan-releases-17-minute-song-jfk-kennedy-assassination-murder-most-foul-1203546713/amp/

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