Negative!

I really didn't think I had caught Coronavirus, even though I was in the office (on the last day I was allowed in the office!) with a co-worker who indeed was infected.  As far as I know, he had a mild case and is recovering, and I certainly hope this remains so!  I realize some people have only mild symptoms and it can remain hidden for a while, but it was roughly 10 days since I had last seen my co-worker, and I didn't have any symptoms.

I learned this on Monday and went in for the test as soon as the walk-in clinic opened on Tuesday.  It took slightly over an hour to be seen.  The test results were supposed to be ready in 3 days (Friday late afternoon) but in fact I found out Sat. morning.  The long wait itself becomes a bit unnerving.  Fortunately, the test came back negative.  (So I guess I'm helping drive down the positivity rate.  Given that it is over 10% in most of Toronto, almost certainly someone in line on Tuesday had it...  Obviously the very worse case scenario would be getting infected at the test site and not knowing it for a while, and of course feeling a bit invulnerable because of the negative test result.)

While I do try to give people space and am avoiding transit -- and elevators -- I'm probably just lucky (not smart) so far.  I do a bit more in-person shopping than is really necessary.  I assume if the gyms were open, I would likely be going, and to some extent it would just be a matter of time before I had more significant exposure.  I absolutely would be biking in to work.  While the office itself is almost entirely deserted, I did go to the food court more than was truly wise (trying to help these places stay somewhat afloat).

At any rate, it looks like they are dropping the age limit on the AZ vaccine to 40, and perhaps I can attempt to navigate the system starting on Tuesday, though I think it might be a bit hard to get through for the first few days at any rate.*  I still think the spring and early summer are pretty much a lost cause, and certainly major concerts are all going to be pushed off one more year, maybe art galleries and limited capacity and/or outdoor theatre may be allowed towards the end of summer (and perhaps I will have had at least one shot by then most likely).  I guess we'll see.  Not a lot of light in the tunnel, but the vaccination campaign is still happening faster (though far more chaotically) than I would have expected roughly a year ago.  I mean it's still going to be a lousy lockdown birthday, but on the other hand no one in the family is actually sick and I'm still employed, so some perspective is in order.  

And with that, it's time for me to sign off.

* Actually, my wife was able to book an appointment for a couple of weeks from now for the AZ vaccine!  She's quite excited.  I'll probably wait another week or two for the fuss to die down and then try to book something (perhaps even at a downtown clinic).  Anyway, finally some positive movement.