I Think I Have COVID-19

I Think I Have COVID-19

But I Can’t Get Tested

By Monica Mehmi

Editor’s Note: The following was written on March 21 while Monica Mehmi, a third-year English student at the University of Guelph, was in self-quarantine. She had shown fl u-like symptoms from March 14 to 22 and had repeatedly tried to get tested for COVID-19, however, due to the limited availability of tests and the strict guidelines and criteria regarding testing, she was denied.

ON WEDNESDAY, March 19, Sean Cunnington, a 51-year-old man from Milton, died from complications as a direct result from contracting COVID-19. Cunnington had developed flu-like symptoms on March 4 and was taken to hospital a few days later. Since he had not travelled abroad recently, he was not tested to see whether he was carrying COVID-19. He was sent home with antibiotics. Five days later, he was rehospitalized after his symptoms worsened. He was tested for COVID-19, but by then it was too late. Cunnington tested positive, but the results came back 10 hours after he had passed away. Sean leaves behind three daughters and his wife, Teri. His was the first coronavirus-related death in the Halton Region.

Despite him having no recent travel history, his symptoms aligned with those of COVID-19. So why was he sent home?

Who else might have come in contact with him or his family while he was contagious? Where did he get the virus from? And most importantly, why wasn’t he tested?

I ask all this because I have legitimate concerns that I may have COVID-19.

WITH THE NUMBER of confirmed cases in Canada and worldwide growing every day, people have started taking COVID-19 seriously. We now understand the importance of quarantining and maintaining social distance as ways to attempt to flatten the curve of infection. But the virus is still spreading within communities. Because symptoms are similar to the common cold or flu, COVID-19 has been going untested, and in some cases unnoticed, for weeks. The number of confirmed cases being reported to the public are only the numbers of the positive tests that have come back out of administered COVID-19 tests so far. The true numbers of COVID-19 cases are likely exponentially higher than the numbers we’re seeing. That is why quarantining right now is crucial.

Eighty per cent of the people infected will have manageable symptoms while still being contagious, and testing is very, very limited, which is part of the reason why we are being told that if you have any symptoms at all, it is essential to treat yourself as if you have COVID-19.

We will probably never know how many people were and are truly infected by this virus.

I HAVE BEEN told that I couldn’t possibly have COVID-19, that I’m crazy, that I’m feeding into propaganda and spreading fear because I chose to work remotely and quarantine myself after experiencing fever, aches, headaches, night sweats, difficulty

breathing, and developing a sore throat and cough. I don’t think that is the behaviour of someone crazy. I thought it was the responsible thing to do, and quite honestly, it was very hard. I was scared, uncertain, worried about money and worried that I might be overreacting, but I had to do it.

My issues with the lack of testing in Canada comes from my concern that I may have been exposed to COVID-19 in February. My partner went to a conference in Las Vegas on Feb. 25 and when he returned on Feb. 28, he was ill. He had a fever, night sweats, and issues breathing. We were planning to go to Jamaica on March 1, and after he got sick we considered cancelling, wondering if it was COVID-19. But at the time and to our knowledge, there were no confirmed cases in Las Vegas. Even though he was worried, my partner was certain he had just caught a head cold or a bug and that the chances of it being COVID-19 were low. He downplayed it, not wanting to make a fuss.

At that point, the consensus was not to worry and the government was still saying it was safe to travel. We didn’t have proof yet that, on this side of the world, the virus was spreading. So, armed with Tylenol Cold & Flu tablets, sanitizer, and inhalers, we boarded a flight a few days later with him still fighting a high temperature.

A week after we had returned, I began to have symptoms. Could it be a common cold or flu? Or could it be the deadly, highly contagious disease that had been creeping through our communities for weeks, even as we went on unaware.

I will never know if I have the virus because I was denied testing, but at the time of writing this, I have to assume that I do.

I FIRST EXPERIENCED symptoms on March 14. I had awful body aches, a fever, and night sweats. My head hurt so badly that any noise felt unbearable, and it became hard for me to breath. After being in isolation for a week, my head still hurt, I had a mild cough, and I still struggled throughout the day with my breathing. I did what I thought was right, and sought medical attention. My doctor wanted me to get tested after hearing that my diabetic father was ill as well, and I first called Public Health on Sunday, March 15. They called me back the next morning, but I missed the call. I was sleeping off a fever.

I called again Monday afternoon and never received a call back after leaving a message.

At the same time, I was also calling my doctor’s office, but the secretary there told me to call Public Health or go to a screening centre, and that under absolutely no conditions should I come to the doctor’s offi c e .

On March 17, my partner called Public Health again for me, and within a day someone called back and told him that I should quarantine until I did not show symptoms for 24 hours.

Over the next few days, my headaches were bad, and I still had body aches and fatigue. I developed a cough and needed to use an inhaler to help with my breathing each day, which was abnormal for me. On March 19, I was able to get a doctors

appointment over the phone. My doctor was concerned with my symptoms and especially concerned because my father, who has underlying health issues, was now feeling feverish. He told me to go get tested, and his office gave me another number for Public Health. When I called, I was put on hold for a long period of time, and the woman I eventually spoke with told me that I fit the travel criteria for testing. However, since my symptoms were manageable, I was advised to just stay home.

She said she couldn’t stop me, or anyone for that matter, from going to the assessment centre but that the chances of me actually getting testing were low.

I asked her what else I could do, and she told me that if my physician was equipped to do testing in his clinic, he could do that there. Otherwise, I should stay home until March 21, because that would be exactly two weeks since I returned from my trip.

Unlike the last person from Public Health I had spoken with, she didn’t mention anything about quarantining myself until my symptoms were gone.

It was all so confusing. I felt stuck. I was worried that my parents would go back to work. And what if my dad was sick because I had exposed him to the virus? Well, she said that if my dad wanted to pursue testing, he would need to come to Guelph from Cambridge in order to get assessed, but likely wouldn’t qualify for testing either, unless he had recently travelled or been in close contact with someone who was a confirmed case. If he had respiratory issues, then they could assess him to see if he would need a test or medical care. But I have respiratory issues now, I told her.

Since I was already an asthmatic, she told me they couldn’t rule out the possibility that that was why I was having symptoms and issues breathing. Stay at home,

she told me. You could go to the assessment centre, but it’s unlikely you’ll get a test because the guidelines are strict.

After a lot of consideration, I did end up going.

WHEN I GOT to the COVID-19 assessment clinic at 65 Delhi Street in Guelph, I was greeted at the door by a masked security guard wearing a yellow smock.

He asked me to sanitize my hands and to take a mask. I was asked why I had come, what symptoms I had, and my travel history. I was told that tests were not administered at the centre, but that since I had symptoms, it could be worth it for me to stay and get assessed by having my vitals taken. So I did. I was given a green sticker to attach to my chest, and I was then directed to a nurse who asked me to read aloud my healthcare number so that she could make a label, which she stuck to the corner of a wall before instructing me to take it and stickit to my green sticker. We never touched.

I sat down in the small waiting room where, I think, there were only three chairs for people to sit in. They were spaced far apart. I could hear a nurse speaking to someone about a child with pneumonia. The nurse was saying that she didn’t feel comfortable clearing the child to leave and that she thought they should go straight to emergency at the hospital next door. When they left, they were instructed to cover the child’s mouth until they were outside. The boy looked younger than 10 years old.

A few minutes passed, and I was called. I followed a nurse to the end cubicle where I was asked to take off my coat and leave my purse on the window ledge. While one nurse worked on me, another nurse recorded. My blood pressure was taken, and my temperature was read, which was high. I was asked if I was taking anything, like Tylenol, and if I take medication regularly. I was again asked why I had come in, what symptoms I had, and if I had been outside of the country in the last 14 days. I answered all the questions and I was told I was fine. I wasn’t wheezing but I was told that if my breathing kept bothering me, I should ask my doctor for a stronger inhaler. If it got severe, I would need to come to the emergency room. I was told to quarantine myself for 14 days, to have my partner quarantine too and to stay away from each other, and to stop going for walks outside with the dog if they were too much for me. I was told I don’t qualify for testing. This time, the nurse told me it was because they were only testing based on confirmed contact with others who had tested positive for COVID-19 or if the person getting tested was an essential worker. From the phone call I had two hours earlier with Public Health, the requirements had seemed to change again. She said she would love to test me but that they were under strict orders from Public Health and that she could

not spare a test. She then asked me what I did for a living. I’m a student and I work at an office as a temp, part time. I was not essential.

I asked her then how could I possibly know if I have the virus, she said there is no way to know and that I just had to live as if I did have it.

I thanked the nurse, I told her to take care and I went home, sanitizing my hands again as I left.

THERE ARE TWO schools of thought on testing. The first, and I believe that it is our approach now, is that testing is not necessary because we are being told to quarantine. The other is that testing is basically the eyes and ears of the healthcare system and is essential in order to identify the virus, track it, and contain it. My general thoughts align with the latter. If we had more testing, those of us who were experiencing symptoms could get the answers we needed to keep us informed and able to make accurate decisions regarding our health. If testing was done initially, Sean Cunnington wouldn’t have left that hospital the first time. If I could get a test like my doctor wanted me to, perhaps it would have swayed my father who remains unconvinced that COVID-19 was a serious threat to his health. My mother would have perhaps understood the importance of quarantining, because if I was definitely positive, she and my father have both been exposed to, and could have potentially contracted the virus. China and South Korea both did mass testing, and it was shown to have helped flatten the curve, but here the lack of testing is keeping us in the dark.

Seegene, a South Korean biotech firm, started manufacturing test kits for CO- VID-19 back in January with the help of artificial intelligence. They did this as a preemptive measure, before there were even any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Korea. They were able to make a test without having physical samples of the virus. Instead, they used genetic blueprints that were distributed by the World HealthOrganization to isolate three genes needed to be identified in order to confirmCOVID-19. Seegene was able to make this test within three weeks, a process that usually takes several months to achieve. Only one week after tests were ready, the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was able to expedite government approval for the use of the test kits. Getting this approval would have normally taken over a year to obtain, but the circumstances were extraordinary and this was seen as an emergency situation. South Korea is also using automatic testing that speeds up test result time. With the help of robotics, 94 test samples can be done within four hours. Compare this to the five days on average that Canadians are waiting to get their test results. South Korea did not have to shut their country down because of their tactical measures and mass testing. Canadians are struggling. We are being told to stay home, we are losing income and many of us are anxious about experiencing symptoms and not being able to get tested for the virus.

I understand that we don’t have enough tests and testing uses resources, but in this case, testing is extremely beneficial in order to give the public accurate numbers on what we are really dealing with. I can’t help but wonder why Canada and the United States did not step up to the plate sooner in regards to manufacturing tests and making sure supply was being met in case of a pandemic. We had months to consider what was happening in China and the impact it would cause globally. Why were we sitting on our hands for months, just to ration essential services and necessary tests now?

Not everyone is going to stay home, and even if they do, what if the person you send out for groceries because they appear healthy is actually an asymptomatic carrier of COVID-19? Or what if they have very mild symptoms and they don’t think it’s serious enough to prevent them from going to get those groceries? A two-week quarantine won’t solve the problem entirely. It will help, but soon people will start leaving their homes. We are putting lives at risk by not testing more people. The fact is, the rate of spread is beyond our knowledge and the way to learn about how deeply we have been impacted is to test more. Testing along with the quarantining will be the most effective method at reducing spread. This is something that the government and Public Health need to step up immediately before it’s too late. For the sake of our citizens and the people who have lost their lives, I hope that mass testing will be a priority soon.