Brief update: I took an antibody test at LabCorp last week and got a positive result.
I wasn’t surprised. Although I never had a fever or a cough, I felt like maybe I had the virus back in March. I lost my sense of smell and taste for a while, which is a remarkable experience, and I suppose I felt weak for a few days around that same time.
My husband had the exact same symptoms several weeks before I did. It’s reasonable to assume I got the virus from him. And what’s for sure is that our whole family was exposed—we certainly didn’t keep distance from each other.
It’s also unsurprising that our family had the Corona virus in the sense that we work for the State Department. Our offices are visited by employees from embassies all over the world on a daily basis. The evacuated diplomats from China literally became our neighbors. I’ve always assumed that both FSI and Main State would be hotbeds for the virus.
Moreover, I don’t believe for a second that the DC metro area had only a handful of cases in early March since even we had it at that time. There just wasn’t any testing. They actively discouraged it even though we had a strong hunch. And when we contacted my son’s doctor about his persistent temperature and lethargy, also around the same time, he was diagnosed with a sinus infection. Over Zoom.
My husband? Negative.
But here’s the kicker: my husband tested as well and his outcome was negative. That seems strange. Does it mean he lost his antibodies already? Was his infection not severe enough? Was the test faulty? And does it mean he can get it again? Supposedly it does.
And that makes the uncomfortable possibility that people can get infected by the Corona virus multiple times very... real.
So I have mixed feelings now. I’m excited I (supposedly) had the virus, that I’m fine, and that I have the antibodies. But the idea that my husband is perhaps still vulnerable kills the buzz.
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