Celebrating Sukkot in the Age Corona…Am I Contagious?

All by myself...

Across the globe, this week is the Jewish Holiday of Sukkot – the Festival of Booths. Sukkot is my favorite of all the Jewish Holidays. Normally, friends and families join together and spend time together outside eating in our Sukkahs. It’s like the best part of camping and summer BBQ’s, relaxing enjoying the entire week in the outdoors. The entire country is on holiday! Day trips hiking or going to the beach, cycling, horseback riding, but the major focus is really on the meals and eating in the sukkah. Wherever you go across the country, almost every home and every restaurant will have s sukkah for anyone to stop and eat in …but not this year! We are on lockdown! No going beyond one meter of your home, no visiting other people sukkahs, NOTHING!

This year, we have all been living with this worldwide Pandemic known as Corona – Covid19. As a reminder, I am a 55-year-old woman. I have Asthma, a few Autoimmune Diseases, and although I try to stay fit, I am overweight. Did I mention where I live, everything has been closed for months, ok things opened briefly and then closed again straightaway. Because of the above-mentioned autoimmune diseases, one of them being Hashimoto’s (slow to inactive thyroid) if I am not constantly moving, I gain weight. I can think about food, and BOOM!, I have put on more than a few kilos! Because of Fibromyalgia, if I am not constantly moving; I get very sore and very, very stiff. So, this whole lockdown, self-isolating thing has been a complete disaster physically for me, to say the least. (I will leave the financial implications for another post.)

Ok, so my favorite form of exercise is swimming. I am a swimmer. I swam in High School and briefly in college. I am a competitive master’s open water swimmer pool swimming. I LOVE SWIMMING IM and BUTTERFLY!! Swimming is my catharsis. It is how I stay sane and how I stay fit, or not so unfit. As pools and beaches have been closed, I needed to find another outlet, to fight back the ominous creeping weight gain. I have an indoor trainer for my bike, but a nasty re-occurring saddle sore has kept off my bike anyways indoor cycling doesn’t really do it for me. So I started running, ok jogging…slogging (slow jogging – really slow).

And here goes my asthma! Ok, my asthma was already on hyperdrive due to wearing a mask when I am out and about, which I have tried to keep to a minimum, but I do have to leave my home to shop and work. Did I also mention, I have allergies? Within 100 meters of my home, there is a small open space with all sorts of lovely flowers. Bougainvillea, honeysuckle, and lots of other lovely other flowering trees and plants which at this time of year, with the cooler evening, are all just beginning to return to bloom and wreak havoc on my respiratory system. This gives me sinus congestion, running noses, and headaches, it’s an annual event for me and a lot of others, and I am used to it. Oh, and I live in a very hilly environment. Wherever I go, It's uphill, both ways! I swear! And it is very taxing on my breathing and my joints.

Anyway, so last week, I started running again, and even with the inhaler, I get a bit raspy. It generally takes a few days or more for me to get things figured out and then I can level everything out and you know, breathe normally and not sound like 5 pack a day smoker with an endless hacking cough. As I am still in the figure it out phase, my breathing is a bit labored, I have a cough and a running nose. I probably should have stretched out better after my last few runs, and probably should not have gone far, and I am stiff and sore.

Enter a worldwide pandemic.

We are on our second lockdown here in Israel. I hear many other parts of the world are experiencing the same, increased cases, and more lockdowns. Is this second wave worse than the first? If you have symptoms, headaches, difficulty breathing, joint pain, etc. you should self-isolate get tested. Do you take into consideration, that you were on a fitness reboot and the pollen is coming back into full force? Oh, also a friend, who I saw for about 5 minutes last week, who was completely masked, just called to say she was feeling unwell and tested positive for COVID.

I have ticked all the boxes. I should get tested. Right?

I take all precautions seriously. I wear a mask, I socially distance. I have avoided all crowded places. (Ok, I did this before anyway, never been into big crowds). I do use public transportation depending on where I want/need to go, I have no choice. We are also having a massive heatwave here this month, the average temperature has been in the 90’s most days. Sometimes the stores and shops are a bit crowded, and not everyone on the busses and in the stores is properly masked or understand the importance of social distancing despite signs being posted EVERYWHERE. I do my best, and that is all I can do.

The thing is, I battle with respiratory issues EVERY YEAR when all this lovely flora and fauna around me returns and starts to bloom again. I do not feel any better or worse than I have felt during this timeframe last few years, decades actually. I have seasonal allergies. I am old, I need to take better care of myself, I know that. I should eat better, etc. I know I am not the only one to have a coughing or sneezing fit and wonder if I have COVID. Do I write it off as my normal stuff, and possibly put others at risk?

So today, with all that in mind, I went for a test. They swab your throat and shove another swab up your nose. Not painful, but undeniably, uncomfortable for sure. And so now I wait. One report says 20 – 48 hours, another 2-4 days.

I do not feel I have COVID, but I do want to be sure. I have some folks who are much older, and I spend time with them cleaning, organizing their space, and tending to their needs. I want to know for sure, am I just having my usual seasonal asthma stuff-is-coming back into bloom issues, or am I potentially spreading a deadly contagion?

I have always been one to err on the side of caution. And so, here I am at home alone, waiting for my results to return.

Join me next week for …THE RESULTS!