Letter from quarantine: the odyssey experienced by the contacts of a positive

We are a group of friends who wanted to share our experience regarding infections and their contacts to report what is happening, or at least what has happened to us, in Dénia, where only part of the information about this global pandemic reaches us that, until now, had not made us live close cases.

In our case, a close person tested positive for coronavirus. When they inform that person, they communicate with whom they have been in contact since their symptoms occurred, asking for their phone number. In this way, the tracker first called us to communicate that we had been in contact with a positive. He told us that we should quarantine at home and they would ask us for a PCR to determine if we had been infected or not.

The next day, all the contacts had to call our work to communicate it, so that already creates a certain stigma, causing rejection towards that person. We want to make it clear that You do not catch the virus just because you are irresponsible and that, if the infection is attributed to this, people will be ashamed to communicate that they have it, which would aggravate the problem.

At work they tell us to urgently request discharge. Due to the collapse, at least in the Dénia Health Center, the (telephone) appointments with our GP did not exist until 8 days later. Furthermore, in most cases the doctor was on vacation, which posed a problem for us. While we were thinking about the alternatives, they told us that they would be calling us for medical follow-up.

After two days without knowing anything, we decided to call a medical contact and they told us that our PCRs were not ordered. Not knowing what to do, we decided to call the ER doctor and, indeed, they were not requested. He or she asks for them, the one who was lucky got the leave in the meantime, which they do not send by mail but a relative has to go to pick it up. Of course, if you have a password, you can see the drop in your medical history through the Generalitat website.

After waiting, we are not followed up on whether we are well or have symptoms. Several days of waiting later, and after much insisting on the phone, they call us to give us an appointment for our PCRs that they carry out inside the car in the tent of the Hospital de Dénia. The delay is between 3-7 days.

We also wanted to communicate that private tests do not serve for registrations and registrations. Should they make agreements with private laboratories and hospitals to speed up the work? This is not the time to debate whether to demand the public, but if there are people who want to pay them ...

At no point in the process do they tell us if PCR is reliable or in how many days it is ideal to do it… Everyone is in a hurry!

After doing the test in which they put a long ear swab in the depths of the throat and both nostrils, we look forward to the results since if one or more of us tested positive we should notify our work and the people with whom we had been in contact to advise them to stay at home. Meanwhile, our partners or people with whom we live must be confined, being a challenge for them, without being called by the tracker, to get the long-awaited leave to be responsible people.

After calling and calling, and calling, and after several days of waiting, what was supposed to take 24 to 48 hours, ends with a delay of at least 72 hours.

We ask if this delay is due to the machine that analyzes the tests, or has it occurred in the laboratory, or in dumping the results, or in which a doctor calls you to say so. Nobody knows anything.

But it is not the fact of the delay that has impressed us the most, since, well, we are in a global pandemic and my case is a number in millions. Patience. I consoled myself. "Your boss or boss will understand," he said to calm me down. Headache and tummy pain. God, it sure is a symptom! It suggested to me.

When we got the negative results, the challenge came in getting you discharged.

We return to the same thing: appointments with your doctor in a long time. But I'm negative and I want to get back to work! Some administrative officials said that even though PCRs were negative, we had to keep quarantine for 14 days from contact with the positive person. But others said that we could lead a normal life. Be that as it may, we needed to be corroborated by a doctor who never called.

The discharge appointment was at 9:30 in the morning. At 18 they had not called me. With nerves, I decide to call the ER and they tell me that they can't do anything. Start over, but what do I do if the appointment no longer appears, they haven't called me ...

Nobody is clear about the protocol. Is it 14 days of quarantine or not? Who gives me the results? The tracker, the follow-up doctor who did not call me, the emergency doctor, the one at the Health Center or the one at the Hospital? I am going to be fired? Do i have COVID?

Meanwhile, the people I have had contact with wait.

Nobody has answers.

We are tremendously grateful to each professional who answered the phone, to each exposed doctor, to each person who is part of this system, because we understand that it is not easy. We do not want to accuse anyone individually, we simply want to express that, from our experience, we are not prepared.

There is no clear protocol, or at least not everyone is aware of it. Citizens are not informed of the steps to follow and professionals are collapsed. This makes me crash the system calling more times than it should and that the process, in general, takes much longer than it was supposed to.

We think that there should be a specific number that solves the doubts of COVID and stops referring each other. 

We think that they should give a method of action to their workers (nurses, doctors, administrative ...) so that they know how to face and manage telephone doubts. 

We believe that this will unclog, because it is necessary to meet all the needs of all people. 

I wish someone would create a guide for people in which I explain everything. And it was distributed free of charge. 

And we think that, for positives and negatives, there should be an emotional support phone. They face isolation alone and lawsuits. 

But if I was close, how come I tested negative? And what am I? Asymptomatic? She may have a cough. Perhaps being outdoors ... Perhaps the incubation period had passed and there is no longer any risk of contagion ... Perhaps by wearing the mask I protected myself. But no, it is only to protect the rest. Shit! Was he / she wearing? Do you remember?

Maybe...

Positive people do not have the second test. They tell you to quarantine a little longer and you can get out. They save a test. Is this how you stop a pandemic ?!

We have been fighting this since March, each one being more responsible or not, but we are still not prepared.

We need a clear protocol.

We need to know experiences.

We need reinforcements.

Bars are closing, but we can keep meeting. Makes sense? But we need leisure, contact, the country's economy ... Are there beds in the ICU? There are not? If it is said, an alarm is created and we will buy toilet paper. What if it is not said?

What use do we give fear?

And do you feel just as lost? 

For us this has been a scare, but we have become aware of how it is working. And above all we have learned from patience. We hope it helps you.