Last supper? - 2 November 2020 No6
Yesterday, with a renewed sense of expectation, Dianne and I set off for Brize Norton again. We stopped off, for the second week in succession, at The Wychwood Inn for dinner... only to be met by a text from Sarah advising that the flight to the Falklands had been delayed 24hrs by weather. The announcement appears to have been made at 15:15 - and had we caught it as it was made - we could have cut our journey southwards somewhat short. I noted later that my employer sent me an email at around 17:00 telling me that my journey was delayed.
Whilst I was frustrated not to have received and acted upon the information immediately it was sent we both realised that being close to Brize meant I had the option to spend the night in a local hotel - rather than travel north, then south again. And so what I hope will be my last night in Blighty for a while has been spent in a Travelodge.
I am a participant in the Covid-19 Kings College London /ZOE study. That app asks you to report your state of health daily. If you don’t feel normal - and report that via the app - you are, on occasion asked to have a Covid-19 test. It was through this app that both the government and NHS changed their guidance to recognise that a loss or change in the sense of taste or smell was a symptom of Covid-19. Also the 1m or so daily users of this app are providing high quality data to the Government about the prevalence of Covid. There is an impressive correlation between the KCL/ZOE work and that produced by the Office of National Statistics (based on randomised testing in the population as a whole). KCL/ZOE tend to have their data a week or so ahead of ONS.
On 31 October I had a headache and a sore throat. Given everything I’m dealing with there could be a myriad of reasons for this leaving aside any viral infection. However notwithstanding the stresses and strains I reported the symptoms. By the morning of 1 November the sore throat had gone and the headache was fading.
Early yesterday morning I received an email from the KCL/ZOE team asking me to volunteer to take a Covid test. I quickly weighed up the issues and decided that I should continue to assist in the battle with Covid. I see this as a civic and moral duty. I also determined that I was better off personally taking the test - however there were downsides. Leaving aside my reservations - at 8:30am yesterday I was at a drive through test centre gagging on a swab.
I’m pleased to say I got the result yesterday evening. That was an impressive turnaround time of 12.5 hours. I tested negative for Covid-19. That quick turnaround time and the delay to the flight removed any concerns I had about whether I could or should present for the flight. Clearly if you have Covid or Covid symptoms you must not put others at risk - leaving aside any legal considerations. Before travelling to Brize I had read the government guidance several times and was clear in my own mind that:
as I did not have any of the symptoms of Covid identified by the NHS; and,
as I had been asked to volunteer to take a test rather than taking a test because I had symptoms
I could in all conscience board the flight so long as I continued to be a-symptomatic for Covid. That said I could well imagine the drama and difficulty of persuading others of this approach if I had proved to be positive, let alone been a source of infection for others. At least now I can say yesterday I tested negative which in many ways is very positive in terms of reassurance both for me and others.
So tonight will, hopefully, be my last supper in Blighty for a while and I’ll be eating alone. It wasn’t meant to be this way - but actually I prefer to be alone collecting my thoughts. I did my round of farewells last week and repeated some of them this week. Christ only had one last supper - I appear to have had several weeks worth! Now it’s time now to bugger off weather permitting.
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