Our Family's COVID-19 Experience | And How Cautious Neighbors Reacted (Part 2)
We were kept reminded and and there was a rumor that we will be discriminated if we didn't do what they need!
It seem we will be shunned if we didn’t do what they want. Suspicious neighbors dictated us!
Yes, despite the kind supports they had given to not letting us starved by supplying us with a lot of foods, they still showed suspicious thinkings toward us.
You can read the Part 1 when we're surprised to found so much things from everyone!
Though we kept telling we are okey inside, they still had a thought that we’re harmful!
They, in polite ways, warned us to follow their demands for the village safety. Primary, by doing the self-isolation 14 days completely.
Some, had cordially ‘herded/tricked’ us to do as they wants, because they’re very cautious of being infected. They kept showing us some frightening covid cases through messages and phone calls. When our deputy regents were also diagnosed covid positive, they said our town was in big trouble!
Or when a man from the neighboring village died, the next-door neighbor immediately informed it to us and told that these situation make her scared. She uttered about the possibility our village was already a covid red zone (though she had known that the man died by heart attack)!
It seemed people surrounding us trying to create an ominous situation or conditioned us to be always aware with the dangers and discipline obey the rules.
Some even giving false informations, exaggerated the news that there’s a small town where the whole people was contaminated! We knew it was fake after googling the pointed news. We just accepted it and could understand their anxieties and the motif behind the overblown manners.
We could feel their purposes that we must be “kept reminded!”
And they did it successfully. We’re affected, we could feel the situation at our village was a bit in tension and guessing that if we tried to argue with them, or if there was new covid cases after us, we would get a problem!
We don’t want to have the same experience as that the first covid family who’s blamed to bring the virus and infecting the whole country! So, we have to behave carefully towards our society as we’re the first covid case in our neighbourhood.
I can catch their “message”. In a bold words, it was like they’re saying, “Don’t argue! Follow the rule! If not, all the village will be contaminated!
In the half way of our self quarantine, some of them indirectly insisting us to do swab test. They did coordination with a doctor in the back of our headman to perform the test. The headman intended to follow the paramedic’s recommendation from the quarantine center to just wait for my nephew's progress. If within 2 weeks isolations, his condition is great and diagnosed negatively, we don’t have to do swab test.
That time we got confused about who to follow, also about should we do it or not. For some people, doing swab test may be something fine to do, but for my family who are the quite naif villagers, it was a big thing to deal with :-) Also, as the swab test feel pretty expensive for our thin pocket, we had to think twice to do it.
And it seemed the power of society lost the one headman’s voice. We have to do swab test as fast as possible. They’re strict with their wish that we have to do the test (Actually there’s no tough debates frontally. We're just involved in intense conversations through the phone).
It seems they didn’t know the fact that the virus will just incubate in the body for 10–14 days, after that, only after effects that remains. And, as long as the suspects doing self-isolation. Furthermore, if they have good progress and stated clear from the virus, swab test isn’t a must, and people around them don’t need to be worry to interact back. But they don’t want to just know that fact!
Even when we informed that my nephew was 100% recovered and allowed to back home and stated that no need any test to the family members, they still with their decision with the reason for the whole village convenience.
And we heard a rumor that my nephew will be rejected coming back to the communty! We would probably be shunned if we don’t do the swab test!
So, to compromise with that “threat”, and to satisfy them, at day 9th, we did the swab test. Discounted almost 70%! (I think it was their desperate way in an attempt for us to take the expensive test as fast as possible).
And thank God, we all were negative. Initially, the test result will be announced throughout the village (through speaker), but they said it’s no needed as the test was witnessed by the village apparatus. Honestly, it was intense situation for us. We were like persecutors! :-)
What we have learned?
So, that is my experience to be “in touch” with covid-19 case. We feel blessed, no worst nightmares happened.
To be honest, it was for sure, a perturbing moment for us. But, though spiced up with the little dramas with the concerned society around us, actually it’s quite fun experience too. :-)
We can recognize several types of neighbour’s reactions toward covid family; two close neighbours chose to flee while some, just giving normal reaction. Some were very concerned, even overly reacted (in both bothering and positive ways). Some dictated and tricked us and some others even didn’t care at all. And we can understand all of them.
We quite enjoyed the self-quarantine moment. It feels so grateful to get so much nice supports from our families, friends and neighbours, even strangers.
We miss moment when finding packages of foods hanged on our gate! Yes, almost everyday we got it. Some remains anonymous, even till now (may God bless them). Some keenly informed first that they have something for us to pick on the gate. :-)
We had surprising moment when a neighbor calling us eagerly at our backyard. And when we approached her, we found a long bamboo stick over the wall with a large bag of snacks at its tip! May God bless this one too :-)
Another impression was that actually everybody had high awareness with the pandemic. They see covid as a serious problem.
Another thing we learn was that support from society is important. When we got the case, especially in the first day, we experienced those feelings of anxieties, worrying we have been infected by the virus, getting ill and another worst thoughts haunted us too then. But gratefully, the community gave us encouragement and great supports, materiel and immateriel. So, we didn’t feel to be left behind and isolated during self quarantine.
They also gave any suggestions for prevention and "kill" the coronavirus from our body. We're suggested to drink coconut water with salt and lemon. They said it is very effective to exterminate the virus!
Actually, we knew it was a hoax, but we still drank it as it can at least boost our immunity. So much advises from realistic things to clenic ones, we had gotten that time. However, whatever it was, we accepted and respected their sincere attentions.:-)
And the last we can learn is, though we don’t feel something strange when someone in our family diagnosed positive of covid, still, it’s important to aware with our health, and others too. The health protocol still have to be implemented. Who knows we’re indeed a covid people but with no symptoms and could spread the disease to other people without we realize if we don’t have self-awareness.
And the last, is doing swab test regularly (if able to do, as for some people, it is quite expensive) or as fast as we can when we feel to have contact with suspected covid people to avoid doubt and anxities and also to comfort the feeling of other people surround us.
Thank you for reading! Here’s more if you’re interested.
"Thank you fellow writers!"
As a new writers with limited writing skills, I feel so grateful to find that some fellow authors has supported me by following my Medium account. Therefore, for thanking them, I recommend my readers to some of their great pieces. I also quoted some part that might steal your interest to read the full of their stories. :-)
My parents had enough of watching me try to “figure it out” on their couch, and dad told me I better get a real job, or he’d take my cell phone away
Having reached its zenith, even the sun seemed to find the day too hot to keep moving, for it loitered long, glaring indecently through the sparse foliage.
A little over two years later, all that’s left is a pale pink and white parenthesis over the edge of my left eyebrow
commonly referred to as writer’s block. However hard you try, you just can’t get anything down on paper, it’s as if your mind has switched off from being creative or imaginative.
I wanna be a cowboy, if only for a day. Watch the sunrise spill gold into a creek. Listen to the wilderness scream itself awake.
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