Hi, amazingly I’m in Boston - just a quick update to share:
Wednesday, I took a Covid PCR test in the morning, and in the afternoon took the 3.5 hr taxi and bus ride to Chontal to pick up all my belongings and then return to Quito early the next morning - to stay there in the last 2 weeks where I could better navigate my complicated situation.
I had a flight scheduled for Apr 21, my visa expired the next day, the airline had a propensity to cancel flights, the national elections were April 11 (after which not only was there potential for political turmoil, but the potential for more pandemic restrictions in a worsening situation, including possibly airport closures).
Plus, it still wasn’t clear what my sickness was (which, among other things would affect my ability to get the testing results or documentation from a doctor that I would need to board any flights.) On top of that, as I got on the bus that morning, it was fresh after learning the night before that more information was coming out about the many sicknesses in the pueblo - several whole households - that had been presumed to be ‘flu’: Covid. (Yet the family I stayed with - all of whom passed through various forms of covid-like sickness before, during, and after I was sick - would still believe that they didn’t have covid.) The same situation of multiple cases in one of the villages up in the mountains. I’ve heard of only 2 hospitalizations so far and they are apparently stable, and no deaths. Thankfully. I hope it doesn’t spread so much, but with the general carelessness and presumptions, it’s hard to imagine that it won’t. It’s sad that it’s that way, and it’s a huge struggle to be within it, but I do understand it and don’t put blame on people.
Where did I stand? I was glad to be going to Quito, where I had a good place to stay and could prepare for leaving with good internet and electricity and running water. And the day before I had checked out something: how much would a one-way, same-day or next-day plane ticket to Boston cost? It turned out, I could get a same-day or next-day flight for only $300. And then it occurred to me: if my Covid test comes out negative, I can buy a flight right away - and skip all the messiness of the next few weeks! But I didn’t want to get my hopes up - I had to plan for the positive PCR result.
So, about halfway through my bus trip, while I was working out strategies in my head if the test result was positive, I got an email. My heart was pounding while I opened it up: Not Detected.
My heart dropped, because I was hoping for Negative, and I thought at first that Not Detected meant the test was a “no result”, like not a good sample. But I read the fine print and it was clear that it meant Negative.
I paused my excitement, because the next thing I had to check was the original CDC requirements document. I remembered that the document stated that only explicitly quoted expressions were acceptable on the test results? Was “Not Detected” one of them? I had to make sure. And it was.
I felt a wide open path open in front of me, like the Red Sea parting, and I was going to run through it!
After the bus, I got the taxi to my friend Rosa’s house where I was staying, and immediately went into action. I filled her in, and then called my current airline to see if I could change my Apr 21 flight - but, nothing was available. So I went to American’s website, bought the $300 flight at 11:20am for a 2pm departure that same day (!), got my luggage finalized, and headed out with Rosa to the airport. It took only about 15 minutes to pass through ticketing, security, and migration, and I was through to my terminal 45 minutes before boarding - time to scoff down a quick sandwich for lunch!
I arrived safely in Boston at 1am on Friday. By then, I certainly felt the mix of the culture shock, the quick travel effects, and the aftermath effects of Covid (oops, more about that later!). (And in the end, I actually saved money, because it would have cost me at least $360 to have stayed in Quito until my planned flight.)
Later that morning after sleeping a bit, I immediately spoke with a nurse at my PCP office about my possible Covid history in Ecuador, and in a few hours I had had a high-quality Covid antibody blood test taken. The results came back in several hours: lots of Covid antibodies. The next morning, Saturday, I spoke with my PCP.
Those antibodies basically mean that I had Covid while in Ecuador, have recovered, and have the typical immunity that accompanies that (generally, roughly 3 months of high immunity, though the presence of new strains going around complicates that picture - it still requires all the general precautions). I also looked at the original data for the antibody test published by its manufacturer, to see if I could glean any more information from the test (I wasn’t an R&D analytical engineer for some years for nothing!) Wouldn’t you know that my test results agree almost exactly with what would generally be expected for the timeframe of my sickness experience in Ecuador: getting first Covid symptoms on Mar 13, recovering in about two weeks, and getting an antibody test on April 9.
I immediately put together a Facebook post to share this information with people in Chontal, to assist them with their personal and public health. (There’s no contact tracing there in the campo, but, hey, I do my part.) I feel great except for a little bit of lingering fatigue and confusion (though that may certainly be from travel and culture shock), and some slight chest pressure and cough. I’ll have a chest x-ray early this week.
So, I wanted to include all the basics now. At some other point, I might add some more thoughts, especially concerning the cultural aspects of the arrival of Covid in Chontal, and how to accompany from a distance. I’m not angry at the people and there’s no blaming - this is part of the reality of the complex mess that the coronavirus brings to the surface wherever it goes in the world.
For those interested, my negative Covid PCR test before the flight and the test and diagnosis by my doctor would technically exempt me from needing to quarantine in Massachusetts. In fact, if anything, I would generally be safer to be around than anyone except those vaccinated. But I am aiming to stick to the advised 7-10 day quarantine anyway.
Finally, what was on my mind at times over the last several days during the Easter octave, and especially in my hurrying through the door that opened up, was the Israelites’ flight from Egypt on the Passover:
“This is how you are to eat it: with your loins girt, sandals on your feet and your staff in hand, you will eat it in a hurry. It is the LORD’s Passover.”
Have a blessed Easter season!
Jerome