I had a short break from work for the Christmas and New Year period. When I went on holiday on the 23rd of December Victoria recorded just over 2000 cases. By the time I was due to go back to work on the 4th of January, there were over 17,000 cases in a single day.
With everyone seeing friends and family and travelling all over the place COVID cases exploded. Not long ago cases were at almost net-zero. Melbourne has widely been reported as the most locked-down city on earth. We have been through 262 days of lockdown since the pandemic began. We missed weddings, funerals, births, milestones and major events. All those sacrifices we made meant we had very few cases.
But that’s over now and we’re catching up to the rest of the world with our case numbers. Thankfully this happened after the majority of us were vaccinated and not beforehand.
When I went on annual leave I was worried about catching COVID but case numbers still seemed manageable. I had a lot of events to attend over the Christmas and New Year period. My parents are separated so I needed to attend both of their family Christmas parties as well as spend Christmas with my partner’s family. I also had a friends wedding on the 2nd of January.
I was very nervous going to so many events and seeing so many people over Christmas but everyone seemed well. We shared food. Used the same utensils to serve each other and weren’t very careful. Luckily I go through Christmas without getting sick.
After Christmas, my 11-month old son went back to daycare and I was told there was a child at the centre who was infected while my son was there. I monitored for symptoms but we seemed to slide under the radar again and avoid it.
I needed to buy a dress for my friend’s wedding as well as get my nails and eyebrows done so I went to a major shopping centre. I tried to go on the 27th of December instead of on boxing day because I knew boxing day would be busy and full of potential COVID carriers. Luckily I didn’t catch COVID there either.
On New Year’s Eve, I was way too tired to go to any New Years Eve parties and the thought of staying up until midnight when I had a baby to take care of didn’t sound fun, so we stayed home and avoided potentially catching COVID before our friend’s wedding on the 2nd of January.
At my friend’s wedding, we had to wear masks in the church. The church was hot and stuffy with no ventilation. It was very hot in the masks but at least it kept us safe.
At her wedding reception, we all wore masks until we sat down to eat. Then everyone in the room had their masks off. Waiters walked around with trays of open wine and beer and we all helped ourselves. There were canapes and again we all helped ourselves.
At each table, there were antipasto platters and we all put our fingers in the assorted cheese, vegetables and meats then put our fingers in our mouths then repeat.
All the guests danced at the reception without masks. We all breathed on each other in the enclosed unventilated venue.
After dessert pieces of cake and chocolates were placed in the middle of the table. There was no serving ware so we all just used our fingers to get our own servings.
Then at the end of the night, the MC asked us to form a circle so the bride and groom could hug us all and say goodbye.
I knew all of this didn’t seem very safe but I just hoped that nobody had COVID. Everyone looked fine to me.
A few days after the wedding the bride told us someone at the wedding had COVID but they sat on the other side of the venue and left when they realised they were unwell.
I was a little worried but thought we’d more than likely be safe.
The next day someone who was sitting at my table at the wedding tested positive. I was scared. Throughout the day around 12 others from the wedding all tested positive including the person who was sitting next to me.
I started to feel unwell. And more and more people from the wedding started testing positive. I was so scared. I have a baby at home and really can’t afford for him to get it. I was worried because he’s obviously unvaccinated. I started googling things about babies getting COVID and getting really sick and it just scared me more. Please never google. It will only make it worse. Trust me.
Less than a week after the wedding most of the guests have tested positive. Somehow my partner who was sitting next to me at the wedding hasn’t tested positive yet.
Luckily he is taking care of our baby while I’m am self-quarantining in the bedroom. It’s very hard. I can’t go near my baby.
I’m sick but luckily not too bad. I’m fully vaccinated. I would hate to think how sick I would be if I wasn’t.
Anyway. I just needed to get that off my chest. Please share how you caught COVID or if you have had a baby with COVID. Let me know your experiences.
