Our entire household contracted COVID-19 during the onset of the Delta surge last year. The last person who got tested was our 5-year-old daughter and we only did it upon the urging of our doctor.
For the most part, Tala was asymptomatic. We only heard her cough twice and run a low-grade fever that went away on its own. She remained active, never lost her appetite and her oxygen level did not go under 98. It was enough to make me think that what she was spared.
Our doctor thought differently. He knew that we stayed in the same bedroom, slept on the same bed, used the aircon and gave her kisses until our symptoms started showing. Doc insisted on getting her tested to know if she needed to be isolated from us or share the quarantine with us.
I found out about the result of her test when my mother called me up. My mom was wailing over the phone before I could even say hello.
Severe symptoms
Tala’s asthma made her at risk for severe symptoms. My mom was scared and that’s why she drowned us with provisions.
The calmest phone calls were from our doctors. Our pediatrician, who also happens to be an infectious diseases specialist, gave prescriptions to prepare for the worst, to monitor Tala’s condition but to never panic.
Looking back, the emotional turmoil the disease caused my daughter was the hardest to deal with. She cried when I told her that we will be in isolation. We couldn’t pacify her with bribes of new toys, treats or unlimited screen time.
Tala’s been asking about death since the pandemic started. We’ve been honest with her on what happens when someone dies. I also hate making promises I wasn’t sure I could keep. But I knew she needed to hear one thing at that moment.
“Mama and Papa are not going to die,” I told her this on repeat until she stopped crying. I also know that she tried to put on a brave face when she found out that she tested positive, but I knew she was relieved when I told her that she was not going to die.
Fear of the unknown
Mitch Suarez, a marketing and communications head, had a similar experience with her 9-year-old daughter Kylie, who tested positive for COVID.
Kylie’s symptoms manifested on Jan. 1. The feeling of fatigue came very suddenly. They tested her with a home antigen test. For the first time in two years, they saw two lines indicating that she was positive. They rushed to find an open laboratory for the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test.
“She was crying when she told me, ‘Mom, I am going to die! Everyone with COVID dies,’” Suarez said. Her daughter would feel depressed and anxious in the next two days she had the symptoms. She was feverish and had a sore throat. There was little they could do but to comfort her.
Kylie’s symptoms, and mood, got better on the third day. She never developed coughs and colds.
Later, they would discuss the experience she had. Kylie said what she feared the most was the uncertainty of what was going to happen next. There was also a point when she asked why she was going through it.
Suarez felt her daughter also worried about the stigma that came with the disease. What helped her with this was being told about how people she knew personally survived COVID.
While Kylie was very vocal about her symptoms, 10-year-old Izzy was the opposite. Her mom, Apple Abcede, said the entire household contracted COVID before New Year. The first to exhibit symptoms was their father Francis.
“Izzy was laying on the bed the whole day. I didn’t make a big deal about it because she would have this mood when she would just lay around and play with her phone,” Abcede said. But on that day, Izzy also hid under the blanket. It was her younger sister Kassy, 6, who told her mom that her ate was burning up.
“She was in denial that she had COVID symptoms. She hid her fever for a good hour before we found out,” Abcede said.
They quarantined as a family. What made their case different was that Kassy’s fever showed up a week after everybody else’s, just when the family’s quarantine period was about to end. It was also only then that she tested positive in an antigen test.
Abcede said Kassy was taking antibiotics for another illness the week they tested positive.
“Her pedia theorized that the antibiotic held the symptoms at bay. But she still exhibited it within the two-week period,” Abcede said. “We knew we were already exposed to each other. Even when Kassy tested negative in antigen, we still treated her like she had COVID.”
The Abcedes all had their own areas in the house, but they had no choice but to share the bathroom. The dad stayed in the empty house next door which served as the COVID “hub” for the family compound.
System to follow
Having a system to follow helps in taking care of the children when everyone in the family has COVID.
Ginggay Joven dela Merced, president of a public relations firm, shared what they did as a family.
“My husband Noel had a very well-oiled system in caring for all of us. We were all isolated in separate rooms. He was the one timing all our medicine and vitamins,” she said.
Doctor friends gave them a list of medicine and vitamins to take, while her mom sent provisions.
“Noel made the dining area like an assembly room of medicine distribution, depending on each of our symptoms. Five to six times a day, he would enter each of our rooms, take our temperature and check our oxygen levels,” she said. “He gave instructions what time meals were to be sent up, and what menu for each. We’re also very appreciative because we have a lot of good friends who sent a lot of fresh fruits, healthy food like ginseng soup.”
Dela Merced said they declared a complete house lockdown. They announced to everyone that their house was infected and to avoid unnecessary delivery.
Dela Merced said her husband had a mild discomfort at most while everyone was sick. Her son Noey, 18, had a sore throat, severe migraines, chills and a slight fever. He felt better on the third day. Daughter Chloe, 14, got a terrible sore throat.
“She described it as though she was swallowing crushed glass. She would cry whenever she had to take medicine and vitamins because of the throat pain. She never had fever but was extremely lethargic and fatigued. She had minor colds and mild body aches,” Dela Merced said. Chloe got better on the fifth day.
The Dela Merced children’s greatest worry were their parents. The kids were concerned about how COVID would affect Mom and Dad, given their underlying conditions, like high blood and high sugar.
Exposure
All of the interviewees suspect that their children were infected by a fully vaccinated adult. Suarez said Kylie most likely got it from an asymptomatic family member. The Abcedes, who are both bankers, said their children did not go out the week before their symptoms showed.
The Dela Merceds, on the other hand, have stayed indoors for the past two years. They were also very strict about it. They did everything online, including grocery shopping. They suspect the exposure came from their household helpers who went out to get their booster shots. The family’s symptoms showed up four days later.
The children’s view of the virus has not changed after contracting COVID. It’s still not something they will take lightly just because they survived it. All of the families interviewed discussed the virus with their children openly, thus they are aware of what it could do.
“My main takeaway is to align your heart as a family. We all had to do it together. It was a joint effort. It was not just Kylie who got sick. We treated it like we were all going through COVID,” Suarez said.