You Can't Get Normal Sick Anymore

It all started Saturday night.

 I was curled up on the couch watching Psych with Danny when I felt this lump in the back of my throat. I tried coughing it out, clearing my throat, and making some sort of weird gagging noise.

Nothing worked. 

The next morning I woke up with a sore throat.

I HAVE THE 'RONA. (Symptom count: 1)

Frantically, I gargled salt water, brewed some tea, took a shower and hey-the sore throat went away. 

Only to be replaced with nasal congestion.

IT'S THE RONA. (Symptom count: 2)

At this point I began freaking out and thinking about how now I have to do virtual school, I've probably already infected some of my kids, parents could sue me, parents will be mad we have to go digital and could switch schools...

And then I remembered- this happens to me every. year. 

Every fall I get sick with a head cold at the beginning of the year. The weather is changing, I'm around a bunch of new germs, I'm busier than usual. Any other year I would think nothing of it. I'd power through and go to work. 

But this year? Well, you can't get normal sick anymore. 

According to the MDH, if you have: 

1 more common symptom= you and everyone else in your family needs to quarantine for 10 days unless provided an alternate diagnosis by a medical doctor.
*More common: fever, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste/smell.

2 less common symptoms= you and everyone else in your family needs to quarantine for 10 days unless provided an alternate diagnosis by a medical doctor.
*Less common: nasal congestion, sore throat, nausea, diarrhea, chills, headache, fatigue

1 less common symptom= evaluate whether or not you are well enough to go to school.

After talking with my principal, since I figured the sore throat was mild and just right away in the morning, we decided that I was really only presenting ONE symptom and I was free to teach. 

I totally get these guidelines. We are trying to keep everyone safe and healthy. But if I- the teacher- don't want to follow them, you can FOR SURE guarantee that parents will not be keeping their kids home for two weeks just because they have a cough or are stuffed up and tired. 

Covid is very real. All four of my uncles and aunts on my mom's side have had it. 2 with mild symptoms, 1 with none, and one was even hospitalized. However, I think some of us have lost sight of the fact that-

It's not the only disease on the planet. 

You can still get a cold. You can still get the flu. You can still have allergies, strep throat, and pneumonia. 

Not everything is Covid. 

It is GREAT to be cautious, keep sick kids home from school, stay socially distanced, and wear masks. But for the love of all that is good--if someone COUGHS that's normal. If someone sneezes, that's NORMAL. 

PEOPLE CAN COUGH AND SNEEZE WITHOUT HAVING THE CORONA VIRUS. 
(side note: actually they probably do have a corona virus since the common cold is a type of corona virus). 

All I ask is if someone coughs can we not look at them like they are a leper? That would be great. 

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.