‘I was confident I will get enough protection by hand wash and masks but realized missing social distancing, a mistake that almost cost us our lives’
It’s hair-raising when it dawns on you that a single mistake you did, like having been too close for comfort with someone in a crowded place, have caused you to be in a hospital bed teetering between ending up a body count or a “recoveries” statistics in this days of COVID-19.
Jade Jacqueline Chan-Delos Trinos, regional sales manager at a company manufacturing diagnostic kits and supplies for labs and hospitals, went through that ordeal, having probably spent sleepless nights hanging in the balance.
Delos-Trinos did not have an inkling she’d be ending up in a hospital undergoing treatment for COVID-19 infection.
“It was beyond my imagination to be a victim of COVID-19 even at immense caution,” said Delos Trinos, who lives in Muraqqabat with her husband, Den Bryan who had also tested positive.
Delos Trinos said she was at ease thinking she has been following health protocols and thought that was enough.
“I was confident I will get enough protection by hand wash and masks but realized having missed social distancing, (which was) a mistake that almost cost us our lives,” she said.
“I am not here to scare but to shed awareness that whatever the authorities have told us to do, is for our own sake. Lessen trips to populated places such as groceries, and avoid non-essential food trips. A single craving is incomparable to sufferings or loss of life,” Delos Trinos said.
“Let us be responsible not only for ourself but for others who are immuno-compromised. Sharing accommodation is a common scenario, chat with housemates at ample distance and wear mask, follow the “happy birthday” hand wash, take hot water with boiled lemon and ginger which helped us get through the respiratory difficulties,” she added.
Delos Trinos also suggested to try avoiding public transport and instead go by foot if going to nearby places to prevent confined spaces with possible infected droplets you might touch.
For credible technical information, check out WHO (World Health Organization) to avoid fake info that will heighten your worry. Strictly follow protocols and respect them. They are implemented with scientific reasons, she said.
“To all my Kabayans out there, treat the pandemic as a serious matter,” Delos Trinos said.
Impossible
In their home or out at work, Delos Trinos said “it is impossible to distinguish carriers since some are asymptomatic.”
“Not everyone goes through the illness similarly, some are mild but others has to be intubated and brought to ICU,” she added.
The couple lives in a shared accommodation though they have a room to themselves. Just the same, Delos Trinos said, “we were partaking the use of common washroom, kitchen and even doorknobs with others in a sharing flat.”
“Contracting the virus in such scenario is highly likely but considering the prices of rents in Dubai, the reality of having an own space is not affordable and never easy. We cannot blame people for sharing accommodation with risk due to this matter,” Delos Trinos said.
She said they have a flat mate who tested COVID-positive.
Delos Trinos herself tested positive on April 24,2020. “I immediately went to a private hospital from work after I was informed that our housemate came out positive and was already admitted,” she recalled.
She and her husband, who works at a Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company supplying hypermarts, were picked up from their home on April 30, a week after they made phone calls at DHA’s 800342 hotline.
Following treatment, Delos Trinos was out of the hospital in 10 days on May 10; her husband was discharged on May 16.
Delos Trinos stayed in a hotel for a week’s quarantine or isolation as per DHA’s offer, noting the shared accommodation the couple was staying at.
The Daily Bread 