- by Abbey Blokland

Schools in the Grey-Bruce area are open, procedures like sanitizing your hands, social distancing, and wearing masks is reinforced throughout the day, but there will be times when your child gets sick and the school will send them home.

Everyone has a unique perspective when it comes to getting sick during the pandemic, but this was mine.

Friday, September 18th, 2020

This morning I came into my work feeling great. It was a lovely day out. I worked until three o’clock on a news article for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Monday, September 21st, 2020

Monday morning, I woke up feeling nauseous with a sore throat and a headache. At first, I was a bit nervous to tell my parents because I did not know how they were going to react, but I knew I had to.

I asked my mom if I would still be able to go to my co-op and she said it would not be in anyone's interest if I did.

I messaged my co-op teacher and employer telling them I would not be attending a few days of work until I got negative results back from the hospital.

My mother tried reaching out to the Owen Sound hospital’s assessment clinic to see when I could get tested and they did not have an appointment until October 1st. We were wondering how they could be open from 12pm – 8pm, Monday to Friday and not have an open spot until a week and a half later.

We looked up other hospitals in the area where walk ins were accepted and drove to Hanover at 12pm.

We waited in line for three hours until we got remotely close to the front of the line. The line went along the side of the parking lot and around the corner. We were pleased that it was a warm day out. I was wondering how they would do this in the winter.

Would parents and kids still want to wait outside for three hours in the cold?

I soon began to understand how the Owen Sound assessment clinic was so busy. Parents and kids were lined up together from teachers sending them home since they were sick.

During the test, it went on for a long fifteen seconds. Afterwards my mother and I went home.

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020

This morning I woke up with the sensation of having to sneeze from yesterday's COVID test. My co-op employer told me I could work from home, so I woke up at 9 and began to work as any other normal day.

As I was working, I was thinking what would happen if I had classes instead of co-op. I would have to miss a week of work and feel stressed to catch up.

If I had gym, there would not be any work to catch up on unless there was health class that week.

This point I felt lucky to be able to have a co-op that I could still get hours when I am sick and need a few days off.

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020

I got my test results back in the afternoon and they came back negative. I suspected I just had a mild cold to begin with. Partly since there are few active COVID-19 cases in Grey-Bruce and it is cold season.

I then messaged my co-op teacher and employer telling them the news. I took the student-screening questionnaire and it said I was able to attend my co-op again.

I worked from home the rest of the day with no more symptoms following a cold and went to co-op the next day.