FEAR AND LOATHING IN AN INFECTED COMMUNITY: A LOCAL RESIDENT'S WEEKEND HELL WITH POSSIBLE COVID-19 CASE

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

It was Saturday morning when I got a call from a city official I had met Friday evening at a local bar where live music was played telling me that he had been advised by his city supervisor that he must self-quarantine because he had been in the same room as a female city employee who had traveled to Europe in the last 10 days  

"Remember that we saw each other Friday night and had a few toasts together," he said. "I suggest you go into self-quarantine and tell all the people you came into close contact with they should, too, as a precaution."

Friday was the last day that bars/lounges and restaurants could open. After that, they could only serve pick-up orders.

The woman was an employee of  its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) that was recording Public Service Announcements (PSAs) at the Central Public Library. The EOC switched immediately to implement virtual operations while the  staff member who traveled was tested for COVID-19.

City Manager Noel Bernal explained to local media that the plan allowed select staff to continue operations via telework. “That is what has been implemented. We do have the means of telework for certain, select, essential staff members,” he said.

“That is also what we’re considering implementing as part of our longer-term approach to the pandemic situation.”

In my case, I searched my mind for people I had come close to or gotten nearer than six feet. I called up to friends and told them what I had learned and called the owners of places where I had been and told them of the testing.

"It might be  a long weekend," I said, telling them that it might be Monday before I knew whether the woman ( and the city employee) had been infected. They were not pleased, to say the least.

All weekend, all of us stayed in lockdown in our homes, avoided going out among people, and stopped our usual routine.

In my case, I had to make an excuse to my elderly parents of why I did not take them their week's supply of sweet bread from El Camino Bakery on E. Price Road as I do every Sunday morning. My dad is in his mid-90s and my mom is in her late 80s, the prime vulnerable group to the COVID-19. And then, of course, the workers and customers at the bakery.

All weekend I checked myself for sniffles, headaches and took my temperature more than twice a day. It was unnerving. The uncertainty is the worse thing  about this disease. At times I imagined that I was getting a runny nose, and once, when I got some dust in my throat and I coughed I immediately suspected I had it.

To my great fortune, I learned this morning that she had tested negative.

The EOC reported late Sunday that the Brownsville contract employee who was tested for the novel coronavirus tested negative.

The contract worker was tested on Friday. The incident involved the Emergency Operations Center and the main Brownsville Public Library on Central Boulevard, the city said in a news release.

“We are pleased to learn our employee is healthy. The City of Brownsville and EOC are using this incident to examine potential vulnerabilities and explore additional steps we can take to adjust our continuity of operations over the long-term,” the city said in the release.

The EOC has been meeting (virtually) and working to determine how to support its employees and the community during this time of need. City Manager Noel Bernal told the local daily.

This morning - after a weekend of apprehension - I called up my friends and business owners with the good news.

"But don't let your guard down," I told them. "I'm going to remain at home and work out of here. You be carefull, too. I'm sorry about the inconvenience."

The city is encouraging all city employees and the community to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discourage the spread of the COVID-19 respiratory virus.