Baguio contact tracer shares how it is to be COVID-19 positive
BAGUIO CITY – At the back of their minds, Mischelle Ramos-Junio and her colleagues at the Baguio City Contract Tracing Team (CTT) knew that any one of them could become afflicted with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) any time.
This was most likely with Ramos-Junio, a non-uniformed personnel of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO), who has been at the frontline of contact tracing in the city ever since the pandemic broke out in March.
As a data analyst of the CTT, Ramos-Junio had to be hands-on in going from house-to-house, trying to track down contacts of confirmed COVID-19 patients.
“Because of the nature of our work, we, in the team, already set our minds that we could fall victims anytime. We knew that we were susceptible of being infected,” she recalled.
But when the inevitable did come on August 11, when she was among those who tested positive for the coronavirus in the mass testing conducted by the Baguio City government among its frontliners, the mother of four still felt like she just ran into a brick wall.
“When the news was broken to me, it still broke me into pieces,” she recalled.
Her first reaction to the news that she was COVID-19 positive was that of frustration.
“I have put so much effort on the practice of health protocols to protect myself, my family and my workmates against the virus yet, I still caught it. I still can’t believe that it happened to me. Where and when did I let down my guard?” she asked herself then.
It just came as a consolation that she was asymptomatic at the time the result came out. She is currently in stable condition, and is on quarantine.
This was when Ramos-Junio turned to her own experience as contact tracer to go back, and look at the list of persons that she may have also infected.
“The first thing that came to my mind at that moment was my children,” she said.
Ramos-Junio also expressed concern that her husband, who is working abroad, would also worry that she has tested positive for the deadly virus.
Then her thoughts turned to her colleagues.
“I thought of my workmates. I became worried of the team I was working with. I cannot bear the thought that I might have infected the LCE, my Lead Contact Tracing Team, the BCPO City Director and the team. They are all lead people in doing the job for the city,” she said.
But months of handling hundreds of COVID-19 cases had taught Ramos-Junio to calm down, and assess her situation.
“I immediately gathered my senses and called the people who needed to know my situation, for them to isolate, and wait for the CTT to conduct assessment and possible swab tests,” she narrated.
Then her attention turned to home.
“I have four children and an aunt living with me, or a total of five household members. I thank God because all of them tested negative. And I think our strict practice of health protocol even at home paid off,” she bared.
As such, from August 11, or from the day she learned that she was COVID-19 positive, Ramos-Junio said she was able to help the CTT trace her own close contacts, and these numbered 70 persons.
Fortunately, all of them were swab-tested, and all tested negative for the virus.
“I can say then that these people whom I had contact with have had high observance and practice of proper health protocols, too,” she said.
Herself included, Ramos-Junio noted that, out of the 275 COVID-19 cases in Baguio City as of August 21, 120 were ferreted out due to contact tracing. This meant that they were identified as high risk contacts of known positives.
Ninety-two were tested due to expanded testing in banks, groceries and other establishments. Fifty-four were tested because they manifested symptoms and nine for others were discovered because tests had to be made prior to surgical operation or travel.
Of these figures, 24 households were evidently affected and invaded by the virus, resulting in at least 93 family members testing positive for COVID-19.
This was alarming because it only means that the transmission was already inside our abodes, a place where we supposedly should feel safe and secured,” Ramos-Junio underscored.
And as she would when she does the rounds of Baguio City’s villages to inform residents of COVID-19’s evils, she said this was what she also did in her own household.
“I started by educating them of what COVID-19 is, what symptoms an infected person will have, what to do in case family members got infected and what to do to avoid being infected,” she shared.
That was why, as vanguard in the fight against the coronavirus disease, Ramos-Junio was more than thankful that all the members of her family had been disciplined, prudent, and obedient in following all the health protocols.
“And it is now my plea as a mother, that we educate ourselves and our children of the basic health protocols. We need to inculcate to our household that each one has his own role to do to avoid the spread of the virus in our homes,” she emphasized.
That was why, as both a contact tracer and a COVID-19 victim, she said it was most important that everyone follows what health authorities have been saying all along.
“Whenever you feel any of the flu-like symptoms or you traveled outside Baguio, conduct your own isolation. It is not to discriminate yourself. It is the immediate response to protect your family, your friends, your workmates and the people you care for.”
“As our doctor keeps on saying, treat each one as carrier of the virus, treat each one like you were positive of COVID-19. Protect yourself to protect your family.”
“And to kick out the virus outside the homes, a family should work as one, so that we will all heal as one,” Ramos-Junio concluded.
And taking from her own experience, she shared these following pieces of advices, which she said, her family had set as its own response plan, and a home health protocols.
1. Upon arriving home from work or any activities outside the home, remove all garments in the designated area outside the house.
2. Station an alcohol or disinfection spray near the window or door as an initial sanitation measure before holding the doorknobs.
3. Drink hot water once inside the house before or after taking a bath. Drinking lukewarm or hot water will aid to sweep the viruses and bacteria down into our gut where they are denatured in the acid conditions of our stomachs. This will not do us any harm if being done, whether it is a rumor or a fact.
4. No roaming in any part of the house prior to bathing or at least be sanitized first.
5. Minimize kissing and hugging.
6. Steam. Use your own eating and drinking utensils. After washing, sterilize utensils with hot water just in case they got mixed up. Avoid sharing,
7. If possible, have separate rooms or beds, and refrain from sleeping side-by-side. This meets the criteria of physical distancing even in the household.
8. No visiting in the neighborhood and vice versa.
9. Find a way to exercise and eat nutritious food to strengthen your immune system.
10. Disinfect your homes once a week. Open the windows and let the air and sunshine in.
11. Stay at home. Do something worthwhile together inside the household.
“These steps are simple and common but can easily be neglected by household members as we tend to be comfortable and therefore complacent inside our abodes,” said the hunter, who has become the hunted.