Blog ≫ 2020 ≫ Turns out I have not had coronavirus
I got a coronavirus antibody test kit through the post, I have been randomly selected to be part of the survey / research1. See who's had it and where, do you have the antibodies. Interesting that the test is easy to do by yourself, and you don't need to send anything away to get a result. You get a little kit including cleaning swabs a "lancet" for taking blood, a spare lancet for when that goes wrong, and a little testing device. You prick your finger and drip some blood into one part of the testing device, then add buffer liquid to another part, then watch the little strip for colour changes. It looks a lot like a pregnancy testing kit. If the blue line stays blue after ten minutes, then the test has failed. If it turns red then the test is working. Then there are two other areas on the strip, if one turns red you have one type of antibody and if the other turns red you have the other type. It's possible to have both.
Ten minute wait here...
... and I don't have either of the types of antibodies2, though the test does seem to have worked.
You don't have to send the test kit back but you do need to fill out a questionnaire with various details, and say how the test went. You can also take a picture of the test kit and submit that.
Disappointed really that I did not have the antibodies. I had an idea that yeah I probably had it and I'm some kind of superhuman who did not notice the symptoms. Ridiculous really when I know two people who have definitely had it, one was very ill and in a coma for a while and the other died.
I finished Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club3 and I had not figured out any of it as I thought I had. Very good book looking forward to the next one. Going back to Hilary Mantel now3. Also good (surprised it wasn't Booker nominated) but just not as compelling a read as Richard Osman's book.
| Country | cases | deaths |
|---|---|---|
| USA | 6711217 | 198520 |
| Brazil | 4330455 | 131663 |
| India | 4845003 | 79754 |
| Mexico | 663973 | 70604 |
| UK | 368504 | 41628 |
| Italy | 287753 | 35610 |
| France | 381094 | 30916 |
| Peru | 729619 | 30710 |
| Spain | 590707 | 29815 |
| Iran | 402029 | 23157 |
Took thing two to school this morning, and went out for quite a good run straight after. I was averaging under four minutes for a kilometre for the first little burst, though I slowed down a lot on the return leg along the seafront. I think it's because there were other runners to overtake at first and this spurred me on. This bodes well for the return of parkrun!
Gig anniversary, eighteen years ago today I was at The Datsuns. This reminds me there is a gig missing there. Lots of gigs missing for sure but I remember being at a gig at The Underworld when I first met some friends, Ade and Jon, and it's not on that list. Was it Catatonia?
Got a thing this afternoon that needs a bit more preparation then we're off out for tea to The White Hart.
Coronavirus weekly death graph for USA + Brazil + India + Mexico + UK + Italy
- surely not actually random but because I am special
- oh I spoiled it actually in the subject line didn't I
- As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.