A few days ago, my wife developed a nasty cough, accompanied by flu-like symptoms that include fever; while subsiding, they persist today. SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2)/COVID-19 is obvious concern. The Delta variant is highly communicable, whether or not somebody is vaccinated. Think nature’s inoculation: Everyone will catch the Novel Coronavirus now. Being vaxxed often will not prevent infection but reportedly minimizes the worst symptoms of the disease. Regardless, everyone is bound to develop some degree of natural immunity if the B.1.617.2 variant continues to be easily transmitted.
Annie’s cough sounds pretty bad. One of my neighbors is an ICU nurse, who asked about my wife and reassured me that her coughing, while frequent, is strong. That’s good. We own an oximeter, which I use to check her blood oxygenation—and it’s excellent! Still, we had to consider COVID-19, since Delta assures SARS-CoV-2 will infect everyone. With Annie hacking so often, and the possibility of spreading the virus—even masked—we decided against going out for a test, like we did eight month ago.
I knew that our local CVS sells an antigen kit, with two self-tests, for $23.99. An online search found stock at our local store, and I was prepared to make a purchase last night; Annie asked me to wait until this morning—when I discovered the pharmacy had sold out. Nada at RiteAid, too. But Walgreens had the same BinaxNOW little lab in a box, and I ordered one for prepaid pickup. The precaution was unnecessary. The store had a display full of the kits by the cash registers; not locked away; grab and go.
Annie suggested that I should test first, which makes sense. She might be too far along for the infection to register. I have light symptoms—and being early onset more likely to be Mr. Big Viral Load. But, if something, not SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus, BTW. COVID-19 is the disease manifested from infection. She tested negative, also.
I used iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image and companion. The first obviously reveals our results. Vitals: f/1.5, ISO 40, 1/192 sec, 26mm; 2:35 a.m. PDT. During post-production, I removed identifying QR codes for privacy purposes. The other photo is the retail box, about 45 minutes before its disposal. Vitals: f/1.5, ISO 125, 1/60 sec, 26mm; 1:50 p.m.