Cayman Compass news editor Caroline James was one of 3,500 people who spent Christmas this year in quarantine.
Here, she shares a glimpse into how she refused to let COVID-19 derail the holiday.
On learning I’d tested positive on my day 10, post-travel, supervised lateral flow test, I think I ricocheted through every possible permutation of disbelief.
First, came shock. How could my husband and I have possibly tested positive, when we had no symptoms and were both fully vaccinated and boosted? How could we have tested negative on all the tests we’d done over the past two weeks and, just before Christmas, test positive?
Then, came denial. I Googled every possible study or article I could about COVID incubation periods and LFT margin of error, certain there must have been a mistake.
Next, was guilt. I tried not to panic at the thought of the people to whom we could have inadvertently given the virus, days before the holidays. Could we be that contagious without symptoms? More Googling.
Later that night, our confirmation PCR tests put paid to my optimistic, if delusional, theory that we were certain to be freed from our Travel Cayman-assigned monitoring wristbands. We were staring down the barrel of confinement until after the last New Year’s firework had whizzed and banged its way into 2022.
We cancelled our Christmas reservation at Morgan’s.
We messaged people with whom we’d been in contact over the past few days.
We began our very own Operation Ho, Ho, Ho.
We started with a mega-list of all the Christmas viewing we assumed we would have time for: From must-watch series we hadn’t yet seen, through beloved Christmas specials we’ve watched every year, to what turned out to be a fairly disappointing Boxing Day Test match, by way of ‘Love Actually’, ‘Elf’ and ‘Die Hard’.
We still haven’t got through it all.
Caymankind at Christmas
Where Kevin McCallister had micro-machines, paint cans and the South Bend Shovel-Slayer to help him vanquish Harry and Marv, we had friends, family and FaceTime to keep our festive spirits buoyant.
Admittedly, the fact that we’ve not been trusted to stay away from people without wearing a monitoring device, nor been allowed to go beyond the confines of our home has felt frustrating at times.
But, when we stopped for a moment to think on the ‘true meaning’ of Christmas, we counted ourselves lucky.
Out-of-the-blue, we had homemade mince pies dropped off at our doorstep.
A hand-drawn Christmas card was left, fully-COVID-compliantly, by our two-year-old neighbour at our front door.
Friends and family regularly delivered groceries; my in-laws made us a full beef Wellington, with side-dishes, to cook on Christmas Day.
Maybe love really is all around?
As Omicron numbers ramped up around the world, and we heard news of the vast swathes of people quarantining over the holidays in far worse conditions than us, we felt grateful the shock of the ‘diagnosis’ was behind us and that we remained symptom-free.
Loved ones and near-strangers have offered, non-stop, to help us and continue to ask whether we need anything.
I am sure my joke “A negative PCR test?” has grown old quite fast.
Here’s hoping people only have to hear it for a few days longer.
Did you celebrate Christmas in quarantine or are you facing the New Year’s weekend in isolation? The Compass welcomes you to join the conversation by emailing [email protected] with your stories and advice for others confined over the holiday.
Related Videos
