While I was doing this painting demo with a student, I got a text informing me that someone in the house tested positive for COVID-19. After all this time, I am finally directly exposed. We all plan to isolate for 5 days from the world and each other to try and avoid a full house of infection. We are planning to each sleep in separate rooms. However, it is a small house. Suddenly we had to think about the home’s circulation. Would infected air disperse throughout the home? We are hoping not since the main air intake is just in one spot. Every home should be set up with better air circulation systems and HEPA filters, but that is not a priority to protect from something that can not be seen.
I have a small air filter in the studio area, but from the moment I found out COVID had smuggled its way into the home I masked up. For the next 5 days I will likely be masked 24 hours a day, perhaps except when sleeping. So, can illness be avoided with the highly infectious BA5 variant once it is inside the home? I am seated right smack dab in the center of the petri dish, so time will tell. I will continue to take every possible precaution, but that may not be enough.
The likely point of infection for this case of COVID is probably a summer camp. I am teaching virtual summer camps and will continue to do so, although I will be masked even at home. We are all still scrambling to figure out the best way to proceed. There is no clear play book. I teach an in person class on weekends and I had to email to let them know I will not be in. I tried to leave a voice mail but it turns out the institution had no way to leave messages. Ultimately through texts, messages and emails, the students were contacted.