Recently, a close friend tested positive for Covid-19. For weeks, she has been working from home. Not going out. Not meeting up with friends or visiting off-site family members. Her only contacts have been and are her husband and children.

So naturally, her positive result was unexpected and a shock. My husband and I were concerned. How? Who? When? Where? What? All these questions cruised through our heads. We did our own track and trace. We started with the husband. He is a ride-hailing driver. Contact with random people. A possible source. Children. One lives independently. Another possible source depending on the lifestyle. The rest live at home. Their movements are accounted for.

Immediately after she tested positive, the rest of her family had their PCR or polymerase chain reaction tests done. They all came back negative. This was puzzling. She must have contracted it from somebody, somewhere.

My husband and I have been and are, at least that’s what we think, very careful. With the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and social bubbles. We adhere to the 3W’s. We wear masks. This is mandatory in Malaysia. Not just the surgical or cloth variety, but the KN95, which supposedly filters or blocks 95% of particulates. I even wear a mask when I’m with my mum inside her condominium. We wash our hands. My hands are dry and brittle from Dettol and sanitizers. We also sanitise the door handles. We watch our distance, and keep as far apart from other people as physically possible.

We have a social bubble of 3. My husband, me and my mum. I haven’t met up with friends for over a year. Before when we could eat-out, we picked outdoor dining because of better air circulation. Restaurants that flouted Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) have been deleted from our list. We still practice the 3-day quarantine on all our purchases. We wash, dry and refrigerate the cold stuff, fruits and vegetables, and we leave the rest in two large boxes until they are ‘safe’ for use. I still wash and change my clothes after going out – for a walk or grocery shopping. Gratefully, the 3 of us have had our first dose of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.

I think my husband and I take the necessary precautions, and then some. Just like the close friend who tested positive. So, how and where did she get Covid-19?

Out of interest, I retraced my movements over a one-week period. From May 16 to May 23.  I went grocery shopping on Tuesday. There were SOPs in place. Registration, temperature checks, hand sanitizers and sanitized trolleys and baskets, and ticket numbers. I was customer number 33. Once inside the air-conditioned environment, I noticed some shoppers didn’t distance enough, didn’t wait their turn to buy things, and didn’t follow the arrows or traffic direction, drawn on the floor. There was a clear breach. There were 32 or more people before me and however many more who were allowed in after me. Could I have been exposed to a possible Covid-19 carrier? How about the staff in the store and at the check-outs? Plus, the pie-shop proprietor, from whom I bought a chicken and leek pie and mash potatoes for my husband’s dinner. All possible sources?

On Thursday, I bought mangoes from my fruit vendor. I went after 2pm to avoid the lunch time crowd. I used the lift, walked across the courtyard and crossed the road to get to him. Who did I walk past? How many people were there? I have no idea or recollection. All I remember is washing and drying the mangoes. And, washing and changing my clothes. Hmm… Most evenings, my husband and I walk to the KLCC park and/or along the roads in the city centre. We don’t come in direct or close contact with people but there are always people out and about. Is being outdoors a little safer? Research indicate that infections can happen outdoors but the chances are much lower. Fresh air helps disperse and dilute the virus, and evaporates liquid droplets in which it is carried.

I also use the lift 5-6 times per day. 5 visits to my mum, and the other to shop, walk or do stuff. Because of Covid-19, the maximum number of people allowed in our 6 lifts is 4 at any one time. A full cabin is rare but its not unusual. There are some, who’d rather stand in close quarters than wait for the next lift. People in a confined space, breathing into each other’s airspace, albeit for a few minutes. Is this safe?  Well… COVID-19 could spread in a lift. From fellow users or from particles expelled by a previous user with coronavirus that has lingered inside the lift.

So how? Pray, follow the SOP’s strictly, get vaccinated and stay safe.