Unexpected Benefits of COVID Testing

I hear complaints everyday about the invasion of privacy with COVID. People don’t want to wear masks. People are complaining about mandatory testing at work or at school. No one wants to be forced to do anything.

My daughter attends University of Wisconsin and while she was home during break, I asked her if she was glad not to be doing COVID-19 tests twice a week. I expected her to have a snippy comment about the hassle of being tested twice a week or how stupid COVID is. Or maybe some quip about being resigned to her mandatory testing in the dorms. I was completely surprised by her response and I am so proud her.

She said that she missed having the test. The testing was a pain but she knew that she was limiting the impact of her spreading the virus to those around her if she got infected. She said that it made her feel safer being around others knowing that she could not give them the virus. She also felt safer around other students in the dorm knowing that they too were being tested twice a week. Being home without testing, she was much more concerned about seeing grandparents and family because of the potential of unwittingly infecting them.

Two things that I loved about her response are:

• She realized the inherent risk that a pandemic brings to those she loved. She showed enormous empathy and compassion to make sure they stayed healthy over enjoying time with them.

• She also recognized that the value of the information that the test provided over the cost (or hassle) of doing the test. I loved the fact that she was mature enough to recognize the value of knowing she was healthy.

This pandemic would be so much easier if everyone took such a mature view of their role in stopping spread of the virus. Super proud of you Elise! I’m proud how mature you are in understanding your personal responsibility in limiting the spread of COVID-19 and protecting those around you. Love you a ton!