Public Health Lab
COVID-19 Stories: Kim
“I'm Kim, and I'm the web and accessibility coordinator for the Public Health Lab.
“It really hit me hard when the first positive case was identified by our lab. Before that, I was hopeful it wasn't coming to Minnesota. I just thought, ‘Oh, we're safe here,’ but when it did, that's when it hit me. It was total shock and disbelief.
“One day my coworker and I came in and there was hardly anybody in the Admin area on first floor, and we thought it was really strange. We started asking around with the few people that were in the office and found out everybody else was told work from home indefinitely, so at the end of the day, I packed up my monitors and everything I thought I needed to work from home. I never knew I would not be back until the shutdown was over. Before the pandemic, I was only working from home one day a week, and now I am only going into the office one day a week, so my work life totally changed!
“I had a lot of guilt, though, when I did go home, because the lab staff had to go in and risk getting exposed every day. But then I realized if you could work from home, Admin didn't want you at the building, because there was more possibility of being exposed and exposing other people. I eventually got past that guilt, but at first, I felt guilty.
“One of my best memories of when we were shut down was having these huge meals, because nobody could go anywhere. My oldest daughter and her boyfriend - now husband - ended up moving home during the pandemic, and then my youngest daughter moved home from college, because they were doing online classes. My youngest daughter’s boyfriend also ended up moving home from college in California and oftentimes would eat dinner with us. My 94-year-old mother-in-law, who had dementia at the time, was living with us, so we had seven people in the house for a lot of meals.
“Everyone would help prepare the food, set the table, and clean up. We didn't have the pressure of going fast, because we had nothing to do before or after dinner, so we would have long in-depth conversations. It was great to have the whole family there for my mother-in-law, because she ended up passing away a little less than a year later. So those family meals are definitely my favorite memory from the early pandemic!
“My biggest fear during the pandemic was of bringing COVID-19 home to my mother-in-law. We couldn't imagine losing her alone in a hospital like so many people had. That was truly our biggest fear. I also have asthma, which is really well controlled now at my age, but I had it pretty severe as a child. I only have 50% lung capacity, so many colds that I get go straight to my lungs. I really thought I would have bad respiratory symptoms if I got COVID-19.
“Well, in August of 2020, our fears became a reality. My youngest daughter was 20 at the time, and she had months of isolation, and was really being impacted by that social isolation, as was everyone. Things were finally opening back up, and people were getting out more. One of her friends was having a birthday that month, and said she asked if five of them could get together, and we caved. Word got out about the gathering, and five people turned into, like, 25. I'm sure you can imagine how that turned out. She ended up bringing COVID-19 home to us. It was very scary, because it was before the vaccinations and before we knew a lot about COVID-19. And the big concern, like I said, was for my mother-in-law. She immediately isolated in her bedroom on the main floor, and the rest of us just waited and kept testing.
“On the third day, my other daughter, her boyfriend, and I tested positive. I isolated in my office/bedroom, my younger daughter was in her bedroom on the same level as me, my oldest daughter and her boyfriend stayed in the basement, and my husband and his mom, who had not yet tested positive, stayed on the main level.
“Unbelievably, she and my husband never got it! We still can't believe how this happened and were so thankful, because I don't know who would have taken care of us if we all got it at the same time. My youngest daughter and my older daughter's boyfriend got high fevers (around 104) and we were really worried about having to bring them to the hospital, but luckily, with acetaminophen and ibuprofen, they were able to get their fevers down and keep them down. I ended up having very mild symptoms, and it never went to my lungs, which was so unbelievable! I never even had a cough, which is the main symptom with COVID; I'm so thankful for that.
“Through this pandemic, I learned that I'm really committed to public health and want to work as hard as I can to help protect public health. I'm so glad to be part of an amazing team, and I’m so proud of where I work and the people I work with. I just have such a profound respect for all my coworkers, especially for the dedication and hard work that the lab workers put in. I can't imagine the stress they were under while having to test for COVID and having to be around people and put themselves at risk.
“I'm so honored to be a part of this team at the Public Health Lab. They all made such a difference during the pandemic and are still making huge strides in protecting public health. There were a lot of people from other state agencies helping during the pandemic, and seeing how dedicated they are to the work they do and to protecting public health was incredible to be a part of. Minnesotans can be confident in the public servants that they have.”
PHL COVID-19 Stories is a series about the experiences of Public Health Lab employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.