Another Day At The Office

When the Covid-19 pandemic traveling restrictions eased up a little, and international travel was re-opened, I decided to visit Paris and booked a flight for the morning of January 10, 2022.

I began to worry because the airline required a Covid test taken 72 hours prior to boarding. After booking the Paris trip, I was unable to find a testing site in Philly that didn't required an appointment, everyone was full. And to make matters worse, there was no appointment available before my trip. I contacted my former supervisor at the health center where I used to work before retiring a few months prior, and they squeezed me in to get tested. I received the online results the next day, and was all set to travel.

Another one of my concerns was that to return to the United States, travel restrictions were a little more strict and now I was required to show a Covid test result taken 24 hours prior to the day of my flight. After arriving in Paris, I learned that Covid tests were available at any pharmacy in the city, results available in 20 minutes, and no appointments required. Cost $26.00 euros, and I was assured that there was a pharmacy in every corner, as illustrated in the top picture. In my broken very limited French, I asked a fruit vendor to take the pic of "moi" waiting to take the test.

To put it into perspective, yesterday I read that two days before Thursday night’s men’s 200 final race, Noah Lyles, the American record holder of the 200 meters, and the third fastest man in the event learned he had tested positive for Covid. With permission of officials at USA Track and Field and the U.S. Olympics, who said they followed protocol, Lyles was allowed to run at the Olympics. Lyles won the bronze medal with 102-degree Covid fever and collapsed on the track after the race was over.

Nowadays, a  Covid diagnosis is like just another day at the office.