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A 39-year-old Suwannee County woman is is self-quarantined.
Bills come and go, she said. She couldn’t care less about whether she can pay her bills while under quarantine.
No, the worst part will be peering out the window and seeing the happy family next door. Not just any family — her family.
The woman, a 39-year-old Suwannee County resident who works in the healthcare field, will be able to see an Easter cookout and egg hunt, but not participate. She’ll see a newborn girl come home from the hospital for the first time, but won’t be able to hold the baby.
“This. Sucks. This really sucks,” she said. “I’ll never get another chance to see my first grandchild be born — that’s a one-time thing. I will only be able to see her through a window.”
The 39-year-old covid-19 patient, who the Reporter has chosen not to identify, was placed under a 14-day quarantine on March 30. It started as a precautionary measure because she had contact with a confirmed carrier.
When she started showing flu-like symptoms on Friday and tested positive, the quarantine timer was reset and extended to 21 days, she said. She expects to survive the ordeal, but her mind hasn’t been on the medical side of it so much as the loneliness of quarantine since.
“So I’ve been in my house for over a week now, watching TV and watching walls,” she said. “Going extremely crazy.”
When Gainesville confirmed its first case, she sent her younger children to live with out-of-state relatives, feeling it would be safer for them.
“I kicked everybody out because I was afraid,” she said.
But her oldest daughter is also her neighbor, and is due to give birth soon.
“I’m about to have a grandbaby and I won’t be able to see it until it’s older, because I won’t put her in jeopardy of catching this,” the quarantine patient said.
Her father, who works in transportation and logistics, is coming into town for Easter. The whole family will be next door during the holiday.
“I can’t celebrate with them,” she said. “It kills me. I can’t spend Easter with them. I’m going to be able to look out the window, watch my family do an Easter egg hunt, while I get a plate set on the porch for me. I can’t join in like I do every year, I can’t cook for them like I do every year.”
“I can’t tell you how much this sucks,” she said.