After the heat of a pandemic and twelve months of emptiness, Alexander Brown Hall reopened her gates to residents in the first week of March 2021. That it took 6 months to record her index case in the ABH community is worth more applause than a focus of embarrassment. By the grace of hindsight, one can argue a fair case that the measures put in place by the college management including compulsorily masking up, and the restriction placed on dining-in, contact sports, and the free entry of visitors into the hall of residence have been pivotal in attaining this feat. The past week birthed a cascade of events that threatened to rock the foundations on which the collective progress we’ve attained was laid.
It is of no news that fourteen Brownites are currently quarantining or undergoing isolation -as the situation determines- in a designated facility within the premises, of which at least two have received a positive confirmatory test for Covid-19. ABH Press managed to get in touch with some of these Brownites to get a clear understanding of their experience in isolation and work-up to recovery. While opting to speak under the condition of anonymity, one of the cases who has been confirmed positive detailed his journey to isolation. “I was attending a physical lecture where the lecturer requested me to take a rapid test. The result did not come out negative and I was advised to return to the hostel where I was contacted and required to begin isolation”. Tracing of close contacts which commenced straightaway ensured that possible channels of transmissions were cut off and the spread controlled.
“I basically just had malaria symptoms”; another said. “I did not lose my sense of taste or smell but I felt I wasn’t getting better even after finishing my antimalarial prescription. Light and food of course have been an issue and I’m grateful to my friends who have been helping me purchase food”. Zinc tablets, azithromycin, ivermectin vitamin D, and vitamin C is the regimen administered to Brownites in isolation irrespective of symptom profile. ABH press understands that two negative test results will be required before returning back to their rooms.
The recently inaugurated ABH COVID-19 task force consisting of the hall executives, floor representatives, and members of the health committee have been charged with upscaling the existing preventative measures in the hall. Being outdoors without a face mask is now a punishable crime while handwashing and temperature checks – a habitually performed rite. As Brownites watchfully wait to see what the COVID-19 situation metamorphoses into, ABH press implores Brownites to sustain the progress of the previous months.
