COVID finally got me last week.

After avoiding it for more than two years, I feel like I dropped out of a marathon at mile 25. The positive diagnosis made me feel guilty, like a failure.

I’m not even sure where I picked it up.

And the thing is, I’d stopped worrying much about it. I thought my immune system had brought me along through the worst of it and I was basically home free. I still had hand sanitizer in my purse and car and on my desk, but I wasn’t using it as much as I was in the initial throes of the pandemic. I’ve only been masking up at the doctor’s office, when it’s required.

Well, it seems I dropped the ball. Or maybe I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And boy, I don’t wish this on anyone.

Coronavirus is easily spread, and there’s a variant out there now that highly contagious.

States the UCDavis Health website, “The omicron subvariant of COVID-19, BA.5, has become one of the dominant strains of the virus in the U.S. It’s the most easily spread strain to date and is able to evade immunity from COVID infection and vaccination.”

Some good news, at least for me, is I’ve been vaccinated twice and boosted three times so the coronavirus is likely to be less severe for me, and is unlikely to land me in the hospital or (worst case scenario) kill me.

This is a little bit comforting, I guess, as I convalesce.

With my recent positive diagnosis, I’m not alone.

According to a Nov. 4 Gazette article, COVID-19 is on the rise in Colorado, as is the flu and RSV, and public health officials are encouraging vaccines and boosters. With winter approaching and people being indoors and together more, the prediction is for a rough flu and COVID season.

“Coronavirus hospitalizations are also up, with more than 218 people hospitalized with the illness statewide and more than 50 people hospitalized in Colorado Springs in the past two weeks. The numbers are still far shy of the major peaks of the last two winters,” the Gazette reported.

If you haven’t had a booster recently, El Paso County Public Health is recommending the latest one “for those at high risk of COVID, such as older adults and those with chronic health conditions, and people who have not received a vaccine or had the virus in the last four to six months.”

The boosters, as well as the vaccines, are easy to find. Try your local grocery store or pharmacy. Additionally, there’s an ongoing state COVID-19 booster clinic, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday at The Citadel mall in Colorado Springs. To register, go to bit.ly/3DcpPaw.

The Colorado Department of Health and Environment website notes, “Most Coloradans have gotten a vaccine, and many people have recently been sick with COVID-19. As a result, nine out of 10 people in the state are currently estimated to have immunity to the virus. That means daily life is safer now than it was when the virus was new.”

While it may be safer now, the virus is definitely still around.

White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview last week with Fortune magazine that the pandemic was far from over. The number of deaths from COVID, which still averages around 2,600 a week, remains far too high, he said, adding “we’re still in the middle of this — it is not over. Four hundred deaths per day is not an acceptable level.”

If you do get COVID, know that there are resources available to help. I was surprised to hear from the county health department by phone not long after my diagnosis. A representative (a real person) reached out to see if I needed any help with groceries, or medical or financial issues. That gave me pause. They do that for everyone who tests positive? Pretty amazing.

Also, I got a text from CDPHE with a link to treatment options. Along with guidance from my physician and my employer, I felt very informed.

I felt not so isolated, even though I’m isolating (quarantining) for several days. By the time you read this, I should be back out in the world.

Take care out there, and keep washing your hands a lot and being extra mindful in crowds. The race — the threat — isn’t over.

Tribune Editor Michelle Karas has called the Pikes Peak region home since 2015. Contact her at michelle.karas@pikespeaknewspapers.com.

Michelle Karas