Got COVID? Try resting
President Biden, it’s OK to rest. I’ve been wanting to tell our commander in chief this ever since we got the news July 21 that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and had mild symptoms.
“I’m doing well. I’m getting a lot of work done — gonna continue to get it done,” Biden said in a video posted that day on Instagram. On Twitter the president posted a picture of himself maskless and on the phone, and he thanked people for their concern. “Keeping busy!” he said.
On Wednesday, Biden tested negative and emerged from isolation, praising vaccines and at-home treatments for his recovery. He told reporters, “When my predecessor got covid, he had to get helicoptered to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He was severely ill. Thankfully, he recovered. When I got COVID, I worked from upstairs of the White House . . . for the fiveday period.”
Biden is not the only COVIDstricken government figure who pledged to keep busy — Anthony Fauci and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have done the same.
The announcements, of course, highlight the effectiveness of vaccinations. And I get why Biden, in particular, might want to play up his ability to work. The right has made much of his advanced age and loves to paint him as a senile man unfit for office.
But I’m afraid Biden is modeling the wrong behavior. His statements about working through COVID reflect a cultish obsession with busyness that America needs to abolish. Biden could have focused on signaling that rest, along with vaccines and treatments, is a necessary part of health care in the COVID age. But we live in a culture that sees rest as weakness and working as strength. And our country’s public health will continue to suffer for it.
I tried pushing through COVID. I tested positive the day before Thanksgiving. My symptoms were *quote fingers* mild *quote fingers*; I had a fever for two or three days, loss of taste and smell, and severe chills — nothing warranting hospitalization. I was advised by friends (especially women) who had dealt with COVID to rest, rest, rest.
Did I listen? Of course not. I was vaccinated, and I was in great physical shape. I thought I would be fine.
After about a week, I decided I felt well enough to attempt a short drive. But in the car, cognitive confusion set in, along with a fatigue like nothing I had ever experienced before. I made it back home and passed out for eight hours. I tried getting back to work, but I’d fall asleep in my chair after reading only a few paragraphs. I couldn’t drive for weeks. So I began to take rest seriously. It took about a month and a half to get any energy back.
Doctors have been warning that pushing through COVID and other viral illness just makes it harder for the immune system to fully recover. Even after a person beats an infection, they can experience post-viral syndrome, which includes fatigue, confusion, trouble concentrating and other symptoms similar to chronic fatigue syndrome.
While COVID case counts rise across the country yet again, it’s more urgent than ever for us to reject the notion that work is more important than our bodies. My fellow Americans, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are not possible without rest, for it is a source of strength.