After 2 years working every day in the ICU with covid patients, I finally contracted the darn bug - on vacation. 🤦‍♀️ I just finished the Best of Spain tour, and the morning of my test I woke up with a sore throat. Unfortunately, I was positive. My husband was not, so he was able to return home.
So far, everything is going well. My symptoms are no worse than a minor cold. We told the hotel and they downgraded me to a smaller single room which only costs 55 euro per night. They were even willing to let us use their washer and dryer since I was out of clean clothes. I read up on the requirements in Spain. There is no requirement to notify anyone or to be on strict quarantine. They request you wear a mask if you go out and limit interaction with other people. I have been leaving my room once per day in a k95 mask to get food and walk in the park for air and exercise. I found a bakery where I can buy 2 sandwiches for the day for 8 euros with a contactless payment system so I dont have to closely interact with anyone. So, all in all, it hasn't been terribly expensive to extend my stay so far, which is lucky.
I'm reading that people test positive for a long time, so am anticipating waiting the full 10 days and then getting a doctor's certification to travel. But once my symptoms fully clear, I'll test again on the off chance that I come up negative.
It's definitely the fly in the ointment of an otherwise perfect trip, but I was mentally prepared for the outcome and it could definitely be worse.