I'm a 66 year old dentist who has been practicing 2 days a week since June 2020. Everyone in the office wears an N95 mask and face shields, we have four air purifiers with HEPA filters and use an external vacuum system when doing procedures that generate aerosols... high speed drill, cavitron, slow speed drill, etc. When I'm not in the office, I stay at home except to go out for a walk with my son and we both wear masks and keep our distance from others. I don't go out for groceries, but use instacart and buy all my supplies online. I don't see others outside my immediate family bubble that I live with at home. I have followed all the guidelines advised by health authorities.... no travel, no get togethers, etc., and yet, I am Covid Positive as of today.
My dental assistant texted me this last Sunday, 1/24/21, to tell me that she was experiencing Covid symptoms and that she was going to get tested as soon as possible. I called my partner in my dental practice and we decided to cancel all appointments for the week and get ourselves tested. My partner tested negative, but both my assistant and I tested positive. Considering that we never take off our masks in the office except to eat, which I do so in my private office, and the staff isolates themselves by going into separate rooms, the only explanation is that we were exposed by an asymptomatic patient in which we did an aerosol generating procedure. I always knew this was a risk, I just I hoped that everything we were doing would be enough to prevent infection... it wasn't.
I am still asymptomatic, but I am not out of danger. I am isolating in a downstairs room with a private bathroom and hopefully, my family will not be infected. I was due for my second dose of vaccine on Monday, but, that will now have to wait. Hopefully, that first dose will provide me with some protection.
Stay safe, wear a mask, keep your distance, and don't go outside your bubble.
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