Any other time, Kari Houser would have dismissed her fatigue and body aches after a morning of yard work. But it was March 14, months into the COVID-19 pandemic and six weeks since the virus emerged in Wisconsin.
“I work at Mayo so obviously I was acutely aware of the viral spread and the symptoms,” says Houser, operations manager at Mayo Clinic Health System and a resident of Onalaska.
After developing a fever, and learning her husband was experiencing unexplained tiredness and achiness as well, Houser decided to do drive-up testing at Mayo on Monday the 16th, eligible due to her work in health care.
“I thought, ‘Better safe than sorry,’” Houser says.
Still, Houser was shocked to learn she was La Crosse County’s second confirmed case of the virus, her test results revealed March 18. Having spent the weekend with her husband, daughter Claire, 20, son Carter, 17, and Claire’s boyfriend, it was presumed everyone in the household would contract the virus, and all spent the next 14 days under quarantine together.
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“We locked ourselves down pretty quickly,” says Houser, who was grateful her symptoms developed during a weekend when she hadn’t left the house. As a precaution, her three immediate colleagues also spent the next two weeks in isolation in their residences.
The La Crosse County Health Department follow-up investigation, Houser says, pinpointed the family had been exposed to COVID-19 after a trip to Milwaukee a week earlier for Carter’s hockey tournament. Carter remained asymptomatic for the duration of the quarantine, and the rest of the household experienced only mild symptoms that passed within just a few days.
“We obviously feel very lucky in so many ways,” Houser says. “There’s nobody we’ve been in contact with that tested positive that we know of. Being locked up in quarantine for 14 days gave us lots of time to reflect. Not every family has a 14-day supply of food. We were still able to work from home so we didn’t have to worry about financial security.”
Rather than getting on each other’s nerves, the family appreciated the time together, Houser says, with communal meals a rarity with one child in college and the other busy with sports and high school. Days were spent playing Monopoly, eating around the table and engaging in conversation.
“We talked about those less fortunate and ways we could help others,” Houser says.
Learning that Mayo Clinic in Rochester was a leader in the Convalescent Plasma Expanded Access Program, in which the plasma of those recovered from COVID-19 is given to patients in critical condition due to the virus, the entire family and Claire’s boyfriend registered to donate. Currently in the screening process, they are waiting to see if they will qualify.
As an immediate gesture, the Housers made a financial contribution to WAFER Food Pantry — “I was shocked a relatively modest donation was the equivalent of 1,000 meals” — Houser says, and Carter and Claire have been delivering meals and offering child care to those employed in essential fields.
“I encourage people to reach out and help others with whatever means are available to you,” Houser says. “There are so many opportunities and random acts of kindness you can do.”
Houser urges community members to heed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state guidelines during this time — “The last thing we want to do is spread this terrible disease” — with diligent hand washing and disinfection, social distancing and staying at home.
During a time when anxiety levels are high, Houser knows many fear being part of the “15 to 20% that experience severe symptoms.” But there is a whole community looking out for each other and doing their part to flatten the curve.
“We can do this,” Houser says. “We’ve got this.”