Dr. Lisa Barrett tests positive for COVID-19, talks symptoms and why keeping contacts low matters

For the past two years, Dr. Lisa Barrett has spoken extensively about COVID-19 and shared her expertise around epidemiology.

Now, the Nova Scotia-based infectious disease expert is experiencing the virus firsthand.

“It’s surprising because I’m pretty darn careful,” she told Global News on Sunday, adding she was “a smidgen annoyed.”

“(It’s) good that this version of the virus may be milder, good that vaccines work. I’ve had three of them, and I feel pretty good at this point,” she said.

“But it’s a great reminder for folks you don’t always know when you got COVID. And you won’t know if you see vulnerable people a lot until a little too late if you keep up your usual patterns of behaviour without testing.”

Barrett, who uses rapid tests regularly, discovered she was positive before experiencing any symptoms.

She said it’s unclear how she caught it.

“It is very likely that I am very early in the course of this and therefore the number of people I’ve exposed — both because of the way I do things and because of the way I test if I’m going to be around vulnerable people — keeps the number of at-risk folks very small,” she said.

As a health-care worker with vulnerable friends and family, Barrett said she has spent the pandemic reducing her chances of inadvertently infecting those around her. Not only has she been diligent about taking precautions herself, but she has asked her contacts to see her less often and to test regularly.

She said despite taking these measures, she still contracted COVID-19.

So — as many people have asked her before — why bother?

Barrett pointed to the fact that 15 to 20 per cent of Nova Scotians meet the criteria for being “vulnerable” when it comes to COVID-19. That includes those who are elderly, the young, and those who have weakened immune systems.

“I happen to not be one of those vulnerable people. And at this point, early in the course of my COVID, I’m not particularly sick. This is not about me,” she said.

“This is about the people around us. And that is what we have to think about.”

Province to lift restrictions March 21

The province is set to lift all remaining COVID-19 restrictions on March 21. At that point, capacity limits, social distancing and mask mandates will be a thing of the past.

But Barrett said her experience testing positive should serve as a reminder about the importance of maintaining a level of precautions.

There is still a high level of virus activity in the community, she pointed out.

“I think it’s really important for folks not to again live in fear. But live moderately for the next number of months so that we can help protect people around us who may not have the ability to protect themselves,” she said.

“There are lots of tests out there and available. We all have our masks, so hopefully we can keep that advice together, get boosters out and see people continuing to do a little bit of moderate activity as we get around to living in the next period before respiratory virus season ends at the end of May.”

Barrett took the opportunity to add testing positive is “not a panic situation” and “not a blame game.”

And there are steps people who test positive should continue to take — even when restrictions are dropped.

“I did go out and register my positive rapid test on the Report and Support (screening form) so that there is a record of that. And I happen to know that I would not need early therapy, but there are many people out there who may qualify,” she said.

“If you’re a high-risk person, try to get your PCR tests so that that’s another way to come to the attention of system for early treatment.”

She said people should also take it easy during their isolation and not hesitate to reach out for medical help if symptoms worsen.

2:10 COVID-19: N.S. doctor on the success of their rapid testing program amid Omicron variant spread

As for what the next few months will look like after the province lifts its restrictions, Barrett said it’s too early to say.

However, she said there are indications cases are rising in Europe again.

“But this is not a guessing game when one takes away all of the precautions that we used to bring cases down. Cases are going to go back up and no matter how mild Omicron is, if you make the number of cases high enough, there will be vulnerable people, who didn’t need to end up in hospital and very sick, who will,” she said.

“And that will be something that we’ll see happen if we take away all these precautions and no one decides to wear masks anymore.”