They took every precaution, but COVID-19 caught up with them

In retrospect, the Omicron variant came at the worst possible time.

School was in session, the vaccine booster campaign was ramping up and the Christmas break was approaching. For many, there was reason to hope that, after nearly two years of fear and isolation, the end of this pandemic was finally within reach.

But while it initially appeared that the new strain, while highly transmissible, packed a weaker punch than its predecessors, the sheer number of infections soon decimated the workforce and threatened to overwhelm hospitals. 

Public health experts tell us this is no time to let down our guard, and to continue with masking, handwashing, self-screening, vaccinations and avoiding large crowds. 

These people heeded that advice, but COVID-19 found them anyway. 

Michelle Gallant, an educational assistant with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, believes she contracted COVID-19 in the classroom just before the Christmas break.

Gallant got her booster shot that Saturday and started feeling sick the following Tuesday evening. Her children, ages seven and 10, began experiencing the same symptoms — hoarseness, congestion, aches, fever and chills — two days later.

Gallant's seven-year-old son, who has asthma, became so ill that on Christmas Eve she had to take him to hospital in Almonte, Ont., where the family lives, for a shot of dexamethasone, a medication commonly used to treat croup.

It was a frightening experience for everyone involved, she said. But for Gallant, knowing she'd probably passed COVID-19 on to her kids was the worst part.

"I felt awful. They're sick and Christmas was ruined because of me being at a high-risk job and bringing it home."

Last week, Gallant and her two children were still coughing, but on the mend.

Ottawa resident Robin Browne began feeling unwell the morning after he and his family got their booster shots, two days before Christmas.

At first he dismissed it as a side effect of the vaccine — he'd had similar reactions to previous doses — but when the fatigue and congestion persisted, he suspected COVID-19. A PCR test proved him right, though he says his symptoms were relatively mild and manageable.

"That was really it. Once that passed I was good," said Browne, a communications professional with the federal government.