5 Israeli Corona Stories

Back in March 2020 when the Coronavirus was at its early stages we asked through our Facebook page who has a great Israeli Bidud story. Who would have thought that 4 months later this will still be going on?

01 My Books

By Blimi Hadad

My story, unfortunately, is not super interesting.

I didn't fly anywhere or come in contact with the lady from New York. The only difference between me and most other people in bidud is that, while they are trying to keep the infection in, I am trying to keep it out.

Due to a compromised respiratory system, I fall under the category of people more susceptible to the infection. So basically my doctor has me on lockdown.

There's nothing like being in your twenties and rating in the same demographic as the geriatrics. Plus my place of work has closed due to Bibi's new plan of action. So I guess it's me, my books, and these four walls for the next month or so.

02 The Wish List

By Gila Ashkenazy

Shalom from Bidud heaven.

I already have a wish list. It started with Passover cleaning, moved on to too much online shopping, and now that the kids are all home I’m going to potty train the little one.

So, no one is leaving the house until she’s done!

Why am I in the bidud? well, I’m here because two weeks ago I went to the US for work. Right before I left the office, people patted me on the back and wished me luck during my conferences.

Alongside them were the five (yes five!!) pregnant women in the office who swore revenge and multiple curses if I returned to the office to infect them all with the Coronavirus.

Now I am one week back and in bidud at home with my two girls (8 and 3 yo) hoping there is no virus in my system.

Our hearts went out to Gila when we understood that mothers in bidud and are having a hard time taking care of their kids...

03 The Last Twix

By Melanie Kraus

On day 6 of quarantine, I found myself chasing my boyfriend around the apartment with a broom over the last remaining Twix bar in the house. On the plus side, I think we've now seen each other at our worst.

04 Wish it was Corona

By Anonymous

Bidud was great...until it wasn’t.

My boyfriend and I are in bidud because we traveled. While we were on our trip my boyfriend had a fever and it continued even when we returned home. He went to the doctor who ran a CBC (regular blood draw) in order to see what was happening. His blood test was great, but the fever progressed and he went from feeling fine but feverish to weak and even more feverish.

Our bidud started only a few days after returning (oops) and because of his fever, MDA came and tested him for Corona (#1). The test came back negative.

The fever continued and worsened. On day 10 of his fever, we reached out to his doctor who said to take akamol and call MDA (Magen David Adom). Because he was in bidud there wasn’t much more she could do. We did as we were told and called MDA, who said that because he was in bidud they couldn’t help, either. They did, however, come to do another Corona test (#2) which also came back negative.

Finally, on day 12 of his fever, his tough Israeli mother had had enough and demanded an ambulance. This is when he FINALLY got to the hospital, where they did another Corona test (#3) and a lung CT scan. The lung scan was clear (which it wouldn’t be if he had Corona) but it took 36 additional hours for the results of the Corona swabs. Let’s just say he didn’t get much attention until the third negative results came in.

So, Israeli mom to the rescue AGAIN! She went down there and raised hell. They moved him to a better-locked room, found some doctors to look at him and released him 2 days later with no answers.

Today is day 17 since his fever started and day 13 of bidud. He hasn’t had a fever in 24 hours, Thank G-d, so I pray that the saga is over and we can enjoy the last few days of bidud as we were meant to Netflix and chill... just as the rest of the country is gearing up for their own!!

I choose to remember the Great Bidud of 2020 without the distress of Corona. And for all the readers out there, if you have to get sick, let it be Corona, otherwise, you’re in BIG TROUBLE.

Better yet, stay home and JUST DON’T GET SICK!

05 The Big Mistake

By Moriah Green

My name is Moriah, I am 24 years old and work as a nurse in the High-Risk Pregnancy and Postpartum department in Shamir (Asaf Harofeh) medical center.

I was returning from a vacation in Portugal, with a stopover in Austria where I happen to have done, 4 years ago, my National Service in the Jewish community there, working in a Jewish school and Bnei Akiva youth group.

While I was sitting at the airport, with no Wifi, after a full day traveling from Portugal, I debated if I should just sleep like a homeless person at the airport in Vienna with no kosher food for 24 hours, or go visit friends and have a normal meal and shower.

I decided to go to visit them - Big mistake.

Two days later, back in Israel, I was informed that leaving the airport meant I was forced into 14 days of quarantine! Crazy! Since I only left the airport for 4 hours!

Long story short, I finished my bidud (Thanks g-d) and am back at work!

Here is a summary of my 14 days of bidud:

Lots of yoga, meditations, frustrations, Purim, dress-up party for 1, Megillah by Chabad, wine, beer (Tuborg, not Corona), workout over WhatsApp video, talking to friends, family, talking to myself, talking to an inanimate object (probably the majority of talking), singing, fixing things, reorganizing, reading and NETFLIX.

Hope you enjoyed this!

Do you have a great Corona story?