#WYNTK Coronavirus Diaries: The Virus Hits Close To Home
Update: On behalf of the WYNTK team, I wanted to send out a special thanks to all of the first responders. THANK YOU. Your courageous dedicated commitment to keeping us safe and well is forever embedded in our hearts. To my cousin Candi and the many people who have called, emailed, text, and Facebooked with concerns about my best friend and executive producer’s husband, Ward White: He tested negative for coronavirus. Praise God. And again, thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Stay safe. Stay connected. — Sybil Wilkes
As a person who considers herself to be accountable, aware yet optimistic, I too, have been personally affected by the coronavirus disaster. I am the Executive Producer of the What You Need To Know Newsletter and Sybil Wilkes. Having the responsibility of producing Sybil, it takes everything that I have to keep up with the coronavirus crisis and its affects across the world. While my family and friends are sharing how they are binging on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Instagram and Facebook, the WYNTK staff is 24/7 news. Sybil is in heaven, while her staff is less than amused (I can’t wait to get to the America Gangsta series on BET Plus). Recognizing that many people both personally and professionally depend on Sybil to know what’s going on, my job is to keep her ready to deliver.
When the WYNTK office was shut down, we moved the operation to my house where our small staff worked closely out of my home office. Because the news was changing at such a rapid pace, we would literally spend day and night “at the office”. By the way, the new “office” also doubles as a super deluxe convalescent home for the senior Ward White, who celebrates his birthday today. Happy 82nd birthday, Dad!
I digress. Sybil was prepared to take the guest bedroom as word of the “shelter in place” mandate for the Dallas/Fort Worth area was closer. But… the coronavirus had other plans.
Day 1
Work was going well, and we were proud of the work that we were producing, when my husband came and announced that he had a 10 a.m. doctor’s appointment. Ward White, who is really the healthiest person that I know, works out EVERY day, eats nutritiously, drinks lots and lots of water and gets plenty of sleep, was not feeling well. Out of our 16 years of marriage, he has never, I really mean, never been sick. I was immediately troubled. When he explained that I had to drive him to the appointment because he was dizzy and that we had to enter the doctor’s office through the back door, I was even more unsettled. After speaking with the doctor and receiving a thorough check up and blood work, the doctor’s initial reluctant diagnosis was bronchitis. He prescribed some medicine and rest and told us that he would call within two days with results from the blood work. That was great news for us, as I was already anxious about getting back to the office because we had work to do. I alerted my team that they had to work from their individual homes because I didn’t want to possibly expose them to “anything.” Upon hearing the disturbing news, Chika, Sybil’s senior producer, was noticeably upset and insisted that, “We don’t have time to get blood work back. Ya’ll need to have a test immediately.”
Because of what we do, we are constantly looking at the news without breaks, so I understood her request and agreed to call the doctor and request a prescription for a test for the coronavirus. My husband and I are pretty positive and patient people, but I have to admit that moments crept into my mind where I began wondering about worse-case scenarios. That night I was so emotionally drained that for the first time, I fell asleep before the newsletter was posted. I am a naturally upbeat person and a yoga teacher with special certifications in meditation and trauma informed therapy.
Day 2
10:00am
We called the doctor and requested a test. They did the pre-screening, asking necessary questions and agreed that he (Ward) qualified for the test. The test was scheduled for 1:15pm.
12:50pm
We left the house for the 17-mile drive to take the test.
1:10pm
We arrived at a very nondescript building and were led to the back in a parking garage. No other cars were there. About seven people in medical garb were at two tables with a lot of medical products. We were instructed to stay in the car, and they would come to us for the test.
1:15pm
Ward was given a test for the flu and strep after receiving instruction that we could not divulge the location of the testing and that there is a $75 fee.
1:25pm
After testing negative for the flu and strep, Ward received the test for coronavirus and was told that we will know the results within 1 – 4 days.
So, now we wait. Yes, we will continue working. But, the WYNTK staff will work in quarantine while we wait for the results.
