Fredericton — In the aftermath of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, numerous New Brunswickers are reporting COVID-like symptoms this morning.
“Yeah, the weird thing is, I’m pretty sure I never left the house,” one such patient, Kyle Barrett, told The Manatee over Zoom. “I can’t be one hundred percent sure, though. I was drunk as hell.”
Barrett isn’t the only one. Hundreds of New Brunswickers called in to work sick this morning with symptoms very much like those related to COVID, such as headaches, dry mouth and fatigue.
As for Barrett, he is isolating in his home — which, over Zoom, appears to have been completely devastated by the previous night’s celebrations. Green St. Patrick’s Day decorations hang lopsided on the walls, empty beer cans are strewn about the floor, and Barrett himself hadn’t bothered to get off of the floor before answering the call. He says that he’s staying home today so to not risk the health of his co-workers.
“I’m double-vaccinated, and I’ve got the booster,” he explained. “But you never know. It’s always best to play it safe.”
Here, he took a quick swing from a whiskey bottle that was sitting open on his coffee table.
“Hair of the dog that infected me,” he said, with a wink.