After tested positive for COVID last Sunday, Jessica Hische’s family members each took COVID tests. Since then, her three children and husband have had to test daily so that her children can attend school and camp.
The family goes through four tests a day – one just for her husband to drop off their children. Hische has not tested since she got her positive result, and when she does, her testing costs will increase.
Her two sons, ages 3 and 5, attend kindergarten and her daughter, ages 7, attends a summer day camp. Both require a daily negative test because someone in their household tested positive.
“I was very happy that they had a way of sending our children without them having to stay home and isolate,” says Hische, who plans to file claims with her insurance for the tests in a attempt to get refund. “But at the same time, the amount of tests is really picking up.”
Each COVID test kit comes with two individual tests and costs Hische $ 17.99 before tax. With about 25 tests a week, she looks at about $ 400 for less than two weeks.
Inflation is at a 40-year high, with the cost of everything from gas to groceries rising rapidly. The additional financial burden of purchasing COVID tests in bulk is not something that everyone can handle at this time.
“I wanted to share because people do not really understand what happens when it hits a house, because I did not really get it either,” Hische said Fortune, and adds that she and her husband are happy because they are both high earners who can drive the additional expense.
She thinks that those who could not keep up with the cost of tests should leave the job, stay at home and isolate themselves with their children, which will possibly lead to lost wages.
“You just do not realize before you go through it how many tests you have to go through,” Hische said.
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
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