Can we talk COVID and how it affected you financially, emotionally, physically, etc?

[disneysteve]

I am not convinced it is over

It is not over. There is no "over". COVID is here to stay. There will continue to be millions of cases each year, hospitalizations, and deaths. We will continue to need periodic, probably annual, boosters, just as we do with the flu.

The BIG thing is that hopefully people have learned the most important lesson of all which is to STAY HOME when you're sick. Even if you think it's your allergies. Even if you think it's your "annual sinus infection". Even if you think it's "just a cold". STAY HOME. Do a COVID test 2-3 days in a row. Don't resume normal activity until you feel better and test negative on serial tests.

[Snydley]

To my knowledge I have never been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 and neither has my husband. I'm pretty aware of any changes to anyone's health/symptoms in my house, so unless we were totally asymptomatic cases (which I doubt we would be after so many boosters at this point) I think we are still in the never infected club. Reinfections are starting up for omicron, but case #s holding (even going down a bit) a couple weeks into school in the Northeast which means immunity from omicron infections earlier this year is still pretty effective.

We are in an interesting place with COVID. We could see Long COVID cases increase with reinfections, we might not. We could see longer term, durable protection from infection with this new booster, particularly when given to people who were infected with omicron this year (I'm far more optimistic than most of my fellow immunologists on this, and hopeful I'm right), or we could see a new variant and new problems. We are better off than we were 2020 and 2021 as it stands now. But, this virus is not something to ignore, especially with access to rapid tests which make it so easy to stop spreading events. But, this virus can infect your brain. Long COVID is now the 3rd leading cause of neurological disease in the US.

As DS says, if you feel sick, stay home. This will slow transmission a lot, because most people will now feel sick BEFORE they can spread this virus. How about improving ventilation/filtration? No masks needed and would make a big difference.

[rennigade]

"Just stay home if you feel sick.". Boy, if only it were that easy. I know several factory workers and call center folks who if they miss too many days, they're fired. We're all privileged here, not sure if anyone works on assembly line work on these forums. Different world. Should they just get fired? Horrible that employers can legally treat employees like that. That's the reality. Unfortunately, most people only know the bubble they live in.

[disneysteve]

"Just stay home if you feel sick.". Boy, if only it were that easy. I know several factory workers and call center folks who if they miss too many days, they're fired. We're all privileged here, not sure if anyone works on assembly line work on these forums. Different world. Should they just get fired? Horrible that employers can legally treat employees like that. That's the reality. Unfortunately, most people only know the bubble they live in.

You’re absolutely right. Lots of workers can’t stay home when they’re sick. That’s a huge problem. They don’t get sick days or PTO. If they don’t work, they don’t get paid. They can’t afford to not work even for a day. And if they miss a day they may not have a job to go back to.

[scfr]

Here is my question for the board: other than taking basic precautions, (getting the vaccine, not exposing yourself to persons showing illness symptoms and wearing a mask in high traffic public places), is worrying about covid something that really make sense at this point?

It would seem far better to me to go back to normal life: raising your kids, saving money and participating in your community.

Depends on how you define "worry." As far as thinking about and taking steps to *knock wood* hopefully minimize the odds that my family and especially my 81-year-old mother and intellectually disabled brother don't get COVID, yes, it does make sense. Life goes on, but not the same as before. More open windows, outdoor dining, asking visitors about vaccination status, etc.

[Snydley]

You’re absolutely right. Lots of workers can’t stay home when they’re sick. That’s a huge problem. They don’t get sick days or PTO. If they don’t work, they don’t get paid. They can’t afford to not work even for a day. And if they miss a day they may not have a job to go back to.

Yes I agree as well. I meant those of us that can stay home should. I was in a meeting two weeks ago with a very sick person, and he is infectious disease doctor. Coughing, blowing his nose, etc. He said pretty angrily that he tested 5x for COVID and it's not that (when I asked him). Ok, but this meeting you can zoom into no problem, no one wants to sit next to you for two hours straight right now. And you could turn positive for COVID any minute..

[Snydley]

Here is my question for the board: other than taking basic precautions, (getting the vaccine, not exposing yourself to persons showing illness symptoms and wearing a mask in high traffic public places), is worrying about covid something that really make sense at this point?

It would seem far better to me to go back to normal life: raising your kids, saving money and participating in your community.

My 15yo daughter had COVID in May (very mild case), she hasn't worn a mask much at all since. I'm the only person (pretty much always) in a mask at her volleyball games..with 100+ people in the gym. She and I were both recently boosted. She really needs to live like a normal teenager and I think she still has good immune protection, hopefully with the booster she won't get reinfected this year (or ever). Sometimes I feel a bit out of place as the only masked person at these games, but my thinking is, do I really want to get COVID from a stranger at a game where I'm not even trying to talk to anyone?

I was gong unmasked around people I knew who had omicron this year and no symptoms. Now, with probably some asymptomatic spread from previously infected people, I'm masked more at work. I do eat indoors in restaurants, just try to pick tables a bit away from people, etc. My thinking is, if I am going to take a risk, I want it to be worth it- out to dinner with friends, etc as opposed to work or in a random crowd watching something.

If the booster protects more than 90% from infection with BA5 I'll probably drop the mask completely for a while (at least until another surge, if it comes).

[disneysteve]

I was in a meeting two weeks ago with a very sick person, and he is infectious disease doctor. Coughing, blowing his nose, etc.

That's a disgrace.

Even if it's not COVID, you're still obviously sick with something contagious. If you can stay home, do so. At the very least, wear a mask if you're not feeling well to limit spreading your germs to others.

I'm hoping that the past couple of years will normalize mask-wearing.

[Snydley]

That's a disgrace.

Even if it's not COVID, you're still obviously sick with something contagious. If you can stay home, do so. At the very least, wear a mask if you're not feeling well to limit spreading your germs to others.

I'm hoping that the past couple of years will normalize mask-wearing.

He did wear a mask, a blue surgical one. I had on a KF94, which I would normally take down to drink, etc. during this long meeting, but didn't because of him.

[kork13]

Even if it's not COVID, you're still obviously sick with something contagious. If you can stay home, do so. At the very least, wear a mask if you're not feeling well to limit spreading your germs to others.

I'm hoping that the past couple of years will normalize mask-wearing.

That's something that I've always liked about many of the east Asian societies... If someone is sick (regardless of why), they'll wear a mask of some sort as a matter of course, out of respect for others. It's been that way for as long as I've been traveling to places like Japan, Korea, China, Singapore, etc. (since childhood, having grown up in Guam)

Politicians have weaponized healthcare/health management issues over the last decade or three, and it's only to the detriment of our society.

[ua_guy]

Here is my question for the board: other than taking basic precautions, (getting the vaccine, not exposing yourself to persons showing illness symptoms and wearing a mask in high traffic public places), is worrying about covid something that really make sense at this point?

It would seem far better to me to go back to normal life: raising your kids, saving money and participating in your community.

I spoke to an ER nurse the other day and she was telling me she still sees plenty of Covid patients. Most of them haven't had Covid before and don't know what to expect in terms of severity and symptoms, but the instance of truly severe covid cases is down. I shared my experience back in August - Covid is a different animal and it threw me for a loop. I wasn't right for 3 weeks after having it, at least, and some of the initial symptoms were startling.

With that said, I think most people have resumed "normal" life, and I certainly had been at the point I got Covid. If I had to guess, infections are getting ready to spike again with the return of Fall weather here in the US.

[disneysteve]

With that said, I think most people have resumed "normal" life, and I certainly had been at the point I got Covid. If I had to guess, infections are getting ready to spike again with the return of Fall weather here in the US.

Yes, cases will spike again as we move into fall and winter. We'll see a spike that starts right after Thanksgiving and runs until the first week of January. It's due to everyone having their big family holiday gatherings. Late November, all of December, and early January will be awful for those of us in front line medical positions. I'm very glad I dropped to per diem last month so that I won't have to deal with it nearly as much as I did last year.

[myrdale]

Last night I was suppose to have met a friend and take him out to dinner to discuss an upcoming backpacking trip. But instead I got to take him to the ER as he had just crashed his motorcycle and screwed up his shoulder, torn shoulder ligament I think, he's pitiful =( .

Anyway we were talking to one of the nurses about how long the wait was going to be to decide if we were going to stay at that ER or go to another and she said the hospital was slammed with covid. Of the about 120 rooms (for the hospital), they were at maximum capacity. There were maybe 10 other people in the ER waiting room, a cut foot, a concussion, other general ailments, but no coughing or extremely sick people that I could see. It was around 8pm. It seems like there is a lot more of it going on than people are currently recognizing. NW Georgia.

[GoodLiving]

At this point, I'm still a novid but my spouse has had it presumably twice, once for sure. I continue to wear a mask at work and in closed spaces. I've not been sick since January 2020. I've gotten my bivalent vaccine but waited on the flu vaccine because our flu season is long here. I'll be getting that next week. I hope you all stay healthy. I know that this has helped me develop a better awareness of how many folks have compromised immune systems.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Last night I was suppose to have met a friend and take him out to dinner to discuss an upcoming backpacking trip. But instead I got to take him to the ER as he had just crashed his motorcycle and screwed up his shoulder, torn shoulder ligament I think, he's pitiful =( .

Anyway we were talking to one of the nurses about how long the wait was going to be to decide if we were going to stay at that ER or go to another and she said the hospital was slammed with covid. Of the about 120 rooms (for the hospital), they were at maximum capacity. There were maybe 10 other people in the ER waiting room, a cut foot, a concussion, other general ailments, but no coughing or extremely sick people that I could see. It was around 8pm. It seems like there is a lot more of it going on than people are currently recognizing. NW Georgia.

So how long did it take at the ER? Did you stay or move on? Was it a big wait?