A word of warning about this round of COVID

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I - late 50's - just got Covid for the 2nd time. First time it was "just a cold" but this time we both got very sick - fever, GI symptoms, endless coughing and congestion. DH's oxygen got down to 95% on the 2nd day so he got Paxlovid - it worked, but he did get mild rebound symptoms and tested positive >2 weeks (he has to test negative before going back to office). I was positive for about 10 days. My heart rate is still elevated 2 weeks later - don't know what that means.

Agree with OP that seems to be a different animal. Very strange virus.

I also lost my smell and taste, and got "Covid tongue" where my tongue was sore and burning. Not fun, and I've lost about 5 pounds.

Oh no, sorry to hear that. I have it much milder, just some congestion and two days of a little stomach upset, but nothing too painful. My last booster was the one last fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know people were still testing for this anymore. It's 2024, not 2021. It's endemic. We don't isolate anymore and nobody masks. There's no point.

One of the points of testing is to get an antiviral. The last time I got Covid, it lasted weeks and I was terribly sick. I waited too long to take the antiviral. I don’t want to go through that again if I don’t have to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know people were still testing for this anymore. It's 2024, not 2021. It's endemic. We don't isolate anymore and nobody masks. There's no point.

One of the points of testing is to get an antiviral. The last time I got Covid, it lasted weeks and I was terribly sick. I waited too long to take the antiviral. I don’t want to go through that again if I don’t have to.

This. I also tested and got treatment when I had the flu (yes, I had been vaccinated) because a young, healthy family member died of the flu. Even common, endemic illnesses can kill and you don’t know in advance what the illness course will be with you.

[Anonymous]

Home test didn’t pick it up but in MD office PCR did. 36 hours of severe congestion. Took Paxlovid. Fine 2 weeks out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know people were still testing for this anymore. It's 2024, not 2021. It's endemic. We don't isolate anymore and nobody masks. There's no point.

Why can’t we be like Asian countries and mask when we’re sick to decrease the spread of viruses? It really isn’t that hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know people were still testing for this anymore. It's 2024, not 2021. It's endemic. We don't isolate anymore and nobody masks. There's no point.

Why can’t we be like Asian countries and mask when we’re sick to decrease the spread of viruses? It really isn’t that hard.

Because orange man made it a thing, and now people don’t “believe in” masks or they think wearing a mask attacks their freedom.

I shocked a roofer who doesn’t believe in masks by saying he’d probably want a doctor to wear one in surgery. I mean, I certainly would not want accidental spit landing on my internal organs.

I think the roofer never considered this aspect until I mentioned it. He was too busy hating “the libs.”

People don’t think ahead and fall into watching too much dumb TV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know people were still testing for this anymore. It's 2024, not 2021. It's endemic. We don't isolate anymore and nobody masks. There's no point.

Why can’t we be like Asian countries and mask when we’re sick to decrease the spread of viruses? It really isn’t that hard.

Because 2+ years of forcing preschoolers to mask predictably led to an over-correction the other way.

If mask mandates had been shorter and more targeted, I think we'd be in a very different situation when it comes to perceptions about masking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many government agencies were more back to the office starting May 1st.
1st week back - super spreader event where I work with more than 5 people on my team out the next week (and some out the following week as well!

Many of us have been working in-person throughout the entire pandemic. We’re doing just fine.

Welcome back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know people were still testing for this anymore. It's 2024, not 2021. It's endemic. We don't isolate anymore and nobody masks. There's no point.

Why can’t we be like Asian countries and mask when we’re sick to decrease the spread of viruses? It really isn’t that hard.

You are most infectious before you feel sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know people were still testing for this anymore. It's 2024, not 2021. It's endemic. We don't isolate anymore and nobody masks. There's no point.

Why can’t we be like Asian countries and mask when we’re sick to decrease the spread of viruses? It really isn’t that hard.

You are most infectious before you feel sick.

No, you’re most infectious when you feel the worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't know people were still testing for this anymore. It's 2024, not 2021. It's endemic. We don't isolate anymore and nobody masks. There's no point.

Why can’t we be like Asian countries and mask when we’re sick to decrease the spread of viruses? It really isn’t that hard.

Because orange man made it a thing, and now people don’t “believe in” masks or they think wearing a mask attacks their freedom.

I shocked a roofer who doesn’t believe in masks by saying he’d probably want a doctor to wear one in surgery. I mean, I certainly would not want accidental spit landing on my internal organs.

I think the roofer never considered this aspect until I mentioned it. He was too busy hating “the libs.”

People don’t think ahead and fall into watching too much dumb TV.

You didn’t shock anyone. He just realized you are an idiot and disengaged.

[Anonymous]

I think my entire preschool class has Covid, but parents keep sending in their kids with congestion, coughs, runny noses, and 99° fevers. It’s frustrating but we don’t exclude for any of those symptoms so we’re stuck with sick kids.

[Anonymous]

Dh and DD(22) have covid right now. DD is pretty sick, and DH was exhausted. I am not near them as I do not want to get sick.

[Anonymous]

A new study found that masking did not have any effect on the spread of COVID-19.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A new study found that masking did not have any effect on the spread of COVID-19.

No, that's not what it said.

"Wearing face masks played a valuable role in reducing transmission of COVID during the first two years of the pandemic," Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia in the U.K., told Newsweek.

"By themselves, they were never going to be able to eliminate transmission, but they certainly reduced it. Very early in the pandemic we estimated, based on pre-COVID data, that if everyone wore masks we could reduce transmission by about 20 percent."

After the first Omicron wave, they noticed that masks didn't seem as effective, probably because Omicron was so much more infectious.

But this doesn't mean that masks are completely useless. "There is good evidence that one of the factors behind how sick you get is the size of the dose of virus to which you are exposed," Hunter said. "So, one suggestion is that if you wear a mask and still catch COVID, you get a lower dose and so likely have less severe disease."

So does that mean we should all still be wearing face masks? "I think for most of us the answer is no," Hunter said. "Most of us have already had multiple COVID infections by now. But people who are at increased risk of severe disease may still benefit."

https://www.newsweek.com/covid-face-masks-infections-omicron-1901033