BA.2 surge hitting US in April/May

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m covid cautious (tripe vaxxed, still wear medical masks in stores etc) and yet I still remember DCUM falling all over itself just a few months ago to agree with this thread. Such ridiculous nonsense. I am tired of this hysteria.

I work in an ER and this wasn’t hysteria, it was true! Wait times were over 24 hours for patients. It only lasted a few weeks but it was horrific. Not necessarily in terms of deaths (thankfully) but in terms of sheer numbers of patients.

Sorry PP, with people's urge to treat the whole 2 years of the pandemic as a nothingburger, just based on the mildness of Omicron (friends have had Delta, and you would not have wanted that one) any medical professional that wants to talk about the actual patient loads in the hospitals is going to get "canceled."
Thanks for your work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it will come to US, and I hope that it is a mild new variant. Well, now all kids schools are mask optional, so indoor mandates are removed in most dmv area. I hope that no more school closing in person, and I am fine that they bring back the rules that kids are required to mask to keep it open.

We were vaccinated and had 2 weeks of covid. It was worse than a bad cold, but I survived. DH said if we were not boosted on top go fully vaccinated, probably I might ended up going to ER.

How old are you? Do you have other medical conditions? Are you obese?

If you were under the age of 50, otherwise healthy, the data shows that you would likely NOT have ended up in the ER. Especially if you were vaccinated. There is little data to show that a booster makes a difference for healthy people under the age of 50x.

Sorry, but your DH might have been wrong about this.

My overweight 50 year old friend only had one J&J shot and got covid nearly a year later. She was sick for ten days. Never needed the ER.

Okkkayyy. And that’s your conclusion for how it plays out for all?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m covid cautious (tripe vaxxed, still wear medical masks in stores etc) and yet I still remember DCUM falling all over itself just a few months ago to agree with this thread. Such ridiculous nonsense. I am tired of this hysteria.

I work in an ER and this wasn’t hysteria, it was true! Wait times were over 24 hours for patients. It only lasted a few weeks but it was horrific. Not necessarily in terms of deaths (thankfully) but in terms of sheer numbers of patients.

Lol. Life was not "unrecognizable" for most Americans.

DP I think we can acknowledge the situation was really bad for healthcare workers and people needing ER care, while also understanding:
- Many people were going to the ER not because they had urgent symptoms but because they wanted COVID tests. This was preventable but the average American could not have done anything to stop that from happening. We created a system where people need tests in order to travel/work/get child care but didn't expand testing capacity. That's on the Biden administration.
- While many Americans caught omicron, the vast majority of Americans did not experience "unrecognizable" life - just a lot of systems under a lot of stress. There was still food, most schools were open (in contrast to one year prior) and many people's lives proceeded as normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m covid cautious (tripe vaxxed, still wear medical masks in stores etc) and yet I still remember DCUM falling all over itself just a few months ago to agree with this thread. Such ridiculous nonsense. I am tired of this hysteria.

I work in an ER and this wasn’t hysteria, it was true! Wait times were over 24 hours for patients. It only lasted a few weeks but it was horrific. Not necessarily in terms of deaths (thankfully) but in terms of sheer numbers of patients.

Lol. Life was not "unrecognizable" for most Americans.

I was referring to the part about anyone who was unfortunate enough to need emergency care during that time. My friends child needed stitches and he literally was not able to get them! He showed up at PM Pediatrics at 6pm and was told they weren’t taking any more patients since they already had OVER 100 CHECKED IN and they closed in 6 hours. He went to the ER and was told 24 hour wait time. Called a doc friend who said after 24 hours it would be too late anyways.

Now is this a tragedy? Not really. He will have a scar he wouldn’t have had but it’s not like he died. But medical care was not accessible for about 4 weeks for most people and that’s a fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll need too dead bodies in the bread aisle of Giant before I go back to wearing a mask. Omicron wasn’t sht when I caught it.

+1

Don’t care at all about new variants. This is life now. Not wearing a mask ever again.

Cool. Enjoy not flying.

I flew this week. It was the first time in nearly six months that I wore a mask. It was more awful than I remembered.

Grow up.

Nope. It was awful. Hot and stuffy. I can’t believe my kids were only recently unshackled from this nonsense.

With all of the actual suffering in the world, and plenty of it fairly visible to anyone following news at all, I have a really hard time understanding how a rational adult can believe wearing a mask rates at all. My conclusion is that you must not be a rational adult.

So if you get a headache do you not take advil because eyour suffering does not rate against all that in the world?

If you are hungry do you not eat because it does not rate against all the hunger in the world?

If your leg itches do you not scratch it because there are bigger problems to be solved?

I agree there are bigger problems than masks but it’s still fine to try to avoid unnecessary discomfort/annoyance in your daily life.

Those are terrible analogies.

This isn't the suffering olympics either. This country values freedom, and there are trade offs with that. IMO mask mandates are too restrictive in a time of vaccines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people wear cloth masks or flimsy “medical’ masks from China (that I’m pretty sure are full of chemicals as evidenced by the breakouts and odd smell). Are they really protecting anyone?

I rarely see high quality masks properly worn by people.

Where are you looking? In the District almost everyone is wearing N95s or KN95s. Our offices are handing them out and we're all ordering them online now that they're widely available. Because... we're not idiots. Your cloth mask-focused arguments do not match reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll need too dead bodies in the bread aisle of Giant before I go back to wearing a mask. Omicron wasn’t sht when I caught it.

+1

Don’t care at all about new variants. This is life now. Not wearing a mask ever again.

Cool. Enjoy not flying.

I flew this week. It was the first time in nearly six months that I wore a mask. It was more awful than I remembered.

Grow up.

Nope. It was awful. Hot and stuffy. I can’t believe my kids were only recently unshackled from this nonsense.

With all of the actual suffering in the world, and plenty of it fairly visible to anyone following news at all, I have a really hard time understanding how a rational adult can believe wearing a mask rates at all. My conclusion is that you must not be a rational adult.

So if you get a headache do you not take advil because eyour suffering does not rate against all that in the world?

If you are hungry do you not eat because it does not rate against all the hunger in the world?

If your leg itches do you not scratch it because there are bigger problems to be solved?

I agree there are bigger problems than masks but it’s still fine to try to avoid unnecessary discomfort/annoyance in your daily life.

These are poor analogies because none of the actions you mention endanger other people. And if they were proposed in good faith, it must mean you are incapable of understanding the mechanics of disease transmission and the consequences of your actions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m covid cautious (tripe vaxxed, still wear medical masks in stores etc) and yet I still remember DCUM falling all over itself just a few months ago to agree with this thread. Such ridiculous nonsense. I am tired of this hysteria.

I work in an ER and this wasn’t hysteria, it was true! Wait times were over 24 hours for patients. It only lasted a few weeks but it was horrific. Not necessarily in terms of deaths (thankfully) but in terms of sheer numbers of patients.

Sorry PP, with people's urge to treat the whole 2 years of the pandemic as a nothingburger, just based on the mildness of Omicron (friends have had Delta, and you would not have wanted that one) any medical professional that wants to talk about the actual patient loads in the hospitals is going to get "canceled."
Thanks for your work.

Come on. The Twitter thread was full hysteria that simply didn’t happen. Here is what else she said, among other things:

When we go to grocery stores & find shelves empty, to pharmacies & find them closed because every single employee is out sick themselves or tending to a loved one. Please get what you need to look after your household. Fill prescriptions, get over the counter meds & staples…

And on and on. And that simply didn’t happen.

This level of hysterical ranting does nobody good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m covid cautious (tripe vaxxed, still wear medical masks in stores etc) and yet I still remember DCUM falling all over itself just a few months ago to agree with this thread. Such ridiculous nonsense. I am tired of this hysteria.

The worst part is those people never return to their old predictions, never hold themselves accountable, just go on posting about the State of the Union and the war in Ukraine like they weren’t sensationally stoking fear just weeks earlier.

THIS! It drives me crazy.

Not so much when a random twitter doc does it, but very much so when the media does it. We see these crazy headlines and stories on CNN or in the Washington Post stoking fear all the time and people read it as the inevitable truth.

How does one hold someone "accountable" for their opinions on Twitter?

Well I mean if some far right person goes on a rant, they’re liable to end up getting, eventually, mainstream attention for their ridiculous views and maybe it even affects their day job. Apparently if you’re a far left Branch Covidian, you can go on as normal and pretend like nothing ever happened … even at your day job as an actual doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m covid cautious (tripe vaxxed, still wear medical masks in stores etc) and yet I still remember DCUM falling all over itself just a few months ago to agree with this thread. Such ridiculous nonsense. I am tired of this hysteria.

I work in an ER and this wasn’t hysteria, it was true! Wait times were over 24 hours for patients. It only lasted a few weeks but it was horrific. Not necessarily in terms of deaths (thankfully) but in terms of sheer numbers of patients.

Sorry PP, with people's urge to treat the whole 2 years of the pandemic as a nothingburger, just based on the mildness of Omicron (friends have had Delta, and you would not have wanted that one) any medical professional that wants to talk about the actual patient loads in the hospitals is going to get "canceled."
Thanks for your work.

Come on. The Twitter thread was full hysteria that simply didn’t happen. Here is what else she said, among other things:

When we go to grocery stores & find shelves empty, to pharmacies & find them closed because every single employee is out sick themselves or tending to a loved one. Please get what you need to look after your household. Fill prescriptions, get over the counter meds & staples…

And on and on. And that simply didn’t happen.

This level of hysterical ranting does nobody good.

Maybe you just didn’t need to get meds filled in late December/ early January because the CVSs around us both closed for 3-5 days at different points due to lack of staff. PM Pediatrics also closed a few locations due to lack of staff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m covid cautious (tripe vaxxed, still wear medical masks in stores etc) and yet I still remember DCUM falling all over itself just a few months ago to agree with this thread. Such ridiculous nonsense. I am tired of this hysteria.

I work in an ER and this wasn’t hysteria, it was true! Wait times were over 24 hours for patients. It only lasted a few weeks but it was horrific. Not necessarily in terms of deaths (thankfully) but in terms of sheer numbers of patients.

How many of those people really need to go to the ER though?
Did they show up to get tested thinking they had covid?
How many had been so scared by media coverage over the past few years that even if they were vaccinated and had few symptoms they literally had anxiety attacks convincing them whatever symptom they had was much worse and went to the ER>

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ll need too dead bodies in the bread aisle of Giant before I go back to wearing a mask. Omicron wasn’t sht when I caught it.

+1

Don’t care at all about new variants. This is life now. Not wearing a mask ever again.

Cool. Enjoy not flying.

I flew this week. It was the first time in nearly six months that I wore a mask. It was more awful than I remembered.

Grow up.

Nope. It was awful. Hot and stuffy. I can’t believe my kids were only recently unshackled from this nonsense.

With all of the actual suffering in the world, and plenty of it fairly visible to anyone following news at all, I have a really hard time understanding how a rational adult can believe wearing a mask rates at all. My conclusion is that you must not be a rational adult.

So if you get a headache do you not take advil because eyour suffering does not rate against all that in the world?

If you are hungry do you not eat because it does not rate against all the hunger in the world?

If your leg itches do you not scratch it because there are bigger problems to be solved?

I agree there are bigger problems than masks but it’s still fine to try to avoid unnecessary discomfort/annoyance in your daily life.

Those are terrible analogies.

This isn't the suffering olympics either. This country values freedom, and there are trade offs with that. IMO mask mandates are too restrictive in a time of vaccines.

Wonderful, you get trades off since you brought it up! Here’s the trade off that you seem to condone- go out and the trade off is wear a mask when you do so.
Glad you just inadvertently agreed with the other side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m covid cautious (tripe vaxxed, still wear medical masks in stores etc) and yet I still remember DCUM falling all over itself just a few months ago to agree with this thread. Such ridiculous nonsense. I am tired of this hysteria.

I work in an ER and this wasn’t hysteria, it was true! Wait times were over 24 hours for patients. It only lasted a few weeks but it was horrific. Not necessarily in terms of deaths (thankfully) but in terms of sheer numbers of patients.

Sorry PP, with people's urge to treat the whole 2 years of the pandemic as a nothingburger, just based on the mildness of Omicron (friends have had Delta, and you would not have wanted that one) any medical professional that wants to talk about the actual patient loads in the hospitals is going to get "canceled."
Thanks for your work.

Come on. The Twitter thread was full hysteria that simply didn’t happen. Here is what else she said, among other things:

When we go to grocery stores & find shelves empty, to pharmacies & find them closed because every single employee is out sick themselves or tending to a loved one. Please get what you need to look after your household. Fill prescriptions, get over the counter meds & staples…

And on and on. And that simply didn’t happen.

This level of hysterical ranting does nobody good.

Those things completely happened! Did you not try to get any errands done around New Years? Nothing was open , everyone had Omicron!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m covid cautious (tripe vaxxed, still wear medical masks in stores etc) and yet I still remember DCUM falling all over itself just a few months ago to agree with this thread. Such ridiculous nonsense. I am tired of this hysteria.

I work in an ER and this wasn’t hysteria, it was true! Wait times were over 24 hours for patients. It only lasted a few weeks but it was horrific. Not necessarily in terms of deaths (thankfully) but in terms of sheer numbers of patients.

How many of those people really need to go to the ER though?
Did they show up to get tested thinking they had covid?
How many had been so scared by media coverage over the past few years that even if they were vaccinated and had few symptoms they literally had anxiety attacks convincing them whatever symptom they had was much worse and went to the ER>

I don’t know, but if you’re curious, we are hiring! Come help us out for the next round that you’ll crow about being NBD after the fact since you did zero to help everyone get through it and it didn’t affect you personally since your local stores stayed open

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m covid cautious (tripe vaxxed, still wear medical masks in stores etc) and yet I still remember DCUM falling all over itself just a few months ago to agree with this thread. Such ridiculous nonsense. I am tired of this hysteria.

I work in an ER and this wasn’t hysteria, it was true! Wait times were over 24 hours for patients. It only lasted a few weeks but it was horrific. Not necessarily in terms of deaths (thankfully) but in terms of sheer numbers of patients.

Sorry PP, with people's urge to treat the whole 2 years of the pandemic as a nothingburger, just based on the mildness of Omicron (friends have had Delta, and you would not have wanted that one) any medical professional that wants to talk about the actual patient loads in the hospitals is going to get "canceled."
Thanks for your work.

Come on. The Twitter thread was full hysteria that simply didn’t happen. Here is what else she said, among other things:

When we go to grocery stores & find shelves empty, to pharmacies & find them closed because every single employee is out sick themselves or tending to a loved one. Please get what you need to look after your household. Fill prescriptions, get over the counter meds & staples…

And on and on. And that simply didn’t happen.

This level of hysterical ranting does nobody good.

I mean, I work with businesses in marketing and Dec-Feb was absolutely crushing. Offices running with only 1 person on staff. Grocery shelves were definitely empty. More than once I couldn't get milk for my toddler.