24 day quarantines sounds terrible. And honestly not very reasonable.
That was never a thing here. If you were a close contact last year in school you stayed home 10 days. You could come back with a negative test after that time. Now quarantines for exposure aren’t a thing at all.
Not saying it’s right or wrong. I don’t know.
I think the problem is if the close contact us in your house your quarantine clock doesn’t really start until everyone who got Covid is at day 10. Because you’re constantly being exposed. I mean if you can isolate great but my kids are 3 and 5. There will be no isolating if any of us get Covid.
If everyone else in your house is vaccinated why would it be a 24 day quarantine?
As I said earlier DD2 isn’t. She’s too young to be vaxxed. So it’s my understanding that if anyone of us got covid she has to quarantine for 24 days unless she also tests positive.
I'm with you. People who don't have a kid under 5 don't get it. Especially since they forget how awful it is to be stuck home trying to entertain a toddler/preschooler 24/7 for 7 days. It is a certain kind of hell I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I love my kids, but I have a 3 year old and she's *exhausting*. Most people I know have older kids and they all think I'm a paranoid, anxious mess (which I am) but they don't get it since their kids are vaccinated or old enough to entertain themselves when they are home.
The outbreak in DD1s school is getting worse. It's affecting the entire 1st and 2nd grade, DD1 and all her friends are close contacts. 2 of my friends are pulling their kids from school until winter break. Others are emailing the admin to ask about going remote. I don't understand "normal". It doesn't exist for me. I feel so bad for the school nurses and anyone working in healthcare right now. It has got to suck to deal with the reality of covid when everyone is back to "normal".
As I said earlier DD2 isn’t. She’s too young to be vaxxed. So it’s my understanding that if anyone of us got covid she has to quarantine for 24 days unless she also tests positive.
I'm with you. People who don't have a kid under 5 don't get it. Especially since they forget how awful it is to be stuck home trying to entertain a toddler/preschooler 24/7 for 7 days. It is a certain kind of hell I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I love my kids, but I have a 3 year old and she's *exhausting*. Most people I know have older kids and they all think I'm a paranoid, anxious mess (which I am) but they don't get it since their kids are vaccinated or old enough to entertain themselves when they are home.
The outbreak in DD1s school is getting worse. It's affecting the entire 1st and 2nd grade, DD1 and all her friends are close contacts. 2 of my friends are pulling their kids from school until winter break. Others are emailing the admin to ask about going remote. I don't understand "normal". It doesn't exist for me. I feel so bad for the school nurses and anyone working in healthcare right now. It has got to suck to deal with the reality of covid when everyone is back to "normal".
I hear ya. DD2 is 3 and had a fever for about 3 hours a few weeks ago). Negative Covid but we still had to stay home until she was fever free for 24 hours (which has always been the case and I totally understand). The 3 hours she felt and acted sick were fine. I was ripping my hair out by the end of the second day.
For those of you who are back to normal are you not concerned about quarantine requirements? Because honestly that’s my hold up now. I cannot do a 24 day quarantine (DD2 is too young to be vaxxed).
Disclaimer: I’m sure we’d survive it but I am really concerned for my mental health if we need to quarantine.
We just did an 18 day quarantine and it was really really really hard on my mental health. Dd1 was a close contact so was able to do test to stay, but was unable to do the bus or before and after care. Dd2 was then exposed at daycare and so we ended up in quarantine again. Luckily they overlapped by a couple days so it wasn’t a full 10 days each.
It definitely weighs into the decisions we make. My sibling is angry at us right now because I’m unwilling to do an indoor birthday party with them. But if one of us tests positive than DD2 can’t go to preschool at all until 10 days after the positive person’s quarantine ends. So unless DD2 were to test positive right away, we would be looking at least a 20 day period without childcare. Two hours at a trampoline park isn’t worth it to me.
My boss is understanding and I can make this work because I work from home. But my kids have been exposed 3 times since school started and I can’t keep asking for flexibility because of a lack of childcare. Especially since I just started my job this year.
As I said earlier DD2 isn’t. She’s too young to be vaxxed. So it’s my understanding that if anyone of us got covid she has to quarantine for 24 days unless she also tests positive.
I'm with you. People who don't have a kid under 5 don't get it. Especially since they forget how awful it is to be stuck home trying to entertain a toddler/preschooler 24/7 for 7 days. It is a certain kind of hell I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I love my kids, but I have a 3 year old and she's *exhausting*. Most people I know have older kids and they all think I'm a paranoid, anxious mess (which I am) but they don't get it since their kids are vaccinated or old enough to entertain themselves when they are home.
The outbreak in DD1s school is getting worse. It's affecting the entire 1st and 2nd grade, DD1 and all her friends are close contacts. 2 of my friends are pulling their kids from school until winter break. Others are emailing the admin to ask about going remote. I don't understand "normal". It doesn't exist for me. I feel so bad for the school nurses and anyone working in healthcare right now. It has got to suck to deal with the reality of covid when everyone is back to "normal".
This. I'm on day 9 of an 11 day quarantine with DS (assuming he doesn't develop any symptoms, which, at this point, I'm hopeful he won't), and I'm losing my ever loving mind. Thank EVERYTHING that I do not work full time, so I only have to work with him here 3 days each week, but it's killing me. And, honestly, it's still not great when I'm not working. We can't go anywhere or do anything. We can't have people in the house to do things that need to get done. I'm supposed to host my family's Christmas on Saturday, and I can't run errands or do much to get ready, especially when I'm still not 100% sure it can happen (though most likely it can, at this point). And the worst part is that his daycare is reopening Friday, and I can't even send him because I can't take the risk that someone else there has COVID and doesn't know it, right before we see my whole family (everyone who can be is vaxxed/boosted/or recently infected, but my grandma is 82, and my niece and two nephews are also too young to be vaxxed). It's just not worth the risk when he's been isolated for 11 days and tested countless times.
WHERE ARE THE SHOTS FOR THE YOUNG KIDS? I want them to be as safe as possible, of course, but this is killing me.
Post by goldengirlz on Dec 14, 2021 16:51:22 GMT -5
The entire state of California just reintroduced our mask mandate. I assume that will change nothing at all — the big metros always had a lot of people wearing masks and the red counties weren’t enforcing them anyway.
What’s interesting to me is that masks have been normalized in a number of Asian countries for a long time. Even before covid, it was fairly common to see people wearing masks on public transit here (a metro area with a lot of transplants from all over, but Asia in particular.) People also wear them during wildfire season. Maybe that’s why they’re so uncontroversial here. I know it’s a UO on this board, but I couldn’t care less about masks in public places. I haven’t been sick (not even a cold) in almost two years!
I don’t want to mask all the time which I still am because I work in person and we have a mask mandate. But I wouldn’t hate it if people masked up when they were sick instead of spreading all their germs.
I don’t want to mask all the time which I still am because I work in person and we have a mask mandate. But I wouldn’t hate it if people masked up when they were sick instead of spreading all their germs.
waverly that's a big reason I still mask indoors - if the people working wherever I am have to wear a mask, I feel like it's polite for me to wear one, too.
Post by redheadbaker on Dec 14, 2021 19:40:28 GMT -5
I'm in the Philly suburbs (Montco). We still have substantial COVID spread, even though about 50 to 60% of eligible people are vaccinated. The PA Supreme Court recently struck down the DOH's mask mandate, but DS' school is keeping their mandate in place. They are in school full days, 5 days a week, and DS's class has not had to quarantine at all this year. Most stores require or "strongly recommend" masks, and we always wear them. I'd say 75% of other people in the stores wear them.
DS played soccer this past fall, and after-school activities for elementary school are coming back in January.
I’m in a blue city in a red state. Our school is bluest of the blue; not totally sure on the school vax rates but I only know if 1 kid in my son’s class (K) who isn’t vaccinated. I know in the older grades where they were all eligible only 1 students wasn’t vaccinated. They require masks and are distanced at desks. I would be okay keeping masks if that meant they could have more movement in the classroom! Covid is on fire here, cases and hospitalizations are almost the worst they’ve ever been. Huge increase in pediatric hospitalizations as well. Most of the schools in the suburbs don’t have mask mandates, no contact tracing, etc. I wish we had an indoor mask mandate because of the high community spread. We did eat in a restaurant for the first time now that we are all vaccinated but went off-peak and asked to be seated far away — there was no one within 20 feet of us. We are going to Chicago for the weekend to enjoy museums and walking around the city but TBD on if we will eat in restaurants. All of our friends are fully vaccinated now and the kids are so excited for indoor, massless play dates.
I’m in a major east coast city. Masking indoors. High vax rate. We’re going to covid vaccine requirements for some restaurants. Everything is open; life is relatively normal.
Drive right over the boarder to the city limits and it’s no masking.
This is my experience, exactly. I think we live in the same city.
My school is one county over. School is still very cautious - universal masking, pushing vaccines hard. The county itself feels like Covid never happened and I run back to the city the second my day is over.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I’m in a major east coast city. Masking indoors. High vax rate. We’re going to covid vaccine requirements for some restaurants. Everything is open; life is relatively normal.
Drive right over the boarder to the city limits and it’s no masking.
This is my experience, exactly. I think we live in the same city.
My school is one county over. School is still very cautious - universal masking, pushing vaccines hard. The county itself feels like Covid never happened and I run back to the city the second my day is over.
This is my experience, exactly. I think we live in the same city.
My school is one county over. School is still very cautious - universal masking, pushing vaccines hard. The county itself feels like Covid never happened and I run back to the city the second my day is over.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I'm in a purple city? in a red state. 62% vaccinated. Hospitals are full and staff are burnt out. Thankfully the kids school district just extended their mask mandate. No other mandates. I went to Walmart today and other than employees, I saw one other person in a mask. Indoor events at capacity with no masks. Positivity rate is over 35%.
I’m in a red town in a blue state with 78% vaccinated (all ages). Schools require masks inside but not outside. Daycare has the same requirement. Most stores are mask recommended but not required. Very few people mask outside but the majority still mask inside (50-75% depending on where and how cases are going).
We do not make outside but almost always mask inside. The kids have only eaten inside once this summer due to poor planning on my part. H and I have eaten inside a handful more times locally and flew for a vacation in September. I’ve also flown for work travel a couple times. The kids have done sports since this summer. We avoid taking them into stores and inside activities, although we certainly have had to run in with them occasionally. We’ve hosted friends several times. Outside when the weather has cooperated, but we had 3 families over for a Friendsgiving and will have them plus a couple more over for a cookies and cocoa party this weekend.
I’m operating under the assumption that we will get covid. I would prefer that to happen after my youngest has had an opportunity to be vaccinated, but also realize that his risk is low even if he was to contract it. To me it is not yet worth putting him on a plane or eating indoors or going to the movies, but he goes to daycare and we gather with family and friends and do outdoor activities without hesitation.
Post by fancynewbeesly on Dec 14, 2021 22:10:43 GMT -5
Very red part of NJ. Cases are surging. My district has 10% in quarantine. There are zero subs so they keep canceling my tech/media classes to go be a sub for the day. I am super bitter that our district is going to the 23rd. I feel like we should just end this Friday and have the full two weeks off in hopes that things settle down. We get emails daily about not having kids less than 3 feet. But at the same time we have 25 kids in a class. Even though we have a mask mandate very few kids wear them correctly. I am tired of being the mask police too. It is exhausting. 😩😩😩😩
Post by HitchedIn2006 on Dec 15, 2021 9:55:04 GMT -5
Purple county in a red state flyover and red section of the county. COVID has been over since ohhhh… 2019. No mask mandate (except for a few weeks in dec/Jan 2020-2021 and in limited situations). School district only has a mask mandate due to a pending lawsuit. (There are talks to end it soon.) everyone has been acting like the old days for sometime. I’d say less than 10% mask use in public. Our hospitals are full, positivity rate is up (currently around 14%… but know that we are under testing). Schools have been back 5 days since February 2021 due to governors “parents choice” order.
We border a much more blue state… go over the state line and mask use is mandated for schools & stores… more like 75% mask use in public. Some days I think the other state is being too conservative, yet grateful at the same time.
I’m over it but still take precautions. Thank goodness that everyone in our house is fully vaccinated (and boosted if eligible). We don’t do a ton of activities because #MomIsAnIntrovert …. But winter is coming and we will need to start doing more stuff for sanity sake soon. Online pickup for lyfe.
I think we have lots of vaccinated people around us in mostly blue parts of the state. The 3 of us eligible to be vaccinated and boostered have done so. We were living life mostly "normal" like doing all activities but wearing masks around others etc.
However, our 4th family member is unvaccinated and is also the one who now has COVID. DS is 3 and someone brought it into the classroom. As of Monday, 4 people had tested positive. I had DS tested and received the positive result yesterday morning. That makes him at least the 5th person to be positive. They haven't updated us with any further numbers. His symptoms have been mild so far, but it does feel like his age group has been forgotten as a group that can still get infected and spread things quickly. They are required to wear masks at his daycare but they also don't wear them outside, at lunch/snack or nap time so lots of chances to be infected.
I live in a redder-than-red area, where people have basically been pretending that COVID doesn’t exist for the last year plus. Vax rates are low, school stopped keeping track of cases, and all county dashboards have been suspended, so I assume the numbers are high but can’t actually check them.
Liking in commisseration. Covid? That's, like, SO 2020.
I think we have lots of vaccinated people around us in mostly blue parts of the state. The 3 of us eligible to be vaccinated and boostered have done so. We were living life mostly "normal" like doing all activities but wearing masks around others etc.
However, our 4th family member is unvaccinated and is also the one who now has COVID. DS is 3 and someone brought it into the classroom. As of Monday, 4 people had tested positive. I had DS tested and received the positive result yesterday morning. That makes him at least the 5th person to be positive. They haven't updated us with any further numbers. His symptoms have been mild so far, but it does feel like his age group has been forgotten as a group that can still get infected and spread things quickly. They are required to wear masks at his daycare but they also don't wear them outside, at lunch/snack or nap time so lots of chances to be infected.
I'm sorry to hear your son tested positive. Hoping everything stays mild and clears up quickly for him (and that the rest of you don't catch it).
This is very similar to our situation. We got notified of the first positive case at DS' daycare last Monday at 1:30 pm. By 5pm, they were up to 3 positives. All 3 of those positives were at school the Friday before, pre-symptoms. When we found out about the first positive, all of the healthy (asymptomatic) kids were already at school. By Wednesday, one of those kids tested positive, so all the kids that were there Monday got exposed for a second time, and had their quarantine extended. Sunday we got notified of a 5th case, but no more exposures for that one.
When we were nervous about DS testing positive, H asked me if I picked him up before or after lunch (insinuating that if it was before lunch, maybe they were masked the whole time). So sweet, as if they don't eat before lunch time. The daycare director thinks they spread it outside where they're unmasked. I'm skeptical - I think we all got lucky up to this point that nobody had brought it into the daycare, and that 2-3-4 year olds wearing masks, but also needing to eat indoors is a very imperfect system, no matter how much you sanitize, etc...
I'm with niq but am down in Oregon. Mask mandate indoors. Governor removed the outdoor mask mandate, but it is winter and rainy so not too many outdoor functions right now. DD's school district has kept the outdoor mask mandate for now and said they would revisit in January. Most of the schools students go outside to switch classes so contract tracing is the districts issue.
My work office (tax/accounting) we are still doing things by appointment only just because it is easier right now.
Post by minniemouse on Dec 16, 2021 9:00:05 GMT -5
Life is weird. We are just as busy as 2019. Kids are in school full time, participating in activities, play dates etc. As of yesterday my entire household is fully vaccinated, so that’s a relief. I only know one family that is not vaccinated. our county vaccination rate is around 70%. Clearly there are a lot of others that are not vaccinated, just not within my social circle. we have to be masked in any indoor public space even if fully vaccinated. A vaccine card or negative test is required to go to shows or professional sports games. The positive rate is so high despite the precautions though. I personally know 6 folks that tested positive with mild to moderate symptoms in the past 3 weeks. All of them were fully vaccinated and boosted. It feels like this is never going to end!
I live in an area with high vaccination rates and low covid rates. We still have a mask mandate, and in the city, you need to show your vaccine card to dine indoors, go to the gym or attend an event.
Otherwise, life is fairly normal. My office is still a ghost town and so is downtown and the major tourist areas. But in the suburbs, it’s more or less the same. Most gatherings are still outdoors, but then again, it’s California so that’s not really a problem.
I like this balance. I feel like we’re doing a good job here and people are taking this seriously while still living their lives. I don’t mind masks that much and we don’t wear them outdoors unless required on school property.
I’m in the east bay and ditto to all of this. The new mask mandate went into effect today but my county was one of 4? that was exempted bc we’ve ALWAYS been masked up. For us it’s business as usual.
People in red areas are all like, things are terrible here, people are assholes, everything seems extra risky.
People in blue areas are like things are fine here but FREE US FROM THE TYRANNY OF MASKS!
Grass is always greener. 🙃
Masks are fine! I just wish less stuff was closed.
It really seems like people in NYC are happiest ... stuff is mostly normal but you wear masks and show proof of vaccination.
Yes. I'm ok with masks. But I'd like to eat my freaking lunch INSIDE.
And to be completely transparent-- both my brother and nephew (who goes to same school as my kids, where I teach) are positive. Neither has had more than 24 hours of mild symptoms.
Oooo I’ll complain more. I’ve now watched four school plays over zoom. The kids are masked so we can’t understand any of their lines. The drama teacher patches in the couple of kids who are still remote because their parents refuse to send them back (despite being fully vaxxed) so there are the tech/timing issues of trying to having remote kids participating. It’s a mess.
I fully realize how lucky we are to be in such a blue area that believes in science, and crappy kid drama events don’t matter one but compared to loss of lives. I’m mostly just mourning how different our world is and wondering if/how we will ever move ahead.
People in red areas are all like, things are terrible here, people are assholes, everything seems extra risky.
People in blue areas are like things are fine here but FREE US FROM THE TYRANNY OF MASKS!
Grass is always greener. 🙃
Masks are fine! I just wish less stuff was closed.
It really seems like people in NYC are happiest ... stuff is mostly normal but you wear masks and show proof of vaccination.
Yeah but apparently we now have the highest rate of omicron cases right now and work cases have spiked soooooooo...how rapidly the situation changes, sigh.
Post by dulcemariamar on Dec 16, 2021 15:31:21 GMT -5
I am in Europe and it feels like the shit is going to hit the fan in the next few days or if we are “lucky” maybe the middle of January...
Mask have been compulsory since the beginning of the pandemic in public spaces but they weren’t in the schools and so many kids got sick starting at the end of October when of course the weather got cold.
I feel like in Europe we are always ahead of the trend. We had horrible numbers in April and May because of Delta and my parents couldn’t understand why we were so cautious and didn’t do anything beside work and school and then it hit hard in the States in August.