February Covid: it’s still a thing

[wanderingback]

Feb 1, 2023 12:55:22 GMT -5 waverly said:

wanderingback That being said, if you want to continue to wear masks all power to you.

Lol, thanks for the permission!

[NewOrleans]

We still mask everywhere indoors. We don’t do indoor dining. We don’t go to large events. We wouldn’t go to a wedding, and I would decline showers and such. Our neighbor whom we love invited us for the SuperBowl, but we’re not going. ☹️ Everyone in the household is allowed to socialize with only 2 close friends. Covid may not kill me, but I don’t need any further chronic health conditions or disabling.

I have traveled and will again because I actually don’t expect to have a long life given family history and my medical status. I want to experience the better parts of this godforsaken world. Hope that choice doesn’t hasten my departure! and that all the things we choose not to risk outweigh the risk of travel.

I have never had Covid. I had a positive PCR test in mid-July required for a trip followed by a negative one immediately. I was always confused and concerned about it because just a couple days before the Covid test I had my yearly physical and I had a normal WBC so I knew I didn’thave an active infection then. I had routine-for-me blood work 10 weeks later and shelled out a little bit for an antibody test at that time.

[seeyalater52]

Feb 1, 2023 18:41:26 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Feb 1, 2023 12:55:22 GMT -5 waverly said:

wanderingback That being said, if you want to continue to wear masks all power to you.

Lol, thanks for the permission!

Not relevant to this quote, but I’ve had good success flying for work so far with a quality mask (N95 or P100 elastomeric respirator, never taken off once inside the airport until arrival at destination) and have now flown 4 times round trip without getting covid. The air travel is one of the more manageable components of covid safe travel in my opinion. Personally I’d mask at a concert and while it isn’t foolproof a good mask can protect pretty well even in a large indoor crowd.

[basilosaurus]

Not exactly covid, but procedurally likely similar.

We just had someone coming door to door telling us someone in our neighborhood was diagnosed with dengue and to warn us to take precautions. They were also checking for standing water outside and wanted us to check inside. Old school public health!

Our mostly unused app does list cases within a certain radius of various infectious diseases, with covid being the top one. It makes me think that they'd do this door to door notification with hyper local covid cases. I know they did in what's essentially a rohinga refugee camp that had an outbreak and in another neighborhood up in the hills.

ftr, I don't think there's been a covid case in many months, even after recent lny celebrations with people traveling all over, so we've mostly stopped masking and are business as usual, but I'll for damn sure mask on my upcoming long haul travels.

[shauni27]

Feb 1, 2023 12:36:43 GMT -5 mofongo said:

After being very cautious for a long time, we are back to normal. This is also based on what my H and other friends are seeing at work. I am also at a huge hospital, and can judge by what’s going on there.

...

The one thing that I still feel differently about is not wanting ANY illness. Before covid I didn’t really care if my friend had a raging cold or some other virus, I’d hang out, but now if someone is sick I stay away. My groups of friends/coworkers are conscientious about this, thankfully we all feel the same.

Pretty much same. I work for a large hospital specifically with infectious disease and tracking covid. Our region is very low, and our numbers have dropped dramatically. We never saw a dramatic spike after the holidays and our hospitalizations are very low. Because of this, we have dropped most precautions. 

However, when we are going to Philly in a couple of weeks, we will mask and be more precautious leading up to it, as we are seeing family who are still very cautious. We respect that and will limit our exposures leading up to our trip and will do tests before going. We will also mask there when indoors. Things like that.

But yeah, we also are so cautious about any illness now. We go through covid tests like they are going out of style; any illness we test for it, any time we are sick (constantly this year) we isolate. It is exhausting but seems worth it.

[Scout'sHonor]

Our local health system is still requiring masks. I had bloodwork done this am and there were so many (mostly seniors) walking past the sign without one, but they had a gentleman reminding them to take one.

We wear them for travel still and did quite a bit in crowds or shopping in Nov/Dec since there were a lot of social things we wanted to do and avoid getting sick. Not as much now that the levels are dropping again. However, when someone in the house has symptoms, we throw them back on to avoid spreading it.

I was watching The Menu last night and it was the first time I recall covid being mentioned in a movie nonchalantly (as in: "He floated your restaurant during covid!") It was weird realizing it's been long enough that movies coming out now started filming after the first lockdowns.

[agnes]

I'm still somewhat cautious. We're fully vaccinated. I mask indoors like at work on my office days because we get potential COVID contact notifications all the time. I still test all the time just to be sure and watch for symptoms. Especially when I go see my grandmas. But H doesn't mask anymore except for when we travel. Wearing a good mask on the plane is worth it. We've flown to Chicago, Hawaii, and Europe in 2021 and 2022. And now we go to Disneyland at least once month and I don't mask since we're outside. As far as I know, I have not gotten COVID. H got COVID once in 2021 (I think? it's all kinda blending together now) and we don't know exactly where. I do remember he was still masking during this time too but wasn't as cautious as I am.

[nothingcontroversial]

In Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro was just inaugurated as Governor. He's a Democrat, and his predecessor was also a Democrat. (Just as an FYI, Shapiro beat his Republican  candidate, who is a right wing election denier who chartered a bus to the January 6 riot, by a huge margin in this past election.)

Anyway, Governor Shapiro's administration just ordered 2,300 state employees to return to the office at least 3 days a week, effective March 6. 


triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/shapiro-administration-orders-2300-state-employees-to-return-to-the-office/

[Poppy]

Having gotten COVID on vacation (well, H got it but it still messed things up and we ended up cancelling our flight and driving home), I would definitely choose to mask while traveling. It was such a pain and it was a bummer to miss out on some of our plans.

Otherwise, I mostly only mask when required or strategically to protect vulnerable people. I do feel like I have mentally transitioned to living with the virus and I'm not especially worried about myself or my family anymore.

[shauni27]

Feb 2, 2023 19:27:57 GMT -5 Poppy said:

Having gotten COVID on vacation (well, H got it but it still messed things up and we ended up cancelling our flight and driving home), I would definitely choose to mask while traveling. It was such a pain and it was a bummer to miss out on some of our plans.

Otherwise, I mostly only mask when required or strategically to protect vulnerable people. I do feel like I have mentally transitioned to living with the virus and I'm not especially worried about myself or my family anymore.

yes, when we fly this spring we will for sure be masking.

[SusanBAnthony]

Welp I got it!

I had a very networking heavy work trip, masked on the way there (planes) but not once I got there.

I got home Wednesday, and during the day yesterday I coughed a couple times but thought nothing of it. Then I woke up last night at 11 pm with my throat on fire.

Beat part is I was supposed to be on a plane to Mexico for vacation right now and I'm obviously not .

MN recently launched a new service where you call or use an app to connect with a healthcare provider after a home positive. I'm excited to use to at 8 am. Apparently in my area they will also deliver your meds to your house (for free), in some places you do have to pick up yourself. But still super easy. Meanwhile when H needed paxlovid 6 months ago it was this whole ridiculous thing.

ETA: did my free telehealth visit, confirmed I should get paxlovid and have no drug interactions, and meds are on the way. Super easy!

[StrawberryBlondie]

Feb 3, 2023 8:34:56 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Welp I got it!

I had a very networking heavy work trip, masked on the way there (planes) but not once I got there.

I got home Wednesday, and during the day yesterday I coughed a couple times but thought nothing of it. Then I woke up last night at 11 pm with my throat on fire.

Beat part is I was supposed to be on a plane to Mexico for vacation right now and I'm obviously not .

MN recently launched a new service where you call or use an app to connect with a healthcare provider after a home positive. I'm excited to use to at 8 am. Apparently in my area they will also deliver your meds to your house (for free), in some places you do have to pick up yourself. But still super easy. Meanwhile when H needed paxlovid 6 months ago it was this whole ridiculous thing.

ETA: did my free telehealth visit, confirmed I should get paxlovid and have no drug interactions, and meds are on the way. Super easy!

I've never heard of this. Details?

[SusanBAnthony]

www.health.state.mn.us/news/pressrel/2022/telehealth121922.html

@strawbwrryblondie

[rubytue]

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00124-y

New evidence suggests that ‘hybrid’ immunity, the result of both vaccination and a bout of COVID-19, can provide partial protection against reinfection for at least eight months1. It also offers greater than 95% protection against severe disease or hospitalization for between six months and a year after an infection or vaccination, according to estimates from a meta-analysis2. Immunity acquired by booster vaccination alone seems to fade somewhat faster.

[mpm]

Feb 6, 2023 20:17:13 GMT -5 rubytue said:

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00124-y

New evidence suggests that ‘hybrid’ immunity, the result of both vaccination and a bout of COVID-19, can provide partial protection against reinfection for at least eight months1. It also offers greater than 95% protection against severe disease or hospitalization for between six months and a year after an infection or vaccination, according to estimates from a meta-analysis2. Immunity acquired by booster vaccination alone seems to fade somewhat faster.

I wish studies like this were better messaged into “so we need to invest in better vaccines” rather than “so go out and try to get infected.”

[rubytue]

Feb 6, 2023 20:55:19 GMT -5 mpm said:

Feb 6, 2023 20:17:13 GMT -5 rubytue said:

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00124-y

I wish studies like this were better messaged into “so we need to invest in better vaccines” rather than “so go out and try to get infected.”

Yeah… I guess I picked the wrong part to quote on that. Apologies. I guess I’m suffering the ego-driven/self-preservation thing of trying to find a bright side from finally succumbing.  

But another part that was just saddening 

Researchers in Israel studied more than 10,000 health-care workers who had not previously been infected; all received either three or four doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech5. The authors found that the fourth dose’s efficacy against infection fell rapidly. In fact, after four months, the fourth dose was no better than three doses at preventing infection.

That’s a huge fucking a. 😭 4 months. 

[waverly]

Feb 1, 2023 18:41:26 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Feb 1, 2023 12:55:22 GMT -5 waverly said:

wanderingback That being said, if you want to continue to wear masks all power to you.

Lol, thanks for the permission!

Lol.  I didn't word that right, obviously.  Meaning more to say that people wear N95 here all the time since it protects the wearer so much.  It doesn't matter as much what society does in that case since that type of mask offers more protection.  So what we are seeing here is a lot of immunocompromised wearing N95 or K95 and others wearing surgical masks on and off depending on if they are sick (other things than Covid) or about to go on a trip or just coming home from a trip as a courtesy to others and to avoid getting sick themselves prior to vacation.  So everyone is doing their own thing, and it mostly seems to be working except for perhaps the highly immune compromise that spend time with others unmasked.  My MIL just got Covid from my SIL even though she masked on the plane, they spent time together unmasked. 

[cous0226]

Paranoia question. I saw a today show reporting discussing rise in heart issues from covid.

Since we have our annuals coming up soon are there extra tests I should ask my primary for? We normally get bloodwork and an EKG. Is there anything else? Thank you.

[wanderingback]

Feb 10, 2023 2:12:36 GMT -5 cous0226 said:

Paranoia question. I saw a today show reporting discussing rise in heart issues from covid.

Since we have our annuals coming up soon are there extra tests I should ask my primary for? We normally get bloodwork and an EKG. Is there anything else? Thank you.

Heart issues is a very broad term. Without having any symptoms as far as I know there aren’t any current guidelines for recommendations of testing for everyone after having covid. The flu can cause heart complications and there are no current guidelines that I know of in regards to testing asymptomatic people after the flu for heart complications. Unfortunately, I think it’ll still take a few years to go through the evidence and determine the best prevention, treatment and follow up options for covid.

[lilac05]

Feb 10, 2023 2:12:36 GMT -5 cous0226 said:

Paranoia question. I saw a today show reporting discussing rise in heart issues from covid.

Since we have our annuals coming up soon are there extra tests I should ask my primary for? We normally get bloodwork and an EKG. Is there anything else? Thank you.

I have some long Covid symptoms & went to my doctor recently about them. One of my symptoms is getting tired easily & short of breath faster than I used to. She sent me to a cardiologist to be sure. He basically said it’s probably deconditioning. I was so tired for so long and wasn’t able to do what I normally did, and my heart got “out of shape.” So now I have to work to get it back in shape, which is hard/scary because my heart rate increasing makes me nervous. He did order a stress test, but 2+ weeks out from my appt, so nothing urgent. He didn’t seem super concerned.

Both the cardiologist & his nurse said that the Apple Watches are pretty good for monitoring minor issues. I have the cheaper version & it has a few things it Can check, but the 8s can do a quick EKG, I believe. Not as accurate as in-office, or course, but it has the added benefit of being able to run whenever you want it to instead of only a quick office visit.

[hannahgruen]

We're being super careful, wearing masks indoors or in a crowd, no eating indoor, no movies, no leisurely browsing in stores, and hardly anybody is allowed in my home. However, two weeks ago , we dodged a bullitt. A "safe" friend came over, and 2 days later, she got covid. Phew, we were  so lucky!

[estrellita]

Well, I'm down with something. Thursday's covid test was negative. I might test again tonight or tomorrow to check. I'm mostly just stuffy, achy and exhausted. Probably just a cold. But H literally always gets sick like, a day or two later and it's super frustrating. Is it weird and selfish to just want to be sick alone for once, so I don't have to push myself before I'm actually feeling better? Blah. Just needed to whine for a second 😂

[meganew]

We’ve basically dropped all precautions except testing before taking trips with friends. But I work in a legit petri dish, other family members are in high exposure settings most of the day, and we are out in crowds regularly- so once those things went back to normal it didn’t make sense for us to limit things.

The thing that stuck is bowing out of social engagements when you’re not feeling well, and not just fevers and flu, but sore throat, a little cough, just feeling “off”- everyone plays it safe.

[sonrisa]

Annnnd I'm down. I hope I can be like the two family members who each got it one at a time and infected no one.

I tested negative until I was 3 days into symptoms - to the point that my call to the advice nurse to assess if I needed Paxlovid involved a "what is your current location?" "Is there an adult there who can drive you to the ER?" Luckily we could both tell that while I was having problems breathing, I still had good blood oxygen saturation. So DH picked up meds and it made such a difference.

I didn't realize how much trouble I was having breathing until the new inhaler kicked in nor the anxiety it had caused. (albuterol wasn't touching this). Wheezing is gone. Coughing is down (because I'm not constantly struggling to breathe deeper) and I can even think straight. I feel so much better now.

If they offer you meds. Take them. Especially if you have any asthma.

[rubytue]

((( sonrisa,)))

[NewOrleans]

The demographic divide reflects a debate that continues as the pandemic wears on: What responsibility do those at lower risk from the virus have to those at higher risk — not only older people, but those who are immunosuppressed or who have chronic conditions?

Though the political viability of mandates for masks, vaccination or improved indoor air quality appears nil, policymakers and organizations could still take measures to protect older (and immunocompromised) people without forcing them to become hermits.

“Between the extremes of closing everything to mitigate transmission and doing nothing, there’s a middle ground,” Dr. Raifman said. “We can mitigate transmissions in smart and inclusive ways.”

www.nytimes.com/2023/02/11/health/covid-pandemic-seniors.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20230217&instance_id=85582&nl=from-the-times®i_id=117459602&segment_id=125570&te=1&user_id=d46219a0c5e87ee771f767d7324826c0

[pinkdutchtulips]

I was just in Los Angeles over the long weekend bc it was my gpa's 100th bday.  Monday we got a text from my aunt (my gpa's caregiver) that she and my gpa tested + for Covid :/ the day after Sunday's luncheon at church followed by a family dinner at his house. 

We're all holding our breath bc 100yo and Covid can be a lethal combo. 

[NewOrleans]

For fuck’s sake.

“There is just no evidence that they make any difference. Full stop,” Tom Jefferson, the study’s lead author, said in an interview. Even fitted N95 masks in health care settings, the interviewer asked? “It makes no difference — none of it.”

The review includes 78 studies. Only six were actually conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic, so the bulk of the evidence the Cochrane team took into account wasn’t able to tell us much about what was specifically happening during the worst pandemic in a century.

Instead, most of them looked at flu transmission in normal conditions, and many of them were about other interventions like hand-washing. Only two of the studies are about Covid and masking in particular.

Those studies that did take on Covid and masks directly often painted a different picture than the broader conclusions from the meta-analysis.

www.vox.com/platform/amp/future-perfect/2023/2/22/23609499/masks-covid-coronavirus-cochrane-review-pandemic-science-studies-infection

[noodleoo]

Feb 23, 2023 17:47:01 GMT -5 NewOrleans said:

For fuck’s sake.

“There is just no evidence that they make any difference. Full stop,” Tom Jefferson, the study’s lead author, said in an interview. Even fitted N95 masks in health care settings, the interviewer asked? “It makes no difference — none of it.”

The review includes 78 studies. Only six were actually conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic, so the bulk of the evidence the Cochrane team took into account wasn’t able to tell us much about what was specifically happening during the worst pandemic in a century.

Instead, most of them looked at flu transmission in normal conditions, and many of them were about other interventions like hand-washing. Only two of the studies are about Covid and masking in particular.

Those studies that did take on Covid and masks directly often painted a different picture than the broader conclusions from the meta-analysis.

www.vox.com/platform/amp/future-perfect/2023/2/22/23609499/masks-covid-coronavirus-cochrane-review-pandemic-science-studies-infection

YLE had a good analysis of this topic in response to that study.

yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/do-masks-work

[glw]

My stepdad just tested positive for covid. He and my mom were the very last people I know who'd never had it.