It is entirely possible that I caught Covid in late December 2019 while on a trip in Germany and France. Either that, or it was the flu. Betting on the flu.
Anyhow, we are all fully vaccinated and H & I have thus far avoided it. We were extremely careful in 20-21, and reasonably careful ++ in ‘22. Masks, avoiding close contact with other people, etc. Since I was dealing with doctors, tests, surgery, and OT for 2/3 of ‘22, I’m amazed I avoided it. Fortunate that the medical settings I was in were very responsible in managing risks for their patients.
Our daughters and their husband/bfs have all had Covid. Not surprised since #1D works with patients in a medical setting and #2D works in a medical office and deals with all sorts all day. When they were sick, we stayed away.
Besides avoiding Covid, we’ve also avoided flu, pretty much all colds, and any other virus floating around for 3 years. I’ll take that as a bonus positive.
A few days after I tested positive in July '22, I had my annual primary care visit on my calendar. I called the doctor’s office to explain the situation and verify that they still wanted me to come to the appointment in person (they did, with an N95). The doctor repeatedly thanked me for making that phone call and for disclosing that I was currently positive when I checked in at the desk, because so many patients don’t bother to mention that they have covid until they’re coughing during their exams. I could not fathom that people go to an annual visit positive and symptomatic without discussing it with the staff. This was at a Northwestern-affiliated private practice in a fancy area of Chicago. I’m still disgusted over that.
I guess, we have to wait for the science - but anecdotally, the EMT in the family had mentioned an emerging pattern of increased heart-attack calls, and once they saw the patient history, it eerily frequently followed a CoVid infection half a year prior. (That was during first year, before eventually “everyone” seemed to have had had it.)
Neither my H nor I have tested positive for COVID. I am fully aware that there is a decent chance we’ve had it and were asymptomatic and had no reason to test.
My parents, both in their 80’s, also have not had it, though all of my siblings and their spouses have.
One of my kids hasn’t had Covid. Fully vaccinated, lived in a dorm, worked retail without a mask, goes to the gym. Kid never gets any physical illness. It’s weird.
I had a “cold” that lasted a good six weeks in January 2020…pre-COVID. I know it lasted that long because I kept buying more boxes of DayQuil!
At this point, I wear masks where required, but otherwise not. I know I’m playing the odds, but we also went to three large weddings last year, and traveled five times…no masks.
DH and I had Covid in February of 2021. We felt crappy for a week or two and I lost my sense of smell for a couple months. We are vaccinated and boosted and have not gotten it again. We do not wear masks unless we have to (doctors office). I know I probably should wear a mask while flying but I don’t. We both had really bad colds last fall. I think it had been so long since we had gotten sick my body forgot what to do. All three of my kids and their significant others have had Covid. My in-laws (93 & 94) had very mild cases a couple months ago. My mom (84), despite being very social and not wearing a mask, has not gotten it.
Nobody in my household has had Covid (unless it was completely asymptomatic). I teach kindergarteners who cough and sneeze all over the place so I’m not sure how I haven’t gotten it yet. My school district did weekly testing up until the past Christmas so I’d know. I stopped wearing a mask last March when they lifted the mask mandate in schools.
It is well known that Kindergarten teachers have immune systems made of steel (or whatever the immunological equivalent is). I have a friend who is a Kindergarten teacher and she was sick a lot the first couple of years of teaching but not much since (she also has not had Covid yet). I was constantly sick when my kids were little!
No Covid here either that we know of. Daughter tested positive on campus surveillance PCR without being ill, and tested out of campus quarantine by a rapid test five days later. Who knows what happened there. We don’t mask unless we have to.
Depends on the apocalypse: If it’s a respiratory virus: Kindergarten teachers for the win (pediatricians and pediatric nurses will easily join their ranks). If it’s radiative damage: cockroaches might win but I’d still put money on Kindergarten teachers.
That sounds horrible! I’m thinking more in the terms of the “immunogenicity of love”. I bet there are papers on that but I’m too lazy, after reading (bad) papers all day, to look it up.
I am not fond of vultures even though I admire their immune system’s superiority amongst vertebrates in combatting botulism amongst other things. I would never compare a Kindergarten teacher’s superior immune system to that of a vulture. Bats on the other hand…I think they are so cute! Even though European culture and lore has taught me to stay far, far away from them. It’s interesting, the mythology around bats in different European countries. Anyway, I will leave it up to Kindergarten teachers; whether they would like their immune systems compared to those of bats. I think they perform some of the most admirable work in our society. And I’ll stop there as we’ve gone wayyyyy off topic!
That was eight months ago. Do you think the medical offices still care? In my area, medical offices may or may not require masks (and yes, I am disgusted by this). My PCP’s office does not. If a medical practice doesn’t require masks, that is a signal that the office doesn’t care very much about covid-19 anymore. So I would think there is even less chance that anyone divulges their covid-19 positive status.
The staff will just have to protect themselves if they care, just as the rest of us have to do in a society that doesn’t care.
I’m a respiratory therapist in NJ and was fortunate to work an entire respiratory pandemic in a peds rehab and long term care facility. I was tested 2x a week for a long time, even on my days off I’d have to get tested at my facility so the results would be back before I was allowed to work. I never got it. In the earlier days a group of the medically fragile LTC kids got it from an infectious nurse but our kids are monitored so closely, were immediately treated and already have trachs so ventilating and oxygenating them is straightforward. Not one of the kids in our facility over the last couple years has died from covid or its effects. The other adult nursing homes by us had refrigerated trucks parked outside the side doors. My heart goes out to the RTs who were in hospitals, that’s a lot of constant deaths for a long period of time.
My husband who is a hospital CT tech and scans lots of covid patients because they usually have respiratory issues never got it until his coworker came to work positive with a fever and lied about it. They worked together for 12 hours in a small room. My daughter and I never got sick from him. He quarantined in the master bedroom and we all wore N95’s and opened all windows if he had to come out. I still wear masks at work and other healthcare appointments but no where else. We all pretty much stopped once restrictions were lifted. My D and I have had 4 shots my husband has 2 and refuses to get more. He has other health conditions and has made his decision.
Masks are still required in health care places where I am.
However, many inside (both patients and employees) are not using high filtration masks (N95 or similar). This is also the case when I see masks being used elsewhere. Seems to me that if you are concerned enough to wear a mask, you would want to use a good one (and N95 or similar are easily available these days).
Just got an email from my dad’s facility. Yikes. “I will have another update later today, but after completing testing on one floor with three floors remaining we are up to 23 resident cases. I fully expect that number to rise. With that said, we will be closing the dining room after a socially distanced lunch service today. We will offer carry out and a staggered delivery service until further notice. Residents attending group activities will be required to wear a mask at all times. Please wear a mask at all times when you are outside of you apartment or when staff enter your apartments.”