Well I read that as of 11/18 5.5 out of 110,000 were hospitalized and I was one of them. I have continued masking in stores, not eating indoors, missed my nephew’s destination wedding- but one oblivious student brought COVID to our art class and tested positive right after! I heard from the entire class and many are quite sick.
One thing not often thought of: I cannot do Paxlovid because it affects my heart, steroids ditto and i am allergic to nebulized steroids because of one ingredient. The hospital literally had trouble finding a way to treat me. For some of us it isn’t just the virus that challenges health, but the treatments!
I am going to a pre-conference dinner tomorrow night and conference a day later. I am still debating whether I should wear a mask. I am leaning toward not because I do t have anything major coming up in the next 2 weeks, but probably will be more cautious before my family vacation.
It is how I am managing Covid now. I am more relaxed if I have no major event.
D2 is getting married next July. I will quarantine 10 days prior so I won’t miss the wedding. I purposely scheduled an European trip so days prior.
I noticed at my neighborhood Costco, there were about 25% of folks masking, which is more than I’ve seen pretty much anywhere recently. I masked as well, since I mask most of the time indoors except while eating or drinking.
Happily no one bothers anyone else for choosing to mask or not mask.
Picked up prescriptions and got my Covid booster today (earliest I could get it after having had the virus). Did RSV and flu over the past two weeks. Many more people were wearing masks there today than usual, though Costco generally has the most mask-wearers of any place I go. I suspect people were being careful after TG weekend and so many people who were traveling and being in close proximity to others.
My niece was in her room all weekend with a 101 temp while we were at BIL’s for TG. (We got a text after we were on the road.) We didn’t see her the entire time we were there. Tested negative for Covid, RSV and flu. Poor kiddo is always sick, and she has finals back at college in two weeks.
Incidentally, yesterday had a 30s couple both mocking me loudly on the grocery store parking lot from their car for me wearing a mask – once they had (safely) driven past me.
First time for everything.
I live in an area that has a lot of people who were anti mask. At this point, though, it seems to have settled into a live-and-let-live situation. Quite a few people seem to be masked in just about every place I go, and no one seems to look at them funny.
My 85 yo mom just tested positive for Covid for the first time. She never wears a mask, goes to church, restaurants, flys on airplanes etc…
Apparently she started to feel sick Sunday night. She thought it was just a cold, she played pickle ball on Monday but decided to test today. No fever, just congestion. Her doctor ordered Paxlovid so she started that.
She thinks she got it at church although there were 17 of us at her house for Thanksgiving on Thursday.
This is what happened in my art class. Another student tested too late, after class, and infected everyone. I hope your mom does okay but also that noone at pickleball or anywhere else where she went unmasked, got COVID from her. Since she felt sick Sunday night but carried on normally Monday, it is a possibility. I know people aren’t testing a whole lot these days either .
I am just out of the hospital so feeling kind of passionate about testing in time.
Frequent testing may not be attractive in the US, where tests are relatively expensive ($8-12 per test). As usual, anything health care related is expensive in the US.
However, if you want a large stockpile of tests for frequent use (i.e. every time before going where you may expose others, or when you have any COVID-19-like symptom that is frequently something else), then you may want to order from whichever vendor in Europe has reasonable shipping costs to the US.
For example, 260 of these COVID-19 tests (€ 98.80) with shipping to the US (€ 58.74) would cost € 157.07, or about USD $173, which would buy only about 21 tests in the US.
I got the free tests offered once again through the USPS, and cities and towns in my area also have free tests in city/town halls. I keep a stash from whatever source.
Caregiving a very elderly person in a facility, having a kid with medical needs, and being very vulnerable myself, has probably made me more concerned with testing. After being hospitalized this past week I will be even more concerned with testing going forward, and won’t be embarrassed about asking others during this winter season.
Mine are coming today and Friday. (I get another four sent to another address. I don’t feel bad since apparently the vast majority of the country isn’t sending for the free ones and the stockpile is still there.)
I registered for mine, but I also got 4 tests a little while back. I’m not sure if it counts as the same order or not.
I’ve now got 2 co-workers in my little office (10 people) down with covid. One at least has been out all week. The other went home yesterday morning, after feeling sick Monday night. She has strep AND covid. Ugh. I’ve been running my purifier all week, so hopefully that helped some. She’s a few cubicle walls away from me too, though she stops by and chats for 10-15 min each morning at my cubbie entrance.
I still say the bigger risk is H getting it from school and bringing it home to me…
Edit - and the big boss just scheduled a 2 hour training session meeting for 40 of us in a small conference room next week. We sit shoulder to shoulder with little leg room between rows. Priceless! I asked my boss if he could try to convince him to at least hold it in a bigger room.
My test this morning was still quickly and strongly positive, 12 days since first positive test and day 6 of rebound (only two days of Paxlovid). Fever down and cough is productive so I think things are turning around.
I am relying on testing to evaluate contagiousness. Long quarantine, lots of Netflix!
I tested strongly and almost instantly positive on a Saturday and did Paxlovid 4 times. Caused arrythmia. Stopped 4 am Monday. Then fine for Mon. Tues. Wed. I believe I tested very very weakly positive after several minutes. Never got a negative but wasn’t sick.
Sickness began Thursday night and got worse Friday Saturday Sunday, admitted to hospital Sunday, home late Monday.
Docs use the term “rebound” but it is an unusual situation so I don’t really care what it is called. Those days when I felt pretty well didn’t lull me. With only 4 doses of Paxlovid I expected COVID to come back strongly.
Paxlovid worked. I had a fever that first night that went away after two doses. Too bad I can’t take it. A “rebound” after only 4 doses has no relevance for anyone taking the full 5 days.
