Coronavirus

[Rommie]

I find that wild because even pre-covid I'm pretty sure a cancer patient should be nervous about going on a petri dish known as a cruise!

Had an interesting turn of events this week because a work friend who was set to leave today to move across the country to San Diego, so Wednesday she was going to come in to pack her office and get a goodbye lunch... then I wake up to see frantic texts bc she tested positive for covid. (Got it a wedding on Saturday, not the one we went to.) So I got to pack up her office for her while she stood many feet away with the car at the end of our building loading dock, wearing N95s, bc c'mon, what else can you do? Sucks for her because she was of course planning to stop and meet friends along the way, and says she feels just fine and would go about normally if it wasn't covid. Told her she owes me dinner sometime in San Diego.

Either way, F and I PCR tested yesterday in anticipation of our flight to Europe- his is negative, still waiting on mine but I'm not super worried if he's negative and we have no symptoms. Reckon if we get it in NL before coming back it wouldn't be fun, but at least pretty manageable compared to end of a cruise.

[SciFiFisher]

I find that wild because even pre-covid I'm pretty sure a cancer patient should be nervous about going on a petri dish known as a cruise!

Had an interesting turn of events this week because a work friend who was set to leave today to move across the country to San Diego, so Wednesday she was going to come in to pack her office and get a goodbye lunch... then I wake up to see frantic texts bc she tested positive for covid. (Got it a wedding on Saturday, not the one we went to.) So I got to pack up her office for her while she stood many feet away with the car at the end of our building loading dock, wearing N95s, bc c'mon, what else can you do? Sucks for her because she was of course planning to stop and meet friends along the way, and says she feels just fine and would go about normally if it wasn't covid. Told her she owes me dinner sometime in San Diego.

Either way, F and I PCR tested yesterday in anticipation of our flight to Europe- his is negative, still waiting on mine but I'm not super worried if he's negative and we have no symptoms. Reckon if we get it in NL before coming back it wouldn't be fun, but at least pretty manageable compared to end of a cruise.

TBH, when I heard about their situation my first thought was "What were you thinking"?! OTOH, if he is facing a bleak future I can sort of understand wanting to do something life affirming before you go.

[pumpkinpi]

Ugh that virus is still everywhere. I went to conference last week with thousands of people. I wore a mask almost the whole time except a couple times I was eating....both times in big rooms and I didn't stay around any people for any length of time.Except for one who had just had covid a couple weeks ago and still we were distant.

This week a fellow conference goer posted on Twitter that they got a notification on their phone that they had been near someone who tested positive during the conference. I checked my notification and I was too. I tested and I'm just fine. Probably should test again but should again but it's already been 8 days since I was even on the plane.

I ended up finding out who exactly it was. One of my coworkers was there and his cousin is a vendor on the exhibit floor. I actually talked to her for about 5 minutes. I was masked, she wasn't. But we had to stand pretty close to hear each other because it's loud in there. Sh had told him she was conflicted about wearing a mask because well she's a vendor and has to talk to people. I guess she made the wrong choice. I shall hope she didn't infect too many people.

[lady_*nix]

Oh shit I'm very glad you're okay, pumpkinpi.

[lady_*nix]

So, this is a really good article about what it's like being immunocompromised in the pandemic, and I recommend sending it to literally everyone who is being stupid about safety measures: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/arch ... es/622094/

[SciFiFisher]

And an article in the NYT that essentially says "Yes, wearing a mask helps. No, Mask Mandates Do Not."

The synopsis:
A) Wearing a mask does help prevent you from getting COVID.
B) Mask Mandates don't seem to stop the spread of COVID when you look at the data.
C) Now that we have the Vaccine it's more helpful for the CDC and other public health organizations to focus on getting more jabs in arms.

[Rommie]

Dispatch from Europe: I find it fascinating that people have such high standards about Europeans and how they've dealt with Covid in some circles in the USA, whereas I can officially say they DNGAF more than most urban areas in the USA. We were officially the only ones wearing masks from the UK to Spain on the plane, for example, and that's never happened to me before- there is always a noticeable minority in the USA on a plane is my experience. My UK friend says just no one cares any more, so she feels like wearing one doesn't make much of a difference and stopped wearing one last week-ish despite having a 1 year old.

This conference is similarly at maybe 10-20% masked, and it seems to be mainly the Americans doing so... but then, we are also the ones who have to deal with the hassle of being stuck overseas if we get it. And, as pumpkinpi said, it's certainly not a zero chance if you're at a major indoor event with people from all over.

I guess it's all odd to me because I am by no means extremely cautious, def only masking in the conference venue/ on the plane (where I should note, not sure what my seatmate had to create that hacking cough but I didn't want to get it regardless), because I have stuff I want to do this month that I don't want to miss. Doubt I'll be masking much rest of the summer (but then, no other major travel or conferences until the fall). You'd think a bunch of scientists would think differently, but I suppose not.

[pumpkinpi]

I guess it's all odd to me because I am by no means extremely cautious, def only masking in the conference venue/ on the plane (where I should note, not sure what my seatmate had to create that hacking cough but I didn't want to get it regardless), because I have stuff I want to do this month that I don't want to miss. Doubt I'll be masking much rest of the summer (but then, no other major travel or conferences until the fall). You'd think a bunch of scientists would think differently, but I suppose not.

To some extent that's where I am. It's more about convenience than health. All through May I was extra cautious because I had a lot of travel that I didn't want to cancel. And now I have my dance recital next weekend, and I definitely don't want to miss that. So it's possible that I might get a little lax after that.....but honestly there is always something coming up for me or my family that I don't want to miss, and it's a big inconvenience for me not to be able to go in to work. So, masking indoors it is.

[lady_*nix]

I just got my 4th shot yay (at half dose, 3rd was a full dose). Hell of a reaction this time. I got the vaccine last Thursday and thought I was done with the reaction around Sunday, when my arm stopped hurting... But then got a whole second wave of nausea, cramps, muscle pain, weakness, and generally feeling like shit, which didn't really let up until today. Took a COVID antigen test just in case, and it came up negative.

I'm still not sure if that was normal response or if it triggered an RA flareup, but I suspect the former, from what I remember of 2nd shot effects.

Anyway I hope the intensity means something? Maybe? There's definitely some research now showing that TNF blockers can impair vaccine efficacy in at least some people, so like... I can use all the luck I can get

Meanwhile, COVID numbers and wastewater data were going down for a bit, but now they're going up again here... just when I was starting to feel a bit optimistic last week, Anime Boston happened. And now things are following the usual course.

[Rommie]

It’s interesting you attribute it to that- I just figured it was gonna go up thanks to the first graduations in 2+ years at all the colleges.

Hope you’re over the side effects!

[lady_*nix]

LMAO, good catch. Something something out of sight, out of mind.

[lady_*nix]

Get this - the under-reporting of COVID infections is so bad that actual infection numbers are probably 30x higher than reported numbers.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... cases-rate

[SciFiFisher]

Get this - the under-reporting of COVID infections is so bad that actual infection numbers are probably 30x higher than reported numbers.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... cases-rate

YAY!

[SciFiFisher]

along the lines of under reporting COVID is the studies they are doing on mortality rates that show that for 2020-2021 there was a spike in total deaths that was more than the average when you calculate all the usual suspects. It's one way to infer how many COVID deaths there might be.

[pumpkinpi]

Fucking covid. This weekend Rooster and I have dance recitals. It's my first stage performance in 25+ years! (Tap dance to Michael Jackson's Burn This Disco Out.) My dad is supposed to be on the plane to see it but he tested positive yesterday.

He almost didn't...Earlier this week I told him to test but forgot to remind him. Yesterday he had a bit of a runny nose and crummy feeling. At first he thought maybe he'd have me test him when he got here then realized late last night that was a bad idea! Good thing he did otherwise we'd all have it next week.

I'm so bummed. I was so excited for him to see the dances, and he wss too. He loves dance recitals. He's my biggest fan.

[geonuc]

I'm slowly getting over covid. The main symptoms are long gone but the general fatigue is persistent. My wife is having a harder time shaking it.

[lady_*nix]

Best of luck to both of you, geonuc

[geonuc]

Best of luck to both of you, geonuc

Thank you. For myself, I imagine it could have been worse had I not been prescribed the Paxlovid monoclonal antibody treatment, which was an experience in of itself.

[pumpkinpi]

Best of luck to both of you, geonuc

Thank you. For myself, I imagine it could have been worse had I not been prescribed the Paxlovid monoclonal antibody treatment, which was an experience in of itself.

My dad didn't seem to feel bad enough to seek that treatment. I told him to contact his doctor anyway to report the case. They told him he didn't need to. Strange. I know a lot of people don't report, but I though the general advice was to report positive at home tests to try to keep case counts somewhat accurate.

He is saying what I hear from a lot of people, it feels like a mild cold. I just hope he doesn't have lingering symptoms. He's 3, maybe even 4 times vaccinated and no preexisting conditions, except that he's 75!

[geonuc]

My dad didn't seem to feel bad enough to seek that treatment. I told him to contact his doctor anyway to report the case. They told him he didn't need to. Strange. I know a lot of people don't report, but I though the general advice was to report positive at home tests to try to keep case counts somewhat accurate.

He is saying what I hear from a lot of people, it feels like a mild cold. I just hope he doesn't have lingering symptoms. He's 3, maybe even 4 times vaccinated and no preexisting conditions, except that he's 75!

Not sure what the requirements and protocols are today (things change so rapidly) but a month ago, you had to have a compromised immune system to get Paxlovid. I'm 66 and that by itself wasn't enough. My wife, 65, didn't qualify. I think she could have used it. Might be different today.

[SciFiFisher]

Wow, it seems that Omicron variants are much more contagious but less deadly. It managed to find us in the last part of Arpril. We had mild cold-like symptoms. Knock on wood I don't seem to have any lingering effects and neither does the boy or Brite. Of course we were all vaccinated and boosted in the case of Brite and I.

[SciFiFisher]

Sorry to hear your dad missed the recital PP.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Good to hear you're getting better geonuc.

And here's hoping your father gets better quickly PP.

[pumpkinpi]

Dammit, Rooster tested positive. MrPi and I made a bad decision and let her go to a sleepover with a girl whose family is a little lax....I don't know if the kids are vaccinated. What I didn't know is there was a group of girls from a variety of families that stayed over--the dad's girlfriend's daughter, his sister's daughter, and one other person.

She seems to have a similar course as anyone I've heard of. Fatigue, scratchy throat, fever. Nothing that's very concerning to me.

What really worries me is that Buster is supposed to go to scout camp starting July 3rd--9 days from now. If he's going to get it, he's got to get it soon so he can get through his 5 days of isolation and hopefully test negative the day of.

Rooster isn't boosted but the rest of us are.

I've known more people in the past few weeks that have gotten it than in any time the rest of the pandemic. Three of my coworkers had someone in their household test positive, but they didn't get it. So I know it's possible to make it through ok. But of all of us, I spent the most time with her just before and after she was symptomatic.

As a PSA: Rooster's scratchy throat began Wednesday evening, and her fever began Thursday morning. She tested negative at that time with 2 rapid at home tests. She didn't test positive until last night, so 24+ hours after symptoms began.

[lady_*nix]

Oh shit. Best of luck pumpkinpi.

What really worries me is that Buster is supposed to go to scout camp starting July 3rd--9 days from now. If he's going to get it, he's got to get it soon so he can get through his 5 days of isolation and hopefully test negative the day of.

Best if he doesn't get it at all. Would it be possible for him to start scout camp later if he tests positive tho? Risking a kid with COVID at the camp seems like a bad idea to me, and IDK if only 5 day isolation is trustworthy for a disease that can take more than a week just to show symptoms. The current SOP with antigen tests is to only take them 4-5 days after a possible exposure, because virus levels build up that slowly.