How personal is covid to you?

[joko104]

The barbershop that I use went out of business. Several businesses that I frequent have permanently closed. The charity that I support had to suspend operations. The president of the bank that I use had covid but is back to work. My wife and kids have been tested multiple times due to contact tracing, they are well. My annual physical was over the phone. I ordered plane tickets the other day. no middle seats sre being sold and were cheap. Driving on the roadways has been a joy. 146 people have died in my state; most over 80 in hospice or nursing home care. My grandkids are going to school virtually. Grampa academy is open. The governor is holding the state hostage for a federal bailout for its ineptitude. Other than that same same....

.

Many businesses here now have permanently closed. The Office Max is in the last days of their going out of business sale. 3 of the 5 banks have permanently closes and the 2 remaining have cut their hours and laid off over half their people. The mall here is permanently closing as are most retail stores. About 1/3rd of the restaurants have permanently closed.

However, residential house sales are thru the roof so extreme that realtors have received deposits in hopes of a house in their price range coming up. People are fleeing New York, New Jersey and other NE states to Florida and we are on the natural Gulf Coast (less expensive than the Atlantic gold coast). Some are coming from California, but I think most of them are fleeing to Texas.

 

[Guyzilla]

Thus far, no one among my friends and relatives have tested positive nor been diagnosed as having the virus. I'm 86 years old, though. That means I take full precautions and keep my trips outside the house to a minimum. I'll maintain this lifestyle until I've been vaccinated, with the vaccine given sufficient time to provide protection. As luck would have it, I've enough things I can do so there's little danger of depression from 4 wall fever.

Regards, stay safe 'n well. Remember the Big 3: masks, hand washing and physical distancing.

I will likely be offered the vaccine firstish. BUT, getting the vaccine, only helps. We will be told that we need to continue to social distance and mask etc.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

Can you not do math?

220,000 deaths, out of a population of 331 million, is not anywhere remotely near "2%-3%" of the population.

It's not even 1%. It's a very small fraction of 1%.

220,000 deaths and counting out of 330 million people

9 million and counting out of 330 million people

 

[Eriech]

Many businesses here now have permanently closed. The Office Max is in the last days of their going out of business sale. 3 of the 5 banks have permanently closes and the 2 remaining have cut their hours and laid off over half their people. The mall here is permanently closing as are most retail stores. About 1/3rd of the restaurants have permanently closed.

However, residential house sales are thru the roof so extreme that realtors have received deposits in hopes of a house in their price range coming up. People are fleeing New York, New Jersey and other NE states to Florida and we are on the natural Gulf Coast (less expensive than the Atlantic gold coast). Some are coming from California, but I think most of them are fleeing to Texas.

Yep, they are fleeing to NH and Maine too. Lock downs killed a lot of businesses. Why live in a city if you can work from home.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I'm a COVID long-haul survivor and so's the wife, daughter and son.
Despite wife and son's serious disabilities they actually handled it better than I did.
We all caught it around the end of February/early March and it damn near killed me.
My lung function is totally screwed, with O2 saturation is still hovering around 92-96%** instead of 98 to 99% which it used to be, and my sense of smell and taste are still about 20% of what they used to be, even after seven months of being "recovered".
Some specialists are saying that it may take up to a YEAR for smell and taste to come back... if it ever comes back at all.

**I know it doesn't sound like much difference to some but trust me, an O2 of 92 isn't a good thing by any stretch.
There are brief periods where it hits 98% and I can definitely feel the difference big time. Today is "a good day" because this morning it says 98%, and I expected that because I woke up feeling relatively good compared to the week of feeling like Hell every morning that preceded it.

Karen and the kids are doing fine now, thank God.
Meanwhile, I've had to say an isolated good-bye to, at last count, either nine or ten dear friends, and another dear friend in NY has buried SIXTEEN of his close friends and family. Same way, isolated, alone and with almost no ceremony.

And this is perhaps the biggest reason mask slackers piss me off so much...it is clear that they have not yet had to deal with the cruelty of seeing a loved one or a friend leaving for the hospital with the knowledge that there will never be a chance to hold their hand, hug them, be by their side as they lay suffering and dying.

They hear stories about it but like so many in that camp, unless it happens directly to them, like getting hit on the head with a two-by-four -- unless it's that direct 2 X 4 shot right to their noggin, they discount it and laugh.
It's not directly on their radar screen so it doesn't matter to them.

---To all in this thread who have lost dear friends, family and loved ones to this plague, my heart is with you because I am keenly aware of what you've been through.

 

[Xilnik]

I'm a COVID long-haul survivor and so's the wife, daughter and son.
Despite wife and son's serious disabilities they actually handled it better than I did.
We all caught it around the end of February/early March and it damn near killed me.
My lung function is totally screwed, with O2 saturation is still hovering around 92-96%** instead of 98 to 99% which it used to be, and my sense of smell and taste are still about 20% of what they used to be, even after seven months of being "recovered".
Some specialists are saying that it may take up to a YEAR for smell and taste to come back... if it ever comes back at all.

**I know it doesn't sound like much difference to some but trust me, an O2 of 92 isn't a good thing by any stretch.
There are brief periods where it hits 98% and I can definitely feel the difference big time. Today is "a good day" because this morning it says 98%, and I expected that because I woke up feeling relatively good compared to the week of feeling like Hell every morning that preceded it.

Karen and the kids are doing fine now, thank God.
Meanwhile, I've had to say an isolated good-bye to, at last count, either nine or ten dear friends, and another dear friend in NY has buried SIXTEEN of his close friends and family. Same way, isolated, alone and with almost no ceremony.

And this is perhaps the biggest reason mask slackers piss me off so much...it is clear that they have not yet had to deal with the cruelty of seeing a loved one or a friend leaving for the hospital with the knowledge that there will never be a chance to hold their hand, hug them, be by their side as they lay suffering and dying.

They hear stories about it but like so many in that camp, unless it happens directly to them, like getting hit on the head with a two-by-four -- unless it's that direct 2 X 4 shot right to their noggin, they discount it and laugh.
It's not directly on their radar screen so it doesn't matter to them.

---To all in this thread who have lost dear friends, family and loved ones to this plague, my heart is with you because I am keenly aware of what you've been through.

I may soon be in a similar situation to you if our family has been exposed, and my wife has likely been exposed via work. One of her coworkers who does a lot of nursing home care tested positive today, and my wife shares an office with this coworker. They also tend to do a bit of carpooling since some members at her site do not have vehicles, so there has been some indirect exposure in that regard from the same coworker who tested positive providing rides.

I have had minor pulmonary issues most of my life with exercise induced asthma. I also tend to have severe cardiovascular reactions to fevers. I am really hoping my wife tests negative this weekend.

We have also been personally impacted prior to this. Another of my wife's coworkers who she is friends with had her husband pass away from COVID-19 in May. It sounds like an awful way to exit this world.

 

[ElChupacabra]

We've been experiencing this pandemic for awhile now and I was just wondering how many here have been affected personally? I have lost my mother-in-law...she'll be buried tomorrow, my great uncle, and a dear friend...

My condolences, that's sad to hear. 15 people I know contracted COVID 19 and all of them recovered with no apparent lingering effects. Out of those 15, 2 have had lasting impacts to their breathing which they say is getting gradually better. One of my mother's clients passed away due to the virus; she was old and in poor health.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I may soon be in a similar situation to you if our family has been exposed, and my wife has likely been exposed via work. One of her coworkers who does a lot of nursing home care tested positive today, and my wife shares an office with this coworker. They also tend to do a bit of carpooling since some members at her site do not have vehicles, so there has been some indirect exposure in that regard from the same coworker who tested positive providing rides.

I have had minor pulmonary issues most of my life with exercise induced asthma. I also tend to have severe cardiovascular reactions to fevers. I am really hoping my wife tests negative this weekend.

We have also been personally impacted prior to this. Another of my wife's coworkers who she is friends with had her husband pass away from COVID-19 in May. It sounds like an awful way to exit this world.

I would "LIKE" your post to show support but that would look terrible seeing as how I wanted to express sympathy.


Also praying that your whole family tests negative but that you also don't encounter any shred of this plague.

 

[Xilnik]

I would "LIKE" your post to show support but that would look terrible seeing as how I wanted to express sympathy.
View attachment 67301962

Also praying that your whole family tests negative but that you also don't encounter any shred of this plague.

Thank you. My "Like" of your post was meant to convey the same sentiment. Obviously, I do not like that you, family, and friends have suffered due to this pandemic. I look forward to when all of this is (mostly) behind us.

 

[Torus34]

I will likely be offered the vaccine firstish. BUT, getting the vaccine, only helps. We will be told that we need to continue to social distance and mask etc.

Hi!

We'll be told all sorts of stuff by any number of 'experts', including the President of the United States of America. This poor old country mouse will wait for definitive statements from the CDC.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I will likely be offered the vaccine firstish. BUT, getting the vaccine, only helps. We will be told that we need to continue to social distance and mask etc.

The vaccine works on our bodies, of course but it also helps accomplish the same thing as masks and social distancing, because each vaccinated person represents a jump that the virus cannot make, thus the more vaccinated persons, the bigger the jump the virus must make in order to continue replicating throughout the population.
Eventually the number of vaccinated persons represents too large a statistical leap for the virus to be able to make to the next host, and as it is cleared, eventually the virus is no longer able to replicate and it dies off.
The difference between vaccinated herds and simple herd immunity is that simple herd immunity kills off enormous numbers in the population.

Once the vaccine is adequately spread, we can ease the masks and social distancing somewhat, just as we were finally able to once again go swimming in ponds and lakes after enough were vaccinated against polio, just as we were able to get together once tuberculosis vaccines became available. For those who don't remember, TB was also spread by breathing, coughing and sneezing.

It may be possible to eradicate COVID eventually, it seems we have the ability to eradicate a lot of these diseases, but it requires cooperation and shared goals. A warring society will never make the slightest bit of progress against it, and will in fact seal for themselves the very worst fate imaginable instead.

 

[Guyzilla]

The vaccine works on our bodies, of course but it also helps accomplish the same thing as masks and social distancing, because each vaccinated person represents a jump that the virus cannot make, thus the more vaccinated persons, the bigger the jump the virus must make in order to continue replicating throughout the population.
Eventually the number of vaccinated persons represents too large a statistical leap for the virus to be able to make to the next host, and as it is cleared, eventually the virus is no longer able to replicate and it dies off.
The difference between vaccinated herds and simple herd immunity is that simple herd immunity kills off enormous numbers in the population.

Once the vaccine is adequately spread, we can ease the masks and social distancing somewhat, just as we were finally able to once again go swimming in ponds and lakes after enough were vaccinated against polio, just as we were able to get together once tuberculosis vaccines became available. For those who don't remember, TB was also spread by breathing, coughing and sneezing.

It may be possible to eradicate COVID eventually, it seems we have the ability to eradicate a lot of these diseases, but it requires cooperation and shared goals. A warring society will never make the slightest bit of progress against it, and will in fact seal for themselves the very worst fate imaginable instead.

The flu vaccine, is between 40 and 60 percent effective. And so, I still wash my hands after going out, in flu season, EVEn after a month vaccinated.

 

[Carleen]

We've been experiencing this pandemic for awhile now and I was just wondering how many here have been affected personally? I have lost my mother-in-law...she'll be buried tomorrow, my great uncle, and a dear friend...

My son’s girlfriend’s 18 yr old son has all the systems but has not got his test results yet. We all are hoping for the best.

 

[Daisy]

Thank you! Though I think you might be surprised.

COVID has only killed a little over 200,000, and infected 9 million, in a country of 350 million.

That death rate is waaaaaay below even half of 1%. Even the infection rate is only like 2%-3%.

Mathematically, most people have been largely unaffected by COVID in their day-to-day lives.

Let me give ya some real life stats...

An American is dying every 107 seconds of COVID-19. An American is testing positive every 1.2 seconds.

Experts say "there's no way to sugarcoat" this. The U.S. set a record this week for new coronavirus cases over a seven-day period with more than 500,000 infections. Daily deaths are also climbing, along with hospitalizations rates that have been rising steadily for more than a month. Globally, India surpassed 8 million coronavirus cases Thursday, moving closer to surpassing the U.S. for the most infections in the world.

As winter approaches, America is facing a crucial fork in the road: "We might see a larger surge due to the pandemic fatigue Americans are experiencing," says Melissa Nolan, an infectious disease expert. "Americans are tired of adhering to public health guidelines and getting tested." She repeated the familiar plea of public health experts: Masks. Social distancing. Hand washing. Please follow risk mitigation strategies until a vaccine is developed.

An American dies from COVID-19 every 107 seconds

The US set a record for new COVID-19 cases. Three died in a 'terrorist' knife attack in France. It's Wednesday's news.

www.usatoday.com

 

[MrPeanut]

Our family has been fortunate so far. I am concerned about my father who has COPD and is in his 60s. Someone from his work recently brought it back from vacation and it has spread quickly at his workplace. He has lost two friends in the past month due to the disease and several of his patients now have it. He works with the mentally disabled so it is a particularly challenging situation.

 

[Daisy]

Our family has been fortunate so far. I am concerned about my father who has COPD and is in his 60s. Someone from his work recently brought it back from vacation and it has spread quickly at his workplace. He has lost two friends in the past month due to the disease and several of his patients now have it. He works with the mentally disabled so it is a particularly challenging situation.

Oh no, that is not good...hopefully your dad will be ok...this stuff spreads like wildfire...

 

[tosca1]

We've been experiencing this pandemic for awhile now and I was just wondering how many here have been affected personally? I have lost my mother-in-law...she'll be buried tomorrow, my great uncle, and a dear friend...

My condolences, Elvira.

Condolences too to all those who have lost loved ones.

We suspect that my father in-law may have died from covid-related death (respiratory), BEFORE we knew about covid 19.
He died last year (November). He was 100 years old.