How are you dealing with life now with the Covid-19 virus situation? (1 Viewer)

[PMF]

We went to Denny's with a dozen other members of my magic club after our meeting last night. […]

Any chances of your magic club collaborating on a trick that could make Covid disappear?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yeah, not sure how I feel about the overturning of that particular mask mandate either... even though I'm not exactly very pro-unilateral-mandate in general (vs just believing/understanding/practicing that judicious masking in general is good... on top of having people w/ a decent level of immunity as well).

I was thinking to plan again a vacation w/ my 15-yo to Disney/Universal/Orlando some time in the next 10-12 months, but now, I'll at least need to see if this ends up pushing us all back from the current endemic state to pandemic -- my kid is generally much more worried about Covid than me and probably wouldn't want to go even if I feel it's alright w/ this change...

_Man_

 

[DaveF]

What I’m finding, sadly, is that it seems the next wave is here in the NY area at least. I’ve known more people that have gotten covid in the past two weeks than the past two years. Our numbers seem to have equalled the worst of the Delta peak and still seem on the rise.

Meanwhile, there seems to be no urgency with getting the vaccine approved for the under 5 crowd, and none of the therapeutics developed thus far are appropriate for use in that age group. While there are now some wonderful tools to help adults who get sick, there’s no equivalent for younger children.

It’s a frustrating moment for parents with young children and/or people in high risk categories.

The bright spot on the horizon is with the weather changing for the better, outdoor activities are returning and that does make a huge difference in quality of life.

The difference is that while infections are rising again, hospitalizations (and deaths) are much lower proportionally and not trending like in Delta and earlier. We’ve got vaccines and medicines and two years hard earned knowledge of how to treat COVID-19.

For me, I recognize that the risks even of a new wave are appreciably lower than even a year ago.

It’s tougher for you with young kids struggling to guesstimate your risks with COVID now being much more “flu” in risk to young kids , but also lots of unknowns still with Long COVID and the weird heart, brain, etc impacts COVID seems to sometimes cause.

 

[Carlo_M]

I planned to postpone my 2nd booster to the Fall when I guess the next big wave, if there is one, will emerge. But travel pragmatics might motivate me to get it sooner than later.

Funny I had the same thought as I'm now six months from my first booster (and not over 50 so not eligible for a second one).

The good news is that even though BA.2 (and for NYC apparently two sub-variants of that variant) are increasing test positivity, the NYT newsletter I get every morning focused on COVID today and mentioned that hospitalizations are not on the rise. There are other articles that postulated this is because of a combination of the effectiveness of the vaccines, and for the rest of unvaxxed America "failing up", meaning Delta and Omicron Prime (I just made that up, because it sounds like a cool Transformer) infected so many of them that even if they came down with BA.2 they already had antibodies from previous variants.

L.A. which tends to lag behind the east coast, has experienced an uptick of positive test percentages over the last 3-4 weeks but hospitalizations and deaths (whose trends usually lag test positivity by 1-2 weeks) are still on the decline. So BA.2 has definitely hit SoCal over the last month, but it isn't causing the spike in severe illness and death that previous variants displayed.

Don't get me wrong, if my age group is greenlit for a second booster I will definitely get it. But I may not get it Day 1 if there isn't a variant of concern circulating at that time in order to "stretch out my six months of max effectiveness". And yes I know it takes 2 weeks to get to full strength so getting it when one is spreading isn't a good strategy. But I'm counting on L.A. lagging behind the East Coast for that 2 week buffer.

 

[Mark Booth]

COVID is starting to creep back into our lives again. We learned of a few friends that have caught it in the last week or so. I'm starting to get a little nervous about the Magic Convention I plan to attend next month. I was hoping that new cases would continue to decline but that doesn't appear to be the case anymore.

Mark

 

[jayembee]

While we were oot and aboot today, my wife found a fridge magnet with a comment for our current times:

"That which does not kill you mutates and tries again."

 

[Mark Booth]

Yet another magician friend has tested positive for COVID.

Mark

 

[Malcolm R]

My unvaccinated 78-year-old aunt and her vaccinated/boosted husband both had COVID last week. Both seemed to have relatively minor symptoms, though my aunt was sicker than my uncle (she had vomiting and chest congestion for a couple days, while he was mostly just tired and said his legs ached). But no hospitalization needed. The state told them to isolate for 5 days, then as long as they have no fever they can go about their business. No additional testing needed.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I watched a movie in a theater today for the first time in five months. I'm double boosted since my original two Pfizer shots and kept my N95 mask on the entire time as I passed on buying any snacks or drink. The theater was relatively empty for this latest Doctor Strange movie.

 

[Carlo_M]

I'm going to employ the same strategy for Dr. Strange that I did for No Way Home. Wait until the 2nd or 3rd weekend, and choose an early weekend show at the TCL Chinese Laser IMAX showing. If it's anything like SM:NWH, there will be me and maybe 40 other people in a theater designed for 900+ people. Yeah I'm triple-shot and will have my mask but if those are the circumstances, I'm not going to be overly worried.

 

[Robert Crawford]

After it's big opening weekend, I was surprised that only about 12 other people were in that GDX/Dolby Atmos theater that probably holds over 400+ people.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Planning on seeing an afternoon weekday suburban multiplex IMAX 3D showing. In this suburban area, that’s two strikes against it - the more expensive IMAX and the 3D. They’ve sold like six tickets in advance for that one and a bunch more for the regular 2D showings at the same time. Mask on, keep a distance, not really worried about it. Actually looking forward to it!

 

[Wayne_j]

I tested positive today, I didn't feel good enough to do much of anything today, but I hope to catch up on watching some of my discs this week. Unfortunately my Hitchcock 4K 2nd edition set hasn't shipped yet from Amazon since I hadn't watched any of those films yet.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery - hope the movies bring some comfort and rest

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Sorry to hear that Wayne!

Upstate is really getting swamped at the moment, thanks to that highly contagious B.A.2.12.1 variant. Both of my parents currently have it, and since I was over for Mother's Day yesterday I figure it's only a matter of time until I test positive.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I tested positive today, I didn't feel good enough to do much of anything today, but I hope to catch up on watching some of my discs this week. Unfortunately my Hitchcock 4K 2nd edition set hasn't shipped yet from Amazon since I hadn't watched any of those films yet.

Get well soon Wayne!

 

[TravisR]

Good luck, Wayne!

 

[Mark Booth]

I'm attending a magic convention in Vegas starting on Sunday. The Orleans Casino (where the convention is being held) has a theater-plex inside. I am considering seeing 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' while I'm there during some convention downtime. I would keep my KN95 mask on and skip the popcorn and snacks.

For meals, I plan to take all food back to my room to eat. The KN95 mask will stay in place the entire time I am near anyone else. That will be a LOT of mask wearing over 4 days. I plan to use a fresh mask each day.

It is my plan to continue to avoid this virus as best I can while still having some semblance of a normal life.

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

Feel better soon, Wayne!

Out of curiosity, did you test positive on a PCR test or via a home test kit?

Mark

 

[TJPC]

I'm attending a magic convention in Vegas starting on Sunday. The Orleans Casino (where the convention is being held) has a theater-plex inside. I am considering seeing 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' while I'm there during some convention downtime. I would keep my KN95 mask on and skip the popcorn and snacks.

For meals, I plan to take all food back to my room to eat. The KN95 mask will stay in place the entire time I am near anyone else. That will be a LOT of mask wearing over 4 days. I plan to use a fresh mask each day.

It is my plan to continue to avoid this virus as best I can while still having some semblance of a normal life.

Mark

I am interested in hearing what you thought of the film. My wife's assessment -- "now she can relax for the rest of her life, because now she has already seen the worst movie ever made!"