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

[Josh Steinberg]

It seems natural that as people begin resuming normal routines that common illnesses will begin circulating again.

Not only that, but not all illnesses spread the way covid does. The precautions that might protect oneself against covid might not make a difference with a cold or different type of virus.

 

[DaveF]

I am aware of multiple friends that have acquired a cold in the last couple of weeks. Some of them were (what I would call) careless immediately after reaching fully vaccinated. But two of my friends have continued to be VERY careful since becoming fully vaccinated. They continue to act as if they never got the vaccines. Yet, they both caught "colds". Both had COVID tests a few days after symptoms began. Both tested negative.

Then they had the common cold, not COVID-19.

 

[DaveF]

Don’t borrow trouble…

as they say.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Not only that, but not all illnesses spread the way covid does. The precautions that might protect oneself against covid might not make a difference with a cold or different type of virus.

If vaccinated people are not wearing masks while around other people and aren't washing their hands frequently while touching their faces with unwashed hands then I can see how one can catch a common cold.

Let's face it, most people have letdown their guard after being vaccinated.

 

[jayembee]

With regards to those who are anti-vaccine, a "problem" with COVID is that it's just lethal enough to cause enough death to mobilize those who care about society to get the shot, but not lethal enough to motivate those who are selfish to do the same.

Spoiler

Smallpox was very lethal with a mortality rate around 30% while COVID was closer to 3% (worldwide, the U.S. has fared better with around 1.8% according to Johns Hopkins). I think if one in every three people died of COVID, a high percentage of the antimasker/antivaxxer crowd would have changed their minds, and those who remained so...well a third of them would die.

Another "problem" is that due to medical privacy laws and, quite frankly, compassionate common sense, we do not show the suffering and dying in hospitals on TV. While there were horrific images of trucks being pulled up to hospitals to store the dead, we mostly just saw the trucks, or an already closed body bag. For those who already don't care about society, these images meant nothing, they were unmoved to get the vaccine. They never saw what my friends who were doctors and nurses in NYC and LA saw, which is the rooms filled with the suffering and dying. it wasn't real for the antivaxxers. In fact they took pictures of empty hospital hallways (because every hospital tries to keep hallways clear, it's only the very last resort when they can't) as "proof" that COVID was a hoax, which really made me angry since I knew from my friends' first hand experience that they were being overrun by this disease.

Please note I've put "problem" in quotes both times because I'm thankful that COVID's fatality rate has been lower than smallpox, and that we do not show people suffering in the hospital on TV. It's just unfortunate that antivax/maskers have used those two things as justifying their erroneous decision.

And yes, it is an error. This isn't an open-ended Philosophy exam with "no wrong answers" that we took in school. There is a right way to proceed if you care about your fellow humans, and a wrong way. To refuse the vaccine is absolutely the wrong way, unless you want to come right out and admit you don't care about your fellow humans (and if you don't, you really need to leave civilized society because the social contract is what underpins just about every country that isn't a dictatorship or monarchy).

I think the biggest problem (as I've said before) is that Covid has no obvious "visual" symptoms, like smallpox, shingles, or Ebola. I'm sure that a significant number of even the most stubborn anti-vaxxers would comply if infected people were hemorrhaging from various orifices.

 

[Malcolm R]

I think the biggest problem (as I've said before) is that Covid has no obvious "visual" symptoms, like smallpox, shingles, or Ebola. I'm sure that a significant number of even the most stubborn anti-vaxxers would comply if infected people were hemorrhaging from various orifices.

But there are numerous reports of people still having adverse effects for months after being infected. One would think that might be enough to get people moving ....

 

[Mark Booth]

It seems natural that as people begin resuming normal routines that common illnesses will begin circulating again.

That's what I thought after the first several friends ended up with "colds". They were all people that were anxious to stop wearing their masks.

But these two latest friends have been exceedingly careful. They continue to wash and/or sanitize their hands and whatever they bring in the house, they mostly stay home with only making necessary outings, and they wear masks EVERYWHERE, even if talking to a neighbor in the front yard.

These two particular friends (from different households) are the ones I worried about the least during COVID. I knew they were taking all the right steps and being exceedingly cautious. They haven't let down their guards, despite being fully vaccinated.

It has me wondering if there's something we don't know yet. How the hell do they catch a cold when they are being that careful?

Mark

 

[Robert Crawford]

But there are numerous reports of people still having adverse effects for months after being infected. One would think that might be enough to get people moving ....

Frankly, I don't think many people are aware of these adverse effects or think it's not going to happen to them.

 

[Robert Crawford]

That's what I thought after the first several friends ended up with "colds". They were all people that were anxious to stop wearing their masks.

But these two latest friends have been exceedingly careful. They continue to wash and/or sanitize their hands and whatever they bring in the house, they mostly stay home with only making necessary outings, and they wear masks EVERYWHERE, even if talking to a neighbor in the front yard.

These two particular friends (from different households) are the ones I worried about the least during COVID. I knew they were taking all the right steps and being exceedingly cautious. They haven't let down their guards, despite being fully vaccinated.

It has me wondering if there's something we don't know yet. How the hell do they catch a cold when they are being that careful?

Mark

Are we sure those were colds as people do develop more allergies as they get older?

 

[TJPC]

Canada has just release guidelines for people returning to Canada from other countries that you need to be an astrophysicist to understand. As we listened to them on the news we got the giggles. They sounded like the list of game show rules from the Monty Python game show sketch where they have to "spell the golden word - Birmingham", or perhaps what the adults sound like in Peanuts cartoons.

 

[Carlo_M]

Not saying this is what your friends have Mark, but my housemate is super careful, fully vaxxed (Moderna) and is built like a comic book hero (he works out a lot) and is in his thirties. Between us you can count on two hands how many people we've seen outside of our household in the last two weeks. We always wear masks going outside. Over the last few days he's had something that sounds like either a bad allergy or sinus infection. It's something in the air, I'm convinced, maybe kicked up by the heat wave we had last week. I know you're in S.D. and we're in L.A. but don't rule out that something may have been kicked up by the weather we had last week that's wreaking havoc on people who may be sensitive to such things.

 

[Tony Bensley]

With everyone in the Bensley Household now having been fully vaxxed, the Mrs. and I are nevertheless in full agreement that we will be continuing with our mask wearing protocol for the foreseeable future. There are simply too many question marks remaining, especially with the variants of concern. The vaccines are but one tool (albeit, the most crucial one!) of protection against COVID.

CHEERS!

 

[Mark Booth]

I'm not liking this news:

There are at least 200 known cases of the Delta Plus coronavirus variant worldwide. Here's what we know | CNN

A new and slightly changed version of the Delta coronavirus variant is spreading in a number of countries including the United Kingdom, United States and India, health officials say.

www.cnn.com

Not enough data to come to any conclusions so far. But nature has a habit of finding a way. This variant's mutation involves the spike protein. So, I can't help but wonder if the virus is working to find its way around the immunity created by the vaccines.

Never bet against nature.

Mark

 

[DaveF]

Stop with the fearmongering. These threads are meant to help and encourage people.

Otherwise, we'll just close the threads. They've been pushed way beyond the stated goals the past six months. They may have run their course.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

@DaveF i appreciate the tremendous job you and the rest of the moderation staff has done on this thread over the past year.

I would like to once again make a plea to my fellow members: these two threads have been enormously helpful to me and I’m sure to many others. We’ve been able to gather together and talk and in this time where so many of us have been more or less isolated for so long, that was a really beautiful thing.

I would really hate to lose one or both of these threads just now when we’re so close to the finish line. News of the world is readily available in so many places; I don’t come here looking for headlines.

I’m excited to read success stories as more of us get vaccinated. I’m heartened when people post about ways they’ve overcome adversity during the pandemic. I’m glad to be a shoulder to lean or cry on when people have frustrations and setbacks. More often than not, it’s felt like a real community here and I really don’t want to lose that.

So my plea: please, pretty please, let’s respect the moderators and the OPs and each other by continuing the kind of respectful discourse that can allow these threads to remain open. I know I’ve been guilty of straying off the path in the past at times and I promise to do my part to stay in line. I’d really like these threads to remain so that we can all celebrate crossing the finish line together someday hopefully sooner than later.

 

[DaveF]

These threads have lasted longer than expected. And the past six months moderation has been much more hands off. But they’re again starting to get taken over by negativity and veering towards politics.

Please keep to the thread topic. Violations can result in immediate thread bans or more.

<Moderator Hat on>

I'm going to be more direct and more "inside baseball" than is typical for the moderation staff, in hopes that in this unique situation, I can keep threads that I and others personally appreciate open longer.

We've got three or so COVID-19 / coronavirus threads going. These, in my opinion, are great to have. I find them interesting and useful and provide good information in a largely positive and encouraging manner. I think I'm not alone in this.

But HTF has its no-politics rule, and for good reason. And people are starting to bring more politics more frequently to these threads. I get it. This is a pandemic. It's a national emergency. And politics are deeply entwined in our personal, local, state, and federal responses. Politics is very tangled up in the conversations and the information flow.

But not in HTF. Not if we want to keep these threads open.

And I've got a crazy work schedule right now due to the crisis so I'm not "pulling my weight" right now in keeping on eye on these threads.

So, please, keep the politics out of HTF threads. Find another space in your life to process that side of it.

If you can't, these threads will get shut down. And don't misunderstand this as a moderator schism: I will supporting shutting them down. And don't take this as a way to get a thread locked you don't like: bad actors are at risk of thread or even forum bans for making making life even more difficult during an already very difficult time.

Thanks you for your help in keeping some good threads and helpful conversations going!

 

[TJPC]

As of midnight last night, we are finally at the second phase of lock down here in Ontario, which means hair salons and barbers are open finally, but only at 25% with masks. Apparently some in Toronto, (in lock down since November!), were taking appointments for 12:01 this morning, and are all booked up for the next 8 days. With even the mayor of TO sporting a pony tail, this is definitely necessary. The mask mandate however means no beard trims, so unless you can do it yourself, we have a lot more entries in international beard competitions coming up.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I had my first haircut last week since before the twins came along, so we’re talking like two years. Definitely the longest I’ve ever gone, I usually go every 6-9 months (cut it short over the summer, let it grow in the colder months, rinse and repeat as necessary). There’s a barber shop that’s been in my town for over 80 years - the founder ran it as a sole proprietor until he retired, and his son took over in the 1970s and has run it solo since. Everyone in town loves the guy and he’s looking to retire (he wants to sell the business and building to another barber so that the town still gets the same service and so he can still drop in once or twice a week), so I thought it was potentially the last shot to get an old fashioned barber shop haircut.

I loved it. I’ve never enjoyed going for a haircut before but Joe the Barber was fantastic at his trade, did it both better and faster than I’ve ever gotten it before, and we got to listen to old timey music and talk about vaudeville and old W.C. Fields routines. It’s like, where have you been my whole life?

 

[Adam Gregorich]

My state (WA) fully opens today. Will be interesting to see how many people still wear masks now that it’s optional. I have only been wearing when required since being fully vaccinated.

 

[jayembee]

I had my first haircut last week since before the twins came along, so we’re talking like two years. Definitely the longest I’ve ever gone, I usually go every 6-9 months (cut it short over the summer, let it grow in the colder months, rinse and repeat as necessary).

That's me, as well. I also keep myself clean-shaven (well...mostly) during the summer, and let the beard grow over the winter.