outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

Coworker and 6 of his family group caught it 3 weeks ago at his parents' house, none serious fortunately. He's back at work after testing negative but still has a cough and fatigue.

I just go by 24 hours, so e.g. if I’m in my unmasked college class, I’ll be ok if I see someone for dinner the next night but I’ll be more careful around other people after that. By and large though, in London where I live, no one I know masks that much except for me, so there’s no longer much point in being “careful for other people” — although I’m careful for myself.

I will sit unmasked in cafes and friends houses and occasional quick meals now - that’s a big quality of life improvement for me, and I’m comfortable with the risk. But I don’t see any point in going unmasked on transport or in a big shop. It’s really no bother to mask in those situations.

totally, that's pretty much what I do as well

Can't find the 'ilxors with covid' thread, but me and my bf have it again. Pretty sure he picked it up from work again. We're both vaccinated but I'm really struggling with it, very shivery and full of aches.

:( - i'm sorry to hear that

We're both vaccinated but I'm really struggling with it

my anecdotal understanding is that UK folks under 70 are unlikely to have had one bivalent, let alone two?

my 4th jab, from local chemist, was the SpikeVax bivalent, last october. (AZ, AZ, Moderna, Spikevax)

First day back from Spring Break for us and half of my kid's class is out with some bug (fever/nausea) that doesn't appear to be COVID.

my anecdotal understanding is that UK folks under 70 are unlikely to have had one bivalent, let alone two?

― least said, sergio mendes (sic)

This is true for us. Two vax, one booster, not bivalent as far as I understand it. Will the original vaccines have faded in usefulness by now? I thought there'd be some residual benefit.

I'm in London, and had the bivalent in November as I'm considered a social care worker

My partner is in the "everybody else" list, and she had hers in January.

Bivalent 2 for over 75s is just kicking off now.

I'm not sure how often you're supposed to have the bivalent - you can have your second now, if it's been more than three months since your last jab. I think it's supposed to be twice a year?

It's not officially mandated in the States (where our bivalent jab rates are pitiful anyway), but I lied to get a second bivalent jab in March.

The US has just approved a second bivalent for 65 & older/vulnerable folks. Doesn't look like they'll greenlight gen. pop. any time soon.

I think they are strategically waiting to get on a once a year combined COVID/flu shot routine. Or at least just a single annual shot.

Six months is the semi-informal allowance in the US now, though there's not really any messaging of official guidance on it. I got my bivalent the first morning they were available, and the second six months to the day after that, and they just confirmed the date on my card without asking any other questions - this will vary from pharmacist to pharmacist, ofc.

As soon or often as you're allowed after an update to spike proteins, three months after an infection, and twice a year absent other factors is probably a good rule of thumb rn.


Will the original vaccines have faded in usefulness by now? I thought there'd be some residual benefit.

Better than nothing, but potentially not much residual - even the first bivalents available were trained on OG omicron from nearly a year earlier, and we've now had sixteen months of international "let 'er rip" strategies creating more and more enthusiastic and creative variants. And of course, everyone's individual experience of infection varies, and vaccination only reduces risk. Isolate as much as possible, rest more than you think you should, and take as much ibuprofen as you have in the house - good luck!

there is still residual benefit against severe disease regardless, though that also wanes over time, just not as badly as transmission protection wanes. many of those who were vaccinated/boosted and die were not up to date on their boosters.

mom is hesistant to get her and dad done again, and I get the why (dad's easy as he sleeps, but mom and I have to coordinate as I'm mostly solo while she's recovering), but i'm going to encourage it. i got my second bivalent, mostly by trickery.

Yeah I’m officially a “social care worker” but I’m actually still in training, and won’t be seeing my next client until the fall, so I do feel a bit like I’m committing chicanery.

OTOH when I get the vaccine, no one checks my social worker ID, so I’ve been encouraging other people to use the same ruse to get their bivalents early. Also, at this point health care workers seem like they’re glad to vaccinate anybody who wants it and are happy to turn a blind eye.

just about nobody in FL is getting it anyway so I didn't feel the least bit guilty. hell, the appointment took just about zero time, whereas during the vaccine boom I had to wait a while to be seen.

I don't see why they don't go ahead and open up the second bivalent to everybody at this point. Not like there'd be a mad rush to get them, in the US at least.

I really do think they're aiming for a once a year reset. Like, I think I got my bivalent in ... September? There's no real reason I shouldn't be formally "due" again at the same pace as before, but radio silence.

uk spring boosters currently only for 75+, health workers and the compromised

Biden declared the pandemic over on September 20th

Biobot.io showed a brief increase in COVID wastewater in various US regions, including Florida, and a plateau in the decrease in positive test rate and hospitalizations in FL, and then the latest Biobot shows the wastewater going back down nationally/Florida, and the positive rate/hospitalizations in FL starting to go back that way.

possible temporary St Paddy's uptick? my guess at least

Spring breeeaaaak

oh DUH

I forgot spring break existed after I left college, always wonder "why so many shirtless people in the street"

4ever

5evah

The (mild) spike was almost certainly a result of spring break; Miami-Dade's wastewater totals started going up in early March and now have receded.

Once upon a time you could use Zima sales to measure spring break

Haven't gotten the bivalent booster on doctor's orders because of all this other auto-immune stuff I have going on. I never wanted to be an anti-vaxxer, but it does seem like this all could have been stirred up/triggered by the original round(s) of vaccines, oh well. Certainly hoping I don't get COVID again, but I'm also not taking any particularly extreme measures at this point (generally trying to avoid crowds, but still meeting friends in/out, etc).

fwiw I know another immuno-compromised person in the same boat, the first two messed her up pretty bad

I've been dealing with (what I hope are) brutal allergies since it warmed up around here. Had 3 tests in 3 days, all negative, but still can't shake the feeling I might be sick. :(

I know the feeling. The ways bodies respond to allergens is pretty hard to distinguish from how it responds to pathogens. At least the 3 negatives indicate whatever you're sick from, it's probably not covid.

there's a bad cold still going around, apparently

but agreed on the upper midwest allergy season having started

here too in phill

pollen in Florida has been in the 'high' category consistently for months, my car looks like Big Bird dry humped it. so both of my best friends and my mother have sounded like they have actual seaweed in their sinuses for about three months. i have to imagine if any of them did get a virus (COVID or otherwise), they'd have a hard time knowing it for days because they're already experiencing daily symptoms that feel like a cold.

I had a sinus infection a few weeks ago myself - the doctor thought it was a virus, I think it may have been a bacterial infection that had lingered for a month or so and just finally got worse enough for me to notice. wound up taking about 6 covid tests all negative. my body temp had been elevated for four weeks and I had attributed it to my exercise regimen but my body temp has returned to normal consistently since that infection disappeared so apparently not.

just soooo much going around rn.

I've had two bouts of relatively extreme allergy-seeming def not COVID or sinus infection sicknesses in the last 2 or 3 months. I figure it's results of COVID plus climate change plus we're all going to die.

I still have a lingering post-nasal drip causing cough that wakes me up in the middle of the night and makes me sit up and sometimes reach for a cough drop before going back to sleep, a longstanding habit I'm not a fan of because I'm sure one day I'll choke on a cough drop while sleeping and that's it.

I was hanging with a friend in Brooklyn last week and his allergies were so bad I thought he was going to fall right over. Just this persistent dry cough, no other symptoms. when he finally relented and started taking medicine it got better.

The ongoing road construction near my home may mercifully be finished now, but not all of the grass has grown back and dry, windy conditions mean I have a little dust storm outside. An entire side of my house is filthy, and I'm assuming all of the dust has been giving me some sinus issues

I was recently in San Francisco and was quite taken aback / fascinated by the contrast with regard to mask use compared with most places in Europe. It was startlingly high in SF in comparison with here.

Where I live the number of people currently wearing masks is very, very low, verging on non existent. Today I walked through the city centre and don’t think I saw a single person wearing one. Even among the significant population of Chinese students here who at one time had 99.9% adherence, even outdoors, it is dwindling away. At gigs and even at my local art house cinema where one might expect to see higher usage it is also almost non existent and the same applies to public transport.

On buses in SF mask use seemed particularly high and I notice the messaging on the buses recommended wearing them. So, I am curious if the high number of people wearing them there is down to public messaging, which here has gone completely? Is there a political dimension too? Here it was never really much of a political issue (outside of a small number of anti-mask freaks).

Practically no one wears them in Miami. When one of 50 students in my class wears a mask, I question whether they're coming sick with COVID to class.

Masks are still all over the place here in Cambridge, Mass. I'm even seeing people wearing them driving alone in cars, biking along the river, etc.

Oddly I’ve also noticed a sizable uptick in people wearing masks outdoors as well. Although, per allergy discussion, maybe are hoping for some mitigation there?

Masks are pretty rare in Austin, TX

Iirc masks may sometimes exacerbate allergies, because they trap pollen? And of course eyes remain exposed.

Seems kind of ad hoc here. I use my local Trader Joe's staff as a barometer. Sometimes some are masking, sometimes most aren't, sometimes most are, etc. Wherever I go, though - stores, airports, airplanes, buses, trains, sporting events, concerts, restaurants - the overwhelming majority are unmasked, perhaps because they (we) are more comfortable with the risks and will (hopefully) be responsible and stay home should symptoms arise.

Yeah I’m just trying to imagine reasons for seeing more masked folks outside these past few weeks.

On buses in SF mask use seemed particularly high and I notice the messaging on the buses recommended wearing them. So, I am curious if the high number of people wearing them there is down to public messaging, which here has gone completely? Is there a political dimension too? Here it was never really much of a political issue (outside of a small number of anti-mask freaks).

― stirmonster, Thursday, April 13, 2023 11:54 AM (one hour ago)

Hey stirry, long time no chat. :-P

In SF, my family wear masks on public transit and in crowded places/situations. Although there is a small uptick in COVID right now, there are a ton of other nasty bugs going around (flu, sinus infections, conjunctivitus, shingles even!). Better to avoid that.

We also recently traveled abroad (not to Glasgow sadly) and were happy to see masking in places that were most troublesome (airports, public transit, etc). Although I was not surprised to learn my cedar pollen allergy is still incredibly impairing.

My dad used to wear an N95 mask sometimes during allergy season pre-COVID. Looked weird as heck, but guess it wouldn't draw a second look now.