rona moved in: ilx0rs with the bug report on their progress

(sympathies to all affected. was just reading about a friend from Cali whose entire U.K. summer vacay was wrecked by COVID, spent most of it in isolation. preparing for my own U.K. vacay in a month, fingers crossed)

there doesn’t seem to be a *lot* of it about here. maybe one or two people per month in my wider work/professional community. i think you’re good. obv hoping you have a great holiday here!

fwiw the isolation guidelines (for all respiratory illnesses) in the US are now "do what you like as long as you haven't had a fever for 24 hours"

Where are ya going, Tipsy?

I think it might be less about the virus being particularly strong in certain countries and more that long flights are an easy way to catch bugs in general. I got a pretty bad flu from my flight to Japan (not covid).

that’s got to be right.

anecdotally tho i’m getting three or four reports of covid a month from spain over the last two months from a smaller network.

might just be some sort of information skew. certainly not statistically robust!

Where are ya going, Tipsy?

Devon and Cornwall — which I understand is typically quite quiet during the summer ...

(I have read somewhat hopeful sounding accounts that the domestic tourist trade is down just a bit there this summer, because of competition from cheap continental destinations)

The second time I caught COVID was on a plane, thinking I'll go ahead and mask up on the flight over just to give us a better chance.

It seems the current strain is less catchy?

Which of the three dominant / rising strains do you mean?

xp hope you get decent sun. it's nice but muggy right now. I'll be down in Cornwall again late August, was there a month ago and totally lucked out with the weather.

Thx! Honestly coming from the baking heat we’re having here, cloudy and even a bit rainy would be fine.

also visiting Devon from the US this summer and also hoping for cold and damp tbqh.

It’s been pretty warm in East Devon this week so the chances of cold + damp are enhanced. No covid reports from my Devon-based colleagues.

btw Tim thanks for that pub rec (at Ide), worked out beautifully!

In Ireland now and covid has hit several of my travel companions. Two of them were down for the count for a bit. Apparently I've remained clear of it. But I've been strategic in my indoor socializing. Lots of outdoor drinking and have avoided crowded pubs for the most part. Though there was that one night in Dingle...

The amount of coughing I hear when out and about is somewhat alarming.

I've had a couple of colleagues complain about being "knocked out" by brief coughing spells and runny noses and when I suggest it might be COVID they look at me as if I'd asked them to join a synth pop band -- and these were some of the most COVID-conscious people in my office two years ago. It's as if a mindwipe has happened.

I'm no paragon -- I go out all the time and only mask when on planes and when I feel crowded or unsafe indoors -- but at least I know what the risk is.

Yeah some people I know aren't even testing anymore when they get sick. Which is super weird to me, because if I can know what I'm sick with, I would like to!

A friend's baby just got the covid, and is pretty sick... I don't remember any children in the first wave, maybe it's mutated in a way that'll make kids more vulnerable

I just had four flight between San Francisco>Copenhagen>Stockholm and I think I saw two people on the planes with masks on (clearly American) though a few masks in the airports.. but not that many

No one in Sweden appears to wear a mask anymore, anywhere

I noticed in Dublin and Galway last summer -- not one mask worn by a local. Is it because most European countries had real lockdowns instead of our ersatz ones and the memory's raw?

I honestly think thats the case in Aus. We were locked down so hard for so long with such strict masking laws, that when they lifted it all people went "oh thank FUCK".

I've seen it said that it'd be nice if what had come out of this, is a cultural shift where we're all like they are in SEA - everyone just wears a mask when they have a cold/flu. But nooooo.

I live in Wisconsin. Nobody* masks in Wisconsin.

*Not nobody, but so few that I either figure they are currently sick or they care for someone at high risk.

I've had a couple of colleagues complain about being "knocked out" by brief coughing spells and runny noses and when I suggest it might be COVID they look at me as if I'd asked them to join a synth pop band -- and these were some of the most COVID-conscious people in my office two years ago. It's as if a mindwipe has happened.

No one in Sweden appears to wear a mask anymore

It would be pretty sweet if they developed an at-home test that covered COVID, flu, etc all in one. per tipsy it’s very nice to know what you’ve got

I think you need to cough on different cards or whatever but isn't this exactly what they developed at Pluslife?

Yeah some people I know aren't even testing anymore when they get sick. Which is super weird to me, because if I can know what I'm sick with, I would like to!

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 26 June 2024 23:55 (yesterday) link

I don't bother anymore, because it's not going to change my behavior. If I'm sick, I stay home, stay away from others and sleep in the spare room so I don't get my wife sick.

I mean, there's a public health benefit is you test positive and report it online (I did once a couple months ago), but I think they're able to glean all the data they need via wastewater samples now

Further updates, flying back from Ireland direct to L.A. and I have never heard that much coughing or sneezing on a plane. Kept my mask on, kept the air blowing down on me from above, sneaked in some bites of food at dinnertime, and I guess we'll see what happens.

My wife's boss and his boss, both them and their entire families are knocked out by it currently, and they picked it up from different sources. The former had to cancel his vacation, the latter are stuck in a hotel room on their vacation.

My companions who got knocked out by it were my father, brother, and his wife. I was worried for my dad because, well, he's battling brain cancer. This was his final journey over there. But he had just been vaccinated and therefore overcame it quickly. The others are still fighting off lingering symptoms, ten days later and back in the states.

My dad likely picked it up on the flight over. He didn't mask up, he's a bit stubborn about it. I was really insistent that he do so, too. But at least he wore the mask flying back home.

I finally got unlucky. :(

now almost everyone i know has covid

yeah I'm back to masking in grocery stores etc

Unlucky here, on my American holiday :-((((

Ivy and sleeve where are you? Haven’t known any people getting it recently in the DC area.

nyc

I was visiting DC earlier in the week!

Oregon xxp

It finally got me

Hope it's not too bad.

noooo

Get through okay! Was looking for this thread a couple of weeks back, finally got me then too.

oof, get well soon Neando, a lot of people are getting it, but masking is still so rare here in DC, unfortunately.

You hung out longer than anyone, man. Cheers!

When I get sick with ANYTHING, even a mere cold, my immune system overreacts severely at first. No exception here. Got high fever, weakness, night sweats, no voice, ick.

Then a day later all that's gone, I'm fine and I'm only slightly congested. From deliriously screaming FACE ME SON OF JOR-EL at 3 am to being bored and sipping Gatorade

tested negative today (day 8).

for all I know, I'd have tested negative yesterday or the day before, just didn't try because it's expensive to test every day and I'd decided to be housebound until i next tested.

my main theory about how i'd avoided until now despite like 6 exposures is that I'd been ahead of the curve for years on the vaccine, getting the first two shots before the rest of the world du eto the trial, getting my first booster before Delta even showed up on a lark, and from then on, not letting 5-6 months go by without getting the new shot or a booster of the last one. and that streak broke last fall, after I got my fall shot, I didn't get another this spring like I'd done last year. CDC didn't recommend it for me, dad's not around anymore, mom didn't get a reboost, and I just didn't think about it.

thought about doing it anyway 2-3 weeks ago and almost made an appointment, but one of the experts I read said if I did that, I'd have to wait 4 months to get the new fall formula so I said I"d just awit. oops

glad you are okay!

i'm already looking forward to the new shots. i keep hearing about it being around. i've never had it as far as i know though i suppose i could have had an asymptomatic covid. my dad's never had it either and i'm looking forward to him getting the new shot as well. he lives with me. he's 89. so, you know, i worry in general about him.

(by "it" being around i mean covid not the new shots.)

Man, people all around me are down with it. I was worried about it on my recent UK vacation, but didn't get it and came home to find it just rampant in my own backyard. Some bad cases too, no hospitalizations or anything but just bad sick. And school starts tomorrow, so that's bound to be fun.

School starts so early now compared to when I was a kid and people started in the last week of August or even the day after Labor Day. Why?