Health Issues The Everything Covid 19 Thread

[PTree15]

I have thought a lot about going back to see live music and I wonder if things will ever get back to "normal" again.

The last three concerts I went to before lockdown I didn't really enjoy as well which is annoying!

I so miss live music.

 

[Urban Gardener]

We're still locked down here in NYC. But people are out, enjoying the amazing weather.

I'm looking forward to being tested for antibodies. I had a weird cold back in March. It was like bronchitis with extreme fatigue, indigestion and watery eyes. I don't think I had much of a fever. I just felt wiped out and had a lot of tightness in my throat and upper lungs. So I want to know if that was COVID or just a regular cold.

The former residents of my apartment smoked heavily so it could have also just been allergies from being indoors and breathing in the lingering cigarette smell.

But I don't think it's worth it to go and get an antibody test right now. We still don't know what it really means in terms of immunity, and I'm not a frontline worker. I live alone. I'll save the antibody tests for people who need them.

I'm actually surprised that the infection rate isn't higher right now in the US. With what we just saw here in the city, I expected it to rise faster now that people are being less socially distant (here and elsewhere). Maybe that's a good sign.

In other news, I'm continuing to adapt my work to the changing situation. Coming up with new ideas. That part is a lot of fun.

And I continue to have intensely mixed feelings about the lockdown experience. In a lot of ways, I'm really enjoying it. I also miss people at times. I miss some of my old routines. But it's ok.

I'm being more cautious, overall, than a lot of people in my neighborhood. I'm waiting to see what happens in the coming months.

 

[Sax]

Okay, I try not to bring partisanship onto the forum but this one's pretty funny:

 

[KLS52]

Two friends were really sick over the last month. One was sick with recurring high fever fatigue and cough for three weeks and tested twice with negative results both times. The other was tested for antibodies After having been sick for two weeks with fatigue cough and loss of taste and smell. Also negative.

I’m wondering why the first one wasn’t tested for flu first to rule that out. I’m thinking she probably had the flu since two tests for covid were negative, although with a 25% false negative with covid who knows. But it would have been helpful to know if she was positive for flu.

I’m not having much faith in this covid test. Apparently it matters how skillful the medical person is taking the test. It’s supposed to be quite uncomfortable although not painful.

 

[Urban Gardener]

Two friends were really sick over the last month. One was sick with recurring high fever fatigue and cough for three weeks and tested twice with negative results both times. The other was tested for antibodies After having been sick for two weeks with fatigue cough and loss of taste and smell. Also negative.

I’m wondering why the first one wasn’t tested for flu first to rule that out. I’m thinking she probably had the flu since two tests for covid were negative, although with a 25% false negative with covid who knows. But it would have been helpful to know if she was positive for flu.

I’m not having much faith in this covid test. Apparently it matters how skillful the medical person is taking the test. It’s supposed to be quite uncomfortable although not painful.

Right! That's another reason I'm holding off on being tested for antibodies. The tests are still being developed. I'd rather wait until everything is more reliable.

 

[Raven]

I’m not having much faith in this covid test. Apparently it matters how skillful the medical person is taking the test. It’s supposed to be quite uncomfortable although not painful.

The Covid test wasn't really uncomfortable, you had to swab your tonsils and then up your nose. We both sneezed after we did our nasal test. I don't really trust the result either, to be honest.

 

[KLS52]

The Covid test wasn't really uncomfortable, you had to swab your tonsils and then up your nose. We both sneezed after we did our nasal test. I don't really trust the result either, to be honest.

I forgot you got to do your own. Supposedly you need to go pretty far up to where it’s uncomfortable. I don’t think I could swab my own tonsils! I have such a sensitive gag reflex.

 

[Raven]

I don’t think I could swab my own tonsils! I have such a sensitive gag reflex.

I do as well. It wasn't that bad as I just looked in a mirror to do my tonsils, the nasal one felt more invasive!

 

[Urban Gardener]

I'm really disappointed by the media coverage of COVID. Almost all of it, even the better quality news sources. And I continue to be really creeped out by the gross celebrity stories and the comparative lack of focus on how it's affecting people who are not famous. A lot is being overlooked.

Here in NYC, we're looking at possible beach closures - actual fences to keep people off the beach. It would probably do a lot of good, but I'd be disappointed. I go to the beach several times a day, and I'm responsible about it.

I'm looking for ways to help out. We just lost about 20,000 people, with many more hospitalized or just struggling to.provide for themselves in a basic way. So I signed up for NYC Cares and I've been checking out volunteer opportunities.

 

[Lou]

A couple of tips for those whose glasses fog up when wearing a mask.

Clean your glasses with soap and water. Something to do with the chemistry of soap that makes eyeglasses resistant to condensation.

try exhaling thru your nose.

try to modify the fit around the bridge of your nose. On some masks just pinching the bridge of your nose through the mask works pretty good.

 

[Lou]

I'm really disappointed by the media coverage of COVID. Almost all of it, even the better quality news sources. And I continue to be really creeped out by the gross celebrity stories and the comparative lack of focus on how it's affecting people who are not famous. A lot is being overlooked.

I don't watch much TV news but last winter when I was living with my sister we recorded and watched every day the BBC World News America on PBS and the PBS news hour. You should watch those if you watch anything.

I don't listen to the radio much. I mostly listen to podcasts - and the news ones are almost all NPR. But in the morning I listen to my local NPR news while in the bathroom and kitchen. I'm entirely satisfied. On somedays maybe a little overwhelmed on all the bad news.

BTW, my local NPR station is making a concerted effort to interview the "man on the street". we have an NPR news show called California Today that is broadcast several times during the Morning Edition segment. In the California Today show, they include an interview with a regular person every day. Today they interviewed a shop keeper in LA. She converted her Hip Hop clothing store to masks and disinfectants so she could stay open as an essential business. But most of her neighbors have closed and many of them have closed for good.

Even the NYT's The Daily Podcast does a lot of man on the street stuff. You just need to know what to listen to.

I bet your local NPR has something similar. Try tuning in early morning at the top of the hour to WNYC. I just checked WNYC's schedule. It looks like from 10 to 2 you have lots of local news programming. And most of that is Covid related.

My main two Podcasts are Up First from NPR and The Daily from the NYT. If you listen to just those two you can be uptodate in less than an hour. If I get thru both of those I treat myself to the podcast of the Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

 

[Urban Gardener]

Thank you for the recommendations! I don't watch TV or listen to podcasts or the radio. I just read the news online - a variety of sources, including NYT and NPR.

I'm not really set up for listening to things right now. I only have headphones, and I save my listening time for music.

I meant that, as a whole, the coverage is just disappointing, regardless of the general quality of the source.

 

[Urban Gardener]

I keep checking the numbers here:

United States COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer

United States Coronavirus update with statistics and graphs: total and new cases, deaths per day, mortality and recovery rates, current active cases, recoveries, trends and timeline.

www.worldometers.info

It's basically going down or staying relatively flat in the US right now. But it's all one big experiment (figuratively, though approaching literally). Who knows what's in store.

 

[Chryssie]

As things open up it will be crucial to watch the numbers. People are going crazy right now with the stores re-opening. I hope it settles down. There is little social distancing being practice and I still see a lot of people not wearing masks. The beaches will be "fully opened" for the holiday weekend. I can imagine the crowds!

 

[Urban Gardener]

As things open up it will be crucial to watch the numbers. People are going crazy right now with the stores re-opening. I hope it settles down. There is little social distancing being practice and I still see a lot of people not wearing masks. The beaches will be "fully opened" for the holiday weekend. I can imagine the crowds!

Maybe the warm weather will somehow slow it down? Maybe it will turn out to be more of a seasonal illness? But barring that, or even with that being the case, this seems like a disaster in progress.

I suspected this would happen - that after a period of sheltering in place, there would be a backlash, leading to people getting out and spreading the disease, leading to another increase in infections. And our medical system just isn't equipped to handle it.

People are being really short-sighted. And our educational system is to blame for that. We're taught to take standardized multiple choice tests; critical thinking and any kind of abstract thinking are discouraged. Because we have failed to realize that education is a long-term investment affecting our health and safety as a whole society.

 

[Lou]

I think California is doing it right. They set up about 5 metrics and depending on what score you get you get to move to the next phase. I thought there were just 4 phases but it turns out that each phase has a certain number of subdivisions. This should allow a gradual and incremental loosening of restrictions - and based on medical science and not people's wishes. The gradual and incremental approach may prove to be confusing but it should also limit the amount of people overreacting.
My county is now in Early Phase 2. We can't move on until we get more testing done and implement more contact tracing. And both those things take time so we are probably stuck in phase 2 for a while.
There was some early overuse of the beaches on the first weekend. The government quickly responded by limiting the hours, (just early morning and late afternoon now) and then closing the parking lots so that you had to walk to the beach.
In a couple of days, I'm going to drive over to the coast and see if I can find a nice place to just go for a walk/hike. I also want to steal some sand to make my homemade dumbells.

 

[Urban Gardener]

I think California is doing it right. They set up about 5 metrics and depending on what score you get you get to move to the next phase. I thought there were just 4 phases but it turns out that each phase has a certain number of subdivisions. This should allow a gradual and incremental loosening of restrictions - and based on medical science and not people's wishes. The gradual and incremental approach may prove to be confusing but it should also limit the amount of people overreacting.
My county is now in Early Phase 2. We can't move on until we get more testing done and implement more contact tracing. And both those things take time so we are probably stuck in phase 2 for a while.
There was some early overuse of the beaches on the first weekend. The government quickly responded by limiting the hours, (just early morning and late afternoon now) and then closing the parking lots so that you had to walk to the beach.
In a couple of days, I'm going to drive over to the coast and see if I can find a nice place to just go for a walk/hike. I also want to steal some sand to make my homemade dumbells.

Cool! I've hiked in that area before - lots of beautiful, misty cliffs covered in poppies, often quite a climb to get down to the beach.

But on one hike, I found a beach literally covered in seals! I mean about 200 seals, all shapes and sizes and colors. They were so cute, like aquatic dogs. I kept a respectful distance and photographed them with a zoom lens.

CA's approach does sound good. A big challenge is that people will break the rules, and enforcement tends to put the enforcers at risk of infection.

 

[Chryssie]

Floridians are notoriously stupid! The governor is an idiot as well, a Trump pawn. While there aren't that many cases in my area presently, the opening up might change that. I am going to continue to be cautious but I have to go to work.

 

[Lou]

Floridians are notoriously stupid! The governor is an idiot as well, a Trump pawn. While there aren't that many cases in my area presently, the opening up might change that. I am going to continue to be cautious but I have to go to work.

Have you ever seen the Last Week Tonight segment "Hi, there Florida"?
or the Daily Show's "Who is Florida Man?"

Florida is so easy to pick on.

 

[Chryssie]

I don't watch late night TV or cable shows. I have heard a lot of the "Florida Man" stuff though!