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Post by rikita on Jul 2, 2023 9:54:46 GMT
What makes me wonder about masks is that, 1) the person might have recently been exposed to Covid, but not yet tested positive. Or not tested at all. 2) The person might actually have an active case of Covid, but feel well enough to be out and about. And 3) the person is getting over a case of Covid. they could also be suffering from some kind of social anxiety and found out during the times of general mask wearing that they feel better hiding their face ...
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Post by Kimby on Jul 2, 2023 14:14:46 GMT
We are still masking up in airports and on planes. Otherwise not at all. We are 5X vaccinated (4 Moderna and 1 Pfizer bivalent booster). So far as we know neither of us has gotten COVID, though both of us had colds a couple months ago, our first colds in over 3 years, thanks to the precautions everyone was taking for COVID. We each took a home test and tested negative. My doc later said we SHOULD have taken a 2nd test 48 hours later. She also said that IF we do get COVID, even if it’s mild, we should call her and get set up with Paxlovid to head off potentially bad symptoms or “long COVID.”
I imagine we will mask up on our flights for the foreseeable future, since we don’t want to develop COVID at our destination and bring it to our friends or family. Or be unable to board our return flight.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 2, 2023 15:20:12 GMT
I keep putting off my 5th shot, just because nothing seems urgent about it. I only ever had one (obligatory) test and that was in Antwerp before my cargo trip to Finland.
I still see a few masks in Paris, but they have almost disappeared. But in Vietnam last week, half of the people were masked, including almost 100% of the people on motorbikes. But since Saigon is a very polluted city, I suspect that it was more because of pollution rather than covid.
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Post by mich64 on Jul 3, 2023 15:57:56 GMT
The only place we see people wearing masks are at the doctor's office or at the hospital. We have had 5 shots and will probably get another in the late fall as it is supposed to be combined with the flu shot. With my sister in the midst of an experimental chemotherapy session, our main concern is avoiding visiting her or my parents for 7 days after large social gatherings.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jul 6, 2023 19:54:45 GMT
We still see some people wearing masks in town. If I'm on a crowded bus I still wear one but aside from that we don't bother atm.
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Post by bjd on Jul 7, 2023 5:35:57 GMT
I talked with a friend in Toulouse yesterday. She has covid but says it's just tiredness and a cold. She says she is just staying in the house and garden and missing all kinds of end-of-season activities even though rules about self-isolating are pretty much relaxed.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 7, 2023 17:16:42 GMT
That is responsible of her! I see in her post above that Mich is observing similar protocol to protect her sister. I agree with Cheery about using the mask in crowded, enclosed spaces.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 17, 2023 14:06:10 GMT
I subscribe to a NYTimes newsletter called The Morning, which carried this article today. I hate to copy & paste it because of copyright, etc. but felt that many of you would want to read it. Note that there are live links throughout the original article which are not included here. Measuring Covid deathsBy David LeonhardtThe United States has reached a milestone in the long struggle against Covid: The total number of Americans dying each day — from any cause — is no longer historically abnormal. Excess deaths, as this number is known, has been an important measure of Covid’s true toll because it does not depend on the murky attribution of deaths to a specific cause. Even if Covid is being underdiagnosed, the excess-deaths statistic can capture its effects. The statistic also captures Covid’s indirect effects, like the surge of vehicle crashes, gun deaths and deaths from missed medical treatments during the pandemic. During Covid’s worst phases, the total number of Americans dying each day was more than 30 percent higher than normal, a shocking increase. For long stretches of the past three years, the excess was above 10 percent. But during the past few months, excess deaths have fallen almost to zero, according to three different measures. The Human Mortality Database estimates that slightly fewer Americans than normal have died since March, while The Economist magazine and the C.D.C. both put the excess-death number below 1 percent. Here is the C.D.C. data: Source: C.D.C. | Data is through the week ending June 17, 2023. | By The New York TimesAfter three horrific years, in which Covid has killed more than one million Americans and transformed parts of daily life, the virus has turned into an ordinary illness. The story is similar in many other countries, if not quite so positive: Source: The Economist excess deaths model | Data is through the week ending July 10, 2023. | By The New York TimesThe power of immunityThe progress stems mostly from three factors: First, about three-quarters of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine shot. Second, more than three-quarters of Americans have been infected with Covid, providing natural immunity from future symptoms. (About 97 percent of adults fall into at least one of those first two categories.) Third, post-infection treatments like Paxlovid, which can reduce the severity of symptoms, became widely available last year. “Nearly every death is preventable,” Dr. Ashish Jha, who was until recently President Biden’s top Covid adviser, told me. “We are at a point where almost everybody who’s up to date on their vaccines and gets treated if they have Covid, they rarely end up in the hospital, they almost never die.” That is also true for most high-risk people, Jha pointed out, including older adults — like his parents, who are in their 80s — and people whose immune systems are compromised. “Even for most — not all but most — immunocompromised people, vaccines are actually still quite effective at preventing against serious illness,” he said. “There has been a lot of bad information out there that somehow if you’re immunocompromised that vaccines don’t work.” That excess deaths have fallen close to zero helps make this point: If Covid were still a dire threat to large numbers of people, that would show up in the data. One point of confusion, I think, has been the way that many Americans — including we in the media — have talked about the immunocompromised. They are a more diverse group than casual discussion often imagines. Most immunocompromised people are at little additional risk from Covid — even people with serious conditions, such as multiple sclerosis or a history of many cancers. A much smaller group, such as people who have received kidney transplants or are undergoing active chemotherapy, face higher risks. With vs. fromCovid’s toll, to be clear, has not fallen to zero. The C.D.C.’s main Covid webpage estimates that about 80 people per day have been dying from the virus in recent weeks, which is equal to about 1 percent of overall daily deaths. The official number is probably an exaggeration because it includes some people who had virus when they died even though it was not the underlying cause of death. Other C.D.C. data suggests that almost one-third of official recent Covid deaths have fallen into this category. A study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases came to similar conclusions. Even so, some Americans are still dying from Covid. “I don’t know anybody who thinks we’re going to eradicate Covid,” Jha said. Dr. Shira Doron, the chief infection control officer at Tufts Medicine in Massachusetts, told me that “age is clearly the most substantial risk factor.” Covid’s victims are both older and disproportionately unvaccinated. Given the politics of vaccination, the recent victims are also disproportionately Republican and white. Each of these deaths is a tragedy. The deaths that were preventable — because somebody had not received available vaccines and treatments — seem particularly tragic. (Here’s a Times guide to help you think about when to get your next booster shot.) Yet the number of Covid deaths has now dropped low enough that they are difficult to notice in the overall death data. They can be swamped by fluctuations in other causes of death, such as the flu or vehicle crashes. Almost a year ago, President Biden angered some public health experts when he declared, “The pandemic is over.” He may have been premature to make that declaration. But the excess-deaths milestone suggests that it’s true now: The pandemic is finally over.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 17, 2023 15:52:24 GMT
That is very good news. I know that it is the same in most of Europe, and you hear almost nothing from the vaccine deniers anymore (probably because they have the delusional idea "you see, I was right all along -- no problem!"). Of course, these people will always find new conspiracies, health related or not.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 17, 2023 18:04:10 GMT
Sadly too true, Kerouac. I imagine many of them are now saying, "See -- it just had to run its course, just as I said."
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Post by Kimby on Jul 17, 2023 22:25:50 GMT
I spoke to a pharmacist today about whether I should get another booster now - before flying to Michigan for a large family reunion - or wait until the new improved booster comes out this fall. (I have had 5 COVID shots so far, but last was in October.).
She said I could go either way, but might gain an immune boost before my trip by doing it now, even though it will be less than 2 weeks till I travel. She said the fall booster is expected to be an improvement over the bivalent I got last year, and getting a booster now may mean I’ll have to wait longer to get the improved shot in the fall.
Then she added that Missoula is having an UPTICK in COVID cases, based on the notable increase in the number of prescriptions they have filled last week for PAXLOVID.
Think I’ll get the shot.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 17, 2023 23:01:11 GMT
Missoula is having an UPTICK in COVID cases Well, Montana .......... Kimby, did you notice this in the article above? Covid’s victims are both older and disproportionately unvaccinated. Given the politics of vaccination, the recent victims are also disproportionately Republican and white.I'm with you on getting that shot! Put your mind at ease and enjoy the reunion.
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Post by lugg on Jul 18, 2023 19:58:38 GMT
Absolutely Kimby why would we ever not get it if it is offered.
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Post by Kimby on Aug 4, 2023 22:49:42 GMT
So the reunion was a wonderful success, more than 60 attendees from all over the US, age range from 3 months to almost 80. So much reminiscing and so many hugs.
I just got word today that my favorite cousin and his wife, both in their mid 70’s, have come down with COVID. Wonder how many other cases will result. I still feel fine.
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Post by htmb on Sept 1, 2023 21:53:12 GMT
Covid seems to made a comeback here in the US. My California daughter and granddaughter have it. Covid is going through the whole high school where fall session only started a week ago. Here in Florida, one of my best friends has been sick all week. We’d been trying to meet up, but it’s fortunate our plans fell through. I pulled up the CDC map and it shows a significant number of cases in my area. I really don’t want to start wearing a mask again, but it might be prudent to dust off my old pack for awhile. Towards the end of this month we’re supposed to get an updated booster that might help in dealing with this latest variant.
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Post by Kimby on Sept 2, 2023 14:31:11 GMT
Onset of Northern Hemisphere winter will send people indoors, increasing the chances of being exposed to COVID or RSV or colds and influenza.
I’ll be getting the enhanced booster as soon as they let me. AND a flu shot.
BTW, recent studies showed that you get a bigger immune bump if you get the shot in the same arm as your last shot. Since I’m right handed, I get most shots in my left arm. But having gotten the flu shot and COVID shot at the same time last fall, I was able to observe that the flu shot arm was much sorer. Hard to sleep on.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 2, 2023 15:00:43 GMT
Covid is making a comeback in France, too.
However, I had to go to the Hôpital Rothschild a couple of days ago and I put on my mask as I entered, following the standard protocol. I immediately discovered that absolutely nobody was wearing a mask, neither employees, doctors, nor visitors. So I took off my mask.
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Post by Kimby on Sept 2, 2023 15:14:47 GMT
That’s counterintuitive, isn’t it?
If everyone around you is being careless, shouldn’t you be MORE careful?
I felt awkward wearing my mask on the plane to the Michigan reunion once I’d discovered my seatmate was actually my cousin’s granddaughter on her way to the same family reunion!
I’d have loved to take it off rather than have her first impression of me be dominated by my mask. But I was trying hard not to catch something I’d share with my reunited family, or bring home to Mr. Kimby, so I kept it on.
Fortunately, all the reunion events were outdoors, so I could dispense with it for the rest of the trip, till boarding the flight home. (My seatmate’s grandparents did both come down with COVID after the reunion. I haven’t heard how many others were affected. Not me, though.)
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 2, 2023 15:29:26 GMT
I dunno. I feel pretty well vaccinated even though I have not had my 5th shot yet (waiting to combine it with the flu shot in a month or two), and I have always had an excellent immune system. And I never got covid.
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Post by htmb on Sept 2, 2023 15:55:34 GMT
I’ve never had Covid either, but I did catch RSV last fall when confined on a small boat for a week with eight other people. One of my friends arrived with what she thought was a little cold. It morphed into constant hacking, congestion and misery. About a week later, her sister and I came down with the same symptoms. The illness was very slow at first, so that we just felt like we were getting colds. However, over time it progressed into a very miserable experience. All together mine lasted about three weeks. I’ve sent a note to my doctor asking if she recommends I get the vaccine now, or wait a little longer. I certainly don’t want to catch RSV again.
I guess I’ve had five Covid vaccines. I’ve lost count. I do know I’ll need an additional CDC card to record the next booster because my original card is now full. Hopefully the newest version will be out here soon, but I’ll have to have the injection separately from the flu shot due to my allergy situation.
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Post by htmb on Sept 5, 2023 3:16:36 GMT
The Bidens were in Florida this past Saturday to offer support for those hit by the hurricane, and now Jill Biden has Covid. Maybe it’s Florida Covid. It’s certainly going around here in Fla.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 5, 2023 3:20:28 GMT
I'm very sorry she caught covid, but the one bright spot is that it's newsworthy so will remind people that covid has not gone away.
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Post by Kimby on Sept 5, 2023 22:10:58 GMT
And Joe Biden is - so far - testing negative. In advance of a big G20 meeting this weekend…
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Post by bjd on Sept 6, 2023 9:09:03 GMT
Our children that we just visited in Canada were in Colombia this summer. Three of them caught covid there and two weeks later, when we first arrived, all three had awful coughs and our son was still coughing when we left. Someone said it was the lungs clearing out the remains of covid, which had been just like a cold, but I don't know if that is true or not.
Neither my husband nor I caught anything and I am still at my three shots plus a light infection from nearly a year ago. No immediate plans to get another shot and I have never had the flu vaccine.
In the airplanes, both there are back, very few people were wearing masks, although on the way home the head cabin steward was wearing one.
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Post by htmb on Oct 8, 2023 1:55:17 GMT
I got the latest flu shot when it was first available in August. I’ve had two garden variety respiratory illnesses this year that set me back for at least two weeks each, so I will take any kind of vaccine I can get. This week I had the most recent Covid vaccine and, other than my arm being sore for a couple of days, it didn’t slow me down a bit. I came back here to see if I’d reported having negative reactions to the vaccine. I had the latest version today and, 11 hours later, I’m miserable. Low grade fever, chills, and my arm hurts at the injection site. Karma!
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 8, 2023 2:54:10 GMT
I know you don't feel well, Htmb, but the right way to think about that is, "Oh good -- the vaccine is working!"
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Post by lugg on Oct 8, 2023 19:25:15 GMT
Hope you feel better soon Htmb. I need to get my booster sorted. It is now becoming quite rife again in my neck of the woods
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Post by htmb on Oct 8, 2023 19:45:41 GMT
Well, this was definitely no fun, but I finally feel like I’m starting to turn the corner after 24+ hours.
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Post by whatagain on Oct 9, 2023 20:15:13 GMT
Good !
Lots of Covid over here. My wife says most of the stafc at hospital got it. A version that would make you nauseous.
I got a mail today from a colleague who warned us she got it and to pay attention since we spent most of friday together.
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Post by bixaorellana on Oct 10, 2023 0:54:59 GMT
Hope you're back to normal, Htmb.
What a pain, Whatagin. Are you going to get tested?
No word here yet on a booster campaign.
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