CoronaVirus - non political thread

[samnite]

Atlanta still has a number of mask wearers. No one really cares being that we’re all desensitized to seeing people in masks at the grocery store unlike a few years ago. The mask people are either wearing like n95 masks and the whole getup or doing the half assed cheap mask hanging covering nothing that should be covered.

In the hospital, we are supposed to wear masks in all patient rooms and N95s in the COVID positive rooms. It is actually a way to help prevent spread of anything from patient to patient via ourselves I think. None of the patients/visitors/families take the mask-wearing seriously at this point and most staff don't wear masks at all outside of patient rooms. For me, I just let the mask people in the community do their thing as I don't know if they have other reasons for wearing masks like being immunosuppressed themselves (HIV/AIDS or Chemo?) or are around close family at risk. A simple mask covering provides some form of protection primarily for the non-mask wearers around the masked person if the masked person has COVID.

I find that it is impractical to wear an N95 for a prolonged period out in the community since in order to get the protection you would need to have a good tight mask fit and that is going to be uncomfortable for a period longer than 15 min IMO. We are required to have our faces tested for a good mask fit every 2 years to confirm we are using the correct size N95 mask in the hospital. This type of testing is probably not occurring outside the hospital so people are guessing at their size probably. Do the N95 people understand how to adjust the straps appropriately to get a good tight fit? It becomes difficult to walk around and just breathe normally through the N95 after awhile if worn correctly. The rubber banding will get loose after a while and then the level of protection goes down.

Some of it is psychological in that a segment of the population has not received any form of vaccination so they wear a simple mask as a necklace to make themselves feel better and remember the times when it was a requirement to wear in public. Some doctor's offices still do require masks though.

[samnite]

What are your thoughts on this?

Vaccination (admin.ch)

In principle, no COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for spring/summer 2023. People at especially high risk can receive a vaccination following an individual consultation with their doctor.

I think that the strains that were killing people quickly have given way to other strain forms of the virus that don't kill as quickly. The newer strains may cause long-term effects we don't know about but in theory the vaccination against the older strains (omicron and original) will provide some form of protection against the newer COVID variants (the base structure of COVID being the same but each strain having some small differences in the receptor part of the structure).

Personally, I got the initial 2 sticks for the original strain (12/2020 and 1/2021). I then got the booster in Aug 2021 after we had the delta variant over that summer. I then got the Bivalent vaccination which includes the Omicron coverage October 2022. All of these were Pfizer. If we don't see another wave or another strain appear, I don't think I will get another COVID vaccination as my main concern was avoiding serious illness that could cause hospitalization/mortality. My situation is different from most however since I am in a hospital seeing sick people and confirmed COVID cases. Others may feel the risk is not great enough to get another vaccination. If you have comorbidities or are around people who may not survive a serious respiratory illness then getting updated vaccination may in theory help protect them.

[CheaterMichael]

I think society has largely transitioned back to pre-covid behavior. Hopefully we learned the lessons we needed to and do a better job containing these outbreaks before they reach pandemic levels in the future. Anecdotally, I can say that so far in my hospital our case numbers have fallen to the point that most people aren't getting sick enough to require hospitalization. Most of the time there are other factors causing covid cases to get hospitalized, like needing physical rehab or some other medical issue addressed. They still screen people for covid before surgery and a lot of times some people may test positive with no symptoms (possibly false positives).

Atlanta still has a number of mask wearers. No one really cares being that we’re all desensitized to seeing people in masks at the grocery store unlike a few years ago. The mask people are either wearing like n95 masks and the whole getup or doing the half assed cheap mask hanging covering nothing that should be covered.

[riker7]

I think society has largely transitioned back to pre-covid behavior. Hopefully we learned the lessons we needed to and do a better job containing these outbreaks before they reach pandemic levels in the future. Anecdotally, I can say that so far in my hospital our case numbers have fallen to the point that most people aren't getting sick enough to require hospitalization. Most of the time there are other factors causing covid cases to get hospitalized, like needing physical rehab or some other medical issue addressed. They still screen people for covid before surgery and a lot of times some people may test positive with no symptoms (possibly false positives).

What are your thoughts on this?

Vaccination (admin.ch)

In principle, no COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for spring/summer 2023. People at especially high risk can receive a vaccination following an individual consultation with their doctor.

[samnite]

Does anyone have Covid flashbacks? I mean like I go to a place I went to before Covid, during and after and have these memories about how much everyone lost their minds with the protocols when no one knew what to do. Grocery stores having aisles be one way only, limiting the number of people that could go into a place with my local beer store was the best. The place is massive but they would only let 10 people in at a time so on a Friday or Saturday you’d see 50 people lined up outside trying to get their drink on.

I go to this local sandwich place all the time and went there Sunday. You had to order over the phone or in person outside on the porch, pay with card, get your sandwich then eat in your car.

Covid did some weird shit.

I think society has largely transitioned back to pre-covid behavior. Hopefully we learned the lessons we needed to and do a better job containing these outbreaks before they reach pandemic levels in the future. Anecdotally, I can say that so far in my hospital our case numbers have fallen to the point that most people aren't getting sick enough to require hospitalization. Most of the time there are other factors causing covid cases to get hospitalized, like needing physical rehab or some other medical issue addressed. They still screen people for covid before surgery and a lot of times some people may test positive with no symptoms (possibly false positives).

[CheaterMichael]

It may not be Covid-related, but some restaurants still randomly close their dining rooms. I don't like drive throughs and it pisses me off.

An American Deli near me scaled back to just takeout and two tables but I can’t think of many places that aren’t back to normal. I still have like 9 big bottles of hand sanitizer my neighbor gave me for some reason. I hate that stuff.

[riker7]

Does anyone have Covid flashbacks? I mean like I go to a place I went to before Covid, during and after and have these memories about how much everyone lost their minds with the protocols when no one knew what to do. Grocery stores having aisles be one way only, limiting the number of people that could go into a place with my local beer store was the best. The place is massive but they would only let 10 people in at a time so on a Friday or Saturday you’d see 50 people lined up outside trying to get their drink on.

I go to this local sandwich place all the time and went there Sunday. You had to order over the phone or in person outside on the porch, pay with card, get your sandwich then eat in your car.

Covid did some weird shit.

It may not be Covid-related, but some restaurants still randomly close their dining rooms. I don't like drive throughs and it pisses me off.

[CheaterMichael]

Does anyone have Covid flashbacks? I mean like I go to a place I went to before Covid, during and after and have these memories about how much everyone lost their minds with the protocols when no one knew what to do. Grocery stores having aisles be one way only, limiting the number of people that could go into a place with my local beer store was the best. The place is massive but they would only let 10 people in at a time so on a Friday or Saturday you’d see 50 people lined up outside trying to get their drink on.

I go to this local sandwich place all the time and went there Sunday. You had to order over the phone or in person outside on the porch, pay with card, get your sandwich then eat in your car.

Covid did some weird shit.

[FuqMizzou]

This shit lingers. Like, I’m basically fine at this point but definitely still have less of an appetite and a little congested in the head/chest and while it’s just full on being sick fatigue, it’s just enough where I don’t really feel like I can go to the gym. Basically just feel like going for a walk.

I didn't really get sick when I had it, maybe for half a day. But it took a week or two to clear all of that shit out of my chest.......

Still, the flu was MUCH worse.

[ivegostdacityblues]

This shit lingers. Like, I’m basically fine at this point but definitely still have less of an appetite and a little congested in the head/chest and while it’s just full on being sick fatigue, it’s just enough where I don’t really feel like I can go to the gym. Basically just feel like going for a walk.

[Deschet]

Thinning the herd of stupid people

That, or concentrating it.

[samnite]

I think he's supposed to drink fish tank cleaner or something.

Dr. Trump said so

Thinning the herd of stupid people

[samnite]

They’re close but not as accurate. I can’t speak to the specific margin for error. But, if you’re floating around the mid-90’s, on an Apple Watch, I believe you’re doing well. Low 90’s, consistently? Maybe mention it to your doctor.

Yeah. Best thing to do would be to get checked out officially if not improving. It sounds like he is doing ok from reading the thread though so that's good.

[ivegostdacityblues]

You're a pretty active guy, right? If you had oxygen issues, you'd know.

I’m 99% joking. If I felt out of breath just moving around my apartment I’d go to the ER.

[tOSUfanboi2]

My Apple Watch tells me my oxygen saturation level is between 94-96% on average. Does this mean I’ll live?

You're a pretty active guy, right? If you had oxygen issues, you'd know.