Coronavirus Pandemic

[F-ZeroOne]

Hope you get better soon Mat.

I've - as far as I know - managed to avoid it so far (and have had all three jabs and any day now I would like my awesome altered-DNA superpowers to develop please) but within the space of a week a close relative and two family friends have got it. All mild symptoms luckily so far and all equally vaccinated. We're bloody lucky Omnicron was "milder" and vaccinations arrived.

[KlaxonCow]

We're bloody lucky Omnicron was "milder" and vaccinations arrived.

Well, Omicron was luck. But the vaccines were science and hard work.

Just to acknowledge and promote that thing I've said before, that science is humanity's best fucking friend in the whole world. The enlightenment in an otherwise pitch black universe. It's our only weapon against shit like this, in the end. "Scientia Potentia Est" and all that.

[F-ZeroOne]

Oh, believe me I know the work that went into them, but we are lucky that they were being worked on with technology that made them possible at the time that they did. As others have pointed out, twenty or even ten years ago that may well not have been possible in the same time frame.

[merman]

Get well Mat.

Still keeping my exposure down where I can and wearing a mask.

Numbers up to 1 in 20 infected in England and 1 in 14 in Scotland.

[Cloudane]

Get well soon Mat

Managed to avoid it as far as I know, but yeah it's only a matter of time as it's finding everyone who's not had it before now.

[Mat]

Thanks for the well-wishes all.

I'm getting better, but I hate to think what it would have been like without having been triple-vaxxed.

Friday and Saturday were the worst, where I could barely breathe without coughing, and couldn't get more than half an hour's sleep at a time without coughing interrupting it.

Saturday night, I went to bed at 19:30 and didn't get out of bed until 08:30. Looks like I needed it, as things have gotten progressively better since.
Talking still makes me cough, and I have to stay hydrated, otherwise my throat starts to dry out, causing more coughing.
But I otherwise appear to be making it back to my state of normal.

The problem with any respiratory problem for me is that back in 2012, I had something called Sarcoidosis. Basically, all of my joints ached badly all of the time, making me feel like a 90 year old man. They eventually put a stop to that instance by giving me a massive steroid injection in the arse.
But since then, it seems to flare up whenever I get any respiratory illness, meaning even a common cold is a really unpleasant experience.
Needless to say, Covid really did a number on me in that respect, making it hard to stand up and move around. And because of that, I'm finding I get a couple of "good" hours in the morning, but after that, begin to feel fatigued from all the low-level background joint pain.

Also, it didn't seem funny at the time, but at its worst when I could barely breathe without coughing, I found a lot of my coughs were accompanied by synchronised farting.
Nobody mentioned that in the brochure.

Oh, and when you do get it, one thing that I found really helped?
Ice cream.
I mean, yeah, it was vegan Ben & Jerry's for me, but the creamy smooth coolness served to completely sooth the coughing.
I'm not saying eat it constantly while you've got covid. But half a tub can help provide a welcome respite.

I'm massively pissed off that the government is pretending everything's back to normal again.
This is a horrible disease, and I really don't want it again. Yet De Pfeffel and his cronies seem intent on prolonging the suffering it will cause. If people were still encouraged to wear masks in public and observe social distancing, I'm positive I could have remained Covid free; I've been travelling on public transport constantly since Covid hit, and only caught it now.
But we're now in a situation where they're even telling those who've tested positive that they don't have to stay away from work. And that we need to get used to living with it in the same way we live with the common cold.
What the actual fuck.
This is NOT the common cold.
This thing will kill people given half a chance.

I won't be one of those, as I don't want to put anyone else through this. I'll be staying off until my cough's gone and I've tested negative.

[gilesgoat]

The problem with any respiratory problem for me is that back in 2012, I had something called Sarcoidosis. Basically, all of my joints ached badly all of the time, making me feel like a 90 year old man.

See my previous posts when I got the 3rd Moderna Booster I had this sort of effect, "tremendos joint/nerves/'inside the bones',not sure where" pain that was making me really go bananas, it did start "moderate" but in the span of 2 days went to "fuck me this thing is killing me!" .. Ibuprofen did work a bit .. but I did not want to go "mega crazy" with it .. but it was really like "I can't do anything, I can't even move all is pain !".

Luckily after 4 days or so it did vanish the same way it came.

About coughing, I had a bit but mostly was truly and pure "throat pain" like "everything is painful down there" at the point of even drinking/eating was a struggle.

That did last quite some week and some "residual coff" that took a few MONTHS to pass completely.

I don't know what to think about all this .. apart that :

1. "we learnt little from it"
2. "people go banana too easily when there's some situation"
3. "some people go SO banana they completely deny the evidence"

Now maybe "nihilist" but I dare to add "4. it should have been lot more mortal/destructive BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT LEARNT ENOUGH" ok some people did, many just not ..

I mean we just barely are surviving all this and "BLAM there's a 'special military operation' that NOBODY NEEDS in this moment" .. ads already up for "travel this, travel there, book your holidays go everywhere" and so on and so on ...

Did we learn anything about "living good and trying to do best" with this Covid ? .. No ... not much I'd say ..

Anyway hold tight, keep doing your best, eventually it will pass, keep the masks and keep disinfecting and such ..

"Being cautious never hurts" ..

And yes I don't want to know either "what without the third dose" ...

It's killing people ? .. well unfortunately NOT those making "the bad decisions" it seems .. those someway always survive ...

[KlaxonCow]

I'm massively pissed off that the government is pretending everything's back to normal again.
This is a horrible disease, and I really don't want it again. Yet De Pfeffel and his cronies seem intent on prolonging the suffering it will cause. If people were still encouraged to wear masks in public and observe social distancing, I'm positive I could have remained Covid free; I've been travelling on public transport constantly since Covid hit, and only caught it now.
But we're now in a situation where they're even telling those who've tested positive that they don't have to stay away from work. And that we need to get used to living with it in the same way we live with the common cold.
What the actual fuck.
This is NOT the common cold.
This thing will kill people given half a chance.

Yeah, I'm with you all the way.

I had it "mild" myself... but it was Long Covid and kept going, symptomatically, for 5 months. And, to be honest, all of 2020 - from March, as I must have caught it in the week before lockdown was called - was a complete write-off. As even when the symptoms went, months of that shit left me fatigued and "in recovery" for the rest of the year.

I think I also had a "glancing blow" with Omicron in January. As I had it before and was triple jabbed, it was more just feeling like shit, being fatigued, a resurgence of "covid rash" on just my right forearm this time. Barely symptomatic, but enough that I can recognise it as being the same as my Long Covid, but just dialled down really low.

Like, I think maybe I came into contact with Omicron - but because I'm jabbed and had it before, it was asymptomatic. But it's still triggered a slight "echo" of Long Covid again.

And, well, the neurological stuff - which is predominantly what I got with Long Covid - is all the more worrying, as studies have found that Covid really does do shit to your grey matter and can weaken the heart as well. It really isn't 'flu or a cold, as this thing demonstrably can mess with your most major organs - the brain and the heart.

Indeed, I can't help noticing that, on this thread, the folks who're keen on ending lockdowns and restrictions, and saying "it's not so bad" and so forth... are the same folks who're telling us they've dodged it so far. I mean, good. You don't want this, so keep it up. But, you know, everyone who has properly suffered from this is unanimously adamant that this is NOT "just a little 'flu". It really, really isn't.

Omicron is milder than previous strains. But that's kind of like saying "being stabbed a few times is better than being decapitated". Objectively, yes. But, subjectively, are you on crack, you absolute mad man?!?

[Little stoned kiwi]

New Zealand is loosening its border restrictions.

New Zealander's 'and other eligible travellers' can already enter the country without the need to isolate or self-isolate. People can now apply for a working visa to come here.
Next month students can start coming in and Australians from anywhere in the world. In October the border restrictions will end completely.

I expect a new variant will enter the country and fuck everything up by the end of the year. And the old ones we previously avoided. But there are wages to suppress and a housing bubble that can't be allowed to deflate.

[gilesgoat]

New Zealand is loosening its border restrictions.

New Zealander's 'and other eligible travellers' can already enter the country without the need to isolate or self-isolate. People can now apply for a working visa to come here.
Next month students can start coming in and Australians from anywhere in the world. In October the border restrictions will end completely.

I expect a new variant will enter the country and fuck everything up by the end of the year. And the old ones we previously avoided. But there are wages to suppress and a housing bubble that can't be allowed to deflate.

.. all they need to do is to start attaching NFTs to houses ...



/me takes coat ...

[PFVA]

Around here they want to start to vaccinate the refugees, they were tested after coming in but Ukraine only had 35% of the population with the 1st dose by the time the war started. It's to protect them. There is 500 children so far attending school and it would be better protect them and their mothers and grandmothers.

As for masks indoors they are still mandatory till the 31st. I haven't heard if they are planning to change that for April.

[merman]

Stomach illnesses and bugs dropped during the last year as people distanced or washed their hands more.

[KlaxonCow]

I'm massively pissed off that the government is pretending everything's back to normal again.This is a horrible disease, and I really don't want it again.

On that front, health experts and doctors are deeply worried that all of thus ignores that Long Covid is a thing, and a serious health issue unto itself:
https://amp.theguardian.com/society/202 ... pert-warns
Like, yes, the most important priority was hospitalisations and deaths. For obvious reasons.

But this doesn't make a disease that, in some cases, is permanently damaging a human sense - sense of smell / taste - causing blood clots, weakened hearts, damaged grey matter, greatly increases mental health problems, and is leaving a significant chunk of people fucked up, if not essentially disabled, by an illness over a year later.

This is a serious health crisis, even if the virus had never killed a single person. But it's like the understandable priority on preventing deaths became the only thing to care about... and now it's not the biggest problem anymore then, fuck it, who cares?

[PFVA]

Around here, masks will continue to be mandatory indoors at least till the 18th of April.

I should add that last week lots of people, including myself, were wearing them outside due to the Saharan dust storm.

[PFVA]

Sometimes things can lead to conflicting instructions.

Saharan dust is back, for now not in a large quantity but noticeable.

As everybody knows the recommendations to prevent Covid and other virus is to keep windows and doors open so the air can circulate. Now the recommendation for Saharan dust probs is stay indoors and close all doors and windows, and travel by car with all the windows closed.

I guess it's a choice.

I'm opening the windows from the West side and closing the ones facing East. The wind that brings it is coming from there. (The dust crosses into Spain and it's blown here when there is Eastern or SE wind).