Coronavirus in Massachusetts (appointed, home, live)

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

The COVID enthusiasts are going to be disappointed with this news:

South Africa Hospitalization Rate Plunges 91% in Omicron Wave


"We have seen a decrease in a proportion of people who need to be on oxygen. They are at very low levels,” said Waasila Jassat, a researcher with the NICD. “For the first time there are more non-severe than severe patients in hospital."

This is good news. Evidence seems to be pointing towards the variant being much more infectious and less severe. That's not an unusual path for a virus to take throughout the course of its evolution.

Still, it's understandable that most experts continue to urge caution. It's still an extremely new variant and it'll be a little bit longer before we see the real impact of Omicron here in the U.S. Our timing isn't great because the bulk of vaccinated Americans were vaccinated long enough ago that protection has waned significantly (as opposed to South Africa where the bulk of the population was vaccinated more recently). Continued booster efforts should help dull the blow, and hopefully Omicron is a sign that the trajectory of the virus is going to continue to trend toward more infections/less severe over time.

[porterhouse]

Originally Posted by lrfox

It's still an extremely new variant and it'll be a little bit longer before we see the real impact of Omicron here in the U.S.

For sure, and people can adjust their risk tolerances accordingly. We're all vaxxed and boosted as that seems like the best protection at this point. Where I was taking the kids to Celtics games a few months ago, we'll probably ramp down on that until we see how things are on the other side of the holidays. However are we cancelling Christmas? No, definitely not. We'll be spending it with family and friends. Life is short.

It's just frustrating that all the media has been hyping the past few weeks is the sky is falling and hospitals are going to be overwhelmed. Omicron sells I suppose. On the other hand, you have the more vaxxed people are getting sick crowd. Both are IMO.

We were getting questions from parents earlier this week if we were pulling our kids from school now through break because of Covid (LOL), and last night it was if we were sending them because of tick Tok threats. It's not a normal way to live. Our parents didn't live this way, nor did most of us as children. No wonder there is a 12+ month wait for neuropsych testing currently.

[msRB311]

Omnicron is expected to become the dominant variant in the US

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Omnicron is expected to become the dominant variant in the US

Yes, and that will likely happen within a few weeks!

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

For sure, and people can adjust their risk tolerances accordingly. We're all vaxxed and boosted as that seems like the best protection at this point. Where I was taking the kids to Celtics games a few months ago, we'll probably ramp down on that until we see how things are on the other side of the holidays. However are we cancelling Christmas? No, definitely not. We'll be spending it with family and friends. Life is short.

It's just frustrating that all the media has been hyping the past few weeks is the sky is falling and hospitals are going to be overwhelmed. Omicron sells I suppose. On the other hand, you have the more vaxxed people are getting sick crowd. Both are IMO.

We were getting questions from parents earlier this week if we were pulling our kids from school now through break because of Covid (LOL), and last night it was if we were sending them because of tick Tok threats. It's not a normal way to live. Our parents didn't live this way, nor did most of us as children. No wonder there is a 12+ month wait for neuropsych testing currently.

Yeah, at nearly 2 years into this thing, I think this is the best approach. We've done just about the same thing - we aren't going out to eat/drink this weekend and we sold our Bruins tickets for next Tuesday's game for similar reasons. Not necessarily because we were worried about getting sick (we're boosted and fairly low risk anyway), but because we're seeing family over Christmas and really don't want to risk catching/spreading to older family members. We're also getting tested again which we stopped doing for a while over the summer and early fall.

The extremes are frustrating. The sky is not falling. Vaccines/boosters work. It's not irresponsible to do anything other than stay inside at home. COVID is real and can be deadly. The optimist in me thinks that most people fall in the reasonable portion of the spectrum but they're just not posting about it online in the same volume as the folks on the extreme end.

The psychological impact of all of this is another story. We'll be dealing with that a long time after the latest COVID variant stops grabbing headlines.

[msRB311]

But did people avoid going out to eat when the flu or a stomach virus was going around ? People can do whatever they want but I still find it interesting that there is this need to avoid doing anything when covid numbers go up but not when other illnesses have risen in the past. My DH had covid and said it felt like a mild flu. He said it was much less worse than the stomach virus he got two years ago two years in a row

I completely understand not wanting to get sick but no one ever stayed home or away from events like they are doing now. Most people I’ve known who had covid had mild cold/flu symptoms that weren’t nearly as bad as vomiting for 36 hours. I just feel like some people are being fake about suddenly staying home for covid but not for illnesses that could and did make you more sick.

I still have people I’d like to punch in the face who came around my babies with a cold. But sure go ahead and stay home because of covid even though you’re vaxxed and boosted.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by msRB311

But did people avoid going out to eat when the flu or a stomach virus was going around ? People can do whatever they want but I still find it interesting that there is this need to avoid doing anything when covid numbers go up but not when other illnesses have risen in the past. My DH had covid and said it felt like a mild flu. He said it was much less worse than the stomach virus he got two years ago two years in a row

I completely understand not wanting to get sick but no one ever stayed home or away from events like they are doing now. Most people I’ve known who had covid had mild cold/flu symptoms that weren’t nearly as bad as vomiting for 36 hours. I just feel like some people are being fake about suddenly staying home for covid but not for illnesses that could and did make you more sick.

I still have people I’d like to punch in the face who came around my babies with a cold. But sure go ahead and stay home because of covid even though you’re vaxxed and boosted.

Probably because the stomach virus hasn't killed 800k people in 20 months (as a very simplistic answer). Hopefully Omicron continues to prove itself as less lethal than prior variants.

[msRB311]

Well I guess I still have anger towards the people who thought it was no big deal to show up to events and work sick making others and their sick for days. No one cared about who they got sick pre covid. Most people aren’t dying of covid today and most that are have underlying issues.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Well I guess I still have anger towards the people who thought it was no big deal to show up to events and work sick making others and their sick for days.

I hope this changes the workplace culture a bit. Admittedly, I'm one of the people who hated using sick days and would go into the office if I wasn't feeling well as I hated getting behind. It took a lot to keep me home. In hindsight, it was not a great thing for me to do. It's also not a great testament to workplace culture that people felt the need to go into work when they were sick.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Well I guess I still have anger towards the people who thought it was no big deal to show up to events and work sick making others and their sick for days. No one cared about who they got sick pre covid. Most people aren’t dying of covid today and most that are have underlying issues.

"No one" is a quite a strong statement. Of course people cared before. Some did, some didn't (same as now). People make adjustments in precautions they take amidst a pandemic, given the more severe consequences of spreading illness vs. during a non-pandemic. Getting angry at the people who don't care either way is understandable, but it also must be understood that people in the latter category just happen to be that way and nothing you do or say is going to change them. If humans always did the right thing, society would be in a very different place.