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I am assuming you got a secondary bacterial infection?
That's what I am assuming happened. I had a fever between 99 & 101 (101.0 was the maximum) from Sunday to Tuesday with the usual aches, chills, fatigue etc. typical of a viral infection. I attempted to return to work the following Monday but left by noon because I was struggling to catch my breath and was getting tired quickly. Also, I had some tightness in my chest that was noticeable on deep breaths. My job is very physical and if it weren't so, I would probably have been fine to work. I immediately scheduled a telehealth appointment and the provider told me these symptoms were very common. I also had an unproductive, dry cough that wasn't expelling anything. I felt significantly better within 24 hours and was 100 percent within 48 hours of starting a Z pack and steroids.
Complete and total about-face by the infectious disease specialists you trust. Adopting one position means you're "taking it seriously," which means a good citizen and a better person. The other, not so much. Facts be damned.
So we made it through Omicron. We're well past the peak at this point, and hospitals while busy, made it through, during the busiest time of year even pre-Covid. Overall illness was significantly less severe than prior variants, as expected as viruses progress.
It's time to end the madness. No more mandated masks in schools or public places. No more social distancing (especially in schools), and no more restrictions. Time to close up the testing sites, and shift towards a "if you get sick, see your doctor and get tested if you want" model, like we do with all other viruses. No more need to test 100,000 people per day in NC. Time to focus on improving vaccines and therapeutics to keep even more people out of the hospital.
Time for the media to make a shift from "the world is ending" to "we did it".
If things change and we need to shift back, we know we can easily do so. But there's no better time than now to get things back to normal, and if we don't do it now, we literally never will.
So we made it through Omicron. We're well past the peak at this point, and hospitals while busy, made it through, during the busiest time of year even pre-Covid. Overall illness was significantly less severe than prior variants, as expected as viruses progress.
It's time to end the madness. No more mandated masks in schools or public places. No more social distancing (especially in schools), and no more restrictions. Time to close up the testing sites, and shift towards a "if you get sick, see your doctor and get tested if you want" model, like we do with all other viruses. No more need to test 100,000 people per day in NC. Time to focus on improving vaccines and therapeutics to keep even more people out of the hospital.
Time for the media to make a shift from "the world is ending" to "we did it".
If things change and we need to shift back, we know we can easily do so. But there's no better time than now to get things back to normal, and if we don't do it now, we literally never will.
You're completely right, and as you know, there's plenty of evidence to support your position. Many people know this, but yet the narrative promulgated by the media and the government doesn't shift regardless. Why? I believe wholeheartedly its because select groups and institutions have become richer and more powerful as a result of this pandemic, and they aren't eager to see the pandemic panic come to an end. The pharmaceutical lobby is arguably the most powerful one in the world. The Government has never had more control than ever before, and control is the lifeblood of all governments. The media generates revenue through fear, therefore they have a vested interest in pumping out more fear porn. Sanctimonious citizens feel better about themselves by following orders, notwithstanding their efficacy. Supply chain and employee shortages continue to exacerbate inflation which robs the lower income classes and small businesses of wealth, and redistributes it to large corporations.
The pandemic panic will continue long after than virus has faded away because of all of these factors. Only once our standard of living has eroded to the point of no return will people wake up and reject it, but I fear we've already reached that point.
You're completely right, and as you know, there's plenty of evidence to support your position. Many people know this, but yet the narrative promulgated by the media and the government doesn't shift regardless. Why? I believe wholeheartedly its because select groups and institutions have become richer and more powerful as a result of this pandemic, and they aren't eager to see the pandemic panic come to an end. The pharmaceutical lobby is arguably the most powerful one in the world. The Government has never had more control than ever before, and control is the lifeblood of all governments. The media generates revenue through fear, therefore they have a vested interest in pumping out more fear porn. Sanctimonious citizens feel better about themselves by following orders, notwithstanding their efficacy. Supply chain and employee shortages continue to exacerbate inflation which robs the lower income classes and small businesses of wealth, and redistributes it to large corporations.
The pandemic panic will continue long after than virus has faded away because of all of these factors. Only once our standard of living has eroded to the point of no return will people wake up and reject it, but I fear we've already reached that point.
Never more control than now?
You miss the draft in Vietnam and WW2? You miss the forced rationing of food and material during WW2? Or the forced blackouts during the same?
Listen I am all for cutting the cord now. Vax, therapies etc etc cut it.
But masks, employers forcing vaccines (you choose where you work) and the government shutting the world down when we knew nothing about this virus….hardly measures on the scale of control.
You miss the draft in Vietnam and WW2? You miss the forced rationing of food and material during WW2? Or the forced blackouts during the same?
Listen I am all for cutting the cord now. Vax, therapies etc etc cut it.
But masks, employers forcing vaccines (you choose where you work) and the government shutting the world down when we knew nothing about this virus….hardly measures on the scale of control.
You're just proving my point by referencing an event that happened 50 years ago and was one of the greatest mistakes in American history (Vietnam).
Note the words in my post. Government(s), specifically. This is a global power grab and while the United States Government has been a major player, other governments have been even worse. Total lockdown and arrest for leaving your home in Australia. Similar restrictions enacted by the premier of Ontario.
Conscription is terrible, but let's not act like they're on the same level of control. The Government has extended its tentacles into every last piece of our lives. From the attempted OSHA mandates to contact tracers, forced testing, curfews, "essential businesses vs. non", "essential" supplies vs. "non" and much much more. Please stop pretending we have the illusion of choice in employment. You know that the choice of poverty and inability to pay your bills vs. compliance is no choice at all.
You're just proving my point by referencing an event that happened 50 years ago and was one of the greatest mistakes in American history (Vietnam).
Note the words in my post. Government(s), specifically. This is a global power grab and while the United States Government has been a major player, other governments have been even worse. Total lockdown and arrest for leaving your home in Australia. Similar restrictions enacted by the premier of Ontario.
Conscription is terrible, but let's not act like they're on the same level of control. The Government has extended its tentacles into every last piece of our lives. From the attempted OSHA mandates to contact tracers, forced testing, curfews, "essential businesses vs. non", "essential" supplies vs. "non" and much much more. Please stop pretending we have the illusion of choice in employment. You know that the choice of poverty and inability to pay your bills vs. compliance is no choice at all.
Proving your point? Brah, you literally said "The Government has never had more control than ever before, and control is the lifeblood of all governments." Ever before means ever before. And "The Government" is singular, not plural.
The Government, our Government, has gone way beyond this level of control many a time. I provided a handful of examples (and really, being forced to fight in a war and potentially die) is waaaaaaaaaaaay beyond anything that has happened in the last two years. To argue the contrary is head scratching at the very least. As for what other countries are doing, ummm many of them, even the "Democracies" don't have the Constitution and the protections it provides that we do (the obvious, non COVID related example, is free speech in the UK compared to here)
Illusion of choice? Everyone has a choice where they work and the conditions setup upon as an employee if they work there. But that choice is based on a person's skills. I can't choose to be a chemical engineer or a pilot or a pharmacist, because I have no training or education in that space, but in the space I'm in, I can choose to leave and go somewhere else when I want; I've changed employers three times since the pandemic started. You've said (if I recall correctly) you're a mechanic. Assuming my memory isnt failing, you have a choice in where you apply your trade. One of my best friends up north is a mechanic. Has been his entire life. He jumps from Independent, to national chain to Independent to regional chain almost like I change underwear. My question to him has always been....why not be your own boss? Open your own garage. His answer is always the same. Fear of stepping out and failing. So he chooses to not.
Companies are private entities, even if they are publicly traded companies. They set their own rules. The last three employers I have had all have vaccine mandates to work for them (as well as one of the clients I worked with). You choose not to be vaxxed, then you made your choice. And they'll make there's. That is still a choice.
A person not wanting to comply with the terms of employment (ahhh that pesky old employment at will thing)....is a choice. You don't need to go home, but you can't stay here.
I saw a story the other day where someone refused to get the vaccine in order to get a heart transplant and was using like myocarditis of all things as an excuse. Like trust me fam, the alternative is far worse.
Guy has a family and kids who will likely never grow up with him because of his weird indoctrinated choices. Like... getting a transplant organ is a rare gift. So many people die waiting for them. You need to prove that you are going to do anything it takes to keep that gift alive and in the best form. Once the transplant occurs you are on a lifelong drug cocktail as well to ensure the organ isn't rejected by your body. Why would doctors give you an organ if you've shown you can't follow directions now. You surely are likely to falter on the medicine you have to take for the rest of your life.
as we start our 3rd year of this pandemic, and looking for a "way forward", I am smacked in the face with the knowledge that the Wake County Commissioners (and Raleigh City Council) have said they won't remove the mask mandate until cases drop below a level we haven't been at any point since March 2020.
I am particularly reminded every time I'm in Cary and find myself reflexively reaching for the mask before realizing I don't need it, and Cary doesn't seem to have been swamped by cases.
as we start our 3rd year of this pandemic, and looking for a "way forward", I am smacked in the face with the knowledge that the Wake County Commissioners (and Raleigh City Council) have said they won't remove the mask mandate until cases drop below a level we haven't been at any point since March 2020.
I am particularly reminded every time I'm in Cary and find myself reflexively reaching for the mask before realizing I don't need it, and Cary doesn't seem to have been swamped by cases.
There's a former GOP Rep from RI whom is now a teacher/author named Tom Nichols whom I follow on twitter. He had a thread on this a couple of weeks back and I tend to agree with his take (and Dr. Jha's which I shared a few pages back)
Now, Preface, I say this as someone who continues to wear a mask in public currently. Am happy that the "glass was broken" on masks in this country (vis a vis where I grew up) and as such will rock one during "Post COVID Cold and Flu season).
I think the mandates should go and at this point if they aren't, I chalk them up, largely, to political theater (look at GVoR critiquing a "Leftie Position" (LOL), which could have really bad "unintended" consequences down the line.
We don't seem to need mask mandates right now. Cases with Cron have spiked and between the vax/Vax+boosted pop and the population that has had some form of infection, we are getting to a spot where the population, while deaths are obviously still occurring at crazy rates (a more than a 9/11 a day), writ large is at a lower risk. We have therapies, we have learned a lot in 2-3 years on how to treat this. And frankly, I'm done carrying the weight of the willfully ignant. People should have the right to decide what is best for them (with whatever rationale they personally go with). And I have the right to do what is best for me and my family and keep on chugging along; I've carried my burden. If you don't want to, cool, I'm done carrying yours.
Largely the only empathy I have left is for HCPs having to work their asses to the ground (physically and emotionally) because some percentage of the population simply "won't be told what to do". Fine. Don't. Let them roll the dice and let Mother Nature/your maker sort it out.
Having said all of that....keeping a mask mandate in time when "they don't seem to be needed" (you used Cary as a juxtaposition without a mandate, WF doesn't have one either) only burns said guidance if some future variant comes along, and we actually need to bring this tool back, people, in general, aren't going to play along.
Burning "good will" on this now will have consequences later, if the situation changes.
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