Some current thoughts on Covid and where we stand right now as a nation.
I recently took a trip to New York and Boston. My daughter and I accompanied my husband on a business conference trip he had to take for work. When we made our reservations Covid was not circulating as strongly as it is currently.
We are a masking family. In spite of that my daughter got Covid in early June and we were happy that it was a mild case and we were able to contain the spread to just her. She was probably the safest person to be around on our journey back east .
Though I did not actually attend the conference, my husband did of course .There were between 800 and 1000 people at the conference and few chose to mask.
Two days after getting to Boston my husband ended up testing positive for Covid. We separated into 2 hotel rooms at that point, canceled his flight with us to Texas where we had left our dog and car with my newly wedded daughter and we hoped for the best. I tested negative the following day. On Tuesday we said goodbye and left him in Boston to fully recover while we continued on to Texas. That was difficult but he felt better by then. He was well enough to fly home today directly to Arizona which is great news. Unfortunately, I tested positive yesterday and am in isolation at my daughter’s home in Texas. I say isolation but that is really a modified isolation because she and her husband returned from their honeymoon with covid 2-3 weeks ago so while I am in the guest bedroom, I have on occasion seen them (with masks on). My daughter who traveled with us is still healthy and I have to believe she and they are likely in that sweet but short window of having some boosted immunity right now having gotten covid only 6 weeks and 2 weeks ago.
So my thought? Well, in 2.5 years, nobody in our immediate family got covid and now everyone has.
I believe we really need to impose masks on all mods of travel. Also, if a city doesn’t have a mask mandate, conference organizers really need to impose one themselves.
But really, the thing I want to say is don’t give up. Wearing your mask might inspire someone else to wear one. Don’t eat indoors. Just don’t. ( I ate indoors when there wasn’t a good option, but only took my mask off to eat, then put it on)
if you are traveling with others, it is really difficult to isolate. Impossible really. Make sure you are prepared. Buy tickets and hotel reservations which are refundable. Always!!!
I packed 3 covid tests and we used all three. Make sure you travel with some.
if you are traveling, consider going somewhere you can easily drive. It is safer and you have more escape options.
Don’t get lax right now. There are some pretty serious strains which are out there and growing. Be mindful of you actions. Check how you are feeling through out the day. Delay getting together with others or make it an outside and small event.
If you have read this entire post so far and gotten down to the end here, know that I am feeling OK. Mostly cold symptoms and for that I am grateful. But I am aware that is not the case for everybody and might not be the case with these new variant infections.
Now is not the time to give up!!!
( but dang 2.5 years without covid, daughters boosted, my husband and I double boosted and in 6 weeks… boom!)
@lovendures Glad everyone in your family is recovering well.
I make sure I'm masked before I get out of car to go into places and I don't take mask off until I get into car to leave. I'm really surprised almost all store employees I see still wear masks. They never stopped wearing them.
My family got covid March 2020 before many people were able to get tested. It was only time in 5 years that I had to use inhaler. It was horrible. My daughter got covid. She will never be the same. Within a couple of months she had to use inhaler. Drs thought it was allergies, it wasn't. Covid19 triggered hyperthyroidism (Graves Disease). After a few drs who almost killed her and/or made her condition worse, I woke up being told to go to this certain hospital. I found her a dr there who saved her life. This Dr said she has seen a big increase of patients who had covid that triggered thyroid problem.
@lovendures sorry about your trip and illness… I live in the “NYC Tristate area”… we were hit hard in 2020… and now our infection rate is way up again. Vaxed/boosted/recovered… it doesn’t matter. B5 is everywhere. Friends, relatives who were sick in 2020 then vaxed/boosted are getting Covid for the 2nd time. I’m getting cabin fever again. Sigh. With all the headlines in the news these days… People don’t seem to realize Covid Is literally ever present. Be well.
@lovendures Ugh—so sorry to hear you all caught COVID (except your daughter who just had it.) I am glad you all seem to be recovering well and hope that continues to be the case.
We are traveling (by car) right now and your post is a timely reminder to keep masking (as we have been) and eat outside or separately in our hotel room with takeout.
Be well!
Thanks everyone!
Yes, eat in your room if need be. We did that in Boston for breakfast and where careful. But there were 2 dinners and a lunch my husband was at so …
The natural history museum required masks and was great. Not sure if they still do but it felt safer than many places. The other museums were 50 -50 masked people.
i am so glad you followed the message you were given and found the right doctor!
May the long covid symptoms dissipate and may you lead a healthier life.
there wasn’t much you could have done that early. Keep listening to spirit and your intuition!!
I felt like the only sane person around sometimes. Once when nobody else had a mask on in a room I was in, I even “checked” myself one evening and asked is it just a me thing? Am I over reacting? I got that I was the one dealing with reality and the 400 other people in the room, yes 400 , were not dealing with reality.
In the end it didn’t matter what I did, but I was clearly told and shown that people will create and believe their own reality, and the more people follow that path, the harder it is for others to resist.
I prefer science during a pandemic.
I am currently away from home on a work-related trip. I was one of just a few people on the plane wearing a mask. Crazy.
Glad you are all feeling better. Sorry this happened to you, thank goodness it was a milder variant.
I agree entirely with your post. I have eaten indoors though, but I always go really early - if the restaurant opens at 4:30pm or 5pm that's when we go. We always ask for a booth that is away from the fray, and only go with another couple who we know doesn't have covid. We wear our masks in all the stores etc. and I won't stop just because people want to pretend it's gone. I'm completely boosted, as is my husband.
We've been lucky, we're the only people we know besides another older couple who have not had covid. Every one of our friends and family has had it at one time or another. Even folks who are somewhat careful and all have been vaccinated seem to have had a mild version.
My family in Germany all got it, even though they were twice boosted. My cousin and her husband who live in Bamberg, and work in a hospital, got it in May, and it they ended up in the hospital for 3 days. So what they had was not the milder omicron version it seems. They still have lung issues. At the same time, my other cousin who lives 4 hrs south of them, got it too, but very mild. We were supposed to visit them all in May, and we were grateful we cancelled the trip at the end of April because of the war and covid.
I am praying I can see them next year since it's been since 2017 and we're all in our 60s or older.
Stay well! ❤️ 😷