Yes, he is speaking to a regional news outlet there. I think clearly each region has gone through this pandemic at its own rate and with its own waves etc.
But as someone who lives here, it doesn’t make much sense for me to make my choices based on what another region is experiencing, unless my choices can actually affect that region. So like I can choose not to travel to NYC during its surge (that happened), but me not going to a restaurant here isn’t doing much for NYC that week. (I don’t even go to restaurants, just making a point.) Me not going to a restaurant here when public officials say it is safe enough just adds to my own fatigue in the situation and hurts local businesses. I might need that energy for when the next wave hits here.
Things that have made a difference here and are encouraged by public health are upping our masks for school, WFH this month, and testing in specific situations that try to catch omicron but not waste tests. We’re doing all that. But our hospitals are in decent shape right now so it’s not like stay home everyone. A nearby county’s hospitals are doing worse so they are asking people to stay home.
My point is it’s not regionally one size fits all anymore. IMO. I felt like it was in 2020 but I’m not even sure in retrospect if I was right about that. Maybe for the first few months when we had no idea what we were dealing with. Or maybe not.
Oh, I definitely agree. My point was that I don’t feel much confidence my area is going to get to the levels he’s talking about and stay there for long periods in the near future. If naturally-acquired immunity with ever-emerging variants is short-lived and without a higher vax rate, Texas may be forever on a near-simmer to worse. If he’s saying “Hey, you can move back to this level of normal when cases get to X” and our cases are rarely that low, what then? Great for those in regions that it applies to, but his advice falls pretty flat for me at that point.
If I correctly recall your prior post about your county, it looks like all 3 metrics in your county are improving slightly (even though they remain extremely high). Trend? Or a blip?
Great point. When sh** hits the fan all around me locally is when I will definitely have a heightened awareness and reassess if I need to do anything differently. That has happened now here (WI) in terms of hospital capacity and cases so I’m back on the covid info highway til things get better again and I can find another reasonable off-ramp and put my head back in the sand. I’m again thinking about my family’s specific routines, all our interactions, what I know about the people we’re interacting with, etc. so that I feel confident the level of mitigation is appropriately tailored to our specific circumstances.
My DH is donating at a local blood drive on Monday, if he doesn’t get Covid between now and then.
I cannot give blood. I have the tiniest veins and I seriously have trauma from getting blood taken and IVs. I hold it together for little vials when I need to (thyroid hormone checks), but a pint of blood would do me in.
We may be peaking. By DS12.1’s polling, he says half his class had Covid over Christmas. As well as a decent chunk of DS17’s soccer team.
That said, local people are still reporting it very difficult to get a PCR test. So maybe our capacity to test is exceeded. Positivity has gone down slightly, but when you’re up over 35%, I’m not sure how reliable it is since access to testing may be uneven.
The “naturally-acquired immunity with ever-emerging variants” makes me think of 1918 and that influenza virus.
At some point a balance - if that’s the word - of some sort was achieved allowing people a confidence in moving forward. We still have emerging variants and considerable deaths - some 12,000 in 2018-19, if memory serves. I’m wondering at what point - probably X years - was that balance achieved. Perhaps there are actual hospitalizations/infections and fatality numbers for the 5 to 10 years after that pandemic.
Influenza isn’t corona tho they are viruses. This is maybe like comparing apples to pears, and medical interventions are different, as well, compared to 1918. Our covid future might be informed by the future of the Spanish Flu.
I’m a long time lurker here and haven’t checked in since April 2020 when we canceled our first trip (second was a year later).
I read this forum religiously for the first few months of this mess but gave up after canceling. We just decided we’re sick of waiting, and hope things are better this summer and booked another trip (third times a charm).
I was hesitant to read this thread again with so much nonsense out there but this is such an amazing group. People talking about science and meaningful insight no arguing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since we’re all TP users. Anyway, you’re all awesome and thank you for a kind environment.
Also, both kids positive this week with mild/no symptoms. Son for the second time this school year. Hopefully there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not like Me. Toad.
Yeah, we won’t know until it gets closer, I’m afraid.
If Omicron had evolved from Delta, I’d feel somewhat better about the situation. I’ve just seen several people in the media say things like “See?!? The virus is evolving to get weaker.” When literally the opposite was true with Alpha, Beta, and Delta. Omicron has been the anomaly so far with Covid, not a trend. If it swoops in and ultimately results in a better long term situation after a terrible short term, that would be something indeed. I’m just struggling with how so many are promoting that as the inevitable outcome.
I’m having a hard time getting kids high-filtration masks (KF94 or KN95). I ordered some from Bona Fida on Jan 3 and the order has been pending there ever since. I’m nervous about all the counterfeits on the market, especially when it comes to KN95s. There seems to be little to no availability at the places that I’ve seen recommended as more reliable, like kollecteusa.com and behealthyusa.net. Has anyone ordered from yesmask.net, greensupply.com, or have another site they recommend? Yesmask seems particularly suspicious to me as there is little info about the company and no specific address or phone number posted on their website, but they are on the Mask Nerd’s database which makes me think they might be legit.
PS - Welcome back, @Ralvek! I agree, this forum is my favorite place on social media.
I have been quite impressed with the group here as well. Of course, I’m sure the ones with the most extreme views have learned to avoid the thread (which is still a show of restraint and I commend them for it!) I am also impressed that those with different views are able to get along here and hopefully learn from each other. I know my experience here has made me more sympathetic to other views.
I too ordered from them on January 3rd and order still says pending. Frustrating! I am now having to borrow/buy from a friend who luckily has extras. So many other companies seem to have counterfeit masks. Sorry you are in the same situation.
What makes me most annoyed, they charged my credit card on Jan 3. They should not do that until they ship.
FWIW, I ordered from Bona Fide Masks on Jan 3rd at about 1am. I got a shipping confirmation around 2pm that day. I picked one of the free shipping options - I think it was USPS Priority Mail. The shipping confirmation had a tracking number that USPS has perpetually been showing as something like “awaiting receipt by USPS” ever since. I just checked again, and now it says they were delivered to my mailbox today. I’ll fetch them in a bit and see how they are. But hopefully y’all’s aren’t far behind!
Thanks. When I check my order, it says awaiting fullfilment, and hasn’t been updated since Jan. 3rd. I sent them an email Jan 10th to inquire, they never answered. So far customer service from them has been terrible.
