A Covid One

I’ve been known to ask that question on occasion too, but must admit it’s a bit of a funny one, isn’t it? I’m not immunocompromised or anything but I do hate being sick, so I’d much rather a friend postponed instead of meeting me with a cold. I would feel it was rude to say to a friend that I didn’t want to see them because of their cold though. Ah, the joys of British etiquette 😂

People who go out knowing they are spreading any illness have always been assholes. The fact that they can test for Covid or flu without a trip to the doctor and make sure it actually is just a cold makes the current situation even worse.

We had an international pandemic and these people didn’t learn to do better.

DH spent several weeks in hospital with covid, it's left him with pulmonary fibrosis which is terminal. Our life mostly ended at that point, no socialising or visiting family, no holidays, 24 hour oxgen needed now. Several stays in hospital with pneumonia....becoming weaker each year.

It's just covid though.......

OP, you really need to live on now. It’s 2026. Covid mania is over.

@FoxxyP I’m so sorry for your situation 💐 sending strength & love x

I've had lots of colds in my life, which I've recovered from absolutely fine. COVID on the other hand left me practically housebound for months (and still not fully well over a year later) and I was fit and healthy before I caught it. I think people should be doing what they can to avoid spreading illnesses when they know they're ill.

YANBU, but that won’t be recognised on here.

Covid was downplayed and ridiculed on here during the peak of the pandemic when millions of people died horrible, frightening, and unnecessary deaths.

I disagree, I think it was taken very seriously on this site and breaking the rules was looked down upon.

I was unwell last week. Doctor said that it was ‘American Covid.’ I stayed at home all week - was SO tired that I just slept.
Did Covid test after a few more days - negative.
Still very tired and sore but am staying away from everyone!

I guess you missed the long-running "face nappy" threads or being called a "lockdown lover" if one mentioned that the pandemic was not over.

. You think he should sit at home and wait to die?

Whatever gave you that idea??

I’m saying the complete opposite.

He should make his own choices and decisions, without expecting some magical land where everyone can afford to stay indoors and take time off work because they have a heavy cold or Covid.

The world simply cannot function like that.

The title should read Yet another COVID one .
Sorry for the sick and vulnerable among you, but the onus is on you to protect yourse....🥱😴

I didn't want to start a new thread on this but I do find the whole Covid thing very odd now, in particular how it is never mentioned and it's like the whole thing was a bad dream we've woken up from. No mention of vaccinations. So has Covid actually gone away then? How can that be so given the whole thing was massive for over a year? Have we all got herd immunity or is it now accepted that only a minority really suffer from it?

It almost plays into the hands of people who say that the whole thing was just a hoax - and I'm not one of those people. I do find it strange that vaccinations are not being pushed any more. I'd ask if this is because a percentage of people were found to be damaged by them but I don't want to start off on a conspiracy thing. Personally I never had a problem with them - though it's a fact that one of them, gosh, I can't even remember the name, not the Pfizer one, oh, Astra Zeneca - did in fact cause blood clots in the brain so that got stopped. That said, I won't be having the flu vaccination this year because that one does adversely affect me, it has me feeling rundown and with tinnitus for much of the year.

It all seemed to come straight after Brexit so all debate on it had that same hysterical binary, right or wrong tone to it - I find the whole trans debate is played out in the same way. Similarly, just as folk don't want to talk about Brexit any more, it's like Covid is a no-go area.

People are looking at the situation from the wrong angle. The pressure needed to be put on employment policies that require ill people to work or face disciplinary action. We should have learnt that from the pandemic.

But how do you know they had covid? Its like people who assume because someone was coughing on train and they are now sick it is that person that made them sick

If you don’t want to risk picking up covid/flu/colds/bugs or viruses, in essence you need to avoid situations which could put you at risk. I say that as a household who does have to avoid high risk areas due to a member being immunocompromised.

A high proportion of people will be out and about be it in shops, work places, leisure places or clinical settings, who either don’t know they have something, or don’t care about others catching what they have. So in our case, we avoid certain enclosed places in the winter months especially when its known that infections are rife, or minimise the risk by going shopping etc when its quieter along with practicing good hygiene measures.

Those closest to us, would generally advise if they had a cold etc and give us the option to meet up or not. So far we have not encountered anyone with Covid who was up to doing anything but remain in bed, but that was 2-3 years ago and it may be presenting differently now.

That is part of the problem. No one knows how we will react if we get it both in the short and long term. As well as the type of thing that has happened to your DH (and I am so sorry that this has happened to your family), there are people of all ages who have now had long covid for over 5 years and showing little signs of recovery. Some have been luckier and have had signs of improvement, but their lives have still been decimated.

It is certainly not just a cold.

I was at the hairdressers rhe other day and one of the workers was wearing a mask. I asked if she'd like me to, more than happy and she said no (but thanks) she has been ill the last 3 Christmases (covid and colds) and said its not happening this year so she will be wearing hers until then.
If I was poorly I would test. We have elderly people in the family and some people my dh works with are immune compromised. Knowing means we can take some precautions to protect those people.

There is plenty of talk about vaccinations if you are in one of the cohorts who is eligible. I would liken it to something like pregnancy, not discussed by the general population, just those affected by it.

Covid data is still being collected, although not from the general population. It’s clear that it has not gone away. Not sure that we do have herd immunity but it’s being treated more akin to flu. What does really suffer from it mean? Yes, it kills some, some will end up with other terminal or chronic health conditions, for others they don’t even know that they have it.

Vaccines take into account risk vs benefit. It could be that its considered that the risk of having a vaccine is greater than the risk of getting covid in younger or healthy populations. Hence it now only being offered to a much narrower range of the population - over 75s and those with certain health conditions.

Why focused on Covid, OP? What about influenza, adenoviruses, other coronaviruses, RSV? Don't you want folk to test for ANY of those, they are all potentially serious. Do you only want people with symptoms to test, or should everyone test themselves every time they are about to meet someone outside their own household.

Tests are cheap and available: https://www.amazon.co.uk/SARS-CoV-2-Influenza-Antigen-Combo-Testing/dp/B0BHWGSL7P. Maybe people would use the tests if you give them out.

My aunt was hospitalised with RSV 2-3 yrs ago.

If you are immunocompromised, large scale indoor mixing is probably best avoided at this time of year.

Quite common on MN for people to be certain they caught whatever ails them from someone who did something they disapprove of. Nobody ever catches things from asymptomatic transmission on here, and plenty are like OP in their ability to diagnose by vibes alone.

You dont actually really know if people are in the most infectious stages of illness from symptoms. People can be passing things to you before symptoms, but nasal congestion & coughs can linger for weeks & no longer be particularly infectious.

I tend to suffer from heavy congestion and lingering coughs from about early november through to march but I'm not remotely ill, and you can't expect people to stay home for months with standard seasonal colds.

I think if you know it’s going around which indeed it is it’s more considerate to test but I know people don’t x