Evidence of the pandemic?

[LaceWingMother]

Just idly wondering whether it's clear from any aspect of my life that the covid era ever happened.

Fortunately, no one I knew died or became seriously unwell from it, DH and I don't work from home because of it, DC now going through secondary school as normal, I didn't make any large purchases linked to it (one friend built a home office and a feckless neighbour bought a now-neglected dog). Apart from a few face masks stuffed in a drawer and forgotten about, I don't think there's any evidence of it in the house.

Does the impact of the pandemic appear in your life now?

It's like everything though, no blanket statement fits. And the society wide view can be very different from the individual view and one person can hold both views in their head at the same time.

Lockdown wasn't 'a good thing' but some people did have a good experience of it.
I remember a family in the news at the time whose child had an immunity condition that meant they were safe for the first time in their life and they as a family were feeling the most free they'd ever felt since that child was born.

It is always difficult to have a conversation where people can see eye to eye, when some people are speaking solely subjectively, from their personal experience, and others are taking those comments as a wider statement.

But that person could say, both that lockdown was a terrible thing, and also that some people benefitted and were happy with it, and both those things can be true.

I still.not back to.normal mentally. Struggle to go in places- fear of infection. Had it twice. Lockdown nearer broke me.

What a deeply unpleasant and childish observation.
Chris Whitty was clearly doing his best in an unprecedented situation, and you come on and make infantile comments

Both things can be true. As the old saying says ‘every cloud has a silver lining’. But it is perfectly possible to still conclude that on balance lockdown was a bad thing.

My partner had the covid vaccination and has had swrious issues ever since.

He has just turned 34 and has developed severe arthritis in both shoulders (had to have them operated on) arthritis in his feet, knees and hands.

The protein 7 in his body was attacked causing a misalignment of the cervical collum. He has a condition called cervical cranial instability. This condition has caused the c1 to twist and now needs fusing.

His brainstem is compressed as well as his jugular vein and Vegas nerve. This leading to symptoms throughout his body including digestion, heart rate, his body is unable to regulate its temperature, he has constant migraines, fatigue, muscle cramps & tremors, dizziness, brain fog, depression, anxiety

It is horrific!!

The pain has been so difficult to live with and his life has been turned upside down, he can no longer work, rarely we'll enough to leave the house. This resulted in a significant suicide attempt and a stay in a psychiatric hospital.

Daily he will say he'd rather not be here than live with the pain. It's heartbreaking 💔

Sorry to all those who've lost people or have been left unwell.

Worked in a school for vulnerable young people with complex needs throughout.
Saw the impact on them physically and mentally - and on their families.
Will never forget this time or the effect it had on my team who were not vaccinated and had no PPE.

I don’t think anyone can conclude that “lockdown was a bad thing” without knowing how many more people would have died if we had not had the lockdowns.

People keep saying that mortality wasn’t that much greater during lockdown than it was during a bad flu year. But surely that’s because we had lockdown. It served its purpose.

My daughter was a medical professional who worked tirelessly in the most horrendous circumstances, having to make the most difficult of decisions, witnessing the most awful suffering and the most tremendous grief. She was single so she came home to a cold, lonely house after each long shift. She refused to "bubble" or come anywhere near her family, for fear of shedding her enormous viral load. She took her own life two years ago, aged just 32. The pandemic destroyed her life, and ours, and we will never recover.

OMG Floralora1
that is one of the saddest and most horrific things I have read on here. I am so very sorry for your loss, but those few words are completely inadequate given your situation. 💐

I’m so terribly sorry @Floralora1.

So sorry Flora 💐

They have a far stronger welfare state than we do, though. They are a more functional society all around, let's face it. I'm not one of those people who is always bashing the UK, and most of the rest of Europe also were very draconian, but Sweden did handle it pretty well (although the point about it being more spacious is well taken)

Yep, the lockdowns massively affected my business. So many clients had to close their businesses due either to the lockdowns/restrictions or the lack of government support (i.e. the 3 million that Rishi excluded!). My client base is now just a third of what it was in 2019. Just about plodding on, but proving impossible to build it back up because there are so many fewer smaller businesses around these days and virtually no new business start ups. Loads of shops, small cafes, guest houses etc simply never re-opened after the lockdowns.

This is what people forget, I think.

It’s easy with hindsight and vaccines, to think lockdowns were an overreaction. But what you endured…

A family member was nursing elsewhere but very aware how awful Covid wards were.
A friend’s daughter burnt out on the wards, left nursing and hasn’t recovered mentally since.
My brother has long Covid.

There was financial support for some, but let's not forget that Rishi excluded a whopping 3 million (10% of the workforce) from the support schemes, mostly freelancers, new business start ups, agency workers, etc.

100%

@Champagneandpringles24 I developed arthritis at base of my neck too causing back of head awful migraines and nerve pain in eyes and forehead and a slight one sided weakness ( luckily the head pains have subsided somewhat after 2 years but the arthritis still there) I'm 63 now though so it was really hard to say whether it was something I might have got anyway or covid or the vaccine but in all honesty it came on after a bout of Covid and my 4th vaccination shortly after. He has 100% my sympathy - I found it very hard to work or concentrate on anything

Not really but I appreciate how lucky we were.
Dh furloughed. We'd just had baby so he got lots of time off. We'd just moved so managed to decorate , freshen paint etc. Managed to make the garden safe and secure for dcs to play in. And get lots of garden toys off fb as everyone was clearing out.
No one we knew even caught it thankfully.
Eldest dcs off school so we got to spend lots of time together with a new baby.
The weather was lovely for being outside a lot.in garden.
Never had to do a teams or zoom, that would be my worst nightmare

I was never a very sociable person, but before the pandemic, I at least made an effort to find friends because life felt lonely without them. After the pandemic began, people wore masks, and I noticed that socialising became less of a priority for most. Over time, I gave up on trying to build meaningful relationships and grew distant from my family and friends who lived far away. Eventually, I withdrew completely and became a recluse. Now, I don’t really feel like I exist in the world.

It’s easy with hindsight and vaccines, to think lockdowns were an overreaction. But what you endured…

It’s not about ‘thinking’ if you thought about it you would see that more harm was done in the long run with lockdowns than it saved. I did ‘think’ it at the time, but the state the economy is in and the future impacts of that prove it.

I lost my dh in the middle of the pandemic.

the fall out from that dark time in our lives has had a massive impact on my children.

i can never forget

The only time I was sent to hospital (when I saw my Dr, she sent me straight to A and E), it wasn't with Covid. It was with Long Covid. I was incredibly breathless but my oxygen levels were normal. As I understand it, the oxygen gets into your lungs, but not necessarily into your bloodstream and muscles. My oxygen levels only ever dipped below normal once, but I was SO ill. Was with the Long Covid clinic until a few months ago. Some on our on line video calls were dialling in from their beds. No wonder so many can no longer work. It's pretty grim. I'm so thankful I'm over it (after nearly 4 years), but even now, cleaning out some cupboards one day, resulted in half a day on the sofa the next.

That's the same for a lot of us I'm currently helping to care for my father he has emphysema I was in a small shop the other day someone started coughing and COUGHING real lung busting wet cough I started to feel physically ill because if I get sick I can't care for my dad I left my coat in my car when I got to his house and scrubbed my hands I never hug him anymore I'm afraid I'm going to pass something on and kill him I try to hide it and push through but the FEAR and anxiety I feel somedays is awful

@Floralora1 I am so sorry. That's heartbreaking.

For respiratory infections, you could carry a FFP3 mask for situations like this. Easy to wear, very effective and reusable.

www.medisave.co.uk/products/ffp3-face-mask-9330