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?

I really thought masks in public would become the norm, even once the pandemic had ended. I thought you’d just see them about in cold and flu season, or that people would put one on if they were ill and infectious and needed to go to the shops. I can’t remember the last time I saw one now.

My best friend's son still has germ-phobia OCD. His mum has a serious medical condition that left her highly vulnerable and he was so terrified of her catching it that his mental health completely imploded and it's had a huge and lasting impact on his life, and hers.

My MIL died September 2020, not from COVID but as a direct result because her cancer treatment was put on hold during the first lockdown which allowed her cancer to spread. First she was in hospital and we were not allowed to visit at all then she was placed in hospice care and only one of us at a time could visit, we had to go in with full PPE and were told off if we took our masks off (she was scared and wanted to see our faces). During the funeral only 15 could attend and the vicar locked us in the church. It was not a great time for us at all.

A couple of people I went to school with died from COVID (in their 40's and 50's and with no known health issues), that was frightening.

Admittedly, my mental health was not the best before the pandemic but was always totally manageable but since then I've not been great mentally and can not seem to get better.

I'd say it had quite an impact on me.

So many posters mentioning Long Covid. For many, many thousands of people the pandemic effects will be permanent. Thinking of all those who lost relatives and huge thanks to the NHS staff who risked their lives.

Living next to an NHS nurse who was having regular house and garden piss-ups with her mates meant that there wasn't much clapping on our street 😅

Yes. My husband couldn't get the GP home visits that he needed. Finished up with an acute kidney injury. In hospital where he could only be seen by me.

Taken off some of his heart meds because of the acute kidney injury. Kidneys recovered.

Home. Died of a massive heart attack three months later. I have no doubt that being taken off his heart meds contributed.

I had to organise a lockdown funeral. The only time that I was face to face with the undertaker was when I signed the paper agreeing to pay for the funeral and on the day of the funeral itself.

His kids chose not to travel to the funeral for fear fo their own health. On the day of DH's funeral, I wondered why I hadn't heard from them after I got home.

That night, finally got a phone call from his daughter. DH's DIL's brother had contracted Covid in the head injury facility where he was a patient. Admitted to hospital that morning. Died in a Covid ward in the afternoon.

My Aunt and Uncle both died during Covid, My aunt from Covid and uncle basically from a broken heart. We were unable to mourn properly as a family due to restrictions.
a friend spent 100 days in ITU
i contracted Covid twice, and as well as long covid I have also been left with heart failure!
I find it hard to think about it just being thought of as just a bit of detritus to be assigned to a drawer and forgotten about!
I now have to take medications daily to keep me alive!! And am only 58!

What a thoughtless OP.

I'm sorry.

My SIL's cancer treatment was also put on hold, but thankfully she made it.

Yes, there's been a huge impact on my mental health. I still have difficulty leaving the house some days.

I'm so sorry.

It's worth looking back at the statistics and wondering why we did so badly compared to other parts of the world.

"COVID - Coronavirus Statistics - Worldometer" https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

I missed most as I was asleep as a night nurse to go on next shift. Wasn't bothered. Most of my coworkers never appreciated it either. A £ bonus for working every day and night with covid patients would have been appreciated.

I am so very sorry.

💐 to those of you who lost loved ones.
My previous post was just about how it affected me and my family. I didn't address how catastrophic it has been for retail, other businesses and the NHS, and that was remiss of me.

I was working in infected wards whilst you were making banana bread and working from home. I’m glad you were able to move on so easily because that’s definitely not the case for the rest of us.

Not to mention my best friend dying of cancer because she got lost in the backlog, leaving 3 small children

I work from home mostly now. I suppose that's the most obvious practical change. But I do still think about it quite a lot, when I'm out locally I think of people I didn't really know but knew of who died ...such as a worker in a local store or when I'm in a busy restaurant I note now it's like pre covid times but I'm still thinking about the fact it happened and making comparisons a lot really. I don't think it'll ever leave us in some ways: the unexpectedness of it, the upheaval, the trauma of it (even those who got away unscathed didn't know they would at the time), the missed opportunities etc. I think there's a constant 'i can't believe it happened and here we are almost back to normal' narrative in my head.

Dh now wfh most of the time
so save on fuel and parking etc

effected most kids I know negatively

I don’t think we should have closed school twice for such a long time
I think it was a mistake
and I regret having that jab

I won’t believe a government again in a hurry.

Why do I get the feeling that the OP will never be back to express sympathy for all the people who weren’t as lucky as her?

I know a couple of people who still have Long Covid.

I separated from my ex due in substantial part to his behaviour during lockdown (but I consider this a good thing).

I appreciate the much greater workplace flexibility as a result of Covid, the greater tendency of people to work from home when they are sick but not bed-bound, and the greater tendency for schools and other organizations to provide online consultation options.

I never wore masks when sick before Covid (didn’t even really know they were a thing) so feel sorry for all the pharmacists and doctors and supermarket workers I breathed my germs over.

Swapped to online shopping for food and would never go back!

Nothing here. I worked throughout, DS was yr 11 going to college. A lot of it was Easter/ school holidays for us and his course was computing anyway. All his friends were online before the pandemic.
I work with children with a range of conditions and their behaviours gave all calmed massively over the last year or so.
I have had numerous friends get diagnosed with cancer since 2023 two of which were terminal ( one has died already). Covid to me wasn't a worry really whereas aging and losing friends from normal causes is more prescient.

We both WFH half the time now and have infinitely more flexibility (and less commuting costs) and therefore 3 kids instead of 1!

I see them here all the time. I think/hope it's a winter flu habit

@soupbeans I actually saw an old man wearing one today, but I agree with you. I only noticed the old man because of how rare it is to see anyone in a mask now and he stuck out. It felt weird that I used to wear masks too but haven’t in years.

I escaped most of the negative affects of covid. I was pregnant in 2020/2021, so prenatal care was affected. My husband wasn’t able to come to all my appointments, and he was only allowed in hospital for a while after our daughter was born, but that was all ok.
We still got the 2020 wedding we wanted, and closed on our house just before lockdown, so were lucky that way too. We got some wedding pictures wearing masks, which feels weird now.
I postponed my job search due to Covid as well, so I could either be way better off by being in a better job now, or in more debt because I left and wasn’t able to WFH like I did after maternity leave from my 2021 job.

I’m very grateful, but am sorry to anyone who did suffer a lot.

I was foolish enough to get the “vaccine”. After getting it I haemorrhaged for two days and eventually got diagnosed with metastatic cancer which started in the womb. The most annoying thing is I didn’t even want to take the vaccine but my partner was completely brainwashed and I took it for a quiet life.

I gained a stone and a half.
But seriously not for me and my DD (GCSE years). She sailed through it. But it was awful for my son, who had just started a vocational qualification at college. Couldn't do the crucial work experience, hard to make friends, couldn't go to the gym (it was a PT diploma). It ruined his confidence and at 21, he is only just getting some of his mojo back. But how different would his life have been if he'd done his work experience? If he'd progressed as expected? The pandemic has definitely left his mark on him.