How sick are people really getting with Covid?

[MothExterminator]

I am not at all trying to be goady here. DC2 has Covid, we are on the last day of isolation.

DH and I, both double jabbed and boosted, negative PCR and no symptoms. DC1 and DC3, negative PCR and no symptoms. DC2 (family’s Covid case) had a cough and a runny nose, no temperature at any point but was Covid positive. Symptoms lasted for 2 days.

So far I have entertained 3 children at home for 9 days (all plans cancelled, replaced by TV and video games), looking at day 10 today and this is lighter than most colds and apparently not very transmissible (DC2 regularly comes to my bed in the night). Or maybe the rest of us has it earlier without symptoms?

What are other people’s experiences?

For myself, the symptoms from all three jabs was worse than the symptoms from covid - unvaccinated and have asthma to the point I had a CEV letter from the GP last year.
The booster knocked me out for 3 days. Covid - if DH hadn't had a high temp one evening I wouldn't have even got tested.

vitamin d deficiency

Spoke with two separate clients yesterday each with a relative in ICU, also have colleagues quite sick with it too. I had it mild in September but even mild was pretty grim, no taste or smell was unnerving and shortness of breath is scary as hell.

3 family members have also passed from it too.

40's, fairly fit. Covid, body aches, head cold, exhausted, short of breath and tight chest, manageable. 4 weeks on, two lots of antibiotics, shadows on my lungs, still coughing lots when doing anything active, out of breath and feeling grotty. Inhalers are helping a bit. Usually manage 1/2 a day at work.
I am probably not resting as much as I should - with children and responsibilities its not always that easy is it!

That's the whole point of th vaccine - why it has been non-existent for you and mild for your child (as it doesn't really affect children in the same way)

I ended up in hospital as I just couldn't stop being sick.

I had had a week of high temperatures, up to 39.5.

I was also diagnosed with Adrenal failure and needed lots of intravenous fluid.

I am double jabbed and was due my booster when I caught covid.

Not had it

But overwhelming instances of it I read on this thread…I would 100% choose over the norovirus I had a few months ago!!

I know people who've had it and had symptoms ranging from none (only knew they had it due to a PCR test taken to travel) to spent 2 weeks in hospital and were 1 step away from ICU. Similarly I know people where only 1 member of the household has caught it despite them all sharing a kitchen and bathroom and not particularly taking any other precautions, and other households where they stayed in separate rooms, wore masks in the bathroom, had all the windows open and everyone caught it.

My youngest was very poorly with it, no known pre existing conditions. Took us all by surprise as was assuming kids not really affected. He's still not 100% 6 weeks on. There's no rhyme or reason for who is affected and not. I'm sure science will provide reasons for certain genetics or blood types in the future etc for now, we just try to keep ourselves safe and balance with living our lives too.

@loveisagirlnameddaisy One more time - the issue is the dsmall percentage of serious cases.

Why will you not discuss properly the small percentage of serious cases and the impact on the country? Maybe you could explain how the country works if there is an extremely damaged healthcare system for other illnesses, even for a short period?

If you are still comparing covid to flu after two years of it being clearly very different then

My daughter works in a care home for disabled adults. Every worker has had two shots and many have had the third booster. All the residents who could receive the shots have had two doses. Workers are tested daily. Today Every Single Worker in the kitchen tested positive for covid and had to go home (for at least 7 days). The director, assistant director, and skeletal nursing staff cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner for 35 residents - delivered trays and cleaned up afterward.

It varies.

Son had it, very mild. Unjabbed, wasn't eligible for vaccine at the time.
Daughter had it, felt very unwell, can't really remember a few days as she was out of it. Double jabbed.
GS had it, like a bad cold (or manflu) one jab.

The key metric for Omicron is hospitalisation - key because it indicates severity and danger for the NHS.

So far, the greatest number of hospitalisations that I have seen reported is 104 (reported by the UK Health Security Agency on Sunday). That is nowhere near enough to generate reliable data on severity or jospitalisation - for which at least 250 hospitalised cases is necessary.

14 yo had it in the summer before jabbed, it was like a mild cold but after 10 days isolation she was quite ill, probably from lethargy, for a few more days.

11yo currently has it. She has been quite poorly, crying, whimpering, headaches, diarrhoea, protective vomiting, temperature, sore throat but never made us so worried we considered calling for medical help. Pretty much like any nasty virus.

We’re a family of 6 and all had it, probably Delta from the timing. DH double jabbed was like flu, oxygen around 93 and lead to chest infection. Cleared with antibiotics and now fine. I’m not vaxed (yes I know, I’m a terrible, terrible person), was like a heavy cold, lost sense of smell, temp and bad cough but ok after about a week, oxygen above 97 throughout. Fine now. All children had mild cold symptoms, probably wouldn’t have taken much notice in precovid times.

I do wonder if we have too much information and stats. If you regularly heard about all the fatal car accidents, falls down stairs, flu deaths, cancer deaths etc etc I doubt many of us would leave the house again As far as saving the NHS, it’s on its knees every winter, I think major reform is needed as well as targeted investment. If people don’t work/spend money and there is no economy then there are no taxes to pay for it in the first place.

We’re probably very lucky far as Covid is concerned as if didn’t follow the news I wouldn’t have thought it was any worse than a bad norovirus year or something similar. Lots of people poorly but no one I know that’s been that bad, many people completely terrified/anxiety through the roof however.

It varies a lot.

Me and my partners family had it last Christmas. Symptoms varied from no symptoms at all, to struggling to get up the stairs and talk in full sentences from breathlessness, and feeling like crap for weeks to months afterwards. (By this point we had had 1st jab)

Out of my friendship group who's had it, all late 20s to 30s. 2 described it as worse flu they've ever had, 1 had no other symptom than lack of taste, others just said it was like a bad cold.

My double vax parents (in late 50s, little overweight but no health conditions) just had it, they describe never feeling this ill in their life. Convinced they'd be in hospital without the vax. Their neighbour Is the same (they assume they got it off each other).

2 friends from work have tested positive with no symptoms.

And I know a 26 year old who just recently passed away from covid.

I had no symptoms apart from being a bit more tired than usual. But I know my experience doesn't represent everyone's.

@rrhuth

As I said - this thread is going to turn into a covid denying mess of 'we need to end isolation' and 'most cases are mild'.

Realism is not covid denial. Some people are hanging onto this for grim death and will probably be very disappointed when we start behaving proportionately.

Those jumping in condemning anecdotes when the thread asked for them are amusing.

I had the very early on in the pandemic strain - was absolutely knocked flat with shortness of breath for weeks after. Not long covid - just "bloody hell that was a nasty bug" wiped out-its.

Kids currently have the strain doing the rounds - just a bit of a niggly cough - even the child with asthma and multiple respiratory hospital admissions behind her is fine.

I understand NHS overwhelm but but but...

Tell me what happens if the NHS is overwhelmed - including how that impacts on people's livelihoods etc.
What does UK life look like if NHS care is no longer available?

There is no point wiffling on endlessly about the mild cases. It is all about the percentage who are not mild. How many, who, how long in hospital, what happens next. There are a range of outcomes, some are fine and some are pretty atrocious.

@Florianus

The key metric for Omicron is hospitalisation - key because it indicates severity and danger for the NHS.

So far, the greatest number of hospitalisations that I have seen reported is 104 (reported by the UK Health Security Agency on Sunday). That is nowhere near enough to generate reliable data on severity or jospitalisation - for which at least 250 hospitalised cases is necessary.

And by all accounts a large percentage discharged within 24 hours

4 in our house have it now….
DH - 4/5 days of a runny nose, like v mild cold
DD (11) - sick twice on first morning and has been fine since, just slightly tired.
Teen DS - normal cold, bit bunged up, slight cough
Me - normal cold, bit bunged up and runny nose (had achey hips first couple of days, but barely noticed it).

Anecdotally it does seem like more people suffered bad with it in 2020 which makes sense with the vaccine programme. Since sept anyone i know that’s had it, has had a normal cold apart from 2 unvaccinated people (one who ended up in hospital at one point) and the other was pretty ill at home.

I wouldn’t have thought anything of what we have now pre-pandemic… would just be thinking it was your average normal cold you get at this time of year.

I had it last March. I was quite unwell with it as many were with the original strain and took weeks and weeks to recover fully.

I'm now triple jabbed and so far have managed not to get it again - and I mean so far as I work in a school and have been close contact many a time over!

I've known lots of people who've been asymptomatic, had a mild cold, had a flu type illness and although not personally I know from the media there is also many cases of people who've has severe reactions (derek draper) and died.

What I do think the evidence and statistics have shown is that each new variant has a lower death rate than the original one. What I don't know is how much this is due to vaccines and treatment and how much is the virulence of new strains.

I do know that some common colds are caused by coronavirus strains and Spanish flu still circulates. So I'm not surprised many suffer a mild cold. Eventually covid 19 will hopefully - for most - become just that.

Huge range here when we had it (Delta variant from timings): DCs both too young to be vaccinated - one was completely symptomless, one had a mild cold. I had flu and fatigue symptoms for 2 weeks, DH symptomless other than a scratchy throat. Both had both jabs

@rrhuth

I understand NHS overwhelm but but but...

Tell me what happens if the NHS is overwhelmed - including how that impacts on people's livelihoods etc.
What does UK life look like if NHS care is no longer available?

There is no point wiffling on endlessly about the mild cases. It is all about the percentage who are not mild. How many, who, how long in hospital, what happens next. There are a range of outcomes, some are fine and some are pretty atrocious.

Which is why I said now is not the time to change strategy but that a conversation needs to be had for the future.

However, you seem intent on peppering every post with veiled insults and stifling any debate which isn't in agreement with yours.

My 70 year old vaccinated Mum was hardly ill at all.

My 60 year old unvaccinated work colleague died.

My 33 year old vaccinated but immune suppressed friend was quite poorly.

It effects everyone differently.