‘Living with covid’

[TweenTrauma]

Just wondering if this is it now? Since all restrictions were dropped the cases in my area have gone absolutely crazy. Schools having to close year groups due to staff shortages, and just about everyone I know either having it or recently had it in their household. Myself included, for the 2nd time in 6 months.

I can only imagine cases are going to soar even higher with the imminent end of free testing.

I totally get we’re all sick to the back teeth of covid, and I’m not a supporter of restrictions and lockdowns, but I hate to say that it’s all looking a bit grim. People may not be getting seriously ill, generally speaking, but for many it’s a virus nasty enough to put you on your ass for a week or two. With so many reinfections at the moment I’m also not holding out too much hope for the herd immunity theory, because it just doesn’t seem to be happening from what I’m seeing. It seems quite common for people to be getting it 2-3 months after the last time which is kinda alarming when it makes you ill enough to disrupt everything in your life (and if like me you’re self employed so aren’t well enough to earn any money).

It’s just dawned on me that this could well be it now, just constantly taking turns with covid every few months. I know other bugs existed before covid, but I can’t remember the last time I was ill before covid came along, not for quite a few years.

Sorry for the depressing thread, I’m just lying in the bath with my lungs on fire feeling a bit bleak.

Yes the vaccines have really changed the severity of the disease for many.

And we don’t have any other options now but to get on with life.

Considering most people are at their most infectious 2 days before symptoms,by the time you’ve got the symptoms, done the test and eventually close contacts have been told then surely it’s too late? Testing and isolating never was the way out of this.(There’s no way out of this)

Unfortunately and as controversial as it is, vaccination plus natural immunity built up through repeated exposure will have the only impact long term.

Covid won’t be a problem for our children when they get older. We’re in the worst part now. But thankfully vaccines are lessening the impact.

Other countries that made everyone wear FFP2 or 3 for their healthcare and general public did so much better.

Germany were very strict with enforcing FFP3 masks and yet cases have risen sharply....!

They are now considering loosening restrictions despite rising cases and building up herd immunity

The impact of Covid will decrease over time, there’s only so many times you can get it before it just becomes a mild sniffle or something you don’t notice at all. That’s how coronaviruses work.
We have vaccines, we’ve done what we can.
What do you think the alternative is to “living with Covid”?

But people can’t and won’t wear FFP2 masks forever. And then what?

No country can escape this. All populations will be exposed repeated times. If they want to delay this for whatever reason then fine but time will be the leveller.

How rubbish for you to get it twice and know your underlying condition will be worsened by it.

As pps have said it should become less of a problem as people develop at least some degree of immunity. I think the theory is that reinfections will become less frequent and milder.

Your immune system will be relatively low at this time of year, at the end of winter. The long spell of less daylight and less time spent outside getting the immune benefits from smelling greenery and the benefits of sunlight runs the immune system down.

I think Moderna is working on a vaccine that will protect more against more variants of covid and even colds caused by coronaviruses eventually.

It's really hard when not going into work results in loss of income. It's just extra stress on top of feeling rubbish isn't it. I sometimes think people who have a good employer don't have a clue how lucky they are.

My anecdotal evidence is the people I know who have had the Moderna vaccine have been the only ones to escape Covid in our group of friends. Most likely just coincidence but looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.

My anecdotal evidence is the people I know who have had the Moderna vaccine have been the only ones to escape Covid in our group of friends

Interesting. DH and I both had moderna boosters and had had very mild cases (wouldn't have had a day off work in normal times).

Long Covid is being ignored, because deaths are low. I have previously young and fit colleagues now with debilitating side effects months after illness. This country wont stop until we are all fucking disabled.

@Lilaclavenders

And privately educated families worrying about missing holidays isn't exactly a huge 'worry' is it?

It is to the tour operators and those who rely on their tourism, not to mention the taxi transfers, kennels and catteries, hairdressers and beauticians for last minute holiday touch ups, retailers selling new holiday clothes .... High covid rates have a negative effect on everyone, whether they are the person cancelling a holiday or the ever spreading circle around those people affected by their cancellation.

This country wont stop until we are all fucking disabled.

I'm not sure how hyperbole helps the argument, but what do you think should be done? We have lesser measures that don't make much difference at this stage. And more extreme measures that just aren't sustainable (and ultimately just kick cans down roads).

I know there’s not an alternative, and I am glad that we don’t have the restrictions in place anymore and people’s lives actually have some colour back in them rather than just being work/school/sit in the house. And it’s great that relatively low numbers of people are dying, although there’s a big old scale between being dead and being healthy. I’m not classed as CEV, but because of my ME it took me a good 3 months to feel able to do much in the way of work after September’s bout of covid, which wrecked my finances and got me in debt just to be able to survive. Then I had 3 months of feeling ok-ish, and now I’ve gone down with it again which will take me god knows how long to fully recover from. It just makes my world a lot smaller, I have to save my energy for the things I have to do rather than the things I want to do.

On the plus side I’m now on day 6 and I definitely don’t feel as bad as I did when I had delta, so fingers crossed my energy levels won’t be affected for so long this time.

@TheKeatingFive

My anecdotal evidence is the people I know who have had the Moderna vaccine have been the only ones to escape Covid in our group of friends

Interesting. DH and I both had moderna boosters and had had very mild cases (wouldn't have had a day off work in normal times).

My OH had Moderna, I had Pfizer, and we've both recently had Covid (I suspect I caught it from him, as he tested positive a couple of days before I did). It wasn't too awful, though - just a manky head cold, really, only one day of feeling poorly enough to take paracetamol, etc.

The worry is large numbers of people getting long covid lasting months at a time though. It's fine if it is just a few days in bed , but for many it doesn't stop there does it?

The worry is large numbers of people getting long covid lasting months at a time though.

Sure, but firstly the data isn't particularly helpful in telling us how many people this affects. Secondly, I'm not sure what's to be done about it, given where we are now. Thirdly, post viral issues have always been with us and this is something the medical community have never been great at dealing with.

Hopefully there will be a lot more focus on the third point in the future.

If the government accepts it's not going away and it's just going to be out there, then it needs to put in mitigating measures so that public services are not affected by high levels of sickness. Kids are not being educated properly in schools at the moment because of high levels of staff sickness (sick in bed with Covid, not just isolating) but all we get is Nadhim Zahawi on the news telling everyone exam targets will be higher for every school next year.

then it needs to put in mitigating measures so that public services are not affected by high levels of sickness

What measures, though? Either we do heavily restrictive things that are damaging and not sustainable, or we do lower-level things that don’t really make much difference.

(and I’m public sector and loads of people are off sick at the moment and it’s a nightmare, but so I don’t disagree it’s a problem right now - I’m just dubious it’s a problem that’s within our gift to solve.)

Employ more people so there is more cover for example

Yes, would definitely agree with that. Supply teaching capacity was a problem here even before covid.

I read an interesting article about what living with covid meant.

It basically said vaccinating the rest of the world to slow the speed of new varients.

Then building on whst we know limits spread, which is fresh air and smaller groups. So going forward having ventilation systems and doing more stuff outside and possibly moving away from big hospitals and schools to smaller ones like in the past.

It all costs money so I assume it will actually be seen as as individual problem rather than a public health one and we will all just get sick a couple of times a year.

I don't think it's necessarily clear yet how much of the disruption is sickness and how much is isolation measures. I guess we'll find out soon.

And really, I think the only think that will happen will be everyone expected to muddle through until we can determine what it looks like with no mitigations. Teaching had a lot of issues long before covid. It would be good to see these addressed, but it won't happen any time soon.

possibly moving away from big hospitals and schools to smaller ones like in the past.

The costs of that would be extraordinary. So I doubt it's an option. They'll limp along until better treatments/vaccines appear.

I agree. It's all very well saying that restrictions were affecting our lives badly, but the spread of Covid now that restrictions have ended us having more of a negative effect - my kids are missing lessons at school due due to staff sickness and inability to get any cover staff, they've been missing out on after school clubs for the same reason, my workplace has had unscheduled closures because there weren't enough people able to come in, my son's dentist's appointment was cancelled when the dentist had Covid and my dad's surgery was postponed. Several friends have missed holidays and family reunions. And that's all been in the past month.

@TheKeatingFive I agree, my ME started after a really nasty virus in 2014 (although I think an ongoing period of intense stress also played a role). And there’s nothing that the doctors can offer, other than just advice on pacing. It’s up and down, I can function for a few months and then I’ll have a crash and be bed bound for months. Even when I’m ‘functioning’ I get exhausted easily. And that’s been my life for 8 years now. I’m self employed because I wouldn’t be able to be relied upon to show up for x amount of hours every week for an employer, because my illness doesn’t work like that. I’m 41 and got a 1st class science degree in my 30s, but haven’t even attempted to start a career because of my illness. I am a single parent to two children and we just have to manage the best we can. I applied for disability benefits, got zero points and the stress of the face to face interview caused a huge crash which took months to recover from. It’s so frustrating to live like this with no prospect of a cure, it really does feel like a waste of a life.

So while I wouldn’t wish this condition on my worst enemy, perhaps the huge swathes of people affected by long covid will spark some interest in scientists finding some ways of at least improving chronic fatigue.

I know it’s not all about the fatigue with long covid though, for example a friend had covid earlier this year and he’s been left with an enlarged spleen, and I’ve heard of long term heart problems being common.

@GoldenOmber

(and I’m public sector and loads of people are off sick at the moment and it’s a nightmare, but so I don’t disagree it’s a problem right now - I’m just dubious it’s a problem that’s within our gift to solve.)

I agree with this.

Covid is awful and it has the ability to reinfect and cause long term issues but realistically what can we actually do (apart from promote the 4th jab).

Vaccines are being worked on that cover all variants - research is still being done at that end