Are you preparing for life disruptions from this winter/Omicron COVID surge?

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Daily average of confirmed cases is continuing to surge in the UK, now up to a rolling 7 day average of over 150k/day, and now hospital cases with Covid have started to move up quite a bit. It had been hovering at the 7 to 8k mark for many weeks but is now up to 12k and the absentee rate of hospital workers is as high as 40% in some areas.

Omicron may be much milder than Delta but a very small percentage of serious cases of a very large number of infections is causing a big strain on the hospitals.

We will continue to mask up and keep mixing with others to a minimum. My son and I have stopped going to see our local soccer team this past month even though it is outdoors with only a couple of hundred supporters.
 
I thought the purpose of the vaccine was to prevent hospitalization not necessarily to prevent asymptomatic cases. So, as our ICUs empty out and no new hospitalizations are recorded, isn't vaccine, boosters, and only isolating 5 days doing what we wanted?
 
<mod note>

As with all Covid discussions, expressing judgment about other members' activities, or lack thereof, and "you should"-ing others, is a good way to get things shut down fast.

The purpose of this thread is for folks to share their own plans, not to shoot them down and tell them what you think they "should" be doing.

So cut it out.
 
gayl said:
I thought the purpose of the vaccine was to prevent hospitalization not necessarily to prevent asymptomatic cases. So, as our ICUs empty out and no new hospitalizations are recorded
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That would be great if that was what was happening, but it's not. Hospitalizations are climbing rapidly. At my hospital system, we're up nearly 5-fold since early November from about 50 to about 250. The hospitalization rate of children is alarmingly high. As Alan said, even if a smaller percentage are being hospitalized, it's a smaller percentage of a much larger number. Many places are seeing their worst levels yet since this whole mess began nearly 2 years ago.
 
disneysteve said:
That would be great if that was what was happening, but it's not. Hospitalizations are climbing rapidly. At my hospital system, we're up nearly 5-fold since early November from about 50 to about 250. The hospitalization rate of children is alarmingly high. As Alan said, even if a smaller percentage are being hospitalized, it's a smaller percentage of a much larger number. Many places are seeing their worst levels yet since this whole mess began nearly 2 years ago.
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+1 Seeing that here as well as hearing about it in many other places.


Cheers!
 
I hear about it but it's not happening, not here at least. ICU capacity moving up not down. Anxiously waiting until 15 yo turns 16 (3 weeks) so she can be boosted as well. We're 72% fully & 7.9% partially vaxed for those over 4. At what point do we go back to living or succumb to massive depression? (Friend's DS committed suicide bc he couldn't deal with this on the nightly news. I choose life)
 
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gayl said:
I hear about it but it's not happening, not here at least. ICU capacity moving up not down. Anxiously waiting until 15 yo turns 16 (3 weeks) so she can be boosted as well.
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It's very state and even metro area specific. Some states aren't in a pinch and some are, Covid hospitalizations have ticked up slightly, but not as bad as previous surges (yet). You can look at the US and state by state here. There are also wide variances in percent vaccination/boosted from state to state (from 46% to 77%) which correlates with cases/hospitalizations.

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/hospitalization-7-day-trend

https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states/
 
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^^^ It's good for a guy to know where his priority lies. :LOL:
 
We aren’t really changing our habits much. Have switched back to takeout instead of dine in, and don’t plan to attend any events with large crowds.

However, the consequences of the surge in cases may affect us. For example, DD was just notified that daycare is closed all next week due to COVID cases. She’s in the process of piecing together substitute baby care for the week. I’ll be watching the cutest grandson in the world on Tuesday.
 
I am depressed--we are selling our UNC basketball tickets. One of our favorite activities is attending college basketball games. We live in a college town with great basketball, we have season tickets and before Covid attended all the home games. The stadium is large--21,000 people, usually crowded. Masks are supposedly required but when we attended an early season game the mask requirement was not being strictly enforced and many people took off their masks. We are high risk--age 70 and DH has an autoimmune disease. So we are selling our tickets. We are depressed, it is going to be a long winter for us with no college basketball. Watching on TV is just not the same.
 
harllee said:
I am depressed--we are selling our UNC basketball tickets. One of our favorite activities is attending college basketball games. We live in a college town with great basketball, we have season tickets and before Covid attended all the home games. The stadium is large--21,000 people, usually crowded. Masks are supposedly required but when we attended an early season game the mask requirement was not being strictly enforced and many people took off their masks. We are high risk--age 70 and DH has an autoimmune disease. So we are selling our tickets. We are depressed, it is going to be a long winter for us with no college basketball. Watching on TV is just not the same.
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I can empathize and relate. I had awesome tickets to see the 'farewell' / final tour of my all-time favorite band (Genesis) that I bought last Spring, when it was looking like we might be able to get this God forsaken virus behind us by the fall. Concert was end of November, and the tickets cost me ~$500. Wasn't comfortable going by the time October rolled around, as I knew even if proof of vax was "required" that it would be very unlikely to be enforced. (Turns out I was right, based on social media reports I read after the show). Tried to sell the tickets for about a month prior to the event, and got zero takers - even though I priced them well below what I bought them for.

Seems a lot of people are not comfortable sitting among thousands of others at the moment, regardless of whether we're told proof of vax is required. Hopefully most know by now that even the vaccinated can pass COVID to others, and even if you're vaccinated yourself, you can still get it. It seems the only thing most people agree on is being vaccinated does "seem" to lower your risk of having a severe case..but aside from that, even if the event had checked every single person's proof of vax, not sure that would have done that much overall..

I was super bummed out to miss this. The band members are all north of 70, and this was the "final, final, we REALLY mean it this time" show. To miss the last tour ever was heartbreaking for a lifelong fan who followed the band for 45+ years. Not to mention the much smaller problem of losing out on $500...
 
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24601NoMore, I would also be bummed out about missing the Genesis concert. I love that band and went to a couple of their concerts back in the old days. I have listed my UNC basketball tickets on Stubhub and some local places and no takers--there are hundreds of tickets for sale. So I guess I may just have to give them away. People are just afraid to be in a crowded stadium for a game or concert. There is also the issue of having the event postponed or cancelled and losing your money.
 
24601NoMore said:
I was super bummed out to miss this. The band members are all north of 70, and this was the "final, final, we REALLY mean it this time" show. To miss the last tour ever was heartbreaking for a lifelong fan who followed the band for 45+ years. Not to mention the much smaller problem of losing out on $500...
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If it makes you feel any better- from what I read, most people were very depressed at seeing the sad shape Phil Collins was in.

I'm still wearing masks indoors and staying out of crowded places. I don't care what the local rules are. I have some N95s from Home Depot and used them on my 2 plane trips this year. I may never return to the gym; I was comfortable with distancing and cleanliness but they didn't enforce masking even when local laws required it. I'm doing fine with a TRX, treadmill and video workouts.

BF and I have returned to the movie theatres and dine in regularly at 2 restaurants we trust.

BUT... I have international travel scheduled and that makes me nervous. Both trips involve multiple countries and they can make their own rules. One woman on another board was flying to her native Uruguay and needed a test 72 hours before. She did that but when it came time to leave the lab hadn't even gotten her sample- she had to postpone the trip. Another was on a Viking round-the-world cruise and after testing negative every day for 11 days while at sea, Argentina wouldn't let them off the ship till the Argentinian authorities had tested them. I'd postponed my E. European trip from last June to October of this year because I was flying through London in both directions and their rules about quarantining were vague with regard to people who were just overnighting near the airport (which I was).

For me, international travel is the aspect of my life that has suffered the biggest disruption and I don't see it changing soon. First-world problems.
 
We are well stocked up - like always - so can avoid stores if needed. Like harllee my DH also has an autoimmune disease and is on two immunosuppressing medications. The new pill treatments and the pre-exposure antivirals (for immune compromised people) look promising but are in such short supply right now that we are still basically homebound. We are hoping that once cases lower again and the treatments are more readily available that his doctors will clear us for getting out more.

As a side note we had purchased tickets months ago to some performances and ended up eating the cost of the tickets. We also cancelled a trip earlier this year when cases were lower because ICU's in the area we were going to visit were full, again given DH's health issues, going just wasn't an option. Despite this whole thing lingering on we are optimistic that this will end even for people in our situation eventually.
 
I've had multiple covid conversations with friends in the past 24 hours. Omicron is exploding beyond the high numbers we've already seen. My next-door neighbors told me today they've both got covid, presumably omicron based on their symptoms. They were both boosted. A friend told me of his family's outbreak related to attending a funeral. 5 out of 13 people, all boosted, have tested positive so far. Several of them had previous covid infections. My friend got a PCR test in suburban MD and didn't get his negative results until 8 days after his test. A friend in DC was telling me about his infection in November, likely delta. He was vaxxed but not boosted. He barely avoided needing hospitalization. He has no idea how he got infected. He got a booster after he recovered. A friend in Seattle had a Christmas family gathering, all boosted and symptom-free at the time. Many of them have now tested positive and have omicron symptoms. My friend has symptoms but is still awaiting her PCR results. Frankly, I'll be surprised if I haven't had an omicron infection before the end of January.
 
For my family: No.

Work is presenting me with an interesting gamble. I run a nonprofit. One of our largest fundraisers is a gala scheduled March 3. Pre Covid it brought together 450 people, and raised about 20% of the budget. Last year ot brought together 200, and raised a similar event. Gamble is do I postpone hoping to wait out the omicron surge? Will my fellow Idahoans care:confused:
 
anethum said:
I've had multiple covid conversations with friends in the past 24 hours. Omicron is exploding beyond the high numbers we've already seen.
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It is spreading wildly at this point. I believe over 1,000,000 new cases in the last 2 days. We know multiple people who currently have it - our niece, our friend's son, 3 of my coworkers, another coworker's husband, etc. More cases are turning up in our contacts every day. It's crazy. Even if it's relatively mild, the rate of spread is horrifying. It's like something out of a sci-fi movie.
 
rodi said:
I never stopped wearing a mask indoors at the store... but I've upgraded to kn95.
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Same here. I'm fully vaxxed, but I'm on a drug that can suppress the immune system. At my low dose it should not increase my risk much, but continuing to be cautious seems wise.
 
Everyone vaxxed, no underlying conditions of concern. Elderly parents are miles away and haven’t been seen in years. One of us of got it 4 months after the shots.

After a breakthrough infection, first wife dying of cancer, a kid getting knocked down by mono, I don’t care anymore-bring it, and I’ll deal with it.

Only doing a few defensive things on the retail front to minimize disruption from the people freaking out and hoarding. No mask, I’m back living as I did in 2019. Bring on the flames.
 
FlaGator said:
Everyone vaxxed, no underlying conditions of concern. Elderly parents are miles away and haven’t been seen in years. One of us of got it 4 months after the shots.

After a breakthrough infection, first wife dying of cancer, a kid getting knocked down by mono, I don’t care anymore-bring it, and I’ll deal with it.

Only doing a few defensive things on the retail front to minimize disruption from the people freaking out and hoarding. No mask, I’m back living as I did in 2019. Bring on the flames.
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LOL. I hear ya.
My Mom died of cancer when I was 14. It was then, at that young age, that I learned about the preciousness of living.
My wife has had two separate instances of breast cancer. Finally having a double mastectomy about a year ago.
If Covid is our death sentence, so be it. We are vaxxed and boosted, but life only lasts so long.
All this reminds me of a story I heard awhile back. A nervous flyer approached the pilot asking for assurances of the safety of flight and how he could fly day in and day out without being nervous. His reply was “we don’t get to chose how we die.”
 
We are vaxxed and boosted and are living as normally as possible. We attended several neighborhood holiday gatherings and haven’t heard of any cases within our immediate group of friends. I run a social Meetup group in my area and we have 16 events planned for January. Many are outdoor athletic activities such as walks, hikes, and bike rides, but there are also indoor happy hours, dinners and wine tastings. Proof of vaccination is required at most indoor events, but that doesn’t seem too reassuring with Omicron. Some members are refraining from indoor events at the moment, but many are not.

While we don’t know of any Omicron cases in our circle of friends yet, it wouldn’t surprise us at all. We have several friends in Coastal So CA who came down with Omicron after a party on 12/22. They felt mild symptoms around 12/25, got tested and diagnosed early that week, and are now all fully recovered.

We have maintained frequent hand washing habits and carry alcohol wipes in our cars and often use them after trips to stores, and we wear masks where required. We have shopped in stores throughout the pandemic and thus far have escaped illness.

Not stocking up on anything, but had a big BTD month in December. We both drive 2007 cars and all of the sudden both needed major repairs. We spent $10K to keep them in good repair rather than spending much more to buy a new car or cars in this extremely inflated time for car purchases.

We are flying to GA to see DH’s 85 year old mother in February. Planning a Croatia trip in July for my BFF’s birthday. Hopefully it won’t be canceled.

We are in our early 60’s and are healthy, vaxxed and boosted. We of course prefer not to contract Omicron or any other illnesses, but do not feel the risks associated with Omicron are serious enough to shut our lives down trying to prevent it. One good thing that has come out of COVID is that I think everyone is much more respectful of trying not to spread anything. I realize that people can be asymptomatic carriers, but the people we know will cancel participation in an event if they feel ill in any way. Pre-COVID, I think more people came to gatherings with a cold or sore throat without thinking as much about spreading it.
 
We were sort of back to normal (wear masks where requested) but found eating out at restaurants with so few staff sort of depressing (for us and them). We are not super social and enjoy outdoor activities so that hadn’t changed much from before the Big P.

Then DH was diagnosed with cancer and we found ourselves in the chemo immunosuppressive club. Really hoping not to have Covid and have to suspend treatment for two weeks and/or have a rough go of it.

So, for now, we mainly socialize during more hospital/clinic/physician/treatment appointments than we ever imagined (averaging 10 per week). This is far more socialization than we usually pursue so have been brushing up on our social skills, learning (and remembering) everyone’s name from the young lady that gives the hand sanitizer squirt at the door (“Hi Brooke, we’re home!…”) to the receptionists (“Good morning, Sarah- good riddance to 2021, yes?!”…) to therapists/physicians/techs (“Good afternoon Byron, yes, we’re doing alright, how about you?”…)

So, it’s been a little weird to instantly go from spending $15 every 3 months on our meds to wondering “is there a copay on the chemo?” Weirder still is how very quickly you can go from feeling pretty shored up (both of us vaxed and boosted) to very vulnerable.

That said, we can’t abide being terrified. Life’s hard, there are risks and lots of times you’re working without a net. We’ve decided to do the best we can balancing the risks and rewards. Which is how we ended up with e-bikes, perhaps one of the greatest inventions ever!
 
Scuba said:
Pre-COVID, I think more people came to gatherings with a cold or sore throat without thinking as much about spreading it.
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For sure. I have a trip planned for the first week of Feb, and I'm planning to be extra careful the two weeks prior to ensure I have no chance of being sick before I get on that flight.

I do wonder what I would do though, if I became (even mildly) ill during the trip. I guess find a cheaper hotel to stay the extra 5-7 days and quarantine, and delay my flight home. Although testing to board isn't a thing domestically, I certainly don't want to be patient-zero for the other passengers on my flight.
 
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