Covid Getting Closer to Home

[old medic]

Just buried 2 close friends and a distant cousin in the last few weeks.
Y'all please be safe

Sadly, add 3 more to the list, My coworker died 53, 2 folks from our racing family. both mid 60s, and now another coworker hospitalized... no vent yet.
got 19 more shifts to go....

 

[donheff]

My nine year old granddaughter tested positive on Monday two days after she got her first shot. It was caught in a routine school screening. My fully vaccinated son caught it from her and tested positive Wednesday. Both have very mild symptoms. Unfortunately, they were at our house on Sunday and DW and I have developed coughs. We got PCR tests yesterday and came back negative this morning.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Cousin’s cousin’s husband, a respiratory therapist who’d been working crazy hours watching people die, committed suicide. Not a close relation but we knew him so it feels close to home. No family or friends have caught it although I heard the next door neighbors (who don’t talk to us for some unknown reason but we’re not the only ones) caught it early on during a trip to Vegas.

 

[whatnot]

I know several people who have died because of COVID.
3 were unvaccinated by choice. 2 were in their 70’s. One was mid fifties and was in very good physical condition. I played tennis with her and she was strong ( unaware if she had any underlying medical issues ). She was on a ventilator for weeks.
My 70 year old cousin passed away a month ago. He had been vaccinated ( unsure about booster). He had underlying medical issues.
I know of several break through cases with symptoms from mild to severe flu like symptoms. The youngest had the most mild symptoms. None had gotten boosted as these cases were around 2 months ago.

 

[harllee]

Cousin’s cousin’s husband, a respiratory therapist who’d been working crazy hours watching people die, committed suicide. Not a close relation but we knew him so it feels close to home. No family or friends have caught it although I heard the next door neighbors (who don’t talk to us for some unknown reason but we’re not the only ones) caught it early on during a trip to Vegas.

So sorry

 

[audreyh1]

My nine year old granddaughter tested positive on Monday two days after she got her first shot. It was caught in a routine school screening. My fully vaccinated son caught it from her and tested positive Wednesday. Both have very mild symptoms. Unfortunately, they were at our house on Sunday and DW and I have developed coughs. We got PCR tests yesterday and came back negative this morning.

Hope you stay well. If not, let it be mild with no lingering effects!

 

[COcheesehead]

A year or so ago, I couldn’t name a single person I knew that had COVID. Today, I have lost count on the number I know who have had it. No deaths, so far.
I got my J&J booster a couple weeks ago. My Apple phone tells me I have been close to a confirmed COVID carrier. I feel fine.
Who knows what the future holds.

 

[athena53]

A year or so ago, I couldn’t name a single person I knew that had COVID. Today, I have lost count on the number I know who have had it. No deaths, so far.

I had a pretty long list even a year ago- mostly members of my church (although we weren't meeting in person), with a pretty high average age. No deaths.

This year: add a great-niece (a year old) and great-nephew (different branch of the family, 3 years old), both fully recovered. I've also been around 3 breakthrough cases that I know of: two on my small-ship Alaskan cruise (vaccinations and negative test 4 days beforehand required) and just last weekend at classroom sessions for a course I'm taking (vaccinations required but no one asked me for verification, person affected was vaccinated and had a mild case). I tested negative after the ship exposure (while on-board and a few days after getting home) and just got negative results this AM from Thursday's test.

Grateful for the booster I got a couple of weeks ago.

 

[athena53]

I can't edit the above post, but DS, age 37, just joined the statistics. He got tested yesterday because he had the sniffles and a fever. It was positive. Darn. From everything I see in my research I should not be up there over Thanksgiving. Their middle child, who's almost 4, has a fever. DS' symptoms are already abating- fever is gone, never did lost taste or smell, but I could hear him sniffling.

I may have a quiet Thanksgiving but if I do, so be it. I have a cardiologist appointment the following week that I really want to make (will be discussing the results of my latest echocardiogram) and I sure can't expose everyone in the office.

 

[Luvtoride]

ATEHNA, sorry to hear about DS and your grandchild being sick. I hope they both get better soon. Yes, you have no choice but to avoid being with them for Thanksgiving. It sucks, but its the new reality that we all must deal with. Stay safe and good luck at your Cardiologist appt. next week.

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah, anti-vaxxer's;

Don't hit me with that vaccine shot, but when I get sick hit me with that other "not vaccine" shot please.

 

[MarieIG]

It may wax and wane, but I don't know that it has ever gone away. Last year was horrific.

Fortunately, no deaths (in my circle of friends, relatives and co-workers; and their relatives) this year. Please let it stay that way!

Last month my friend's office came down with Covid - everyone who had been in the office, vaccinated and unvaccinated, with the exception of one secretary who had Covid previously, and subsequently had been vaccinated. (Luckily none of that group got very sick: the unvaccinated ones were young.) A friend gave Covid to her parents. They had been vaccinated and fortunately their cases were mild.

Currently, two relatives (unvaccinated) have Covid. They are older and having a harder time. One has a number of co-morbidities and was given Regeneron - and frankly I'm relieved that she was - and the other was admitted to the hospital.

 

[reneeh63]

I'm personally aghast at so many sheltered people not knowing someone who'd gotten COVID. I know of several coworkers as well as coworkers who have lost one or even both parents! And, my own sister died of COVID less than a week before she was to get her first shot this last January. After 18 months it would seem you'd have to live under a rock to not have some kind of personal connection to COVID.

Some of this has been very recent with breakthrough infections so now that there's approval to get a booster 6 months after your last shot, that's exactly what I'm going to do. And talk of discontinuing the use of masks is not smart with breakthrough infections in full swing and holiday celebrations just in time to fuel another wave.

 

[bobbyr]

Wow. I am very sorry that I read this as it makes me angry. My DH and I both have age and comorbidities against us. I made sure we were both vaccinated early on and have had our boosters as soon as they were available. We are very careful around others. I know though, that in spite of all of our precautions there is still a chance we could get this virus. That others who refuse vaccination (and I know there are valid reasons to not get vaccinated) would be prioritized for the monoclonal antibody infusion first..... My head is exploding.

absolutely agree

 

[Aerides]

I'm personally aghast at so many sheltered people not knowing someone who'd gotten COVID. I know of several coworkers as well as coworkers who have lost one or even both parents! And, my own sister died of COVID less than a week before she was to get her first shot this last January. After 18 months it would seem you'd have to live under a rock to not have some kind of personal connection to COVID.

Many of us are already retired, so our circles are a whole lot smaller than those who are still working. Perhaps a handful of former co-workers become people you send a card to, chat once or twice a year, email, and far far less than that this past 18 months.

For folks who are retired without a big network of non-work friends, it's mainly family that would count for "knowing someone" properly. So if you also have a relative small family and can count your close personal friends on one hand - hey even less chance to know someone.

I know "of" many people who got it, but these aren't people I'd consider as people with whom I have a personal connection, or that I'd report as Close To Home. Inside that group, I have only one person: My teenage nephew, last thanksgiving, with a barely symptomatic case that no one else in his family picked up from him. The next nearest person is DH's great aunt (whom I've never met), and a brother-in-law of a sister-in-law of my sister.

I'll go back under that rock now.

 

[street]

I have known many that had covid and many that have died. Just found out of two this week that died from covid. The one guy I was with two months ago and can't believe he is gone and how fast it happened. A healthy and in shape 63 year old.

 

[MarieIG]

I have known many that had covid and many that have died. Just found out of two this week that died from covid. The one guy I was with two months ago and can't believe he is gone and how fast it happened. A healthy and in shape 63 year old.

I'm sorry Street.

 

[reneeh63]

Many of us are already retired, so our circles are a whole lot smaller than those who are still working. Perhaps a handful of former co-workers become people you send a card to, chat once or twice a year, email, and far far less than that this past 18 months.

For folks who are retired without a big network of non-work friends, it's mainly family that would count for "knowing someone" properly. So if you also have a relative small family and can count your close personal friends on one hand - hey even less chance to know someone.

I know "of" many people who got it, but these aren't people I'd consider as people with whom I have a personal connection, or that I'd report as Close To Home. Inside that group, I have only one person: My teenage nephew, last thanksgiving, with a barely symptomatic case that no one else in his family picked up from him. The next nearest person is DH's great aunt (whom I've never met), and a brother-in-law of a sister-in-law of my sister.

I'll go back under that rock now.

Sorry if I gave the wrong impression - I'm very much an introvert and don't really have that many "work" friends which emphasizes even more the high proportion of them that have been sick or had parents that died. As for family, my sister was my last living relative (other than a few cousins) so nope, not a big family to "help" my counts either.

Stay safe under your rock.

 

[Koolau]

I'm personally aghast at so many sheltered people not knowing someone who'd gotten COVID. I know of several coworkers as well as coworkers who have lost one or even both parents! And, my own sister died of COVID less than a week before she was to get her first shot this last January. After 18 months it would seem you'd have to live under a rock to not have some kind of personal connection to COVID.

Some of this has been very recent with breakthrough infections so now that there's approval to get a booster 6 months after your last shot, that's exactly what I'm going to do. And talk of discontinuing the use of masks is not smart with breakthrough infections in full swing and holiday celebrations just in time to fuel another wave.

I'm sure there are several factors. Not working is a big one. Where you live may also be a big factor as well . It's no secret that some states have worse Covid experience than others. I know several folks back on the mainland who have had Covid (two who have passed) but NONE here in the Islands who have even gotten the virus. Our Covid numbers remain the lowest in the nation IIRC. YMMV

 

[street]

Just got a text from a guy I hired, that his FIL just passed away from Covid. His FIL was a mentor for me as a young man getting into the trade. I remember the first time we both worked together and where it was and what we did in detail.
Another person in just a couple of weeks that I knew very well taken from Covid. He was in ICU for 10 days.

 

[audreyh1]

This just gets so depressing. Still way too many people dying from Covid!!!!

 

[street]

^ ohhh there is way too many. You just wonder who is next and hoping it isn't me.

 

[harllee]

^ ohhh there is way too many. You just wonder who is next and hoping it isn't me.

Street, so sorry about your friends. Can you tell us, where they vaccinated?

 

[street]

^ I don't know if they were or not. Of course, I feel very awkward asking the surviving family. I wish I knew myself as well, but just can't ask.

 

[harllee]

^ I don't know if they were or not. Of course, I feel very awkward asking the surviving family. I wish I knew myself as well, but just can't ask.

For sure, you cannot ask in this situation. Again, I am sorry, this Covid is really making me mad.