How I Got Covid by Letting My Guard Down (e.g. Stupid)

[Koolau]

Still way too soon to let your guard down.

I'm just not sure what that looks like. I'm up to date on Vaxing. I try to avoid crowds but won't avoid, say, flying. I'm done with masking for the most part assuming not required by law. I'm willing to take some "chances" to "live" like I used to. Foolhardy? I call it calculated risk. YMMV

 

[tmm99]

Wasn’t as crowded this year, but here’s a pic from 2019…we relaxed our normal precautions for one day (stupid), Covid is not done. Like someone said earlier, many more will get Covid in the years ahead, but it won’t be as dangerous if your vaxxed/boosted. Cases are up again in NC, fortunately nothing like past peaks.

Thank you for this, Midpack! I hope you make a speedy recovery and thank you for sharing your story. I felt outdoors was pretty safe as I've never heard of any super spreader events happening from outdoor activities, but still, I guess it can happen when people are very close to one another.

DH and I still wear KN95 masks indoors (regardless of what other people are doing). I wear a surgical mask when I play volleyball indoors as well although nobody else but one other player wears a mask (better safe than sorry...) I play beach volleyball outdoors and I do not wear a mask then, but players are not super close to one another (We play 4s and 6s), so hopefully, that will keep me and my teammates safe.

Masking doesn't bother me much. My friend's DH has a hard time wearing a mask as he has COPD, so I understand it's hard for some folks, but she said he can still wear a surgical mask for a short time and that's what he does when he goes grocery shopping.

I think I will keep on doing what I've been doing for a while longer...

 

[tmm99]

What I'm hearing from you all, and also a friend recently positive, is that it looks like we're back to 5 days being common and typical for incubation

Yeah, it sounds that way, doesn't it? When Omicron was rampant in my area back in Dec/Jan, people were getting symptoms within 2 days of exposure although they didn't test positive for a couple of more days.

 

[Teacher Terry]

The weird thing is no predicting how sick someone will get. 3 of my friends in my building got it and have multiple health issues and range in ages from 76-90. None were very sick. My son is 49 and very healthy yet also very sick. All were vaccinated and boosted.

 

[Jenna]

I don't think you are stupid or wrong for traveling. Life involves risks every time we leave the house, and we will continue to get sick and heal. Whether with C19 or other illnesses. Enjoy life and live it to the fullest.

 

[sengsational]

Several people I know who have been very careful all this time and have avoided for so long just reported coming down with it. I still haven't had it, as far as I know. But just reading this thread, I'm feeling my throat is a bit scratchy, lol!

 

[Qs Laptop]

I don't think you were stupid for going mask less at an outdoor event, considering you've been vaccinated 2X and boosted. I hope you fully recover and don't have any long term effects. Did you lose sense of taste and/or smell?

I had Covid in November. Lost sense of smell and had decreased sense of taste for 2 weeks. Taste seems to have come back 100% but sense of smell, while recovered, is not back to where it was before.

I attended a funeral last Friday. I've been vaxxed twice and boosted. Didn't wear a mask. The church was large, high ceilings, open, and airy. Sat with family and people that I know have been vaxxed/boosted. I guess I'm waiting to see if I get COVID.

 

[Gumby]

We were double vaxxed, boosted and good about masking and distancing, but we still caught Omicron right before Christmas. A bad cold for about a week with no lingering effects. When we gave blood two weeks ago, a test showed our antibody levels at high enough levels that they could use our blood for convalescent plasma. So we're about as bulletproof as we can be right now. I expect we will get our second booster this summer, and we will continue to get additional ones as and when recommended.

As far as masking, I still do it when required - e.g. while singing in the choir at church and while attending a musical at the Goodspeed Opera House last week - but otherwise I don't wear one anymore. If the USA's test to return regime is still in effect then, I may increase mask wearing when we go on vacation to Egypt in October, because I don't want to get stuck there.

 

[ABQ2015]

Thanks, Midpack, for sharing your story. I have read very few accounts of people catching COVID in purely outdoor venues so this was of interest to me. Over the next few months I am attending several out-of-state, outdoor music festivals with crowds similar to Cheerwine and have been debating whether to wear a surgical mask or the tighter fitting KN95. Now I think I will stick to the KN95 since will be sitting or standing close to others. While I realize it is just a matter of time before I become infected, I prefer that it not happen when I am on a trip and traveling solo.

 

[braumeister]

We were double vaxxed, boosted and good about masking and distancing, but we still caught Omicron right before Christmas.

Same here. We've been good, double vaxxed and boosted, yet DW caught COVID in April from one of her friends who got it somewhere. It was like flu for three days, and one of those days was pretty rough. For some reason I didn't get it. No explanation, I really should have been infected but wasn't.

In all honesty, I would have preferred to get it in order to have the extra immunity, but there is no rhyme or reason to this stuff.

 

[Philliefan33]

I don’t think you were being stupid. I think the current variant is just super contagious.

I also had two vaccines + one booster (I became eligible for a second booster just a few weeks ago.) I wore masks when in stores, etc. and when riding in the shuttle van. Yet at least three of us out of fifteen on a multi-day bike ride contracted COVID. Maybe just from eating meals together?

The ten days of isolation were very inconvenient, but hopefully I’m a little less likely to get it again as I continue working the bike trips for the rest of the season.

 

[Dash man]

I first showed symptoms the Wednesday after Easter and tested positive. On Easter we went to church and had the kids and grandkids over for an Easter egg hunt and dinner afterwards. None of the kids got sick, but DW and her dad (who lives with us) followed me by a couple of days. I must have caught it at church, but we didn’t get close to anyone except the priest, who didn’t get sick. Still not sure who I got it from.

 

[MarieIG]

Not stupid - human. Glad you are improving.

Interestingly, DH who caught Covid (for the first time) around the same time as you, and had been very careful up to one event, said the same thing.

 

[GenXguy]

The weird thing is no predicting how sick someone will get. 3 of my friends in my building got it and have multiple health issues and range in ages from 76-90. None were very sick. My son is 49 and very healthy yet also very sick. All were vaccinated and boosted.

True, and then there's the very significant chance of long covid, possibly at a later time, even if you had a mild case of COVID or were asymptomatic.

Just was reading a new article about the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants spreading at a faster rate than BA.2. And those do a better job evading the protection from the vaccines and previous infection. Not good!

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/01/health/covid-new-omicron-variants/index.html

 

[RobbieB]

So you got covid. Lot's of people did. I wouldn't downgrade your intelligence either.

Life happens. Sh1t happens. And we go from there.

 

[audreyh1]

I really do not understand why, this far into the pandemic, we don't have new, better vaccines. We've put all our eggs in one basket and it appears the basket has a hole in it. I'm very thankful that we have vaccines and that they were developed and produced so rapidly. It's great that we've reduced the mortality dramatically. Still, I'm not hearing of new efforts to get a next generation of vaccines. Maybe I missed it. YMMV

I do hear some of it on twitter, especially about nasal vaccines which have the potential to stop infection and transmission which is what we really need. But, yes, not much publicity.

Dr. Iwasaki wrote about the current situation in the NYTimes recently. Maybe they need more backing? https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/opinion/covid-nasal-vaccine.html

 

[harllee]

Midpack, you weren't stupid, you were just living life. DH and I (age 70 and double boosted) have been attending crowded outdoor events (like music concerts and baseball games) on a regular basis and have not been wearing masks and luckily so far have not contracted Covid.. I recently tried wearing my KN94 mask to a crowded baseball game but it was so hot I just could not bear the mask and took it off.

I know many many people who have contracted Covid but none of them can trace it back to an outside event. Almost all the people I know who caught Covid trace it to a crowded indoor event, eating in a restaurant or an indoor party. I am sure it is possible to contract it outdoors but it does not seem to me to be the way most people contract it.

DH and I took a major risk and attended a very crowded indoor event in April (NCAA Mens Basketball Final Four in New Orleans, 72,000 people in attendance.). We were about the only people wearing a mask. We did not catch Covid. We know hundreds of people who attended (there were several charter planes full of people from my area) and as far as I have been able to ascertain (I have asked many people), NO ONE from my area contracted Covid at the Final Four.

There is just no figuring out how Covid is contracted. A friend attended a small indoor neighborhood party and 9 out of 12 people contracted Covid. But I know hundreds of people who attended the crowded Final Four and not a one of them contracted Covid. It just does not make sense to me. At this point all you can do it take reasonable precautions and live your life.

 

[tulak]

For some reason I didn't get it. No explanation, I really should have been infected but wasn't.

Maybe you were asymptomatic? Or a strong immune response preventing (serious) infection?

I’m surprised I haven’t caught it yet, at least as far as I know. I was sure I had covid a couple of times in the last few months, but all the tests were negative. I guess it was a regular cold?

Covid is never going away. And I agree with the other poster who pointed out that the vaccines have not kept pace with the variants. I’m hopefully going to get my second booster next week, but I’d feel a lot better if it was tweaked to deal with omicron.

 

[Koolau]

Maybe you were asymptomatic? Or a strong immune response preventing (serious) infection?

I’m surprised I haven’t caught it yet, at least as far as I know. I was sure I had covid a couple of times in the last few months, but all the tests were negative. I guess it was a regular cold?

Covid is never going away. And I agree with the other poster who pointed out that the vaccines have not kept pace with the variants. I’m hopefully going to get my second booster next week, but I’d feel a lot better if it was tweaked to deal with omicron.

Makes me wonder if anyone has done research on the number of asymptomatic cases. My guess is there are NO asymptomatic cases BUT maybe those sniffles and sneezes were Covid, not a little cold or, in my case, allergies.

DW and I thought when we moved away from ragweed and golden rod in the midwest, we'd suffer fewer allergies. We found out that in Hawaii there is always something blooming and instead of summer allergies, we have them year round - or is that "asymptomatic" Covid? Honestly, if I don't have a fever, I'm not gonna get tested. Now I hear that some Covid sufferers don't have fever.

My point, any of us could be spreaders because we all get sniffles/sneezes from time to time. If I tested every time, I'd probably go broke (or my insurance company would.) YMMV

 

[audreyh1]

I first showed symptoms the Wednesday after Easter and tested positive. On Easter we went to church and had the kids and grandkids over for an Easter egg hunt and dinner afterwards. None of the kids got sick, but DW and her dad (who lives with us) followed me by a couple of days. I must have caught it at church, but we didn’t get close to anyone except the priest, who didn’t get sick. Still not sure who I got it from.

If the church service was indoors, then Covid, being airborne, can easily spread a lot farther than the conventional social distancing recommendations.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I really do not understand why, this far into the pandemic, we don't have new, better vaccines. We've put all our eggs in one basket and it appears the basket has a hole in it. I'm very thankful that we have vaccines and that they were developed and produced so rapidly. It's great that we've reduced the mortality dramatically. Still, I'm not hearing of new efforts to get a next generation of vaccines. Maybe I missed it. YMMV

Yeah, I don’t understand why either. I know they thought these first round of vaccines would keep us from transmitting the disease as that is what happened in the controlled studies.
Unfortunately that didn’t pan out in real life.
Add to that the coronaviruses ability to mutate quickly, lack of people getting vaccinated and refusing to wear masks and the virus just continues to mutate and become more contagious and able to by pass the vaccine. Makes a more effective vaccine much more difficult to develop.
That’s my understanding anyway.

It’s frustrating for sure.

 

[audreyh1]

Maybe you were asymptomatic? Or a strong immune response preventing (serious) infection?

If braumeister was testing for covid he would have seen an infection even if asymptomatic.

 

[tulak]

If braumeister was testing for covid he would have seen an infection even if asymptomatic.

I’ve heard of too many sporadic results even when testing regularly: day 1 negative, day 2 positive, day 3 negative, etc.

I’ve also known people that had symptoms and consistently tested negative, yet their partner tested positive. So were they really negative or did the test fail to catch the infection?

It’s not that easy to know.

 

[tmm99]

I’ve heard of too many sporadic results even when testing regularly: day 1 negative, day 2 positive, day 3 negative, etc.

I’ve also known people that had symptoms and consistently tested negative, yet their partner tested positive. So were they really negative or did the test fail to catch the infection?

It’s not that easy to know.

If everyone had access to PCR tests (for cheap), we'd probably have more accurate results.

 

[COcheesehead]

I am triple vaxxed. My wife double and we got it. It’s like a cold or the flu.