Coronavirus/Covid-19 Discussion Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

The sweeping scope of COVID-19 and the devastation that continues in its wake.

Sadly, it seems like vital lessons have yet to be grasped fully.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/how-the-u-s-lost-1-million-people-to-covid-19/

[victoria foxton]

 

  

[Noel]

[Cat]

I got Covid. Had it for 11 days. Today is the first day I've tested negative. Mild symptoms on the whole -- so very grateful for having been jabbed 3 times.

Please register in order to view this content

I can't imagine how scared I would have gotten if this got serious and tried to shut down lung capacity.

I'm not sure how things are going to look later this year when immunity ebbs. Can they keep vaccinating us? Is this in the hands of Paxlovid and Merck's medication now? Even though I was wearing a mask for 7 hours while travelling, delays and mega crowds of people meant I still got this. I'm pretty sure I got one of the Omicron sub variants currently around.

Anyway, it still exists, and in the US and UK, looks like we are seeing a summer surge, so be careful and mask up if/where you can. Hope Dr. Fauci recovers quickly and well.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Cat

[victoria foxton]

He was only about a year older than me. And looked far, far older. 

Please register in order to view this content

 

   

[Taoboi]

How am I just seeing this?

 

I'm soo sorry. *HUGS* 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

Margaret Pearson Moore Holmberg (Margi) b. Oct. 25, 1945 d. Jan. 10, 2022. Margi was my oldest best friend or my best old friend or my chosen sister. She had a big brother who died when she was only 12 but no sister. I had 2 brothers younger than I but no sister. We met in August of 1974 in Columbus, Mississippi, which was the only place where we ever both lived at the same time. We could be apart for an indefinite period of time & then see each other & pick back up as if we had left a conversation in midst just the night before. Back in the day before we had telecommunications miracles occur, we would run up horrendous phone bills. We were both writers so we wrote letters & notes. In more recent times as we are now with cell phones, we talked on the phone every day, just every single day. Margi had underlying health problems which is one of the reasons why she was all vaxxed up & boostered up. She lived in Mississippi near family that were anti-vaxxers. She had bad lungs although she was not on oxygen or anything & she was diabetic & she had fibromyalgia. Over the Christmas holidays, she came down with Omicron, as did her close family members, also. She was in the hospital & in 6 days it stole her away. I've processed 3 grief books & even taken notes on them. One of them I liked enough to read twice. For months I posted a daily message, "Dear Margi, Hey, Sis! Today I" but I quit it last month. I miss her. I hate Covid. Thnx for listening. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Me too. And same from me @Cat. I hope you are well now.

Wow @victoria foxton, are we sure the numbers haven’t been accidentally reversed?! He looks a lot older than 48!

[janea4old]

He really was 48
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Zelenko
An anti-vax conspiracy theorist, he died of cancer.

[Cat]

@Tonksadora I'm so sorry Omicron took your BFF / sister. I wish hospital treatment had been able to save her life. This is not a benign virus, no matter how much we and our leaders wish it were.

I hope your grief eases and that your wonderful memories of your friend provide solace and strength. I hope your writing helps you to commemorate her and brings you peace.

@Taoboi @DramatistDreamer Thank you so much for your kind words! I am better now, and i count myself lucky to have been vaccinated 3 times. But it has made me more on guard again. I let my guard down and convinced myself this was now no big deal, it was 'bad cold' status. It was only after testing positive that first time and having to call family, colleagues, friends I may have been in contact with that i understood what it might mean to be inadvertently responsible for another person's misfortune. Luckily it turned out they were negative, but it could have been a different story.

Edited July 2, 2022 by Cat

[Contessa Donatella]

Thank you so very much, Cat! I forgot to say the name of my favorite grief book:

Grief Day By Day: Simple Practices and Daily Guidance for Living with Loss

Jan Warner

This was my cat Ariel. She was in love with Lauren Bacall!

Please register in order to view this content

[Cat]

Ha! Ariel and I have something in common. 

Thank you for the book recommendation. I like that it deals with loss on a daily basis via practical advice.

[DramatistDreamer]

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes, that's my favorite part of the book!

[Taoboi]

OOOooooo @Tonksadora my condelences. *HUGS* 

 

@Cat I feel you on that. People still pick on me for wearing my mask. And I do feel that I might have eased on a little bit too much. Then I get a message from my friend in Arkansas who says they are having another surge and due to her pre-existing condition she is staying in doors. Or my brother called to say my newest niece got it (she is fine now as is he) and the whole house (except for my oldest niece) got it. And then I get reminded to stay being careful. But I am very happy that after refusing to get vax that in the end, my brother did. And that (since he too has pre-existing condition) might have saved his life. My nieces need their dad and given how he was growing up, it is nice to see my brother get his sh*t together. It really worries me though that even vaxxed up and being careful that it still might be a danger and I wish people saw that.