The Covid19 thread

[DarkenLycht]

I cross fingers for everyone willing getting their injections soon

[SGalisa]

Also, in a completely unrelated note: I'm glad to hear from you SGAlisa. I was starting to get a little worried.

Hi FH . Thank you for your concern, but nothing major beyond the usual bad stuff happening... I was partially waiting for the GW forums to get the hiccups cleared up in the new set up. And the other times, I was dealing with the usual, everyday spinal health problems and having to still do clean-up and work, etc., because there is no one else to help... and hubby has his own age-related health problems that are on-going monitoring.

Beyond that, ever since March of 2020, I've been watching 24-7 live-streaming videos of feral (furry) cat/kitty rescues, births & raising kittens for weeks and sometimes more weeks, due to various complications that have occurred along the way. And, OMG... every time I think I'm going to walk away, either another disaster or new batch of kitties come(s) into view. I've lost count how many births and batches of felines have come and gone or moved on ... to their next home. From feral kitty births to adult cats having dental or ruptured eardrum / nerve treatment, and cats born with other handicapped disabilities... They've sort of grown into becoming part of my *extended* family (and chat discussions share hardships or happier stories, too).

I call that CAT-kitten therapy ... helps a lot in these tiring and troublesome times. Very relaxing to listen to kitties purrrrrrrrrring or sleeping. However, I'm not so fond of the so-called kitty wrestling matches, especially when older adults actively mess with each other (and some do it because they are psycho-cats!), while being stuck healing or looking for a new home in the same, tiny room or living space.

It's also heart-breaking when illness or cat/kittens pass on over "the rainbow bridge" to kitty heaven. But for the next long-haul of months, out of 4 different rescue/TNR sites, there are 2 new moms expecting within days/weeks. One is super fluffy and companioned with a male friend or father of the kittens (?); and the other is a feral momma who is still terrified of her new surroundings where round-the-clock care will be provided for both her and her little ones.

Anywho, in addition to the *kitty therapy* for humans addicted to watching these live streams, there is also human chat sessions and COVID restrictions have been seen in place for over a year now. People cannot cross borders to adopt, and even families living in far away provinces have to jump thru gov't hurdles just to go extreme distances to take any precious little ones home.

Sometimes, it is exciting and happy to watch the good moments, but sad when seeing the cat *snugglers* come in wearing masks and other protective gear, not just because of COVID restrictions, but when other ailments occur live while tuning in... (such as ring-worm, chronic respiratory, tapeworms---yeah, that was scary seeing the births with tapeworms coming out with the babies!). (Some) People complain about all of the COVID restrictions that have been set into place over the past year, but those same people have NO idea how careful vets, fosters and caretakers have to be during a kitten's first, fragile 10 weeks of life. I never knew what our cats went thru during those times, and have learned a whole lot about siblings separating at and after adoption time, and other bits of interesting info.

[Falcon Horus]

I cross fingers for everyone willing getting their injections soon

It depends on when the invitation arrives... we don't get to just go in and get jabbed.

AstraZeneca has a horrible delivery schedule and is limited to everyone 41 and older.

Johnson & Johnson has delivered less than 60,000 dosages which are used for people who can't come to the centers because of age or illness or other reasons. However, at the moment, I don't know if J&J is even being used on the general population. The only thing I know is that there's no age limit, so everyone 18+ and over can get it -- even though it's the same "junk" as AZ which is limited in age.

Moderna is limited to a few vaccination centers, and I don't know what their deliveries are like.

Pfizer is the most reliable in deliveries, so it's a 50/50 chance that most people get 2 shots of this.

BUT we won't know until maybe the beginning of June whether Flanders can keep its promise that everyone 18+ and over will have had their first shot before the 11th of July (which is a symbolic date as the anniversary of the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302 when Flemish common folk beat the crap out of French nobility).

***

Cat-therapy -- best kind... just saying... ...there's 2 running around our house.

When we have to go back to the office -- july probably, they're gonna have abandonment issues, I think. Though with all that working from home, I've gotten a real taste for it so I'm gonna stick with it. We can have 2 days of teleworking per week. I already did one day but I'm definitely going to go to 2 days.

[Falcon Horus]

The husband of one of my close colleagues is down with covid and in hospital.
She had it 3 weeks ago -- quite bad too. He tested negative then, but apparently he didn't escape the curse of covid.

Other colleague said it was bad, but he wasn't in ICU (yet).
I sincerely hope he's going to be okay. He's in his early 40ties... and thus like most of us, not vaccinated yet.

[Falcon Horus]

Live from our home: a covid test in progress.

My sister has a cold but wants to be sure that she didn't catch the bug of the century. We're anxiously awaiting the result because if it's positive I have to inform my colleague I won't be able to make it to the office this afternoon. Though I think she's just having a cold, which in on itself is a member of the corona-family.

***

15 minutes later --> negative result

No excuse not to go into the office... dammit...

[DarkenLycht]

Live from our home: a covid test in progress.

My sister has a cold but wants to be sure that she didn't catch the bug of the century. We're anxiously awaiting the result because if it's positive I have to inform my colleague I won't be able to make it to the office this afternoon. Though I think she's just having a cold, which in on itself is a member of the corona-family.

***

15 minutes later --> negative result

No excuse not to go into the office... dammit...

Well, no excuse is not nice but I am glad the test is negative anyway

I guess numbers of infections will go up starting with summer vacations again...they are decreasing in my county currently

[Falcon Horus]

I guess numbers of infections will go up starting with summer vacations again...they are decreasing in my county currently

They are decreasing here too, and if the "travel restrictions" are followed, it should -- in theory -- continue to decrease... but common sense has been shown, is not one of human kinds strong suits.

[SGalisa]

Live from our home: a covid test in progress.

My sister has a cold but wants to be sure that she didn't catch the bug of the century. We're anxiously awaiting the result because if it's positive I have to inform my colleague I won't be able to make it to the office this afternoon. Though I think she's just having a cold, which in on itself is a member of the corona-family.

***

15 minutes later --> negative result

No excuse not to go into the office... dammit...

Watch out for allergies... symptoms seem similar to classic colds, but don't have the sore throat that usually precedes a common cold bug.

I have year round allergies and am super sensitive to smells... so obviously no COVID at those times... I have to drive with the vent on recycle to keep the dust and pollen out during most of the trip. Found out that is better too to drive that way, since I use to get pieces of leaf debris flying thru the vent and whack into my eyes while driving, even tho I was wearing glasses.

I did the whole zinc, D3, C, selenium, magnesium treatment last year and managed to avoid getting a cold or any chronic illness. I think eating romaine lettuce helped too, because if I don't eat it within 3 or 4 days, I start getting a scratchy throat... eat the lettuce and scratchy throat goes away. It's weird, but seems to have worked for years that way for me, even if I am taking the immune therapy list of vitamins... the lettuce seems to be the key factor for me, in addition to the vitamins.

[DarkenLycht]

They are decreasing here too, and if the "travel restrictions" are followed, it should -- in theory -- continue to decrease... but common sense has been shown, is not one of human kinds strong suits.

Truth is, a lot of people have common sense still, but those who do not, are enough to make things get worse again...this is why I cringe every time I read someone say they appeal to the common sense of people to follow rules and restrictions still...

[SGalisa]

Well, no excuse is not nice but I am glad the test is negative anyway

I guess numbers of infections will go up starting with summer vacations again...they are decreasing in my county currently

I don't know what country you are in, but here in northeast USA, this is the latest --just in news... and of course, why not? People are just getting comfy with going out and businesses being allowed to open up more...


If it's any comfort in knowing what the future may hold, my aunt's nursing home facility just called me up last week to say they are on complete lockdown again, because someone got COVID on her floor... Most people on her floor were vaccinated in January and February 2021 (fully vaccinated by now). So, can't go by the vaccines as full-proof protection. Just saying...

Also, not sure if the COVID going around in my aunt's location is a variant or new strain of COVID. Again, just saying the vaccine isn't the cure-all, which is why I am not confiding in it to protect me... I think the immune therapy of vitamins works better, because of what I went thru last year. It was the first year I didn't get sick from anything. Just suffered from spinal degeneration, which is painful enough! agh!

[Falcon Horus]

Watch out for allergies... symptoms seem similar to classic colds, but don't have the sore throat that usually precedes a common cold bug.

We both have allergies so we were quite certain it wasn't that.

***

As to people having common sense... even some of my colleagues of whom I thought better have thrown common sense out the window. One of my teammembers had covid about 3 weeks ago. Her husband at the time tested negative but according to the regulations, if you had a close contact you have to quarantine. He didn't. He just went to work, which is keeping a store open.

2 weeks after his wife, he's no at the hospital with corona. Guess what his wife isn't doing -- quarantining. She was even at the office when she should have been at home, and obviously just my luck that was the day I stopped by the office to drop off two laptops. I'm so glad we have to wear facemasks while not at our desks.

That pissed me off when I found out he didn't stay negative. She did infect him of course.

[Womble]

Hi all. Just "marking myself as safe" mostly.

Israel is due to remove all covid restrictions except the requirements to wear masks indoors and restrictions on travel to "blacklisted" countries with dangerous mutations.

Seychelles is going into lockdown despite 60% vaccination, now THAT is concerning...

[Falcon Horus]

Israel is due to remove all covid restrictions except the requirements to wear masks indoors and restrictions on travel to "blacklisted" countries with dangerous mutations.

Just saw an article -- June 1st is your magic date.

Seychelles is going into lockdown despite 60% vaccination, now THAT is concerning...

Turns out that throwing out precautions means the unvaccinated run an even higher risk of getting infected... Goes to show how important it is that at least 80% is fully vaccinated.

[Falcon Horus]

And there goes our vaccine strategy out the window again...

While I'm not entirely unhappy about the decision today, it will delay our vaccination efforts a great deal.

Johnson & Johnson vaccine is now restricted to everyone 41 and over, so the only vaccines 40 and under is elligible for are Pfizer and Moderna. A 38-year old diplomat from Slovenia passed away over here and her death is definitely linked to the J&J vaccine she received -- you guessed it, cause of death is the rare bloodcloth side effect.

On the other hand, this ups my chances considerably that I'll be #TeamPfizer but I can kiss the invitation which might have come next week goodbye.

[Who Knows]

Well I certainly hope you can get one of the vaccines sooner rather than later young lady. I worry for you.
I had the Astra Zenica back in April, due for the second one in July.

At my age I tend not to worry about what MIGHT happen, if it is going to happen it will.
You could get blood clots, but it is rare. You could get run over by a bus if you go out, but it is rare, so you go out. You could get killed flying to Comicon, but it is rare, so you go.
If you get the chance to get vaccinated do not worry about which one, just do it.