I know I've said it before, but I never try to convince people in my life that COVID's serious anymore. It just always leaves me frustrated.
So, that said, my wife best friend just texted to say she's got COVID for the first time and she knows we "keep up with COVID" and wanted to ask some questions. Sure, no problem.
She was on a flight last weekend and asks if it's possible that she just tested positive now. We tell her that RAT's are supposedly around day 5-11 now, so that's totally possible.
She asks if we know what the workplace rules are for her, and sure we send her a link. She says that's not at all what her boss said, but OK.
She asks if it's even possible to not give her husband COVID. We go over ventilation, filtration, masks, etc and this is where it really starts to go off the rails. She's just like "Yeah, we're not doing any of that."
She asks if long COVID "is real" or if there's anything else she should know and we're like yeah, it is, there's a lot that's unknown. We're sending you some links about what is known with long COVID rates, the things to look out for, what you can try to do in the meantime, etc. and she reads it and goes "Ummm, yeah. That all looks super sketchy. If any of that were real I'm sure the news would be talking about it. I'm sorry but I think you guys have fallen for some hoax or something here. I have a fever, a runny nose and muscle aches. I'm going to take some Tylenol. We have a birthday party to attend tonight, a kid's party tomorrow and my boss wants me back at work on Monday. Thanks anyway."
I give up.
Before it comes up, I feel the need to say, too, that this woman and her husband are college educated, west coast liberals. We're not talking the southern Republicans that I live around. We're so far from having the right discussions around COVID and the future.
@BE with current work rules it seems almost pointless though. We have people in work coughing and splattering saying 'There's no point in testing because I had covid a few weeks ago and you test positive for 30 days' I just keep my 2 air filters on high, wear a mask and hope for the best.
You're not wrong at all. We need to control it both at work and at home in the end.
I might as well say this every day, but, we're just so far away from even beginning the process of fixing this.
@BE we have more people out with covid and other not-covid rsv (which I think is still covid) right now than at any other point in the last three years.
Yeah, once it reached the levels this winter that Jerome Powell's talking about it you know that business owners are concerned.
@BE @urbanfoxe Unfortunately, I suspect a lot of business owners are dealing with it by pressuring employees to come in anyway, and letting next week’s resulting outbreak be a problem for next week.
@lauraintheory @BE I don't work for a business I work for the biggest public school system in the world and that's scarily the attitude of our leaders too.
I debated whether it was even worth updating this thread, but, because you mentioned work rules and how pointless it all is, here we go...
She took Monday off of work and told her boss and HR that she had COVID. Both called her later that day and told her she had to be in at work on Tuesday. She's been in the rest of the week and at least as of yesterday she's still symptomatic.
Shocker, I know, but the husband got COVID, too. They convinced themselves that it wasn't the not isolating and just sitting 6' apart from each other and that he actually had it before then. He's also been at work all week.
@BE I'm out for 5 days that don't come out of my sick days now based on positive test. I feel fine except groggy head which is why I took the test. I'm home in my room wearing a mask but it's not easy to isolate in an apt.
Feel better soon!
Mask, ventilation and filtration. As much as possible for all if there's anyone else around.
I could almost see my brother saying this. Former liberal arts professor, as liberal as they come, etc. In other words, your basic over-educated NPR listener. But he's also the "Get over it" guy whenever I mention masking up in a public situation. Claims he hasn't had so much as a cold since pre-Covid. Oh, really. 🤨
@BE Liberals have been doing the denial thing for most of the pandemic at this point! I live in SF, which is better than most places in this regard … and it still isn’t good.
Our health messaging sucks, proven yet again.
They went out last night, maskless, "but outside for most of the time" so, therefore, obviously safe.
Today her and her husband decided to stay 6' away from each other because that guarantees he won't get it. Yes, they're hanging out together in the same room, but staying 6' apart.
It's been a while since someone I knew well shared all of their thoughts regarding COVID and it just baffles me how this is what people believe, but it goes to show we're probably never getting out of this mess. Plan accordingly in your life.