[msdivy]

Hey guys, don't fret. COVID-19 is not a serious disease. There is nothing alarming in testing positive. Nobody in the past has tried to avoid the common cold virus or influenza virus and has succeeded. COVID is similar.

But nobody wants to fall sick. So take precautions like wearing masks covering the mouth, nose in closed spaces, in poorly ventilated spaces, or avoid staying in such places for a long time. Prefer open spaces for any social interaction. But these recommendations and not 100% avoidance measures.

Originally Posted by poloman

Suddenly it looks like everyone around you is hit by the virus. Things were looking under control just a month back. How can it spike like this just in a matter of weeks? No one has a clue.

Isn't the cases started going up after the announcement of vaccines? People stopped wearing masks, using sanitizer & avoiding crowded places.

COVID-19 has an R0 of 1, which means 10 folks can spread to 10 other folks. R0 is calculated on historical data and will be updated based on the infection rate. The common cold has R0 or 2~3, Flu 1~2. Like the common cold, people will get infected with COVID-19.

People still lose life to complications from the flu and half a million people die every year. Covid-19 again appears too severe only in few individuals and they need hospitalization.

People who are taking extreme precautions are also hit.

People take care to wash the milk packet to get rid of traces of dirt but chat with their neighbors for hours, who knows how the neighbors are exposed. Even the remote Andaman tribes have tested positive.

There are multiple other pathways and reasons for the spread which are not known it seems.

No need for any mythology mystery. COVID spreads through respiratory droplets, either direct or indirect contact.

[DigitalOne]

USA is a big country. It is also a highly federal country. States have great leeway and power to (not) impose restrictions and lockdowns; the federal government in DC or the CDC can only issue guidelines and it is up to the states to either follow or not.

So here is what is interesting : States that have followed diametrically opposite approaches to Covid-19 are showing very similar outcomes!!

Source

Quotes from the article:

Nearly a year after California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the nation’s first statewide shutdown because of the coronavirus, masks remain mandated, indoor dining and other activities are significantly limited, and Disneyland remains closed.

By contrast, Florida has no statewide restrictions. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has prohibited municipalities from fining people who refuse to wear masks. And Disney World has been open since July.

Despite their differing approaches, California and Florida have experienced almost identical outcomes in COVID-19 case rates.

California and Florida both have a COVID-19 case rate of around 8,900 per 100,000 residents since the pandemic began, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And both rank in the middle among states for COVID-19 death rates — Florida was 27th as of Friday; California was 28th.

Connecticut and South Dakota are another example. Both rank among the 10 worst states for COVID-19 death rates. Yet Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, imposed numerous statewide restrictions over the past year after an early surge in deaths, while South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, issued no mandates as virus deaths soared in the fall.

Like Florida, Missouri had no statewide mask mandate, ended business restrictions last June and has a cumulative COVID-19 death rate similar to California’s.

And then the conclusion (emphasis mine).

Some people voluntarily were “being more vigilant in states where the guidelines are more relaxed,” said Thomas Tsai, an assistant professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Yet in states with more government mandates, “people generally in public were wearing masks and following the guidelines, but in private they were letting down their guard and less vigilant,” he said.

Imposing strict measures, like forbidding families from visiting grandparents and friends from gathering, is like taking an abstinence-only approach to combating drug use and sexually transmitted disease, said Adalja, of Johns Hopkins University.

Some will comply. But other “people are going to do those activities, anyway,” he said.

Treat people with respect, and they will do the right thing. Treat them like criminals, and they will break the mandates.

[KrisTvpm]

Originally Posted by GTO

Despite taking the utmost precautions, I caught the bloody Covid-19! <snip>

Oops This is scary to know, despite all regular precautions you caught this. Could it be that you caught it while taking your mom for getting the shots?

Get well soon!

Of late I've been letting the guard down a bit, be it supermarket visits/some small gatherings with friends and all. Esp during the latter, have removed the mask for the first time while among a crowd - excited at seeing someone after an year or so!
A rude reminder to go back to how I've been paranoid an year back, when this thing started off - and be vigilant.

[ManneAtWheelz]

Originally Posted by GTO

Despite taking the utmost precautions, I caught the bloody Covid-19! Am isolated on 3rd floor house with everyone else on the 1st floor house. My result came in yesterday. Strange virus - waves of weakness & chills come and go.

02 is holding steady at the 97 - 98 level. Have started the standard 5 - 6 medicines.

You are a warrior and I'm sure you'll fly by the colors

[NiInJa]

Hope our SuperAdmin @GTO gets well soon !! I am sure he will

I am baffled by such cases, a children's dentist (don't know the exact term) in our society caught the virus 10 days after getting vaccinated and taking all possible precautions two weeks ago, he was doing perfectly fine when infected, only had loss of taste thats all. Now recovered completely. His wife, on the other hand is a dentist too (for adults) and she tested negative. While a friend of mine did the antigen test only to find that he was infected some time back, but has absolutely no idea when as he has been asymptomatic and never fallen sick (even mildly) in the last three months.

My Dad and I had to go to some of the most crowded places in Dec-Jan and Feb first week for some unavoidable business work, I was almost sure of getting infected back then but nothing of that sort happened. Don't know whats going!

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Hey guys, don't fret. COVID-19 is not a serious disease. There is nothing alarming in testing positive. Nobody in the past has tried to avoid the common cold virus or influenza virus and has succeeded. COVID is similar.

I am not sure we can equate it with Flu. Hope we look at the number of people who have died with covid compared to normal Flu. Plus people needing serious hospitalization is also more.
In US, people who died with covid was equal to 5 year numbers for flu a month ago. I know it has 2% fatality rate which also is not something that we need to be insensitive about.

[poloman]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Hey guys, don't fret. COVID-19 is not a serious disease. There is nothing alarming in testing positive. Nobody in the past has tried to avoid the common cold virus or influenza virus and has succeeded. COVID is similar.

Covid is no flu or common cold. People have to realize this. For unknown reasons the virus is extremely fatal to one group and another group may not even know some thing is wrong. So unless you know which group you belong, never take chances.

My mother had it in Aug last year. The symptoms were severe and even now she has some after effects.

[Sree]

Originally Posted by GTO

Despite taking the utmost precautions, I caught the bloody Covid-19! Am isolated on 3rd floor house with everyone else on the 1st floor house.

Wishing you a safe and uneventful recovery.

Take physical and mental rest. Eat well. Stay hydrated. Check your vitals 2-3 times a day, not more.

My only advice for you would be to complete the prescribed quarantine even after you become asymptomatic, to protect the elders in your family.

[Su-47]

Originally Posted by msdivy

COVID-19 has an R0 of 1, which means 10 folks can spread to 10 other folks. R0 is calculated on historical data and will be updated based on the infection rate. The common cold has R0 or 2~3, Flu 1~2.

May I know what is the source of this R0 number for Covid? Whatever I've read so far says Covid R0 is higher than seasonal flu. For example:
https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journ...20)30484-9.pdf

Originally Posted by msdivy

Hey guys, don't fret. COVID-19 is not a serious disease.

I'm in my 40s, and have many friends in that age group and most of their parents are in late-60s or 70s. I asked myself, amongst the people I know, how many of them lost their parents due to flu in the past decade - zero. And, then I compare it to number of people passing away due to Covid and I have my answer if the disease is more serious than flu or not.

I understand that my data-sample is a very small, and may not be generalizable, so I ask others on the forum - How many people you know have passed away due to Covid (esp. among the elderly)? How does it compare to seasonal flu?

Before someone shoves data into my face saying "this is the mortality rate for people in their 70s" - I know one specific instance in my close circle where the cause of death on record was 'cardiac arrest' as the patient's RTPCR turned negative 2-3 days before he passed away. His family accepted it as it allowed for a decent funeral. So, please don't ask me to trust that data blindly.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by Su-47

I understand that my data-sample is a very small, and may not be generalizable, so I ask others on the forum - How many people you know have passed away due to Covid (esp. among the elderly)? How does it compare to seasonal flu?

Three of my close relatives passed away last year due to Covid.

1. Practicing surgeon (age 50+) - had kidney issues. Probably came into contact with patients in hospital.
2. Another relative (age 45+) with kidney issues and hypertension. Did not bother to take infection seriously till the last moment and then it was too late.
3. Senior citizen (60+) with no health issues. Was admitted to hospital for fracture treatment. Hospital bungled by admitting Covid patient in the same ward where he probably got infected. This was really unfortunate.

A close relative got infected and took all the precautions to not let her husband get infected by going into isolation for 3 weeks. Surprisingly, her husband, who is diabetic, got tested for antibodies later and came to know that he was already infected and was asymptomatic all the time.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by GTO

Despite taking the utmost precautions, I caught the bloody Covid-19!

Bummer. All best wishes for a mild infection that only serves to increase your immunity in the future.

Wishing you well, and out of quarantine, as soon as possible

[kevintomin]

Originally Posted by GTO

Despite taking the utmost precautions, I caught the bloody Covid-19!

Take care! Wishing you a speedy recovery. My prayers.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Su-47

I understand that my data-sample is a very small, and may not be generalizable, so I ask others on the forum - How many people you know have passed away due to Covid (esp. among the elderly)? How does it compare to seasonal flu?

Indian variety of seasonal flu is both lesser & very mild as compared to the cold countries. USA for e.g. vaccinates each & every year against seasonal flu. Vaccine camps happen every year during winter. 50% of people get vaccinated. Likewise in Italy & most cold countries.

When talking about seasonal flu, you shouldn't be looking at India.

[ranjitnair77]

So we had a pretty major Covid outbreak in my family around two weeks ago. We have been following reasonable levels of precautions like masking, social distancing and hand sanitisation. We avoided crowds and events so it is hard to figure out the source of the infection.

Timeline

Day 1: My father (age 77 with slight diabetes and mild hypertension) shows signs of a slight cold. He and my mother have undergone one round of vaccination on 11th March.

Day 2: Mild symptoms persisted so we did an RT-PCR test. He isolated.

Day 3: Test results were positive with CT values at 21. Symptoms worsened. The doctor put my father on paracetamol 650mg.

Day 4: Tiredness set in with loss of appetite. My mother and I had mild symptoms. Mostly tiredness and mild fever. We started with the paracetamol.

Day 6: My mother (age 68 with no co-morbidities), my wife and I get tested. My mother and I are positive with CT levels of 19 and 24 respectively. My wife tests negative. My daughter (11 months) can’t be tested but her risk is low due to a robust immune system.

Day 7: Father’s mild fever started spiking. It would shoot up to 101 and back down again after medication. We should have hospitalised him right away but we don’t on his insistence. His oxygen levels have hovered around the 94 mark over the last three days. Oxygen levels go up after the walk test every time.

Day 8: Father’s symptoms get worse. He can barely get up and is incoherent. His oxygen level is 90. We rush him to the hospital and discover that his sugar levels have plummeted to 40. The doctors start him off with insulin to stabilise the situation. The situation is identified as a Cytokine storm (do look it up) which impacts roughly 13 patients out of 100. He gets put on immunosuppressant steroids and on oxygen. He is extremely dehydrated so he is put on saline.

Day 9,10: He starts to stabilise. Oxygen and steroids are reduced. His appetite is back. His sugar levels are now high which is a direct consequence of the steroids. His creatine levels are now stabilising. Cytokine storms cause internal inflammation in the organs.

Day 11: He gets one shot of Remdesivir since his vitals have stabilised.


Day 12: He comes home. The only symptoms now is a slight cough and higher sugar levels. My mother and I had mild symptoms throughout which are mostly gone by now.

Day 14: Home isolation ends. My mother and father continue to have lingering tiredness but no other symptoms. I’m perfectly normal.

Some Thought and Opinions

A lot of us stay with parents so I felt the need to share my story as an example of how things can possibly play out. Having gone through this experience, here is what I feel at the end of it all. Some of this is just opinion which I do not wish to debate.

1. If you are reasonably young and healthy, you should be fine if you get infected. If your parents have no co-morbidities they will probably be fine too if they get infected.
2. Watch out for persistent symptoms, especially high fever that fluctuates. Keep a very close eye on oxygen levels. Covid is insidious. It will cause hypoxia, hyperglycaemia and dehydration and eventually trigger a cytokine storm under certain circumstances. Get older people into hospitals when you have the slightest doubt. Do not hesitate. They will keep telling you that they are feeling better but ignore that and get them in.
3. The hospitals are now much better at treatment, given a year of experience with the virus. There is a big challenge to get beds in in places like Pune. I got a lot of help from friends. Be prepared and help friends out in need.
4. If a family is infected, all of you might not be able to isolate. I have pretty big, independent house but we didn’t lock ourselves into rooms. We put masks on and maintained reasonable distance in the house but kept interacting with each other. There is incredible mental stress when a whole family is infected so social contact really helps ease the tension. Covid management is as much a mental game as it is physical.
5. There is a reasonable possibility that you will get infected, especially if you are in risky districts in Maharashtra. Be prepared with a kit and people to call in case you get impacted.
6. I have noticed some folks here going to extreme lengths as a precautionary measure. I feel that being overcautious is counterproductive. It impacts your mental health and your overall wellbeing. Here’s a poor analogy. The whole situation is like test match batting where you are the batsman. You make one mistake and you could get out. That doesn’t mean that you should completely stop attempting shots and block everything. Take reasonable precautions (masking, hand hygiene and social distancing) but get on with life.
7. Do keep in mind that even if you do get impacted severely like I did, the treatment protocols have now dramatically improved so fatality will be rare.

[ketantendulkar]

Here's wishing our @GTO a speedy recovery, a fruitful and productive quarantine, and a painless experience out of this.