Oh no! Praying for a speedy recovery for all!
Covid really has been basically ignored for the last year it seems, cause everyone wanted to rush back to normal. I'm not eligible for the second booster yet.

So sorry to hear about all the trouble. Hope things will get better soon, take care of your family but don't forget to make time for yourself.
Covid is back at my work place and I've ordered free covid tests - should have done it earlier ( was sick in spring but it might be just vicious cold ).

Laurie, the weird thing here is we also have vaccines available but they won't give them out to under 70s in my province unless you ask for special dispensation and if you take it now, you cannot get another booster for 6 months. This is partly because our vaccination program was so much slower to start, but to some extent it seems strange to me since none of the other provinces is following this pattern and the federal government says you can have shots 3 months apart. So who knows? I throw up my hands in frustrated annoyance and stay outside as much as I can!

Regarding boosters, I was allowed my second booster because I am over 50, but thy're not offering them to anyone except those over 50 and those with compromised immune systems here. It's a shame because I'd have had the whole family double boosted by now. So few people in the area we live in take Covid seriously that I doubt there is high demand for the second booster, so why not let those who are interested have them if they want them?

The talk on the radio (I generally listen to NPR) is that BA-5 variant specific boosters will be available in September. If that is the case, I hope they're effective and available for everyone.

Laurie, right there with you. Not in having COVID-19, but in sharing all the frustrations you mention.

Also, because I'm in a family of MDs, here is a PSA about testing. Rapid at-home tests are meant to tell you if you're capable of infecting others right at that moment. Could you test negative in the morning and positive by evening? Yes, and that is why it's best to test RIGHT before any gathering (and yes, everyone attending the gathering should test first.)

PCR tests are indeed more accurate but take several days to process, so if you test positive, you've likely already infected a few others.

Serology testing - blood draw - tells you if you've ever had COVID-19 in the past, presumably without knowing it.

Other fun facts: the virus itself is called SARS-CoV-2, the illness it causes is COVID-19.

Hope you're not suffering too much Laurie! Keep us posted.

Back to report that I'm doing fine- Day 7, and I tested negative for the first time. My symptoms resolved very quickly on the Paxlovid. Of course, I'm aware and will be careful of rebound possibilities. I think I'll wait one more day, one more test, to hit Trader Joe's and resume activity. Masked.

Re my parents, they're ok. But, I'm so upset with their choices and behavior that I can't even write about it right now. Suffice it to say that, as of yesterday (Day 6) they both were still testing positive yet since the very day we were all first positive they have continued to leave their home, interact with others, and even - on Day 4 - go to an outdoor concert and socialize with other attendees. They've lied to me, but told my brother all of this. So the lying, on top of it all! I literally could not sleep last night, my rage is that high.

It's one thing to gamble with getting exposed, deciding to do the things we've all been advised against, before a Covid diagnosis. It's quite another to be definitively positive and symptomatic, and to choose to indulge selfish wants and needs at the risk of exposing others. There was not a single thing that would not have been provided for my parents by many helpful people.

Also, I know the guidance ha been confusing to everyone, but I've patiently and consistently provided information, and most recently interpreted it to our shared situation (when were we most contagious? What day do you start counting? What does isolation mean?) There was literally no doubt. Only choices to ignore.

I guess I wrote about it....

I apologize to society for their behavior. We're never going to be free of this virus.

OMG, Laurie! I feel you with the parental rage! I am nearly certain that I contracted COVID from a so-called "friend" who was symptomatic but decided he didn't want to miss a party. It turned into a super-spreader event and the ripples are still spreading. Ugh. This is why we can't have nice things. :`(

So pleased you are doing well Laurie. That's great news.

I think that some people are so fatigued with Covid that they justify that the rules don't apply to them. I know a few in that boat. It is very frustrating and disappointing.

Ugh, I’m sorry, Laurie! I hope everyone gets better soon!

I don’t know how we have dodged this so long. Maybe because we’ve generally been pretty careful, but we are not as vigilant now as a year ago, for sure. I just returned home from 10 days in Maine, mostly to attend a workshop. Everyone enrolled in that organization’s on-campus workshops is required to be vaccinated so there was some sense of safety, plus all meals were outdoors. My class had 6 participants, the instructor and a TA in a huge room to ourselves so we could spread out. I declined all housekeeping services in my hotel room, etc. I think I ate every single meal outdoors except for one or two hotel breakfasts when there were almost no other people in the dining areas. Good thing Maine summers are so pleasant!

I know several people who have had Covid multiple times, mostly who work in high-contact jobs where it’s just not possible to stay far apart for long. Fortunately all were vaxxed and mostly had mild cases, but I do know some people who are boostered and still had an awful time when they did get sick.

I read that it’s entirely possible that those of us who have never been sick with Covid have nonetheless been exposed, even though we don’t know it — somehow that population remained symptomless? I suppose I find it more feasible that I was exposed at some point and didn’t have symptoms than I’ve been lucky and/or vigilant enough to have somehow escaped exposure for well over two years.

The masking is confusing. I wear one yet. DDIL tested positive although she is very careful and fully vaxed. She probably has the new variant. It seems those vaccinated against the first type are getting new ones and the vaccination helps the degree of seriousness. She is staying away and isolating to keep from infecting others. I suspect that she was exposed on a recent trip to the East Coast or in the airplane.

Good luck with your parents. I can't imagine anyone wants to be sick.

Well....it finally got one of us. My husband has been in Texas for the last week (long story short, the cattle ranch that we sold a year ago was already flipped to a new buyer! my husband has been in touch with the new owner and agreed to go give a consult on the program he had established). In Texas it's like Covid never existed. Almost no masks; many, many people not vaxxed.

Sure enough, after a few days in east TX, hubs came down with symptoms and tested positive. So far it hasn't been too bad -- mild fever, sore throat, coughing, fatigue. He's laying low in a hotel for now. He got Paxlovid from a local doctor and has been mostly resting. He doesn't want to wait 10 days to clear to fly home, so he's going to rent a car and drive slowly home as soon as he feels up to it. As much as I'd like to have him back here, I don't want him in the house while he's contagious. ;-D

The nurse in the doc's office told him she's never been vaxxed. She said she's not sure the vax is worth anything because people are still getting Covid. *eyeroll*

omg. When I hear this about healthcare professionals, it just blows my mind. Sorry to hear this, Janet, and I hope your husband really, really takes it easy.

I am finally about over the deep cough. On Day 9 the symptoms returned and continued to the 2.5 week mark. I do not think they've really calibrated Paxlovid yet. I did not test positive again, but my husband did for about 3 days after more than 2 weeks since his first positive test.