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I have not had COVID that I am aware of. I have had all my shots including the bivalent. I work at home. When people from outside our home stop by we open the windows and turn the heat up and keep airflow. During the summer or warmer days we light a fire and sit outside with friends. We order our food from Kroger's and utilize the free pick up service they have, and not eat indoors at restaurants, only non crowded patio's. My mom died from covid. My sister got very I'll with it so I am careful. My husband masks. He has had it once and we are assuming he got it when he went through a drive through maskless or when we adopted our dog. It was not ventilated where we got her and it was crowded. I stayed outside. We do outdoor activities like hiking and biking now instead of sitting in restaurants and movies. The uncertainty with peoples status of being I'll etc is too much for me and not worth worrying. We rent movies that are first run instead of going. It had been getting annoying in the theater with all the texting anyway. Long story short I have completely changed how I work my life and actually love it. Much less social pressure and we save allot of money.
My husband hasn't so far. He is vaxxed and boosted, wears a mask on public transport and for grocery shopping but thats about it. We have been to concerts, to the movies, works at a big office space twice a week... We didn't even isolate from each other when I had it. We both need to test regularly for work so I am 99% sure he didn't have a silent infection. He is not even that healthy, so I guess it's just luck.
I have classic long COVID symptoms but never tested positive. The trick is to have an immune system so overreactive that it kicks COVID’s ass right out the door… and then (unfortunately) keeps throwing punches at the rest of you. Autoimmune pros and cons.
On the other hand, my mom lives in an actual physical air controlled bubble both indoors and out in the world. She has never been exposed.
Happy Cake Day.🎂🍰🎂🍰
That said, that is a concern if mine with the Immune system. I have spent the last 3 months dealing with an allergy. Worst and longest I have ever had.
So I am a bit concerned about my immune system meeting covid when it's in an inflammatory mood.
But at the moment, I am on 60mg of Prednisone so I worry I could be exposed when I don't have an immune system
Pretty much my story. I’m the only guy in the room with a mask. KN95 exclusively. I leave any room where it’s not possible to stay more than 6 feet away from people seated or standing. Don’t eat inside restaurants. Never got Covid until…
Then after Christmas this year my wife lets her anti-vax idiot friend bring her baby that “just has a fever from teething” over one time for half an hour and that results in 7 people getting Covid.
This was my experience as a musician. I was asked to sing backup vocals on a gig and took my mask off on stage in late Demember 2022 for the first time since February 2020.
Only took it off to sing, wore it before and after. Got Covid like a motherfucker.
I’m a singer in a band too. I’ve done 5 gigs in clubs this past year. Unmasked while singing. I work from home. I’ve traveled maybe 4-5 times by plane since March 2020. I have yet to get Covid, nor has my husband. Fully vaxxed!
was it worth it? Eating out is one of lifes pleasures that you deprived yourself of for a solid 5-8% of your life (assuming average life expectancy). You probably deprived yourself of other pleasures too. And, you still got covid. Would you change anything if you had a time machine?
Why is it always all or nothing with you people? Eating in a restaurant isn't 5-8% of anyone's life. I have saved a shit ton of money and lost a lot of weight by eating at home and taking my activities outdoors. If anything I use to be a couch potato and now I am very active because of the pandemic. Not everyone is jumping at the opportunity to catch SARS for a mediocre plate of salty ass food from a restaurant.
I suppose that depends on how important you think it is to avoid what covid actually has the potential to do to you, and the jury is still very much out for that, but long covid is the tip of that iceberg. Lots of viruses that remain in our system after clearing the initial infection (as Covid absolutely does at least some of the time) return years and decades later to cause other illness (chicken pox becomes shingles, for example). Plus, I’m sure those 500 dead Americans every day would have probably foregone eating inside restaurants to, you know, not be dead.
But I’m aware there’s lots of other considerations here. And if you make your living via people dining out, you probably do the math differently
Work from home. Wear masks indoors (stores etc). Until this fall I didn’t see anyone inside without taking an antigen test/masking.
They still test weekly at my child’s school, which is super helpful. There have been a handful of cases but the class masks following the exposure so we have been lucky.
I also only know two other people who haven’t had it.
But I grocery shopped maskless today for the first time in almost 3 years. So let’s see what happens!
Edited to add: Two friends of mine got Covid really bad in March 2020. Repeated hospital trips/couldn’t breathe. One got long COVID. They are super healthy, eat well, exercise daily. It really scared me into not taking any chances.
As the years went on, I’ve had two more friends get long Covid that messed them up so bad, one could barely work (had to keep working as a business owner), and the other had to quit their tech job because the brain fog and other symptom made working impossible. Both these friends were also super healthy.
Long Covid is what scares me, not the acute infection.
Yes, long COVID scares me too! I caught COVID on Christmas 2022, and I have recovered for one month by now, but I still have thick phlegm in my throat and keep coughing. I really didn't want to be reinfected again, but the new variant, XBB, makes me feel scared.
>Long Covid is what scares me, not the acute infection.
That is the correct fear for most people. I'm getting close to 3 years of LC, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. It's absolute hell and there's nothing to be done to fix it.
What are your long covid symptoms?
Because I got it and it went away in days, we'll about a week later it hit me like a ton of brick
Fatigue and major migraine like dizziness that is so bad it speeds my heart rate up and have to go to the e.r. because I can swear I'm dying.
Come to find out , after personal evaluation, because all doctors do is give you medicine.
I think the horrible vertigo and heart palpitations come from the ears.
I'm going to try and visit a ENT doctor see if he can give me an epley maneuver or recommend some NAC or plant aminos or something to help because it has honestly disabled me. Haven't worked in weeks. I was a healthy active 30 year old 3 weeks ago.
Now at times I start to lose hope.
Do you plan on washing your hands after using the bathroom forever? Do you pan on wearing a seat belt when driving forever? Do you plan on only drinking clean water forever? Do you plan on looking in both directions before you cross a street forever? Do you plan on wearing clothes in public forever?
To be fair, masks are primarily for keeping the virus in, not keeping it out.
The protocol for wearing an N95 effectively to stop viral contraction is way stricter than anyone except doctors and hazmat teams manage to do properly.
99% of people wearing an N95 remove it with their hands and touch their face with those same hands within a minute. Nevermind reusing the same mask and keeping it in their car or bag.
Public messaging could never be upfront about this though, because it would make anyone wearing a mask a leper, so sick people wouldn't wear them to avoid stigma. Solution: Everyone wears a mask all the time, which you can effect pretty well by insinuating that masks stop you from getting sick. In reality, they just give you slightly better odds at best. They're fantastic though at keeping you from getting others sick.
Edit: I guess many people weren't aware of this. All those studies about people wearing masks and reduced transmission *hinge on the fact that the sick people have masks on*.
This is also why it's been customary for years to wear a mask in Japan when you weren't feeling well.
Picture a hose spraying out toxic water over a group of people. What's going to be more effective to stop people getting wet: a cloth over the hose nozzle, or each person draping a cloth over themselves?
If you want to wear a mask because you like the feeling of security, that's no issue. But the most important part about wearing a mask is wearing one when you are sick.
Asbestos isn't a virus. And when you clean asbestos, you wear a full PPE suit and a proper cartridge respirator (not even a lowly mask), which you are trained on how to wear/use/dispose of properly. It would be extremely dangerous and detrimental to your health to clean asbestos with just an N95.
Given all that, I'm not sure what point you are trying to make, except perhaps show your confusion.
If there is anything I could clarify, I'd be happy to.
Dumbass comparison. Washing your hands is PROVEN to prevent infections. Wearing a mask is NOT proven to prevent Covid. Over 170 studies show this. Its like putting up a chainlink fence to stop the wind. Not gonna work. Not to mention the bacteria, pieces of mask particles you are constantly inhaling wearing the Chinese made face diapers. Gimmie a break.
https://brownstone.org/articles/studies-and-articles-on-mask-ineffectiveness-and-harms/
The study you quote says: "It is not unreasonable to conclude that surgical and cloth masks, used as they currently are being used (without other forms of PPE protection), have no impact on controlling the transmission of Covid-19 virus". SURGICAL AND CLOTH MASKS. That's like washing your hands without soap or dirty water. Better masks worn properly do work. And sorry to inform you that most of us don't poop through our mouths. So, you were one of the few to be using them as a dipper.
Do you have some sort of unusual health condition that makes it hard for you to breathe in a mask? I have family members with COPD that have no difficulty wearing a mask. Do you think it could be a psychological thing for you?
You’re right and I will continue. I just ran in to get two things at a small Trader Joe’s in the middle of the day. Wasn’t too many people inside and I forgot to put it on until a few minutes later in the checkout. By that time I was like, ahhh too late.
You sound just like me!
I take covid super seriously because of long covid in close friends. I’m not worried about acute infection death etc.
“They still test weekly at my child’s school”
Where do you live? Country, or state if in the states.
Also, why did you decide to go grocery shopping maskless? Long covid is still a thing in the most recent variant, even if vaccinated and booster (unfortunately)
Me! Not sure how. I work in an office that was open through the pandemic. We’ve gone on 4 trips to Disney. My wife came down with it on one of those, we sleep in the same bed. I traveled with my Dad for a trip and he tested positive the day after we got home. I have literally no idea. I’ve tested myself rigorously any time I am a close contact - always negative and zero symptoms. I am somewhat cautious - I try to do any gatherings outdoors if possible, I was really good about wearing a mask most of the pandemic and all - but at the same time, I know many many more people more cautious than I, who has fewer opportunities for exposure than I and still got it.
I have no idea. It’s becoming a running joke in the family.
I’ve had a similar experience! I followed the CDC guidelines during the pandemic. I was vaxxed and boosted on the early side due to being a professor in a healthcare field. Haven’t done the bivalente though… My university also masked longer then most.
I do work from home most of the time. My coworkers are good about masking when sick. My kids are older and masked at school way longer than required (locally, the adolescents/teens seemed to actually like masking).
Since the masking requirements have dropped, I haven’t been particularly careful. I’ve only traveled once and people there still masked, so I did as well. I definitely had a strong reaction to the vaccines, so my immune system was probably pretty darn trained for the earlier variants. I know I need to get the new one. It’s just hard to find two days where I can plan to be sick!
Me and my household (husband and 4 year old).
I have an autoimmune disease so quite a bit at stake here. I started wearing n95s at the very beginning as my doctor told me to. We all wear n95s everywhere we go. I even worked directly with the public the entire time (in a salon). Before Covid, I used to regularly mask from November to February or March (flu season) at work anyway. I wouldn’t wear masks shopping and stuff, but I would if I was going to a doctors appointment or if someone at work was outwardly sick.
We don’t go out to eat at restaurants or do anything where we need to take our mask off in public. Restaurants have always been a high risk situation for me, so I usually only eat at them during summer months or outdoor dining.
I run HEPA filters and UV in my home and in my service room in my salon. I have 2 in there. I’ve always done this, though.
I’m sure once my kid starts school in the fall we will all get it since it’s basically a forced infection at this point. Hopefully it doesn’t take me out, I got stuff to do.
Yep, until my luck ran out 2 weeks ago!
I always mask (N95 from the beginning) in any indoor spaces, tried to socialize outside, very limited indoor dining, test before (small) gatherings, no air travel, use nasal sprays, and I work from home.
Plan to continue the above to try avoid reinfection now…
Same. Husband and I got it for the first time 2 weeks ago. No one we know had it, and we mask indoors, haven’t traveled, only see friends outside and social distancing. The new XBB 1.5 variant is said to be very contagious and stealth!
I doubted I was infected by the person I worked with, because he kept coughing, but refused to wear a mask. I asked him to wear one, but he said he was totally okay. He tested positive on the second day. What was worse, he went back to work while still positive, and pulled his mask down to his chin. I was very sick on the second day and tested positive on the third day.
OMG, what a disgusting example of a human being! No concern for other people who could have serious outcomes if infected. I'd avoid this guy as much as you can. A lot of bad people out there now.
Yeah, I had been wearing an N95 mask and never took it off unless I had to drink water. I carried a small bottle of 75% alcohol spray to sterilize my phone and hands every time I thought I needed to sterilize them. But I still caught COVID one month ago. I'm still coughing after a month.
Have you ever considered that stressing out about other people potentially stressing out is more detrimental to your health than using MERV 13 air filters and wearing a respirator?
No, I honestly havent considered that. Its an interesting question. I am genuinely concerned about the direction the world I live in is heading, and now that you mention it, the stress that causes could very well be overall, unhealthy.
I mean, indefinitely - I’m not stressed or anxious. These mitigations and precautions mean that I’ve still been able to live my life happily, and I managed to delay infection for nearly 3 years. I haven’t missed out on anything, and when I travel again it will just be with the same precautionary measures.
Plus, I feel better as a human knowing that I’m reducing the risk of spreading an infection that may disable or kill someone else.
Fingers crossed. Vaxxed and boosted. I have severe allergies and asthma. I wear an N95 and often wear a cloth mask over it. I have only eaten in a restaurant about 6 times since May of 2022. TBH it made me nervous.
Had friends from the far east visit for a couple weeks last summer, we all tested every morning before leaving our rooms. We had windows open with fans. They had fans in their rooms exhausting air. Just in case.
I try to keep any unmasked conversations outside, I stand upwind whenever possible, and have a ceiling fan on the porch if we are sitting. Fortunately, none of us got sick then.
When riding in my van I open the rear vent windows to draw air out. I set the middle vents one slightly up,one straight, both essentially going the middle of the vehicle to help serve as an air wall
Attended a couple concerts. Wore N95 for them.
Had a couple close calls. So far just missed contact with people that got sick.
Worried now as everyone seems to be getting sick, and I just got put on a two week course of Prednisone.
Edited to add.. keep Vit D levels over 50.
And
One unvaxxed friend has to the best of my knowledge never gotten it.
Thank you, but as we all know way too well sometimes it doesn't matter.
I have told my unvaxxed friend that I do test if I know they are coming by, because I don't want to have their death on me. I also just said, and yes even tho I am vaxxed, I have enough issues you could kill me.
Don't know how that registered.
it's a bit of a tossup depending on what you read, and what the expectations of the data collection was. I see everything from it's a miracle to it's utter nonsense.
So somewhere when crap was first hitting. I read an article about a large number of severely ill patients in maybe Italy (?) having low levels vitamin D. ( I got mine tested for grins and discovered I had about none. ) I am currently enrolled in a Vit D study.
It will not prevent Covid.
So the short skinny version is having Vit D on board is good for you. You can still get Covid. If you have decent levels of Vit D prior to infection some studies seem to show a reduced risk of severe outcome.
Vitamin D as a treatment post infection had no impact.
I look at covid as playing a crazy game of unknown odds with variables. Giving unexplained results. Why does one person get deadly ill and their spouse barely gets sick? Type A blood supposedly Bad. Type O a plus. High Blood Pressure a minus. Blood Pressure under control because of ACE2 inhibitors could be a plus. Quantity of Viral Load. Vaccine a plus, not vaxxed a minus. Paxlovid a plus. There's more, but I can't remember now. So I am hoping the VitD and being vaxxed and boosted will help keep me out of the hospital. ( I am old enough with enough other issues I will be in line for Paxlovid asap)
I am running with the I know I need it anyway. I know bones and Immune system need it. LabCorp shows baseline is 30ng topped at 100ng. My goal is to be above 50. Crossing fingers right now, a friend with severe comorbidities, fully vaxxed, and over 60 for VitD is about 5 days in and doing ok. (I know, still worried but .. hopeful)
*******
(Vitamin D deficiency has been defined by the Institute of Medicine and an Endocrine Society practice guideline as a level of serum 25-OH vitamin D less than 20 ng/mL
The Endocrine Society went on to further define vitamin D insufficiency as a level between 21 and 29 ng/mL)
I’ve never had it. I’ve been in and out of hospitals and on about 20 flights in the past 3 years and just mask everywhere. I have all boosters and test regularly. I’ve been out of work due to medical issues and my spouse works from home. I still see people but I’m almost always masked. I don’t really see people unmasked indoors unless they’ve isolated and we all test. My 31 yo mostly healthy brother in law died due to cardiac arrest from COVID in March 2021. It impacted me severely not only because it’s family but also because of the way it affected his heart. Since then, I’ve stayed up to date with covid/long covid research, seen a few friends and a cousin dealing with long covid. What we don’t know about this virus is scary, what we do know makes it even scarier. I’ll do what I can to prevent a chronic condition that doctors don’t know how to treat.
If I ever got it, I was asymptomatic. But yeah, I've been lucky. Masked, got all the shots, and just dumb luck. One of my kids got it and I still managed to avoid it.
We stay home stay away from people except for necessary doctor appointments. Haven’t seen very elderly parents since May 2019, don’t travel, husband wears N95 to get groceries. Disabled adult daughter got Covid once taking her off our property to walk outdoors at trick or treat at a small local park. Walked around for 45 minutes—she got it we did not even taking care of her. So learned our lesson there—outdoors isn’t really safe either. So back to staying home away from others don’t go into restaurants to eat and other buildings without N95 on.
"I havent lived life in almost 3 years and got 5 vaccines and am still scared to death" jesus the fact that people here are willing to throw the entire rest of their life away to social isolation is scarier than any illness.
Look at my post history. Only a fraction of me "living my life" is on there. You can live just fine without dealing with confined spaces with unmasked. I'm sure my life is very different from yours. Nothing has changed that much for me, I just take precautions. Certainly scared of novel contagious airborne disease that can kill or disable. Only fools are not.
I do risky things that would make you piss yourself. Thing is I can manage that risk. Here, it is a whole different game. How many times have you had it?
Says he does crazy scary shit but won't go anywhere with anyone lmao. Have fun cliff jumping alone in the woods with a mask on or whatever it is you do. It's just sad that you felt the need to brag about it to other people .
Dude, you called me out on it, so I called you back. I don't need to be in a huge crowd with idiots to have a good time. I'm guessing you are a single, male with no prospects, no life, and need to get your high off group events.
Lmao the projection is insane on this one. No life? Says the guy who can't go out in public . The most reddit cringe post I've ever seen. Can't even believe people like you exist .
Your reading comprehension is low, or you are just trolling, on a research study post. Are you angry that I have not had it yet? Does it make you feel so upset that you have to reply to my post about the precautions I take?
Tell me about yourself, why do you feel so strongly about how other people live? Are you worried for me, feel I'm not living my life? I appreciated the concern, but I'm totally cool, got a great life, and not infected. Have fun trolling other subs. This is a sub for people that are forced to take it seriously, and you are just trolling them. Do you like to torture animals too? Get help.
I never did (not that I know of) until 13 days ago. I wore my mask all the time for the first 2 or so years but this past year I definitely got lax and didn't wear it a lot of the time. I don't work outside the home though so I think that helped the most. Yeah I go to stores and all kinds of places but I've not been stuck in an office all day with lots or people. I used to get sick a couple times a year when I worked in offices. So I really think wearing a mask helped a ton. My husband also hadn't ever had covid until 2 days before I did, which is how I got it.
My husband and I both got Covid for the first time right after New Years. We were really careful the first 2 years, masked indoors, stayed away from people. This last year, however, we’ve gotten pretty lazy. We are both fully vaxxed and boosted, including the bivalent. We’re a retired couple in our 60’s, so no work to deal with. We do go out to eat and hang out with close family. We got together at Christmas, no one was sick then. No one was sick after Christmas either, except us. Not sure where we got exposed. Gotta say, being vaccinated helped a lot, neither of us got very sick, couple days like the flu, about a week of congestion and cough. No indications of long Covid. Masking and distancing helped a lot, as did getting the shots.
I put on a 3m 7503 two years ago. Excluding times where I was forced to remove it (surgeries, hospital stay meals, dmv/tsa face checks), I haven't been inside of a building without wearing the half mask since then. During the stretch of time from 2021-2022 where masking was a hot button issue in right wing news, I would get verbally harassed by random members of the public every couple of weeks. Those people have mostly faded back into the woodwork these days. I am still out in the streets: masked, undeterred, and uninfected.
I'm curious. Would you be willing to tell me in what part of the country you live? We have not been harassed at all about our 3M 6000's at all. We're in northwest Washington State. We had one guy smile and whisper "Darth Vader" as he passed my husband in a store. That's all. We call them our Darth Vader masks now.
I'm on the edge of Los Angeles County. It's the kind of place where you will see people in big trucks with flagpoles flying Brandon flags once in a while. For what it's worth, I'm a poc, while the strangers who feel compelled to yell at me usually aren't.
I'm in Los Angeles city, I wear mask for market, etc. No indoor dining or crowds. Many don't mask in public but there are a few of us including grocery checkers. No one has ever said anything to me about wearing a mask. I do notice people are kind, unmasked people holding door open at post office, etc and don't seem to care that I wear one. I'll keep wearing it. Both me & husband have not gotten covid. Medical & hospital lab we go to require mask wearing to enter as well.
Spouse and I haven’t gotten it AFAIK.
- Niosh N95s in any public situation
- No large crowds or gatherings (possible family gathering outdoors with prior testing)
- Small gatherings with friends outside only with a quick health check-in prior
- Eat only on outdoor patios of restaurants if not crowded and numbers are low, if numbers are high takeouts/delivery only
- Groceries delivery or curbside only
- I WFH so no risk
- Spouse works in office but ‘quarantines’ and masks from me at home if outside of his private office with people throughout the day (not very often)
- Quarantine for 2-3 days at home if one or the other travels (sleep in separate rooms and n95 mask in common areas)
- Wash my hands constantly and disinfect them with an alcohol gel or hand wipe after public outings when I get in my car and unmask
- Current on all vax and boosters
- Don’t have kids
I have 3 family members and 1 good friend with long covid, half of my family is anti-vax sadly which I have not seen since beginning of pandemic because they are too careless.
We miss out on a lot but we make the most of it by delving into creativity and self improvement for the time being in hopes for the future.
When I look at it all it seems like overkill and a lot but I have been doing it so ritualistically for the last three years it really doesn’t bother me. I do miss concerts and such but am just waiting for more info on long covid to reveal itself.
If it weren’t for long covid and seeing what it’s done to people I know I would NOT give a flying rats and would be partying on the weekends. I have been directly coughed on in public which with my n95 (thank god) only amounted to a minor flu (not Covid by PCR twice), but have sat unknowingly with two friends unmasked in the same room for hours who were positive with covid the next day and I (recently boosted) miraculously didn’t get it then either.
Only time will tell if it’s all worth it or not, I know I’m going to get it sooner or later…just prefer later when hopefully we have better treatments and it’s milder with no long covid.
We have only one rule: wear a mask when outside of the home. It means WFH and no restaurants because I can't eat/drink with a mask on. Kids are homeschooled; they also wear a mask outside the home, even my toddler at the park. As far as vaccines, adults got the original two doses and a booster. Kids are not yet covid vaccinated. No one has gotten sick yet.
To me, the most important is wearing a well fitted N95 and never taking it off outside of your home. It's led to disagreements with relatives. But we are strict. We can hug, socialize/chat, etc. But the mask stays on. No exceptions. Unfortunately we can't do meals with them but we can come by for a few hours to hang out.
Personally I don't feel like I need to justify why I am so strict. But if you wanted to know, it's because getting sick sucks, especially with kids. Was I like this before kids? Yes, I wore a mask on public transport in the winter when I was pregnant, because I didn't want to get sick while pregnant. This was in 2015 and 2018. After i had kids, I wore a mask inside the home when I thought I had sniffles. I didn't want to pass my sickness, if i had any, to my kids.
I do what makes sense. For us, masks are mandatory and vaccines optional. I'm not a MD but I worked in virus lab for two years in high school and learned enough to know how viruses work, how they are transmitted, and research for treatments.
So does having long covid. I have a friend who has it. She can't remember words. She can't work at the same high level of capacity. She gets winded just walking up the stairs. It has changed her life dramatically. Oh, and her dad died from covid. So yeah, both are horrific, but one is by choice and may not last forever, but the other is not by choice and will affect her the rest of her life.
It's not horrific. I do the same. Covid mitigations may be a little inconvenient, but they are certainly not a horrific way to live.
I am immune compromised and I wore a mask long before Covid too. It's just a mask. It doesn't bother me. I literally haven't even had a cold in more than 10 years.
Before Covid, I would eat in a restaurant during the summer months, but not during flu season. Since Covid, no more restaurants. For me this is a plus. Most of the time, I had to go to the restaurants because someone else wanted to go and invited me and I felt obligated.
However, I'm not a big fan of restaurants. I was a waitress for 15 years and I've seen some very unsavory things that make me squeamish about eating in restaurants.
I was infected with so many viruses, colds, flu, and stomach bugs when I was waitressing. I was sick constantly, like for years straight. It was ridiculous. I think that is why I have 4 different autoimmune disorders today, from having so many awful viruses when I was in my 20s that are still in my body. You couldn't take off when sick either so you'd have no choice, but to spread it to all the guests.
You know what was horrific? Watching my beloved dad die an agonizing death from Covid three months ago. I've been present for the death of other family members before, but I have never seen a death as horrible as from Covid. It's like a movie that runs nonstop in my head now. Even when I sleep I can't stop the horror of seeing it over and over again.
Never meet people, always wear a mask, don’t go to maskless places (lots of clubs and bars were maskless even though they weren’t supposed to be).
Also, I live alone and have no friends.
I was Covid free until last Friday.
Usually masked, didn’t go out much, and ate at home a lot. Vaxxed + 2 boosters.
I’m pretty much over my Covid symptoms, it was pretty mild.
were the precautions you took and the happiness you were deprived of worth it? Was the fear and anxiety of the virus justified in the end? Do you think you would do things differently if you knew what you know now, earlier?
Genuine questions. Asking because I'm starting to question if the anxiety and fear are worse than the infection for most people.
I work from home 4 days a week. I don't take public transit to work. Instead, I eat the time and cost of driving and parking in the city. I wear an N95 mask at all times while indoors. I go outside to eat or close the door to my office. My office building has added extra filtration and UV lights to the HVAC system. I don't go to restaurants for dinner. I order takeout. I get groceries delivered or do curbside pickup. I don't go to parties, concerts, gatherings. I don't take unnecessary travel. I don't have an in-person social life. I have lost all of my friends circle.
The last in person event I had to go to was a funeral for a elderly family member who died. No one wore masks. It was terrifying for me both in terms of my own safety and how people were so blase about it. I dodged that bullet and spent the next four days at home in quarantine in the basement guest room while my immunocomprimised spouse stayed upstairs with a corsi-rosenthal box ran on full blast.
I understand that I am in a place in my life where I have the ability to do these things to keep my family safe. I understand that not everyone can do this. I will continue to wear my mask to protect myself and others. No one will get covid from me, I promise that.
Me! I worked from home 2020-2021, then at an office where I was next to an open door, and that also had an upgraded filtration system. I was let go in May, and have been home ever since. I wear KF94 masks whenever I go in public, especially indoors, will not eat indoors at restaurants, or go to movie theaters. I haven’t flown since the mask mandates were lifted.
My partner and I live in a separate in-law unit, and are both introverted so we don’t go out much, nor do we feel the need to. His father passed from COVID last February, so we both take things very seriously. I also have health problems which make me vulnerable to getting an extreme case of COVID, so that makes me even more careful.
We also live in a climate where it doesn’t snow or get super cold during the winters, so we can have the windows open sometimes. We also bought two air filtering units for our 500 sq foot place, which may be overkill but whatever. Both he and I, plus his mom and grandmother (who live in the separate main house) haven’t had COVID yet. We are all vaccinated with three shots. According to several doctors of mine, I can’t get the bivalent booster due to adverse autoimmune effects, but I’m trying to get everyone else to get it at least. They keep brushing me off though :/
We successfully avoided it for three years - despite surgery and hospital stays - and now we’re all sick with it because of a visit with my mother-in-law. She went to a funeral, unmasked, and then visited with us 8 days later (against my better judgement). I am the high risk one in our family. My husband works a job that is mostly outdoors and solo, and he masks with an N95 if he has to go into the office briefly or go into a store. I do grocery curbside pickups and have been wearing an N95 to doctor’s appointments. On three separate occasions, I had to go to the ER and was there for over 6 hours and did not catch Covid (wore my N95). We only visited with a few friends and extended family outdoors. We have missed out on holidays with family. We recently began spending time indoors with our parents, as we have a young toddler who was born at the beginning of the pandemic and we wanted to give him a chance to really bond with his grandparents. I was frequently pressured and made to feel bad if he didn’t spend time with my in-laws ( I would frequently say no to indoor visits due to them not being safe - indoor dining, unmasked at weddings, etc). I wish that I had stood my ground and said no to this last visit, because now we are all paying the price. This is day 5 and I’m still very sick - but the first two days were the worst, staying up all night with my toddler crying in pain, spiking fevers of 105. I refuse to expose my family to this virus again - so grandma is going to have to get used to outdoor visits only.
My partner, 68, has never had COVID even through I have had it twice and we live together. I am a teacher at a school where the kids do not mask up, so I am exposed more often even though I wear a mask. He goes out a lot, but wears a mask in small places like elevators, subways, and other tight places. Both times I had covid he slept on the couch and we wore masks and socially distanced in the apartment.
Worked from home as long as I could. Wore masks religiously until the mandate ended, and then only while at the grocery store for a few more months. Washed my hands, didn't touch my face. Didn't shake people's hands, and I made sure to distance, not the 6 feet anymore, but I still stay a couple feet away. I wear a mask while I'm in my classes for school, but not while transitioning between classes. The community college campus isn't crowded, and it's easy to avoid being too close to someone outside.
To be honest, I don't know how I haven't caught it. I am immunocompromised. I did get vaccinated and boosted, including the updated booster. My husband also works from home, so that probably helps.
Edit: spelling.
Edit 2: grammar.
I’ve been mildly, briefly ill a few times in three years (congested/sneezing that lasted a few days) and did not test positive any of those times. I can’t be sure I never had it though. I don’t think I have. I don’t take my N95 off in public, ever. The lone exception is for dental work, five or six times in three years. I don’t eat at restaurants. I stay away from large groups of people indoors, even with the mask on. So no movie theaters for example and I have groceries delivered most of the time. If I need to go to a store, I time my visit for when it won’t be busy. I work largely remotely. So “privilege” is the answer to “how” coupled with a willingness to be stared at and to buck the norm.
I work from home; I haven't eaten in a restaurant since February of 2000; I wear a mask everywhere if I am indoors in public; I haven't been on a plane; I stay away from people if I've known they've been exposed or are doing risky things; and I've had a total of five vaccinations including boosters.
I know not everybody has the luxury of taking all these precautions.
I’m on my 7th booster and I wear 2 N95’s, face shield, and latex gloves ANY time I’m outside of the safety of my home. I don’t allow visitors in my home. Not even relatives. I currently have a bucket that I empty every day due to a plumbing leak. Masked, vaxxed, or not, no one is entering my safe zone. PERIOD.
My husband and I haven’t had it that we’re aware of.
Got 4 doses of pfizer, bivalent included. Mask in public spaces.
Honestly not sure how we haven’t caught it, but we also haven’t caught ANY colds at all in 3 years. We haven’t always been the most careful—we work retail, we went to a 300+ person wedding maskless, we went to a large convention (wore mask) and went to a packed outdoor concert maskless, plus a packed renaissance faire with no mask. We’ve eaten at indoor restaurants a number of times—not often, but we do it. We gather weekly with our friends at their house and haven’t skipped hanging with family or going to family events.
We just take our vaccines and mask in public indoor spaces, like work and stores and movie theaters and such. We’ve also both had maskless exposures to people with covid, but we got lucky. We’ve tested negative through this whole thing.
I've not had COVID. I don't know how. People say that if you never had covid, it means that you don't have friends LOL.
In the beginning, I was fairly isolated. I was working from home 100% of the time and my friends were all cautious due to pregnancy and babies. I was scared to even go to the groceries. I lived with my parents at the time, and they were also very careful. They sprayed everything down after shopping, washed their hands, and changed their clothes. I also did something similar, but I didn't change my clothes. I still met up with a few people for dates, but it was always outdoors with masks.
Slowly, we had to go back into work. My company was very cautious about Covid. They implemented a lot of strategies to lower chances of infection. People would rotate going in. And we had to wear these badges that kept track of who we were within close distance with every day. This way, once an employee was infected, everyone who had come within close distance for 15+ minutes with this person would be contacted and asked to get tested before returning to work.
Once the mask mandate was lifted, I stopped wearing masks. But I still continued to remain covid19-free. I think this is because I live alone and don't have kids. And I usually like outdoor activities anyways. I had also been vaccinated 4 times now.
Overall, I avoided indoor and traveling activities for a LONG time. My friends were cautious. And my workplace protocol was probably more strict than the ones at airports haha.
Physician on a COVID ward for 2 years here: I went to work and home and gas station and nowhere else. I started wearing a mask in 02/20. I stayed away from the public. At work I lived in strict isolation protocol. I was first vaccinated in 12/20 then still continued my routine. I still haven’t been to the gym since quitting in March ‘20. I still wear a mask in the hospital.
I haven't.
I never go outside without wearing an FFP3 half face respirator at all times.
I have one of the 3M ones where I can change the filter cartridges every few weeks.
So far as I know, I haven’t. I wear an N95 in all public places - I even wore it at home when visiting my family for Christmas, though I did take it off to eat. I don’t eat out, and I socialize a lot outside - going for walks and hikes, which I can still do when it’s cold, and picnics in the summer. Have a few friends who do the same, so will have them over for dinner and board games. Still go out to movies and other events - I just wear a mask. And I don’t have kids.
Me. I just think I’m lucky. I got all shots + boosters. Multiple very close exposures. I wear a mask on the train during rush hour and in the busy areas of airports. All my friends are vaxxed. I work in person most days. I might have had OG covid as I got sick after attending a conference in NYC in late feb 2020.
My oldest son (47) just caught it for the first time and he has been very reckless. No social distancing, no vaccines, no masks. I on the other hand, have been super careful, did everything right and have had it twice. You just never know.
I mask or social distance in public. Sometimes it is awkward (such as stepping away from the bar while wine tasting) but so far no one has hassled me about it. I don’t go out as much as before, but I still participate in local clubs or yoga, I just always mask indoors. We even went to Disneyland. This was when they were enforcing masks indoors, I really appreciated that. No one in our party got sick (that we know of). I like not being sick. Sometimes I will have a moment where I am thinking I want to go out to eat and will be disappointed there is no outdoor seating option.
Oh, I carry hand sanitizer around and use it like I own stock in it.
Not eating in restaurants as much only outdoor dining, wearing a mask when inside with others, wife is a nurse sees Covid patients daily for 3 years but she and anyone that enters the office always masked.
Me. My entire household wears N95 mask anytime we are indoors outside of our home. Husband and I both work from home. Grocery pickup. No indoor dining. Socializing with family and friends only outside, unless everyone has done a mini quarantine and taken negative tests beforehand (for holidays, for example).
We were extra cautious because my son was born in March 2020 and then I was pregnant in 2022 and now we have a newborn.
My son will be starting preschool in March, though, so I expect we’ll all be sick for the rest of the year.
Followed the guidelines. Also folks within my bubble all WFH. If any of us are sick, we test, limit our interactions or stop them completely. When there’s a surge locally we keep a very low profile, mask up when we need to go out etc. We are all on top of our vaccines.
I used professional p100 (not n95) respirators with cartridges. I also wore gloves and googles. I’ve been vaxxed 6 times. 2 initial, 3 boosters, Covalent.
I’m retired so I didn’t do anything but grocery shopping.
I got it on Dec 30. Mild case 3 days light symptoms. Took pax.
I have not caught it. I'm 62. Have had several ppl visit me the night before they were diagnosed, had a grandson stay the night and become ill. He stayed and l took care of him for 2 weeks.
I masked up the 1st 2 years, but less so the past few months.
I am a retired nurse so maybe my immune system said 'Oh, ho hum, another virus'. Idk but l'm glad l haven't got it.
Haven’t had it, that I know of. I honestly don’t know how I haven’t caught it. I drank out of a friends drink (while she had covid but we weren’t aware yet.) Also spent Easter with her and her family (same week that I drank out of the drink.) They all tested positive the day after Easter. I slept in the room with my husband when he first started having symptoms. Stopped sleeping in there once he tested positive. I took care of my daughter and let her snuggle with me when she was positive. I’ve rode in a car, massless, twice with people who tested positive the next day. I work at a school and our classroom has been shut down a few times due to cases so I’ve been around covid enough to have at least caught it once but every time I’ve been exposed, I come back negative. I used to wear my mask religiously then stopped around last summer. I do have every vaccine, though. I am honestly surprised that I haven’t caught it because I feel like, with how much I’ve been exposed, I should have had it several times already.
I avoided catching COVID until recently through the same tactics listed here. Avoiding indoor dining, only smaller volume venues, wearing a N95 in high-volume locations (public transportation), etc. I was also pregnant for 9 months so basically didn't go anywhere with a lot of people. However, my husband caught COVID three times so far over the last 1.5 years and I have not once caught it from him.
He is super paranoid, so he caught it early. EVERY. TIME. He would feel any type of tickle and take a PCR. For the times that he *did* have COVID, we always caught it early. Even though I was sharing a bed with him, we could catch it before he tested positive on antigen tests and then take precautions like sleeping in different rooms and then wearing masks in shared spaces. We live in NYC, and I did not catch it from him. Once.
Now having it with a baby in the home, I am convinced, N95s are the key to avoiding COVID, and catching other bugs as well. I will always wear a mask on public transportation from this point out. Maybe not a N95 but at least something. With that all being said, I won't stop living and enjoying the energy of other humans. This energy is critical for me as a human. So, after three years, I got COVID. I'm probably going to get it again. I am not a chosen one :)
As far as I know I haven’t had it yet. I’m a teacher and have been in school with students the entire time except for the first 6 months when we went virtual. I don’t wear a mask since the mandate was dropped and have had tons of students get it, and my entire family. I’m still waiting and hoping it won’t be too bad when I eventually test positive. I joined this sub when Covid started and have read everything here so I feel very prepared for anything!
I am currently on my first bout of covid because þy husband came home with symptoms, and fluffed them off qs a sinus infection while mansplaining why he didnt need to take a test, because it wasnt covid.
It was covid and now I have it too. I am fairly high risk for complications/long covid so Im just kind of in shock.
I avoided it for 3 years by limiting what activities I did. I hate wearing a mask so I just kind of only met people for outdoor activities and saved the mask for whatever limited indoor activites I needed to do (doctors appointmente ect). I spent most of my time hiking or horseback riding.
I wasnt bothered by this since I was happy not to have to worry about long covid and Im pretty introverted.
Now who knows what kind of functionality I will be left with. I am on day 4 and I have lost my sense of smell and taste so I guess its in my brain now. I get winded walking to the bathroom and have to rest, so things arent looking good.
I've arranged care for my horses for the next 6 weeks and I guess we will just have to see if I can ever go riding or hiking again or if rhis is just my life now.
I have never tested positive for CoVid. I’m unvaccinated & have stopped wearing a mask since late last year. I never limit my outdoor activities & would go out for errands or grocery runs like normal. I have felt a bit under the weather a few times during the last 3 years but nothing that progressed after a day of rest, sunshine, vitamins, healthy food & some therapeutics.
Caught it this January(2023), only masked/distanced when forced and worked through most of the 3 years. My mom brought it home after surgery, she is always going to doctors for chronic ailments 3-5 times a month. Neither me or her were vaxxed, only my stepdad bc of work.
The people boasting about taking such extreme measures to successfully avoid getting covid slightly concern me. I'm worried anxiety and mysophobia (fear of germs and infection) are going to be more debilitating than the virus for a lot of people
Some people, like my family, don’t really have much of a choice about the way we have to live during Covid. Some people are old some people have health issues some people have severely disabled people that live with them. Everyone gets to make choices about how they want to live and the risks they want to take. For my family, we made the choice to try to keep our daughter and ourselves safer. I do not judge anyone for the choices they make because I’ve walked a long road for 35 years🤷🏻♀️people have to do what’s best/right for their family and their circumstances.
Yes I do. We have a 35 year old severely autistic daughter who functions on the level of a 2 to 3 year old. She does have other medical issues too. We did not go out much before Covid due to how difficult it is to take her out into the public with all the screaming she does (she’s a screamer due to her severe autism). We live rural in a small community. We have a nice home and a small piece of land—a few acres. We don’t have many friends just a couple, our family doesn’t understand our daughter so we had to cut a lot of them out of our lives years ago. This happens to a lot of autism families that have to deal with the more severe side of this thing called autism. It is our “normal” and this is all we’ve known now for 30 plus years. It’s like my husband says, we are used to living this way and it really hasn’t changed much since Covid except perhaps the staying home a lot more. we make the best of it—that’s all any one can do!
I agree! I couldn’t imagine living like that! But I guess getting to choose what one does with their life is what makes living in a free country so great
I’m floored by some of the comments in here of families practically not leaving their house for 3 years. Sure, long Covid is no way to live… but is staying boarded up in your house like a prisoner really a better alternative? I could see if there was a reasonable end in sight to Covid, but it really seems like it is around to stay in one form or another… so do you just hold our hope that one day in 5 years if there’s a cure by then that you’ll be able to leave your house? Wild.
I’m pretty introverted myself which is probably why I’ve spent the past 4 years Covid free until my infant brought it home from daycare.. but my no means were we ever not going anywhere. We’ve been on trips since restrictions eased up last year, regularly gone to restaurants, and been out in public.. we just don’t have a ton of friends where we live now so most the stuff we’ve done has been with just us.
So how does a mom & dad take a 35 year old severely autistic adult out into the public domain, that person then becomes sick with Covid with repeated infections won’t sleep at all due to being sick etc. 65 year old parent is up all day and all night for days (think a week or more) on end without any kind of help from anyone plus all the usual 24x7 caregiving of baths feeding diaper changes etc etc. How is that going to work???? I haven’t been able to find a way to make that work for our family yet. So it’s better to stay home and away from people for us.
Do you guys drive? If you don’t then that’s that I guess.. but if you do, I believe at one point your chances of getting into a car accident and dying or being severely injured were greater than getting Covid and dying or having long standing health impacts. Everyone has to make their own decisions for their own family as everyone has different circumstances and health needs, but for me staying holed up is personally no way to live when there is no indication that it is “going away” anytime soon. If your family has been trucking along just fine that way for 3 years now though, more power to you.
Avoided it until recently. Fully vaccinated and boosted, including bivalent. WFH three days week in office twi, but have my own office. Wore a mask when it was required. Ate out rarely, opted for take out. Caught it from my husband (who believes he caught it from a client when they were at court).
We had a nice run going. I've come to the conclusion that everyone will catch it eventually.
My husband or I haven’t got it yet. We go out with no masks now, go to movies, shop, restaurants, casinos, Disneyworld, anything really. We have been vaccinated and boosted. We couldn’t go out when everything was closed of course but definitely making up for lost time now.
I know a handful of people that haven’t caught. 2 live in a rural setting and have somewhat limited face to face interaction, and one is just an anomaly that makes no sense to me. He’s vaxxed and everything but he traveled during and basically wasn’t neurotically careful at all, *and* he’s not particularly healthy or active physically. I also know someone that had it and absolutely no symptoms but tested positive for 10 days, so I guess that’s another possibility for all these people. Could’ve had it and not known.
My middle child and I haven’t gotten it yet. I just went to a conference with like 1000 people from all over the country and didn’t wear a mask so we’ll see, fingers crossed. We live in an area with high vaccination rates and masking and I think that helped a lot. We masked everywhere until recently.
I'm pretty sure I had it last year mid-January coming back from a wedding where everyone at my table had it. I never tested positive from 2 home tests and then a PCR a few days after symptoms got worse.
I kept shopping trips to a minimum, fortnightly on Wednesday mornings, and avoided Malls from 11am onwards.
Wore masks going into shops etc - never bothered outside, but avoided crowds.
I caught my dose this New Year December 30th tested positive, it was a family affair - maybe my wife brought it home from her office, or my son from school, but we all tested positive the same week - and negative again after 5 days, but I felt worse for wear (coughing, flu symptoms) for a week or so afterwards.
Luckily not a big deal. I'm 60, had 3 stents put in 3 years ago, and would be rated fairly high risk.
i have a very low immune system, my brother, dad and mum all had covid once (I live in the same house as them)… i somehow have still never caught it. I kind of just did the basics; made a point of wearing masks when leaving the house during the pandemic, lots of hand sanitizer, social distancing etc. Even when my parents both had covid, whenever i left my room i’d wear a mask and effectively isolate myself from them. seemed to do the trick!
I have two great aunts in their 80s that live together and with a nephew. He has had it at least twice. They have tried to isolate when it has happened, but I don't trust that they were super strict and, although they don't leave their house much and they mask when the do, they sometimes have people over. They haven't had any cold-like symptoms so far. Crazy!
And I'm not sure about myself. I've never tested positive, but I might have had it when my sister had it... Anyway, I always mask indoors and try to avoid very big events.
I've never tested positive. I've not felt any covid sympy. But I accept i may have had it and been asymptomatic.
My job went full wfh in March when lockdown was announced.
In the beginning, I limited in person interaction in public to 15 minutes and wore a mask constantly. I lived alone. I also only interacted with two retired family members and two friends from the healthcare industry who got the vax early.
Then I got all the shots as they were offered.
Neither of my parents have gotten it. They got vaccinated and boosted, and obeyed the mask mandates but weren’t particularly strict about it, especially once they were lifted. My mom also worked in an elementary school for 2 years before she retired last year. They’ve been on several domestic and international flights where they did not wear masks either. I’m convinced they have natural immunity somehow, however it does help that they are remarkably in shape for their age and have no chronic health conditions.
Meanwhile, I was probably twice as strict about masking, working from home, and distancing and still got it twice. No natural immunity for me I guess.
I got it for the first time this past December. I haven’t worn a mask in probably a year, unless required. We all go out to the same bar at least twice a week, inside/outside during this whole pandemic, with most friends working at the local hospital. Been back and forth to NYC every couple of months, no mask.
None of us got it in 3 years~UNTIL one new friend started to hang out with us~ and bam, hello Covid.
I was COVID free until November 2022. I had a surgical procedure to remove kidney stones, my wife caught COVID in the waiting room; I caught it from her four days later; we each had symptoms for about four days. We’ve both been fully vaccinated and fully boosted.
Literally no idea how I haven't caught it. Got my first two pfizer vaccines plus one booster in Dec 2021, and basically stopped wearing masks unless it was forced since I got my vaccines (no boosters or other covid vaccines since then though). I go anywhere, do anything (like I don't limit indoor activities like clubs, restaurants, etc.), but do WFH full time. I am healthy ish in the sense that I work out 4x a week, take my dog on 3 little walks every day, and take my vitamins. Ever since I started trying to be somewhat healthy, I haven't gotten sick in general (since 2016?), except for non contagious things like bad seasonal allergies, and one yeast infection and UTI randomly (my vagina is sensitive, lmao).
My fiancé caught it Jan 2022 after NYE because we went to a rave and a friend's party, a few people at the party caught it and too, as did my fiancé, but I somehow didn't! Maybe because my booster was like just a month before he caught it? We didn't distance ourselves from each other or anything, and I STILL didn't catch it, we both even took a PCR to be sure. Sometimes I feel like I am on borrowed time and am gonna catch it when I am least expecting it, but who knows 🤷♀️
I have all the vaccines and boosters and have not caught it. I asked my dr If getting the Pfizer a fifth time was necessary bc it came up on my app that I was due and she said yes. I didn’t get sore arm the chills or any of the side effects I had the last four times, so I feel pretty safe about not wearing a mask in some intervals. Also was on Accutane during the first whole year of Covid with monthly blood draws and hospital visiting, no Covid catching.
I haven't, nor has anyone in my immediate family, and I don't really know how. We're all vaxxed and boosted but so are half the people who get sick. I've worn masks, but the rest of my family is far less compliant even though we're all high risk. We don't have much of a social life, but I have a kid in college who won't mask who also rides public transport unmasked every day. I wish I knew what's kept it out of our house.
I haven't and I have no idea how. I work in an office providing ABA therapy to kids with autism and we had multiple "outbreaks". There was one point where it was only me and a couple other people that didn't get it. I tested myself multiple times. My husband works from home. I wear a kn95 mask. We just recently started eating at restaurants but during nonbusy times. I do curbside pickup when I can. I don't go out much.
I work from home and did so since before the pandemic. Live with just my fiancé who doesn’t work. We both mask indoors anywhere with other people. We never eat out except rarely outdoors in summer or to occasionally get take-out. Only been to one movie since 2020 and wore a mask, which wasn’t fun honestly.
i had it once in june 2022. i got it from my bf when he went into a big city and caught it there. in england, we don’t wear masks at all anymore, but i haven’t caught it since then. i work in an office, go to restaurants, go in shops, have used public transport etc…
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I have not had COVID that I am aware of. I have had all my shots including the bivalent. I work at home. When people from outside our home stop by we open the windows and turn the heat up and keep airflow. During the summer or warmer days we light a fire and sit outside with friends. We order our food from Kroger's and utilize the free pick up service they have, and not eat indoors at restaurants, only non crowded patio's. My mom died from covid. My sister got very I'll with it so I am careful. My husband masks. He has had it once and we are assuming he got it when he went through a drive through maskless or when we adopted our dog. It was not ventilated where we got her and it was crowded. I stayed outside. We do outdoor activities like hiking and biking now instead of sitting in restaurants and movies. The uncertainty with peoples status of being I'll etc is too much for me and not worth worrying. We rent movies that are first run instead of going. It had been getting annoying in the theater with all the texting anyway. Long story short I have completely changed how I work my life and actually love it. Much less social pressure and we save allot of money.
So sorry for your mom. Sending you love <3
My husband hasn't so far. He is vaxxed and boosted, wears a mask on public transport and for grocery shopping but thats about it. We have been to concerts, to the movies, works at a big office space twice a week... We didn't even isolate from each other when I had it. We both need to test regularly for work so I am 99% sure he didn't have a silent infection. He is not even that healthy, so I guess it's just luck.
He's the chosen one!
This is my experience, too
I have classic long COVID symptoms but never tested positive. The trick is to have an immune system so overreactive that it kicks COVID’s ass right out the door… and then (unfortunately) keeps throwing punches at the rest of you. Autoimmune pros and cons. On the other hand, my mom lives in an actual physical air controlled bubble both indoors and out in the world. She has never been exposed.
Happy Cake Day.🎂🍰🎂🍰 That said, that is a concern if mine with the Immune system. I have spent the last 3 months dealing with an allergy. Worst and longest I have ever had. So I am a bit concerned about my immune system meeting covid when it's in an inflammatory mood. But at the moment, I am on 60mg of Prednisone so I worry I could be exposed when I don't have an immune system
I have it now, first time. I have worn a N95 mask everywhere. I didn’t go out to eat at all. The one time I did, I got covid.
Pretty much my story. I’m the only guy in the room with a mask. KN95 exclusively. I leave any room where it’s not possible to stay more than 6 feet away from people seated or standing. Don’t eat inside restaurants. Never got Covid until… Then after Christmas this year my wife lets her anti-vax idiot friend bring her baby that “just has a fever from teething” over one time for half an hour and that results in 7 people getting Covid.
Kn95s work!
Ahh wow, that’s awful. How are you all feeling now?
We all had pretty mild cases but I’ve had weird lingering symptoms 3 weeks after it “ended”
This was my experience as a musician. I was asked to sing backup vocals on a gig and took my mask off on stage in late Demember 2022 for the first time since February 2020. Only took it off to sing, wore it before and after. Got Covid like a motherfucker.
I’m a singer in a band too. I’ve done 5 gigs in clubs this past year. Unmasked while singing. I work from home. I’ve traveled maybe 4-5 times by plane since March 2020. I have yet to get Covid, nor has my husband. Fully vaxxed!
Congrats
When you say go out to eat do you mean sitting inside a restaurant to eat? Or at a restaurant on an outdoor patio?
Sitting inside
was it worth it? Eating out is one of lifes pleasures that you deprived yourself of for a solid 5-8% of your life (assuming average life expectancy). You probably deprived yourself of other pleasures too. And, you still got covid. Would you change anything if you had a time machine?
Actually, restaurants do this thing called delivery.
And take-out!
If I could change anything I wouldn’t have read your comment. You know nothing of my life, go away.
Why is it always all or nothing with you people? Eating in a restaurant isn't 5-8% of anyone's life. I have saved a shit ton of money and lost a lot of weight by eating at home and taking my activities outdoors. If anything I use to be a couch potato and now I am very active because of the pandemic. Not everyone is jumping at the opportunity to catch SARS for a mediocre plate of salty ass food from a restaurant.
Living life is all about being served indoors however life expectancy may drop like a rock!
I suppose that depends on how important you think it is to avoid what covid actually has the potential to do to you, and the jury is still very much out for that, but long covid is the tip of that iceberg. Lots of viruses that remain in our system after clearing the initial infection (as Covid absolutely does at least some of the time) return years and decades later to cause other illness (chicken pox becomes shingles, for example). Plus, I’m sure those 500 dead Americans every day would have probably foregone eating inside restaurants to, you know, not be dead. But I’m aware there’s lots of other considerations here. And if you make your living via people dining out, you probably do the math differently
I have never eaten more restaurant food in my life than I have the last 3 years, and not one meal was consumed at one. We live in the future, bub.
Work from home. Wear masks indoors (stores etc). Until this fall I didn’t see anyone inside without taking an antigen test/masking. They still test weekly at my child’s school, which is super helpful. There have been a handful of cases but the class masks following the exposure so we have been lucky. I also only know two other people who haven’t had it. But I grocery shopped maskless today for the first time in almost 3 years. So let’s see what happens! Edited to add: Two friends of mine got Covid really bad in March 2020. Repeated hospital trips/couldn’t breathe. One got long COVID. They are super healthy, eat well, exercise daily. It really scared me into not taking any chances. As the years went on, I’ve had two more friends get long Covid that messed them up so bad, one could barely work (had to keep working as a business owner), and the other had to quit their tech job because the brain fog and other symptom made working impossible. Both these friends were also super healthy. Long Covid is what scares me, not the acute infection.
Yes, long COVID scares me too! I caught COVID on Christmas 2022, and I have recovered for one month by now, but I still have thick phlegm in my throat and keep coughing. I really didn't want to be reinfected again, but the new variant, XBB, makes me feel scared.
>Long Covid is what scares me, not the acute infection. That is the correct fear for most people. I'm getting close to 3 years of LC, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. It's absolute hell and there's nothing to be done to fix it.
What are your long covid symptoms? Because I got it and it went away in days, we'll about a week later it hit me like a ton of brick Fatigue and major migraine like dizziness that is so bad it speeds my heart rate up and have to go to the e.r. because I can swear I'm dying. Come to find out , after personal evaluation, because all doctors do is give you medicine. I think the horrible vertigo and heart palpitations come from the ears. I'm going to try and visit a ENT doctor see if he can give me an epley maneuver or recommend some NAC or plant aminos or something to help because it has honestly disabled me. Haven't worked in weeks. I was a healthy active 30 year old 3 weeks ago. Now at times I start to lose hope.
Wait, why'd you grocery shop maskless?
Yes, I was wondering the same thing
do you plan to mask up in public forever?
I really don’t know if I’ll ever stop masking. It depends on how things develop.
Yeah, same. It just depends on how things go.
Do you plan on washing your hands after using the bathroom forever? Do you pan on wearing a seat belt when driving forever? Do you plan on only drinking clean water forever? Do you plan on looking in both directions before you cross a street forever? Do you plan on wearing clothes in public forever?
To be fair, masks are primarily for keeping the virus in, not keeping it out. The protocol for wearing an N95 effectively to stop viral contraction is way stricter than anyone except doctors and hazmat teams manage to do properly. 99% of people wearing an N95 remove it with their hands and touch their face with those same hands within a minute. Nevermind reusing the same mask and keeping it in their car or bag. Public messaging could never be upfront about this though, because it would make anyone wearing a mask a leper, so sick people wouldn't wear them to avoid stigma. Solution: Everyone wears a mask all the time, which you can effect pretty well by insinuating that masks stop you from getting sick. In reality, they just give you slightly better odds at best. They're fantastic though at keeping you from getting others sick. Edit: I guess many people weren't aware of this. All those studies about people wearing masks and reduced transmission *hinge on the fact that the sick people have masks on*. This is also why it's been customary for years to wear a mask in Japan when you weren't feeling well. Picture a hose spraying out toxic water over a group of people. What's going to be more effective to stop people getting wet: a cloth over the hose nozzle, or each person draping a cloth over themselves? If you want to wear a mask because you like the feeling of security, that's no issue. But the most important part about wearing a mask is wearing one when you are sick.
Lolz this guy cleans asbestos with no PPE. Only people who got sick from asbestos should wear a mask apparently
Asbestos isn't a virus. And when you clean asbestos, you wear a full PPE suit and a proper cartridge respirator (not even a lowly mask), which you are trained on how to wear/use/dispose of properly. It would be extremely dangerous and detrimental to your health to clean asbestos with just an N95. Given all that, I'm not sure what point you are trying to make, except perhaps show your confusion. If there is anything I could clarify, I'd be happy to.
Dumbass comparison. Washing your hands is PROVEN to prevent infections. Wearing a mask is NOT proven to prevent Covid. Over 170 studies show this. Its like putting up a chainlink fence to stop the wind. Not gonna work. Not to mention the bacteria, pieces of mask particles you are constantly inhaling wearing the Chinese made face diapers. Gimmie a break. https://brownstone.org/articles/studies-and-articles-on-mask-ineffectiveness-and-harms/
The study you quote says: "It is not unreasonable to conclude that surgical and cloth masks, used as they currently are being used (without other forms of PPE protection), have no impact on controlling the transmission of Covid-19 virus". SURGICAL AND CLOTH MASKS. That's like washing your hands without soap or dirty water. Better masks worn properly do work. And sorry to inform you that most of us don't poop through our mouths. So, you were one of the few to be using them as a dipper.
Lol 170 studies. Sure. Not clicking your QuackAnon website.
Lol I didn't click on the site, but when I did a Google search for it, the first word in its description was "frEeDoM".
yes all those things are as comfortable and trivial as wearing a thing over my face every second that makes it harder to breathe and talk
I’ve gotten quite used to it.
Do you have some sort of unusual health condition that makes it hard for you to breathe in a mask? I have family members with COPD that have no difficulty wearing a mask. Do you think it could be a psychological thing for you?
You’ve been so careful. Why stop masking at the grocery store? It seems like an easy place to just continue to mask up. And worth it.
You’re right and I will continue. I just ran in to get two things at a small Trader Joe’s in the middle of the day. Wasn’t too many people inside and I forgot to put it on until a few minutes later in the checkout. By that time I was like, ahhh too late.
You sound just like me! I take covid super seriously because of long covid in close friends. I’m not worried about acute infection death etc. “They still test weekly at my child’s school” Where do you live? Country, or state if in the states. Also, why did you decide to go grocery shopping maskless? Long covid is still a thing in the most recent variant, even if vaccinated and booster (unfortunately)
Me! Not sure how. I work in an office that was open through the pandemic. We’ve gone on 4 trips to Disney. My wife came down with it on one of those, we sleep in the same bed. I traveled with my Dad for a trip and he tested positive the day after we got home. I have literally no idea. I’ve tested myself rigorously any time I am a close contact - always negative and zero symptoms. I am somewhat cautious - I try to do any gatherings outdoors if possible, I was really good about wearing a mask most of the pandemic and all - but at the same time, I know many many more people more cautious than I, who has fewer opportunities for exposure than I and still got it. I have no idea. It’s becoming a running joke in the family.
They say about 10% of the population is somewhat immune to Covid for some still yet unknown reason. Sounds like you’re part of the 10%.
I’ve had a similar experience! I followed the CDC guidelines during the pandemic. I was vaxxed and boosted on the early side due to being a professor in a healthcare field. Haven’t done the bivalente though… My university also masked longer then most. I do work from home most of the time. My coworkers are good about masking when sick. My kids are older and masked at school way longer than required (locally, the adolescents/teens seemed to actually like masking). Since the masking requirements have dropped, I haven’t been particularly careful. I’ve only traveled once and people there still masked, so I did as well. I definitely had a strong reaction to the vaccines, so my immune system was probably pretty darn trained for the earlier variants. I know I need to get the new one. It’s just hard to find two days where I can plan to be sick!
Me and my household (husband and 4 year old). I have an autoimmune disease so quite a bit at stake here. I started wearing n95s at the very beginning as my doctor told me to. We all wear n95s everywhere we go. I even worked directly with the public the entire time (in a salon). Before Covid, I used to regularly mask from November to February or March (flu season) at work anyway. I wouldn’t wear masks shopping and stuff, but I would if I was going to a doctors appointment or if someone at work was outwardly sick. We don’t go out to eat at restaurants or do anything where we need to take our mask off in public. Restaurants have always been a high risk situation for me, so I usually only eat at them during summer months or outdoor dining. I run HEPA filters and UV in my home and in my service room in my salon. I have 2 in there. I’ve always done this, though. I’m sure once my kid starts school in the fall we will all get it since it’s basically a forced infection at this point. Hopefully it doesn’t take me out, I got stuff to do.
Yep, until my luck ran out 2 weeks ago! I always mask (N95 from the beginning) in any indoor spaces, tried to socialize outside, very limited indoor dining, test before (small) gatherings, no air travel, use nasal sprays, and I work from home. Plan to continue the above to try avoid reinfection now…
You're so lucky. We have to work at the office right now. I hope we will not be reinfected again. I know one man who has caught COVID four times.
Same. Husband and I got it for the first time 2 weeks ago. No one we know had it, and we mask indoors, haven’t traveled, only see friends outside and social distancing. The new XBB 1.5 variant is said to be very contagious and stealth!
Gosh sorry to hear. Any idea how you got it then? Can I ask what your approx location is?
Unlucky - a small indoor gathering of friends, and we all tested beforehand but someone was unknowingly infectious. I’m in western Canada.
How are you feeling?
Better, thank you! It wasn’t fun and I have a lingering cough but it wasn’t severe.
Do you know how you caught it? From what setting?
I doubted I was infected by the person I worked with, because he kept coughing, but refused to wear a mask. I asked him to wear one, but he said he was totally okay. He tested positive on the second day. What was worse, he went back to work while still positive, and pulled his mask down to his chin. I was very sick on the second day and tested positive on the third day.
OMG, what a disgusting example of a human being! No concern for other people who could have serious outcomes if infected. I'd avoid this guy as much as you can. A lot of bad people out there now.
Good luck. avoiding it is inevitable unfortunately
Yeah, I had been wearing an N95 mask and never took it off unless I had to drink water. I carried a small bottle of 75% alcohol spray to sterilize my phone and hands every time I thought I needed to sterilize them. But I still caught COVID one month ago. I'm still coughing after a month.
How long will you keep it up? Have you considered the stress and anxiety might be more detrimental to your overall well-being than the virus?
It isn't stressful to wear a mask.
Have you ever considered that stressing out about other people potentially stressing out is more detrimental to your health than using MERV 13 air filters and wearing a respirator?
No, I honestly havent considered that. Its an interesting question. I am genuinely concerned about the direction the world I live in is heading, and now that you mention it, the stress that causes could very well be overall, unhealthy.
I mean, indefinitely - I’m not stressed or anxious. These mitigations and precautions mean that I’ve still been able to live my life happily, and I managed to delay infection for nearly 3 years. I haven’t missed out on anything, and when I travel again it will just be with the same precautionary measures. Plus, I feel better as a human knowing that I’m reducing the risk of spreading an infection that may disable or kill someone else.
Mask
Fingers crossed. Vaxxed and boosted. I have severe allergies and asthma. I wear an N95 and often wear a cloth mask over it. I have only eaten in a restaurant about 6 times since May of 2022. TBH it made me nervous. Had friends from the far east visit for a couple weeks last summer, we all tested every morning before leaving our rooms. We had windows open with fans. They had fans in their rooms exhausting air. Just in case. I try to keep any unmasked conversations outside, I stand upwind whenever possible, and have a ceiling fan on the porch if we are sitting. Fortunately, none of us got sick then. When riding in my van I open the rear vent windows to draw air out. I set the middle vents one slightly up,one straight, both essentially going the middle of the vehicle to help serve as an air wall Attended a couple concerts. Wore N95 for them. Had a couple close calls. So far just missed contact with people that got sick. Worried now as everyone seems to be getting sick, and I just got put on a two week course of Prednisone. Edited to add.. keep Vit D levels over 50. And One unvaxxed friend has to the best of my knowledge never gotten it.
Wow, you did a great job!
Thank you, but as we all know way too well sometimes it doesn't matter. I have told my unvaxxed friend that I do test if I know they are coming by, because I don't want to have their death on me. I also just said, and yes even tho I am vaxxed, I have enough issues you could kill me. Don't know how that registered.
I haven’t gotten it, either. I wear 3m aura n95s everywhere. Can I ask about the vitamin D?
it's a bit of a tossup depending on what you read, and what the expectations of the data collection was. I see everything from it's a miracle to it's utter nonsense. So somewhere when crap was first hitting. I read an article about a large number of severely ill patients in maybe Italy (?) having low levels vitamin D. ( I got mine tested for grins and discovered I had about none. ) I am currently enrolled in a Vit D study. It will not prevent Covid. So the short skinny version is having Vit D on board is good for you. You can still get Covid. If you have decent levels of Vit D prior to infection some studies seem to show a reduced risk of severe outcome. Vitamin D as a treatment post infection had no impact. I look at covid as playing a crazy game of unknown odds with variables. Giving unexplained results. Why does one person get deadly ill and their spouse barely gets sick? Type A blood supposedly Bad. Type O a plus. High Blood Pressure a minus. Blood Pressure under control because of ACE2 inhibitors could be a plus. Quantity of Viral Load. Vaccine a plus, not vaxxed a minus. Paxlovid a plus. There's more, but I can't remember now. So I am hoping the VitD and being vaxxed and boosted will help keep me out of the hospital. ( I am old enough with enough other issues I will be in line for Paxlovid asap) I am running with the I know I need it anyway. I know bones and Immune system need it. LabCorp shows baseline is 30ng topped at 100ng. My goal is to be above 50. Crossing fingers right now, a friend with severe comorbidities, fully vaxxed, and over 60 for VitD is about 5 days in and doing ok. (I know, still worried but .. hopeful) ******* (Vitamin D deficiency has been defined by the Institute of Medicine and an Endocrine Society practice guideline as a level of serum 25-OH vitamin D less than 20 ng/mL The Endocrine Society went on to further define vitamin D insufficiency as a level between 21 and 29 ng/mL)
I’ve never had it. I’ve been in and out of hospitals and on about 20 flights in the past 3 years and just mask everywhere. I have all boosters and test regularly. I’ve been out of work due to medical issues and my spouse works from home. I still see people but I’m almost always masked. I don’t really see people unmasked indoors unless they’ve isolated and we all test. My 31 yo mostly healthy brother in law died due to cardiac arrest from COVID in March 2021. It impacted me severely not only because it’s family but also because of the way it affected his heart. Since then, I’ve stayed up to date with covid/long covid research, seen a few friends and a cousin dealing with long covid. What we don’t know about this virus is scary, what we do know makes it even scarier. I’ll do what I can to prevent a chronic condition that doctors don’t know how to treat.
If I ever got it, I was asymptomatic. But yeah, I've been lucky. Masked, got all the shots, and just dumb luck. One of my kids got it and I still managed to avoid it.
So lucky!!
We stay home stay away from people except for necessary doctor appointments. Haven’t seen very elderly parents since May 2019, don’t travel, husband wears N95 to get groceries. Disabled adult daughter got Covid once taking her off our property to walk outdoors at trick or treat at a small local park. Walked around for 45 minutes—she got it we did not even taking care of her. So learned our lesson there—outdoors isn’t really safe either. So back to staying home away from others don’t go into restaurants to eat and other buildings without N95 on.
AFAIK never had it, or even a sniffle since it started. Masked everywhere, distanced, no large groups in confined spaces unmasked, 5x Pfizer, WFH.
Same here. 💯
"I havent lived life in almost 3 years and got 5 vaccines and am still scared to death" jesus the fact that people here are willing to throw the entire rest of their life away to social isolation is scarier than any illness.
Look at my post history. Only a fraction of me "living my life" is on there. You can live just fine without dealing with confined spaces with unmasked. I'm sure my life is very different from yours. Nothing has changed that much for me, I just take precautions. Certainly scared of novel contagious airborne disease that can kill or disable. Only fools are not. I do risky things that would make you piss yourself. Thing is I can manage that risk. Here, it is a whole different game. How many times have you had it?
Says he does crazy scary shit but won't go anywhere with anyone lmao. Have fun cliff jumping alone in the woods with a mask on or whatever it is you do. It's just sad that you felt the need to brag about it to other people .
Dude, you called me out on it, so I called you back. I don't need to be in a huge crowd with idiots to have a good time. I'm guessing you are a single, male with no prospects, no life, and need to get your high off group events.
Lmao the projection is insane on this one. No life? Says the guy who can't go out in public . The most reddit cringe post I've ever seen. Can't even believe people like you exist .
Your reading comprehension is low, or you are just trolling, on a research study post. Are you angry that I have not had it yet? Does it make you feel so upset that you have to reply to my post about the precautions I take? Tell me about yourself, why do you feel so strongly about how other people live? Are you worried for me, feel I'm not living my life? I appreciated the concern, but I'm totally cool, got a great life, and not infected. Have fun trolling other subs. This is a sub for people that are forced to take it seriously, and you are just trolling them. Do you like to torture animals too? Get help.
I never did (not that I know of) until 13 days ago. I wore my mask all the time for the first 2 or so years but this past year I definitely got lax and didn't wear it a lot of the time. I don't work outside the home though so I think that helped the most. Yeah I go to stores and all kinds of places but I've not been stuck in an office all day with lots or people. I used to get sick a couple times a year when I worked in offices. So I really think wearing a mask helped a ton. My husband also hadn't ever had covid until 2 days before I did, which is how I got it.
Yes, I think a mask does help!
My husband and I both got Covid for the first time right after New Years. We were really careful the first 2 years, masked indoors, stayed away from people. This last year, however, we’ve gotten pretty lazy. We are both fully vaxxed and boosted, including the bivalent. We’re a retired couple in our 60’s, so no work to deal with. We do go out to eat and hang out with close family. We got together at Christmas, no one was sick then. No one was sick after Christmas either, except us. Not sure where we got exposed. Gotta say, being vaccinated helped a lot, neither of us got very sick, couple days like the flu, about a week of congestion and cough. No indications of long Covid. Masking and distancing helped a lot, as did getting the shots.
Elastomeric masks.
I put on a 3m 7503 two years ago. Excluding times where I was forced to remove it (surgeries, hospital stay meals, dmv/tsa face checks), I haven't been inside of a building without wearing the half mask since then. During the stretch of time from 2021-2022 where masking was a hot button issue in right wing news, I would get verbally harassed by random members of the public every couple of weeks. Those people have mostly faded back into the woodwork these days. I am still out in the streets: masked, undeterred, and uninfected.
I'm curious. Would you be willing to tell me in what part of the country you live? We have not been harassed at all about our 3M 6000's at all. We're in northwest Washington State. We had one guy smile and whisper "Darth Vader" as he passed my husband in a store. That's all. We call them our Darth Vader masks now.
I'm on the edge of Los Angeles County. It's the kind of place where you will see people in big trucks with flagpoles flying Brandon flags once in a while. For what it's worth, I'm a poc, while the strangers who feel compelled to yell at me usually aren't.
I fear that explains it. So sorry you have to go through that. I think/hope people are somewhat nicer here.
I'm in Los Angeles city, I wear mask for market, etc. No indoor dining or crowds. Many don't mask in public but there are a few of us including grocery checkers. No one has ever said anything to me about wearing a mask. I do notice people are kind, unmasked people holding door open at post office, etc and don't seem to care that I wear one. I'll keep wearing it. Both me & husband have not gotten covid. Medical & hospital lab we go to require mask wearing to enter as well.
P100 filters.
Spouse and I haven’t gotten it AFAIK. - Niosh N95s in any public situation - No large crowds or gatherings (possible family gathering outdoors with prior testing) - Small gatherings with friends outside only with a quick health check-in prior - Eat only on outdoor patios of restaurants if not crowded and numbers are low, if numbers are high takeouts/delivery only - Groceries delivery or curbside only - I WFH so no risk - Spouse works in office but ‘quarantines’ and masks from me at home if outside of his private office with people throughout the day (not very often) - Quarantine for 2-3 days at home if one or the other travels (sleep in separate rooms and n95 mask in common areas) - Wash my hands constantly and disinfect them with an alcohol gel or hand wipe after public outings when I get in my car and unmask - Current on all vax and boosters - Don’t have kids I have 3 family members and 1 good friend with long covid, half of my family is anti-vax sadly which I have not seen since beginning of pandemic because they are too careless. We miss out on a lot but we make the most of it by delving into creativity and self improvement for the time being in hopes for the future. When I look at it all it seems like overkill and a lot but I have been doing it so ritualistically for the last three years it really doesn’t bother me. I do miss concerts and such but am just waiting for more info on long covid to reveal itself. If it weren’t for long covid and seeing what it’s done to people I know I would NOT give a flying rats and would be partying on the weekends. I have been directly coughed on in public which with my n95 (thank god) only amounted to a minor flu (not Covid by PCR twice), but have sat unknowingly with two friends unmasked in the same room for hours who were positive with covid the next day and I (recently boosted) miraculously didn’t get it then either. Only time will tell if it’s all worth it or not, I know I’m going to get it sooner or later…just prefer later when hopefully we have better treatments and it’s milder with no long covid.
Same. Long COVID sounds so freaking scary.
We have only one rule: wear a mask when outside of the home. It means WFH and no restaurants because I can't eat/drink with a mask on. Kids are homeschooled; they also wear a mask outside the home, even my toddler at the park. As far as vaccines, adults got the original two doses and a booster. Kids are not yet covid vaccinated. No one has gotten sick yet. To me, the most important is wearing a well fitted N95 and never taking it off outside of your home. It's led to disagreements with relatives. But we are strict. We can hug, socialize/chat, etc. But the mask stays on. No exceptions. Unfortunately we can't do meals with them but we can come by for a few hours to hang out. Personally I don't feel like I need to justify why I am so strict. But if you wanted to know, it's because getting sick sucks, especially with kids. Was I like this before kids? Yes, I wore a mask on public transport in the winter when I was pregnant, because I didn't want to get sick while pregnant. This was in 2015 and 2018. After i had kids, I wore a mask inside the home when I thought I had sniffles. I didn't want to pass my sickness, if i had any, to my kids. I do what makes sense. For us, masks are mandatory and vaccines optional. I'm not a MD but I worked in virus lab for two years in high school and learned enough to know how viruses work, how they are transmitted, and research for treatments.
I love this answer. It's so simple and so powerful, your protocol. It cuts through all the hemming and hawing and excuses. Thank you!
That sounds like a horrific way to live.
So does having long covid. I have a friend who has it. She can't remember words. She can't work at the same high level of capacity. She gets winded just walking up the stairs. It has changed her life dramatically. Oh, and her dad died from covid. So yeah, both are horrific, but one is by choice and may not last forever, but the other is not by choice and will affect her the rest of her life.
Will probably last forever. COVID-19 is here to stay.
It's not horrific. I do the same. Covid mitigations may be a little inconvenient, but they are certainly not a horrific way to live. I am immune compromised and I wore a mask long before Covid too. It's just a mask. It doesn't bother me. I literally haven't even had a cold in more than 10 years. Before Covid, I would eat in a restaurant during the summer months, but not during flu season. Since Covid, no more restaurants. For me this is a plus. Most of the time, I had to go to the restaurants because someone else wanted to go and invited me and I felt obligated. However, I'm not a big fan of restaurants. I was a waitress for 15 years and I've seen some very unsavory things that make me squeamish about eating in restaurants. I was infected with so many viruses, colds, flu, and stomach bugs when I was waitressing. I was sick constantly, like for years straight. It was ridiculous. I think that is why I have 4 different autoimmune disorders today, from having so many awful viruses when I was in my 20s that are still in my body. You couldn't take off when sick either so you'd have no choice, but to spread it to all the guests. You know what was horrific? Watching my beloved dad die an agonizing death from Covid three months ago. I've been present for the death of other family members before, but I have never seen a death as horrible as from Covid. It's like a movie that runs nonstop in my head now. Even when I sleep I can't stop the horror of seeing it over and over again.
Unless you have been told you’re very high risk, I agree….it’s definitely not fun, but for the average person it’s no worse than the flu
Rite!!! Imagine wearing a mask outdoors!! No fresh air. Sad life!
Never meet people, always wear a mask, don’t go to maskless places (lots of clubs and bars were maskless even though they weren’t supposed to be). Also, I live alone and have no friends.
KN95 mask. Not going out to eat unless it’s outside. Religiously washing hands. And probably a lot of luck.
I was Covid free until last Friday. Usually masked, didn’t go out much, and ate at home a lot. Vaxxed + 2 boosters. I’m pretty much over my Covid symptoms, it was pretty mild.
You are so lucky!!
were the precautions you took and the happiness you were deprived of worth it? Was the fear and anxiety of the virus justified in the end? Do you think you would do things differently if you knew what you know now, earlier? Genuine questions. Asking because I'm starting to question if the anxiety and fear are worse than the infection for most people.
If you are asking those questions, then you are not fully aware of what Covid can do.
I work from home 4 days a week. I don't take public transit to work. Instead, I eat the time and cost of driving and parking in the city. I wear an N95 mask at all times while indoors. I go outside to eat or close the door to my office. My office building has added extra filtration and UV lights to the HVAC system. I don't go to restaurants for dinner. I order takeout. I get groceries delivered or do curbside pickup. I don't go to parties, concerts, gatherings. I don't take unnecessary travel. I don't have an in-person social life. I have lost all of my friends circle. The last in person event I had to go to was a funeral for a elderly family member who died. No one wore masks. It was terrifying for me both in terms of my own safety and how people were so blase about it. I dodged that bullet and spent the next four days at home in quarantine in the basement guest room while my immunocomprimised spouse stayed upstairs with a corsi-rosenthal box ran on full blast. I understand that I am in a place in my life where I have the ability to do these things to keep my family safe. I understand that not everyone can do this. I will continue to wear my mask to protect myself and others. No one will get covid from me, I promise that.
Luck
Me! I worked from home 2020-2021, then at an office where I was next to an open door, and that also had an upgraded filtration system. I was let go in May, and have been home ever since. I wear KF94 masks whenever I go in public, especially indoors, will not eat indoors at restaurants, or go to movie theaters. I haven’t flown since the mask mandates were lifted. My partner and I live in a separate in-law unit, and are both introverted so we don’t go out much, nor do we feel the need to. His father passed from COVID last February, so we both take things very seriously. I also have health problems which make me vulnerable to getting an extreme case of COVID, so that makes me even more careful. We also live in a climate where it doesn’t snow or get super cold during the winters, so we can have the windows open sometimes. We also bought two air filtering units for our 500 sq foot place, which may be overkill but whatever. Both he and I, plus his mom and grandmother (who live in the separate main house) haven’t had COVID yet. We are all vaccinated with three shots. According to several doctors of mine, I can’t get the bivalent booster due to adverse autoimmune effects, but I’m trying to get everyone else to get it at least. They keep brushing me off though :/
I was one of those people up until a month ago 🥲
We successfully avoided it for three years - despite surgery and hospital stays - and now we’re all sick with it because of a visit with my mother-in-law. She went to a funeral, unmasked, and then visited with us 8 days later (against my better judgement). I am the high risk one in our family. My husband works a job that is mostly outdoors and solo, and he masks with an N95 if he has to go into the office briefly or go into a store. I do grocery curbside pickups and have been wearing an N95 to doctor’s appointments. On three separate occasions, I had to go to the ER and was there for over 6 hours and did not catch Covid (wore my N95). We only visited with a few friends and extended family outdoors. We have missed out on holidays with family. We recently began spending time indoors with our parents, as we have a young toddler who was born at the beginning of the pandemic and we wanted to give him a chance to really bond with his grandparents. I was frequently pressured and made to feel bad if he didn’t spend time with my in-laws ( I would frequently say no to indoor visits due to them not being safe - indoor dining, unmasked at weddings, etc). I wish that I had stood my ground and said no to this last visit, because now we are all paying the price. This is day 5 and I’m still very sick - but the first two days were the worst, staying up all night with my toddler crying in pain, spiking fevers of 105. I refuse to expose my family to this virus again - so grandma is going to have to get used to outdoor visits only.
My partner, 68, has never had COVID even through I have had it twice and we live together. I am a teacher at a school where the kids do not mask up, so I am exposed more often even though I wear a mask. He goes out a lot, but wears a mask in small places like elevators, subways, and other tight places. Both times I had covid he slept on the couch and we wore masks and socially distanced in the apartment.
Worked from home as long as I could. Wore masks religiously until the mandate ended, and then only while at the grocery store for a few more months. Washed my hands, didn't touch my face. Didn't shake people's hands, and I made sure to distance, not the 6 feet anymore, but I still stay a couple feet away. I wear a mask while I'm in my classes for school, but not while transitioning between classes. The community college campus isn't crowded, and it's easy to avoid being too close to someone outside. To be honest, I don't know how I haven't caught it. I am immunocompromised. I did get vaccinated and boosted, including the updated booster. My husband also works from home, so that probably helps. Edit: spelling. Edit 2: grammar.
I’ve been mildly, briefly ill a few times in three years (congested/sneezing that lasted a few days) and did not test positive any of those times. I can’t be sure I never had it though. I don’t think I have. I don’t take my N95 off in public, ever. The lone exception is for dental work, five or six times in three years. I don’t eat at restaurants. I stay away from large groups of people indoors, even with the mask on. So no movie theaters for example and I have groceries delivered most of the time. If I need to go to a store, I time my visit for when it won’t be busy. I work largely remotely. So “privilege” is the answer to “how” coupled with a willingness to be stared at and to buck the norm.
I work from home; I haven't eaten in a restaurant since February of 2000; I wear a mask everywhere if I am indoors in public; I haven't been on a plane; I stay away from people if I've known they've been exposed or are doing risky things; and I've had a total of five vaccinations including boosters. I know not everybody has the luxury of taking all these precautions.
I’m on my 7th booster and I wear 2 N95’s, face shield, and latex gloves ANY time I’m outside of the safety of my home. I don’t allow visitors in my home. Not even relatives. I currently have a bucket that I empty every day due to a plumbing leak. Masked, vaxxed, or not, no one is entering my safe zone. PERIOD.
I've not caught it, neither has my husband. We just did the usual, mask and stay low key.
My husband and I haven’t had it that we’re aware of. Got 4 doses of pfizer, bivalent included. Mask in public spaces. Honestly not sure how we haven’t caught it, but we also haven’t caught ANY colds at all in 3 years. We haven’t always been the most careful—we work retail, we went to a 300+ person wedding maskless, we went to a large convention (wore mask) and went to a packed outdoor concert maskless, plus a packed renaissance faire with no mask. We’ve eaten at indoor restaurants a number of times—not often, but we do it. We gather weekly with our friends at their house and haven’t skipped hanging with family or going to family events. We just take our vaccines and mask in public indoor spaces, like work and stores and movie theaters and such. We’ve also both had maskless exposures to people with covid, but we got lucky. We’ve tested negative through this whole thing.
A good friend of mine who has managed to dodge it all this time just smokes a fuckload of weed. Everyone in his house got it except him.
I've not had COVID. I don't know how. People say that if you never had covid, it means that you don't have friends LOL. In the beginning, I was fairly isolated. I was working from home 100% of the time and my friends were all cautious due to pregnancy and babies. I was scared to even go to the groceries. I lived with my parents at the time, and they were also very careful. They sprayed everything down after shopping, washed their hands, and changed their clothes. I also did something similar, but I didn't change my clothes. I still met up with a few people for dates, but it was always outdoors with masks. Slowly, we had to go back into work. My company was very cautious about Covid. They implemented a lot of strategies to lower chances of infection. People would rotate going in. And we had to wear these badges that kept track of who we were within close distance with every day. This way, once an employee was infected, everyone who had come within close distance for 15+ minutes with this person would be contacted and asked to get tested before returning to work. Once the mask mandate was lifted, I stopped wearing masks. But I still continued to remain covid19-free. I think this is because I live alone and don't have kids. And I usually like outdoor activities anyways. I had also been vaccinated 4 times now. Overall, I avoided indoor and traveling activities for a LONG time. My friends were cautious. And my workplace protocol was probably more strict than the ones at airports haha.
Physician on a COVID ward for 2 years here: I went to work and home and gas station and nowhere else. I started wearing a mask in 02/20. I stayed away from the public. At work I lived in strict isolation protocol. I was first vaccinated in 12/20 then still continued my routine. I still haven’t been to the gym since quitting in March ‘20. I still wear a mask in the hospital.
I didn’t until January 10th. 😑 I was just wearing an FFP2 mask whenever I was indoors or there was a big crowd outside.
Yeah, I will keep wearing masks indoors and outdoors and don't want to be infected again.
Stay home mask when indoors
I haven't. I never go outside without wearing an FFP3 half face respirator at all times. I have one of the 3M ones where I can change the filter cartridges every few weeks.
So far as I know, I haven’t. I wear an N95 in all public places - I even wore it at home when visiting my family for Christmas, though I did take it off to eat. I don’t eat out, and I socialize a lot outside - going for walks and hikes, which I can still do when it’s cold, and picnics in the summer. Have a few friends who do the same, so will have them over for dinner and board games. Still go out to movies and other events - I just wear a mask. And I don’t have kids.
Me. I just think I’m lucky. I got all shots + boosters. Multiple very close exposures. I wear a mask on the train during rush hour and in the busy areas of airports. All my friends are vaxxed. I work in person most days. I might have had OG covid as I got sick after attending a conference in NYC in late feb 2020.
My oldest son (47) just caught it for the first time and he has been very reckless. No social distancing, no vaccines, no masks. I on the other hand, have been super careful, did everything right and have had it twice. You just never know.
I mask or social distance in public. Sometimes it is awkward (such as stepping away from the bar while wine tasting) but so far no one has hassled me about it. I don’t go out as much as before, but I still participate in local clubs or yoga, I just always mask indoors. We even went to Disneyland. This was when they were enforcing masks indoors, I really appreciated that. No one in our party got sick (that we know of). I like not being sick. Sometimes I will have a moment where I am thinking I want to go out to eat and will be disappointed there is no outdoor seating option. Oh, I carry hand sanitizer around and use it like I own stock in it.
Not eating in restaurants as much only outdoor dining, wearing a mask when inside with others, wife is a nurse sees Covid patients daily for 3 years but she and anyone that enters the office always masked.
Me. My entire household wears N95 mask anytime we are indoors outside of our home. Husband and I both work from home. Grocery pickup. No indoor dining. Socializing with family and friends only outside, unless everyone has done a mini quarantine and taken negative tests beforehand (for holidays, for example). We were extra cautious because my son was born in March 2020 and then I was pregnant in 2022 and now we have a newborn. My son will be starting preschool in March, though, so I expect we’ll all be sick for the rest of the year.
I lasted until Thanksgiving 2022...I attributed it to being a shallow breather and I don't get close to people....
Followed the guidelines. Also folks within my bubble all WFH. If any of us are sick, we test, limit our interactions or stop them completely. When there’s a surge locally we keep a very low profile, mask up when we need to go out etc. We are all on top of our vaccines.
Me and my spouse. Vaccines and masking.
I used professional p100 (not n95) respirators with cartridges. I also wore gloves and googles. I’ve been vaxxed 6 times. 2 initial, 3 boosters, Covalent. I’m retired so I didn’t do anything but grocery shopping. I got it on Dec 30. Mild case 3 days light symptoms. Took pax.
I just got it now after avoiding it for 3 years. Think this variant is more likely to be spread
I have not caught it. I'm 62. Have had several ppl visit me the night before they were diagnosed, had a grandson stay the night and become ill. He stayed and l took care of him for 2 weeks. I masked up the 1st 2 years, but less so the past few months. I am a retired nurse so maybe my immune system said 'Oh, ho hum, another virus'. Idk but l'm glad l haven't got it.
I didn't.... Until Tuesday 😒
uhhh...Did I have it? I never tested for it so no 😬
Haven’t had it, that I know of. I honestly don’t know how I haven’t caught it. I drank out of a friends drink (while she had covid but we weren’t aware yet.) Also spent Easter with her and her family (same week that I drank out of the drink.) They all tested positive the day after Easter. I slept in the room with my husband when he first started having symptoms. Stopped sleeping in there once he tested positive. I took care of my daughter and let her snuggle with me when she was positive. I’ve rode in a car, massless, twice with people who tested positive the next day. I work at a school and our classroom has been shut down a few times due to cases so I’ve been around covid enough to have at least caught it once but every time I’ve been exposed, I come back negative. I used to wear my mask religiously then stopped around last summer. I do have every vaccine, though. I am honestly surprised that I haven’t caught it because I feel like, with how much I’ve been exposed, I should have had it several times already.
I avoided catching COVID until recently through the same tactics listed here. Avoiding indoor dining, only smaller volume venues, wearing a N95 in high-volume locations (public transportation), etc. I was also pregnant for 9 months so basically didn't go anywhere with a lot of people. However, my husband caught COVID three times so far over the last 1.5 years and I have not once caught it from him. He is super paranoid, so he caught it early. EVERY. TIME. He would feel any type of tickle and take a PCR. For the times that he *did* have COVID, we always caught it early. Even though I was sharing a bed with him, we could catch it before he tested positive on antigen tests and then take precautions like sleeping in different rooms and then wearing masks in shared spaces. We live in NYC, and I did not catch it from him. Once. Now having it with a baby in the home, I am convinced, N95s are the key to avoiding COVID, and catching other bugs as well. I will always wear a mask on public transportation from this point out. Maybe not a N95 but at least something. With that all being said, I won't stop living and enjoying the energy of other humans. This energy is critical for me as a human. So, after three years, I got COVID. I'm probably going to get it again. I am not a chosen one :)
As far as I know I haven’t had it yet. I’m a teacher and have been in school with students the entire time except for the first 6 months when we went virtual. I don’t wear a mask since the mandate was dropped and have had tons of students get it, and my entire family. I’m still waiting and hoping it won’t be too bad when I eventually test positive. I joined this sub when Covid started and have read everything here so I feel very prepared for anything!
I am currently on my first bout of covid because þy husband came home with symptoms, and fluffed them off qs a sinus infection while mansplaining why he didnt need to take a test, because it wasnt covid. It was covid and now I have it too. I am fairly high risk for complications/long covid so Im just kind of in shock. I avoided it for 3 years by limiting what activities I did. I hate wearing a mask so I just kind of only met people for outdoor activities and saved the mask for whatever limited indoor activites I needed to do (doctors appointmente ect). I spent most of my time hiking or horseback riding. I wasnt bothered by this since I was happy not to have to worry about long covid and Im pretty introverted. Now who knows what kind of functionality I will be left with. I am on day 4 and I have lost my sense of smell and taste so I guess its in my brain now. I get winded walking to the bathroom and have to rest, so things arent looking good. I've arranged care for my horses for the next 6 weeks and I guess we will just have to see if I can ever go riding or hiking again or if rhis is just my life now.
Fully vaccinated myself, and only associate with others who are fully vaccinated.
I have never tested positive for CoVid. I’m unvaccinated & have stopped wearing a mask since late last year. I never limit my outdoor activities & would go out for errands or grocery runs like normal. I have felt a bit under the weather a few times during the last 3 years but nothing that progressed after a day of rest, sunshine, vitamins, healthy food & some therapeutics.
I didn’t catch it by not getting tested and vaxxed and living my life while the rest of the world was freaking out. Worked like a charm 👌🏽
You most likely caught it and continued to keep this shit going. Good job
Caught it this January(2023), only masked/distanced when forced and worked through most of the 3 years. My mom brought it home after surgery, she is always going to doctors for chronic ailments 3-5 times a month. Neither me or her were vaxxed, only my stepdad bc of work.
The people boasting about taking such extreme measures to successfully avoid getting covid slightly concern me. I'm worried anxiety and mysophobia (fear of germs and infection) are going to be more debilitating than the virus for a lot of people
Some people, like my family, don’t really have much of a choice about the way we have to live during Covid. Some people are old some people have health issues some people have severely disabled people that live with them. Everyone gets to make choices about how they want to live and the risks they want to take. For my family, we made the choice to try to keep our daughter and ourselves safer. I do not judge anyone for the choices they make because I’ve walked a long road for 35 years🤷🏻♀️people have to do what’s best/right for their family and their circumstances.
Do you think its possible to avoid infection long-term and also live a normal, comfortable life?
Yes I do. We have a 35 year old severely autistic daughter who functions on the level of a 2 to 3 year old. She does have other medical issues too. We did not go out much before Covid due to how difficult it is to take her out into the public with all the screaming she does (she’s a screamer due to her severe autism). We live rural in a small community. We have a nice home and a small piece of land—a few acres. We don’t have many friends just a couple, our family doesn’t understand our daughter so we had to cut a lot of them out of our lives years ago. This happens to a lot of autism families that have to deal with the more severe side of this thing called autism. It is our “normal” and this is all we’ve known now for 30 plus years. It’s like my husband says, we are used to living this way and it really hasn’t changed much since Covid except perhaps the staying home a lot more. we make the best of it—that’s all any one can do!
Wow you sound like a really incredible person. Thank you for your honest reply
It is probably pretty extreme and must be difficult, but the risk of getting long covid, or worse, seems pretty terrifying imo
I agree! I couldn’t imagine living like that! But I guess getting to choose what one does with their life is what makes living in a free country so great
I’m floored by some of the comments in here of families practically not leaving their house for 3 years. Sure, long Covid is no way to live… but is staying boarded up in your house like a prisoner really a better alternative? I could see if there was a reasonable end in sight to Covid, but it really seems like it is around to stay in one form or another… so do you just hold our hope that one day in 5 years if there’s a cure by then that you’ll be able to leave your house? Wild. I’m pretty introverted myself which is probably why I’ve spent the past 4 years Covid free until my infant brought it home from daycare.. but my no means were we ever not going anywhere. We’ve been on trips since restrictions eased up last year, regularly gone to restaurants, and been out in public.. we just don’t have a ton of friends where we live now so most the stuff we’ve done has been with just us.
So how does a mom & dad take a 35 year old severely autistic adult out into the public domain, that person then becomes sick with Covid with repeated infections won’t sleep at all due to being sick etc. 65 year old parent is up all day and all night for days (think a week or more) on end without any kind of help from anyone plus all the usual 24x7 caregiving of baths feeding diaper changes etc etc. How is that going to work???? I haven’t been able to find a way to make that work for our family yet. So it’s better to stay home and away from people for us.
Do you guys drive? If you don’t then that’s that I guess.. but if you do, I believe at one point your chances of getting into a car accident and dying or being severely injured were greater than getting Covid and dying or having long standing health impacts. Everyone has to make their own decisions for their own family as everyone has different circumstances and health needs, but for me staying holed up is personally no way to live when there is no indication that it is “going away” anytime soon. If your family has been trucking along just fine that way for 3 years now though, more power to you.
didn’t get vaccinated
Avoided it until recently. Fully vaccinated and boosted, including bivalent. WFH three days week in office twi, but have my own office. Wore a mask when it was required. Ate out rarely, opted for take out. Caught it from my husband (who believes he caught it from a client when they were at court). We had a nice run going. I've come to the conclusion that everyone will catch it eventually.
Unvaxxed (pure blood), never wear masks, haven’t changed a thing about my life, never had COVID. Feels good man 💪
Pure blood is so cringe man.
This is actually one of the few uplifting comments here
My husband or I haven’t got it yet. We go out with no masks now, go to movies, shop, restaurants, casinos, Disneyworld, anything really. We have been vaccinated and boosted. We couldn’t go out when everything was closed of course but definitely making up for lost time now.
I never did. Or maybe I did in the very early days, I got sick but there wasn't any test or any mask back then.
I know a handful of people that haven’t caught. 2 live in a rural setting and have somewhat limited face to face interaction, and one is just an anomaly that makes no sense to me. He’s vaxxed and everything but he traveled during and basically wasn’t neurotically careful at all, *and* he’s not particularly healthy or active physically. I also know someone that had it and absolutely no symptoms but tested positive for 10 days, so I guess that’s another possibility for all these people. Could’ve had it and not known.
My middle child and I haven’t gotten it yet. I just went to a conference with like 1000 people from all over the country and didn’t wear a mask so we’ll see, fingers crossed. We live in an area with high vaccination rates and masking and I think that helped a lot. We masked everywhere until recently.
I'm pretty sure I had it last year mid-January coming back from a wedding where everyone at my table had it. I never tested positive from 2 home tests and then a PCR a few days after symptoms got worse.
I kept shopping trips to a minimum, fortnightly on Wednesday mornings, and avoided Malls from 11am onwards. Wore masks going into shops etc - never bothered outside, but avoided crowds. I caught my dose this New Year December 30th tested positive, it was a family affair - maybe my wife brought it home from her office, or my son from school, but we all tested positive the same week - and negative again after 5 days, but I felt worse for wear (coughing, flu symptoms) for a week or so afterwards. Luckily not a big deal. I'm 60, had 3 stents put in 3 years ago, and would be rated fairly high risk.
i have a very low immune system, my brother, dad and mum all had covid once (I live in the same house as them)… i somehow have still never caught it. I kind of just did the basics; made a point of wearing masks when leaving the house during the pandemic, lots of hand sanitizer, social distancing etc. Even when my parents both had covid, whenever i left my room i’d wear a mask and effectively isolate myself from them. seemed to do the trick!
I have two great aunts in their 80s that live together and with a nephew. He has had it at least twice. They have tried to isolate when it has happened, but I don't trust that they were super strict and, although they don't leave their house much and they mask when the do, they sometimes have people over. They haven't had any cold-like symptoms so far. Crazy! And I'm not sure about myself. I've never tested positive, but I might have had it when my sister had it... Anyway, I always mask indoors and try to avoid very big events.
I've never tested positive. I've not felt any covid sympy. But I accept i may have had it and been asymptomatic. My job went full wfh in March when lockdown was announced. In the beginning, I limited in person interaction in public to 15 minutes and wore a mask constantly. I lived alone. I also only interacted with two retired family members and two friends from the healthcare industry who got the vax early. Then I got all the shots as they were offered.
I got it for the first time late December last year. I managed to avoid it because I have a very careful family and don’t go out an awful lot.
Neither of my parents have gotten it. They got vaccinated and boosted, and obeyed the mask mandates but weren’t particularly strict about it, especially once they were lifted. My mom also worked in an elementary school for 2 years before she retired last year. They’ve been on several domestic and international flights where they did not wear masks either. I’m convinced they have natural immunity somehow, however it does help that they are remarkably in shape for their age and have no chronic health conditions. Meanwhile, I was probably twice as strict about masking, working from home, and distancing and still got it twice. No natural immunity for me I guess.
I got it for the first time this past December. I haven’t worn a mask in probably a year, unless required. We all go out to the same bar at least twice a week, inside/outside during this whole pandemic, with most friends working at the local hospital. Been back and forth to NYC every couple of months, no mask. None of us got it in 3 years~UNTIL one new friend started to hang out with us~ and bam, hello Covid.
I was COVID free until November 2022. I had a surgical procedure to remove kidney stones, my wife caught COVID in the waiting room; I caught it from her four days later; we each had symptoms for about four days. We’ve both been fully vaccinated and fully boosted.
They were probably exposed to very small and short, sporadic exposures and developed immunity without symptoms.
Literally no idea how I haven't caught it. Got my first two pfizer vaccines plus one booster in Dec 2021, and basically stopped wearing masks unless it was forced since I got my vaccines (no boosters or other covid vaccines since then though). I go anywhere, do anything (like I don't limit indoor activities like clubs, restaurants, etc.), but do WFH full time. I am healthy ish in the sense that I work out 4x a week, take my dog on 3 little walks every day, and take my vitamins. Ever since I started trying to be somewhat healthy, I haven't gotten sick in general (since 2016?), except for non contagious things like bad seasonal allergies, and one yeast infection and UTI randomly (my vagina is sensitive, lmao). My fiancé caught it Jan 2022 after NYE because we went to a rave and a friend's party, a few people at the party caught it and too, as did my fiancé, but I somehow didn't! Maybe because my booster was like just a month before he caught it? We didn't distance ourselves from each other or anything, and I STILL didn't catch it, we both even took a PCR to be sure. Sometimes I feel like I am on borrowed time and am gonna catch it when I am least expecting it, but who knows 🤷♀️
I have all the vaccines and boosters and have not caught it. I asked my dr If getting the Pfizer a fifth time was necessary bc it came up on my app that I was due and she said yes. I didn’t get sore arm the chills or any of the side effects I had the last four times, so I feel pretty safe about not wearing a mask in some intervals. Also was on Accutane during the first whole year of Covid with monthly blood draws and hospital visiting, no Covid catching.
I haven't, nor has anyone in my immediate family, and I don't really know how. We're all vaxxed and boosted but so are half the people who get sick. I've worn masks, but the rest of my family is far less compliant even though we're all high risk. We don't have much of a social life, but I have a kid in college who won't mask who also rides public transport unmasked every day. I wish I knew what's kept it out of our house.
I haven't and I have no idea how. I work in an office providing ABA therapy to kids with autism and we had multiple "outbreaks". There was one point where it was only me and a couple other people that didn't get it. I tested myself multiple times. My husband works from home. I wear a kn95 mask. We just recently started eating at restaurants but during nonbusy times. I do curbside pickup when I can. I don't go out much.
Never have, nor do I know anyone who’s ever had it. It really depends on where you live.
I was doing soooo good until last December 24th :(
I work from home and did so since before the pandemic. Live with just my fiancé who doesn’t work. We both mask indoors anywhere with other people. We never eat out except rarely outdoors in summer or to occasionally get take-out. Only been to one movie since 2020 and wore a mask, which wasn’t fun honestly.
i had it once in june 2022. i got it from my bf when he went into a big city and caught it there. in england, we don’t wear masks at all anymore, but i haven’t caught it since then. i work in an office, go to restaurants, go in shops, have used public transport etc…
Haven’t been sick in years. Get plenty of rest and sleep. Wash my hand when I get home and/or before I eat.