Helpful Reaction to Getting Covid

 

My next-door neighbors have what I think should become a normal reaction to getting Covid. Four of the five of them have gotten Covid, and they are reacting much the same way they would if they all got the flu or some other common bug. They want to sleep; members of their church are dropping food on their doorstep; they are talking to their physicians; and on recommendations of those physicians, they are beginning a treatment regimen.

No panic. No “oh no we’re all going to die!” They have asked people not to bombard them with demands they “must” take certain medications or treatments, since those demands often come from a political or social agenda. As Christians, they also know that God has ultimate knowledge of the outcome. They also humorously tease the nine-year-old – the one family member who seems to have escaped (so far).

Husband/dad (about age 42) vaccinated; Wife/mom (age 38) not vaccinated based on recommendations of physicians because of her particular medical state; Children (age 11, 9, and 3). Husband/dad and wife/mom report almost identical symptoms. Children’s symptoms are somewhat different.

The Covid virus is almost certainly not going to disappear from the earth. To me, “normal” will be when we respond to it like the myriad other communicable diseases with very small mortality rates with which we already live.

For some people, Covid does create serious and sometimes fatal results. But those results are rare. Yet for almost two years we have been reacting as though a diagnosis of Covid is almost a death sentence. The rare serious results are publicized by the government and in the media to the point that many people have an exaggerated sense of the risks posed by the disease. Too many people believe Covid has a very high mortality rate (something like a fifth of the public believes the Covid mortality rate is more than 10%, many believe that large numbers of young people die of Covid, and apparently about a third of the public believes more than half of Covid cases result in hospitalization). The reactions based on such exaggerated results have paralyzed a lot of society and prevented a lot of life from being lived.

I appreciate seeing a family react to Covid as yet another of the many very inconvenient and painful but ultimately low-risk illnesses that run through households. It is good to see more measured reactions from families like my neighbors.

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  1. Misthiocracy got drunk and Member
    Misthiocracy got drunk and
    @Misthiocracy

    On the one hand: There is a caveat that Covid has indeed caused ICU capacity to reach the near-breaking point in some (many?) jurisdictions.

    On the other hand: What they don’t tell you is just how often ICU capacity reached the near-breaking point in those jurisdictions before Covid.  i.e. In many (most?) of those jurisdictions the problem isn’t Covid but rather endemic underfunding of ICU units.

    • #1
  2. JustmeinAZ Member
    JustmeinAZ
    @JustmeinAZ

    I have people coming to my house quite a bit because I am cleaning out my garage and cupboards and sell things on Nextdoor. Some wear masks but most don’t and just come right in. However I sold a necklace to a lady who texted me that she had arrived and was in the car in front of my house. I rarely look at these messages so I didn’t answer. When she came to the door she looked like she was a doc in an OR – mask, gloves, etc. She wouldn’t come inside, handed me an envelope with the money and took her necklace. Oh, well. Maybe she was really at risk.

    • #2
  3. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):

    On the one hand: There is a caveat that Covid has indeed caused ICU capacity to reach the near-breaking point in some (many?) jurisdictions.

    On the other hand: What they don’t tell you is just how often ICU capacity reached the near-breaking point in those jurisdictions before Covid. i.e. In many (most?) of those jurisdictions the problem isn’t Covid but rather endemic underfunding of ICU units.

    Hospitals, like other businesses, must operate at something near capacity in order to cover the overhead. ICU are built to handle what the governing authorities calculate as a reasonably expected need. In most jurisdictions, the permitting authorities dictate/approve bed capacities, including ICU’s.

    • #3
  4. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    Misthiocracy got drunk and (View Comment):

    On the one hand: There is a caveat that Covid has indeed caused ICU capacity to reach the near-breaking point in some (many?) jurisdictions.

    On the other hand: What they don’t tell you is just how often ICU capacity reached the near-breaking point in those jurisdictions before Covid. i.e. In many (most?) of those jurisdictions the problem isn’t Covid but rather endemic underfunding of ICU units.

    Hospitals, like other businesses, must operate at something near capacity in order to cover the overhead. ICU are built to handle what the governing authorities calculate as a reasonably expected need. In most jurisdictions, the permitting authorities dictate/approve bed capacities, including ICU’s.

    There was (and sometimes still is) a lot of fear mongering over ICU capacity with respect to Covid. Mostly by failing to point out that normal desirable state for  hospital (from a business standpoint) is 85-90% occupancy, and that it is not unusual during certain times of year for a hospital to operate at 100-110% ICU capacity. Thus, filling to 95% occupancy is not some crisis deserving of unusual panic. 

    • #4
  5. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    The 9 year old now also has symptoms. But, I’m guessing that will give the family great protections for the future!

    • #5
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