How are you managing with the Covid-19 pandemic?

Nigel Goodwin said:

I'm not a fan of American cars, but how about some pictures?

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I bet your one of those "elites" that drive a foreign car. I went to Europe one time and all of them drove foreign cars there.

shortbus= said:

I bet your one of those "elites" that drive a foreign car. I went to Europe one time and all of them drove foreign cars there.

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There's been some suggestion that following Brexit there might be some degree of American imports to the UK - but that is being opposed, as apparently many American cars don't meet UK/EU safety requirements, hence the higher number of fatalities and major injuries to pedestrians.

In the UK you don't have much option to NOT drive a foreign car, as there's hardly any domestic UK cars made

Nigel Goodwin said:

hence the higher number of fatalities and major injuries to pedestrians.

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In the US, in a lot of circumstances, bicyclists and pedestrians have rights or the “right of way” or think they do. So they step out into traffic Assuming that cars will stop for them.

Nigel Goodwin said:

as apparently many American cars don't meet UK/EU safety requirements

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I read some where, don't remember where now, that the styling of US made cars was changed so they could meet those standards. something about the heigth of the grill and hood, so in a pedestrian accident legs weren't as easily broken.

shortbus= said:

I read some where, don't remember where now, that the styling of US made cars was changed so they could meet those standards. something about the heigth of the grill and hood, so in a pedestrian accident legs weren't as easily broken.

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There's been a lot in the press here recently about them not meeting our safety standards, but perhaps they are improving things?.

I finally found a cafe that lets me be me and let's everyone make their own decisions about safety...

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LONDON -- There is some evidence that a new coronavirus variant first identified in southeast England carries a higher risk of death .than the original strain, the British government’s chief scientific adviser said Friday -- though he stressed that the data is uncertain

Patrick Vallance told a news conference that “there is evidence that there is an increased risk for those who have the new variant.”


He said that for a man in his 60s with the original version of the virus, “the average risk is that for 1,000 people who got infected, roughly 10 would be expected to unfortunately die.”

“With the new variant, for 1,000 people infected, roughly 13 or 14 people might be expected to die,” he said.

But Vallance stressed that “the evidence is not yet strong" and more research is needed.

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My partner and I are in Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula, where we have been since mid-November. For 9 months before prior to that, he was away from home caring for his elderly grandparents. He left home prior to the pandemic really getting started in the states, with the goal of getting his grandparents past a few health issues so they could stay in their home with appropriate care from local caregivers.

As the extent of the pandemic became clear, it was obvious that in-home caregivers that worked with a number of patients was a recipe for disaster. When the extent of care they needed became apparent, the option of a nursing home was ruled out. It's not humane to place someone in a facility where loved ones can't visit, anyone they can see is unrecognizable in protective gear and there are no shared meals or recreational activities. "Here until at least June" became September then October and then open-ended.

Long story short, the last surviving grandparent died at the end of October. In November, we decided we needed a break, and getting out of the country during the US elections seemed like a good idea. Also, eating outdoors in Seattle in the winter isn't pactical. So Mexico was the option. It's beautiful in Merida and highly recommended if you ever have the opportunity to visit here.

The bad news is that while we were here, we both got Covid-19 (we invited friends to join us who did not take adequate precautions on the way here. We were stupid in allowing them to visit).

Fortunately, we both got mild cases. I did have to go to the clinic to get steroids and cough suppressants when my O2 levels started to fall. Medical care is good and available here, and after working through the language barrier, I received the medications I needed. Medical care is also very affordable here. My trip to the clinic cost $30 – that's not a co-pay. That's the total cash price.

I don't recommend anybody get Covid, but it's not a certain death sentence, even for somebody of a certain age with comorebidities. Wear masks, social distance and avoid groups in confined spaces. Virtually everyone here in Mexico wears masks. Upon entering a commercial establishment, you will be wearing a mask, your temperature will be taken, and a shot of hand sanitizer will be squirted into your hands.

Sorry this got to be so long.

Visitor said:

I don't recommend anybody get Covid, but it's not a certain death sentence, even for somebody of a certain age with comorebidities.

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It's not just a question of surviving it, it's also a question of what long term (permanent?) damage it might do to you.

I know three people who have had Covid, all mild enough not to require hospitalisation.

One is a mother, early 40's or so?, and since having Covid she's struggling walking more than a few hundred feet, or going up stairs. Her daughter, who's 19/20 has spent the last year (before Covid) or so fitness training, as she wishes to become a Fireman (Fire person!), and was within a few seconds of the required times for passing the Fire Brigade fitness tests - so a fairly fit young woman. As a baby she was diagnosed with Asthma, and while she's had an inhaler she's NEVER had to use it since she was a baby - she's now been told she's SEVERELY asthmatic, and they can't understand how she's still alive after 20 years with no treatment - so presumably it was caused by the Covid infection?.

The third person is a young guy in his early 30's, a regular marathon runner (in a decent time as well), and he now has to stop three or four times for a rest while walking upstairs.

So serious long term, or permanent, damage seems pretty common?.

We done have any noticeable effects from having had it, aside from a loss of the sense of smell, which is slowly returning. For my partner, this was by far the worst impact, as he is a foodie and extremely talented amateur baker. I don't think he could face life if his sense of smell was permanently gone or distorted.

Long-term impacts are unknown – there are many unknowns with this terrible disease. I was pretty much convinced it was a death sentence at my age when I received the positive test results. So I'm happy to still be kicking and screaming with no big impacts at this point.

Like most serious viral aliments COVID-19 can cause serious brain damage. SARS-CoV-2 immune avoidance trick (faking out our normal immune response to a virus) seems to targets the nervous system in some people.

"The brain is one of the regions where virus likes to hide," he said, because it cannot mount the kind of immune response that can clear viruses from other parts of the body.

"That's why we're seeing severe disease and all these multiple symptoms like heart disease, stroke and all these long-haulers with loss of smell, loss of taste," Kumar said. "All of this has to do with the brain rather than with the lungs."

Kumar said that COVID-19 survivors whose infections reached their brain are also at increased risk of future health problems, including auto-immune diseases, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and general cognitive decline.

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Get your vaccination ASAP if you are eligible and work to improve your immune system while waiting for the shot.

I have been a type 2 diabetic for over 16 years. I caught a mild-severe Covid case last July. Lost 15 pounds for which the last 5 I haven’t been able to recover.
According to my doctor, my metabolism increased and is burning calories more efficiently.
The side effect (positive) is that my average blood sugar levels have been the lowest in many years.

Strange side effects, indeed!

I hope the side effects continue to be positive!

schmitt trigger said:

my metabolism increased and is burning calories more efficiently.

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define "more efficiently". Think about it.

Had my vaccine jab last week..

Me getting it would not be fun at all. Lungs are at 60% of peak flow normally and occaisionaly drops lower. Inhalers work a "tiny bit'". In other word a tiny bit of reverseability. I think I had Asthma when I was 16, but never detected. It someone showed up in track or running in gym. It then, sort of, showed up when I had a physical to be able to wear a respirator, but not enough to flunk me. I had seasonal allergies and doing the shots "my way" totally eliminated the strongest allergen, Ragweed. With COVID-19, I ceased getting the shots and there are days that I have symptoms. Probably molds and Plaintain. Our state got rid of information that i counted on. www.Pollen.com is useless. No reporting of molds happens after the Pollen season. To make allergy shots work, I need to correlate symptoms with www.pollen.com to find what alergens appear to be the problem AND when I feel no symptoms with the shot, ask to have those allergens increased. The allergist feels that I should feel better when I'm getting the shots. When I have symptoms, I dont want to get a shot. I want it to act more like a vaccine. making an allergen go from 100% response to zero, means the technique works. I need to get a body response from the shot. That response could be a little tired or sniffles. If i don't, it's time to increase the formulation. the inhalers response is not strong. it contans albuterol and Iprolazolam (Sp?) which helps clear the lungs. There is something creating phlegm in my throat.

Migraines seem to act as a glue, gluing a lot of diseases together. The triggers are environmental and certain food/additives.
The environmental trigger is primarily sudden changes in barometric pressure which has been identified as usually occuring 0-48hrs before rain. Temperature extremes will do it too. Something like 20degrees in 8 hours. I have a number (|barometric_Pressure(t)\> 0.040 in/hr^2 or barometric pressure, but not temperature. The primary food triggers are neutrasweet and vinegar. Nitrates is another. A harder one to identify was citric acid from a non-corn source. It seems to be related to seboreaic dermititus of the scalp (dandruff), acne rosacia, acne vulgaris, blood pressure, pulse and SpO2 (dissolved oxygen/Pulse ox), A food migraine is really tough to get rid of.
There is the inability to breathe and the brain gets very confused. The autonomic nervous system is messed up - I funk the tilt-tab;e test where you look at the change in vitals standing and laying down.

The skin tends to tighten up, get oily and get blocked pores causing acne, so a skin peeling agent like Retin-A is use when needed. Anti-biotics are needed occaisionally as well. I have antibiotics available. When I start on them, I have to take them for 2 weeks. the acne vulgaris (pimples) is no controlled that two docs (a dermatologist and family doctor) said I didn't have it.

Blood pressure will be as normal as can be if the barometric pressure behaved, so as a preventative I take something that prevents the arteries from constricting. If I take drugs that lower my heat rate, the extremes are till there., so i need something to "relax breathing" Guess what can do that? Long-acting opiods. Pain is a part of it, but that's really not what the drug is acting on. it's reliveing shortness of breath.

I had the flu once in my life and I would always get sick around Halloween. I had bronchitus episodes a few years in arow. the use of the inhaler fixed that. I figured out how to fix the getting sick part. it's much like the pandemic response except little mask wearing.
1) Don;t touch any mucus membranes with dirty hands. 2) breathe through your nose, not your mouth. 3) be more vigilent around people and especially elevators. 4) there are times a mask is required. Doing work in a dusty/damp location like plumbing under a sink. raking leaves. Dress in layers: have multiple jacket weights available. It might be cold in the morning and evening, but warm at lunch

The entire family is/was diabetic. I was diagnosed late and the worst. Mom and I are insulin dependent. My paternal grandmother was insulin dependent and dad's sister is insulin dependent.

Mom has a lung disease due to lung scaring. I think COVID-19 would be devistating for me and would be way to easy for me to pass it to mom. We both have degenerative problems, particularly the spine.

The good news
China is working on a more accurate Covid-19 swabbing method...

The bad news


The really bad news
the swab still has to reach the back of your throat.

I work at home, because it is more convenient for me, and I also worry less about my family. We also order groceries at home and try to go for a walk in deserted places.