6 years since COVID… lest we forget.

[PolymerSkywalker]

You actually can't guarantee that. Yes, many of us tested positive and were asymptomatic (happened to me as well). But that certainly doesn't mean that everyone has had it.

While technically possible, it’s highly improbable that someone 6 years into this hasn’t had a covid virus.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I've never had Covid.

Do you test every time you get any sort of sore throat/cough/runny nose, etc? And then test again a couple days later?

Same.

Do you test every time you get any sort of sore throat/cough/runny nose, etc? And then test again a couple days later?

I guarantee you had it as some point. Me and two of my kids tested positive with exactly zero symptoms whatsoever. It was a very weird virus that killed some and then literally wasn’t even a runny nose for others.

One thing I will say for certain is we went overboard with the school closures and did an immeasurably large amount of educational damage during that time.

How long were your kids' schools closed? I know some states were closed a very long time. But I'm guessing yours wasn't one of those.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Do you test every time you get any sort of sore throat/cough/runny nose, etc? And then test again a couple days later?



Do you test every time you get any sort of sore throat/cough/runny nose, etc? And then test again a couple days later?



How long were your kids' schools closed? I know some states were closed a very long time. But I'm guessing yours wasn't one of those.

Too long! And when they reopened too many restrictive rules that made learning extremely difficult. I had two in grade school and one in college at the time, and all of their educational experiences were extremely impacted and damaged by our response to the virus. Either education is essential or not IMO.

 

[ClaraOswald]

For me, 2020 ended up being extra stressful since I'm immunocompromised. And so is my mother. We were very cautious for a very long time. My son was in kindergarten and his school closed in March 2020 but reopened in August 2020. We decided to homeschool him for all of 1st grade and half of 2nd grade. He went back in January 2022 and stayed fully masked that school year. I think we sent him back without a mask for 3rd grade but I can't recall now.

I still wear a mask in public places like the store. My husband and son don't wear masks as much. But they do wear them when we fly as well as inside places on vacation, like Disneyland.

We caught covid in June 2022....at Disneyland. We had gotten lax with our masks. Cut our trip short a day. We had driven so at least we didn't have to fly back while sick. I was able to take Paxlovid and my illness ended up more mild than my husband's. We all caught it again in September this past year....pretty sure our son brought it home from school.

Thinking back to the "lockdown" days....it really didn't bother me much. We are homebodies so it didn't change our day to day lives drastically. My husband did most of the shopping to keep me safe. Our son didn't step foot in any stores or anything until he was able to tolerate a mask...which didn't happen until sometime in August that year. Thankfully, we are outdoor people so we continued with most of our outside activities (walking in the neighborhood, activities in our own yard, nature trails, etc.) We went several months without seeing my parents so that was really the only bad part. We were grateful for video chatting though.

I think the biggest impact on my life from Covid was how it made me see people's true nature. And it wasn't pretty. It made me see how selfish people are...including those in my own family. I can never unsee what I saw in those around me. It forever changed my opinion of them. It's really sad but it's the reality of it. I will always be very disappointed in a huge chunk of the population.

 

[dizneegirl]

Do you test every time you get any sort of sore throat/cough/runny nose, etc? And then test again a couple days later?

I don't generally get sore throats, runny noses or coughs.

The one time I was sick (DH was as well), we did test for Covid... even though it wasn't Covid symptoms (we were tested for flu as well). It *was* however, the beginning of the big RSV outbreak a few years ago. The second time I was sick was this past Christmas. DH brought home the super flu and shared it.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I had it recently, over the holidays. It was my 3rd time. Really this recent time was worse than the last 2 times put together.

The worst part was the zapping of all energy combined with the fact I couldn't seem to do any physical activity w/o getting completely winded.

 

[texaslover]

You are quite the hero helping those kids out… even if you had to break sweats and pants…

What do you mean by this?

 

[hardcorestitch]

What do you mean by this?

You were nice giving out the needed supplies to the kids… amidst the circumstances…

 

[JulieBeeRN]

It was horrible in the beginning. We saw some really bad outcomes in the hospital.

 

[ronandannette]

People certainly did die from the initial Covid 19 virus.

I think it’s lost some of its virulence as it’s mutated, and at the same time, people have developed immunity to it via having the virus themselves and getting the vaccine. Today it doesn’t seem to be as prevalent as the common coronavirus, though I do wonder if some of the Covid tests we have now capture all of the various mutations, as one of the symptoms of Covid is a very thick, pervasive mucus that can take weeks to go away. People get that thick mucus today yet test negative for Covid in some cases, but that’s just an observation on my part.

Currently, Omicron subvariants like XFG, NB.1.8.1, and XFV are the dominant COVID-19 strains circulating in early 2026, though data collection shifts towards longer reporting periods, making precise tracking challenging, but they are all descendants of the original Omicron variant. Alongside COVID, seasonal coronaviruses (common cold) and influenza (flu) are also prevalent, often causing respiratory symptoms.

The only two people I personally knew who died of Covid both succumbed to the Delta variant in mid/late 2021. It was fierce. They were both unvaccinated, and many would just assume that, but I just looked it up and was very suprised that in Canada, almost as many vaccinated (to some level) deaths were attributed to Covid as unvaccinated.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Education was negatively impacted in so many ways, and we have not seen anywhere near the end. Older kids - the ones who were in high school and college, lost out on years of emotional development - the kind you only get by being around kids your own age. Younger kids - the entire group ended up not being ready for the next step in their education, math in particular. One example; before 2020 the default was for kids to take Algebra in 8th grade. Both of my older kids took Algebra in 8th grade and we didn't have to ask. My younger kid, the one who is now in 6th grade, she has to test IN to take Algebra in 8th grade. We even moved her to a private school that was in person and that helped, but the majority of the kids did not have this option, so the entire class spends a lot of time learning what they should just be reviewing. End result; the entirety of the material they need to learn to get to Algebra is not covered and the (standardized) test scores suffer - so they all get held back by default. We moved her again when the OC school told us the plan and got her extra tutoring, so she will be taking Algebra in 8th grade. Most parents have no idea that this is what it takes.

And not to keep beating this dead horse, but, as I mentioned above, my youngest WAS in school in person. LA County schools were closed, but private Orange County schools were open, so we drove her to a school in Orange County every day. There were no big outbreaks in her school, Grandma was just fine.