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.

 

[robinb]

Same.

I've never had Covid.

I had a friend who swore up and down that she never had Covid. Then, about 18 months ago, she was in a nursing home with a Covid outbreak. They tested everyone, including people who had no symptoms. Yup … she tested positive! No fever, no sore throat, no cough, no nothing. She was completely asymptomatic but still had Covid.

I don’t think anyone has dodged the Covid bullet.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I had a friend who swore up and down that she never had Covid. Then, about 18 months ago, she was in a nursing home with a Covid outbreak. They tested everyone, including people who had no symptoms. Yup … she tested positive! No fever, no sore throat, no cough, no nothing. She was completely asymptomatic but still had Covid.

I don’t think anyone has dodged the Covid bullet.

I'm jealous of those asymptomatic folks. They should be studied!

 

[ronandannette]

I'm jealous of those asymptomatic folks. They should be studied!

You shouldn't be. It's actually a very concerning thing. The only time I've knowingly had Covid I was completely asymptomatic - I only found out because my whole family tested after a holiday visitor was diagnosed. DH and DS were mildly sick, but me - nada. I'm haunted by the thought that I may have been contagious without knowing it. Who knows how many people I was randomly in contact with prior to that test? Likewise, have I had it other times and been contagious without even knowing?

 

[cayennews]

Our 1st ever Disney cruise was canceled. Still haven't been on one.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Random memories:
sewing masks, rewatching The Waltons on TV, making a big poster board egg for our front door for a town scavenger hunt, scrapbooking, playing online trivia on Zoom/Kahoot, taking walks and seeing people's chalk drawings, cooking more, reading a lot, being grateful to find toilet paper in stock at the store...


This happened to me as well. We canceled a Universal trip that was supposed to happen right as things were shutting down, and it definitely affected me going forward. I used to love every detail of trip planning, but I became very hesitant, as if everything felt tentative after that. I'm slowly getting better about it, though.

And my DS definitely suffered the effects of his college experience going on line. I wonder sometimes what would be different about his life now if he hadn't have come of age at that exact moment.


But I also agree with noticing things like this. People came up with some great solutions to problems and new ways to connect. Amazing art was created, communities invented new traditions, and families spent time together they wouldn't have carved out without that pause.

I personally became closer to far away family members because all of sudden it was normal to FaceTime people in for special days, to schedule weekly phone calls, etc. And as an introvert, my nervous system actually thrived on that slower pace. I learned a lot about myself during that time that I use to inform my decisions now.

Were these brights spots worth people dying for? - of course not! We would never have chosen to be hit by a global pandemic, but we were, so our only choice was to make the best of it. - To grieve as best we could, to comfort those who lost more than we did, and to acknowledge the ways we were changed by it all.

Everything that happens to us in life will have good and bad ripple effects. Some things are a huge cloud with a very hard-to-find silver lining, some things are wonderful blessings that come with unknown added stressors, and some things are a mix of good and bad. But I think one of the keys to a happy life is shining light on the good parts of whatever you're stuck with.

It almost happened but just on a personal level. I ended up in the hospital today for 3 hours - there was a concern that my retina had detached and I was going to need surgery which would keep me from flying because of the gas bubble they put in the eye.

 

[hardcorestitch]

Our 1st ever Disney cruise was canceled. Still haven't been on one.

Did you ever consider rescheduling it yet?

 

[EACarlson]

I would be beyond shocked to find someone participating in modern society that did not have a COVID 19 infection at some point in the last 6+ years. I believe my family and I got it at WDW in December of '19. But of course there were no tests at that time. I think the initial mortality rate was inflated as it was only including those that had positive PCR tests, and many people were not being PCR tested unless they were being admitted to the hospital, or during autopsy. Which brings up a second point. The number of deaths reported is almost exclusively those that died with COVID, not those that died from COVID. Case in point, George Floyd is listed as a COVID death.
For me at that time, I was scheduled to move from a manual labor job to an office job on March 23rd. My company made the decision to send everyone home that they could beginning March 16. My boss in the warehouse was told that they would need to furlough one person as they expected sales volume to drop. Since I was leaving anyway I was that person. I was able to transition early, otherwise who knows how it would have worked. My kids were in Pre-K and 2nd grade. Some things were missed, thankfully our schools opened back up in September of 2020 with alternate days, so my younger one was able to at least have some time with his Kindergarten class. He did not get to meet his entire class in person until January of 2021 I think. My kids seem to have weathered it fairly well, but I know others that did not. Had a friend that was 5 months pregnant when lockdown started. She ended up being hospitalized on bedrest and her husband and mother were not allowed in to visit her. It was months before her mother got to hold her grandson for the first time. I couldn't see my mother on her 60th birthday in April of 2020.

 

[3rd_time_the_charm]

We’ve had COVID multiple times starting early in the pandemic. Caught it twice at Disney. Luckily we were in a 1 br at the villas at GF and just holed up. It was definitely surreal visiting Disney during the pandemic.

 

[monsterkitty]

There was no statistical difference between the outcome in FL opposed to the outcome in CA. FL had schools open Fall 2020, CA had schools closed through the 20-21 school year. Yes, schools are great incubators, but all my kids got it at one point or another, and they were not in school. Heck, the worst case we got was in 12/19 before they knew what it was, and we highly suspect we got it from my kids who got it from school. We kept getting fed the "you're going to kill Grandma" line, but the one time I got it was from my Uncle who is in his 80's. We are both fine to this day.

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.

As I've stated in other threads about COVID, May 2020 was going to be my last day teaching after 32 years. Not being able to say goodbye to my students in person and share my last concerts with them was very painful.

The district I taught in went back in-person in Aug 2020. The person who replaced my quit the day before school started so they asked me to come back for a few weeks until they could find someone else.

The district was very strict about wearing masks. Parents and students were told if the child did not wear a mask they would be sent home. The high school had an outbreak because students decided that mask wearing was not something they needed to do all the time. I had students whose older siblings caught COVID, took it home, and it did in fact kill Grandma and Grandpa. We had staff in the district who caught COVID, took it home, and it killed their parents. We had staff who died of COVID after contracting it at school.