Is covid getting weaker?

[PollyannaMom]

Covid is on the rise again. But, I am hopeful that the severity of the current strain is weaker. I'm having PTSD after working through the pandemic. I don't mean to minimize what other's experience with PTSD, but when I see things images on TV of healthcare workers wearing PPE, I have anxiety. It doesn't affect me to the point of not being able to care for my covid patients. But it I definitely notice anxiety. And now, I'm getting 2-3 positive test returns a day for my patients. That's about 30% of my tests coming back positive again. I have a handful of patients that I'm worried about, but have not needed to admit someone to the hospital since March.

 

[ronandannette]

Hard to answer this question but one thing I do know is that compared to 2020 when it was originally posted, the Delta and Omicron waves have resulted in more fatalities in our province in the past 10 months than the entire pandemic previously. And that’s with a population almost 80% double-vaxxed and with hospitalization and ICU admissions being much lower. It’s confusing but we no longer do public testing or report case-counts. Who knows what’s actually going on.

 

[Micca]

Hard to say, but anecdotally it seems people I know who have had covid this year, it was more like a really bad cold rather than a life threatening condition. I guess that's the effectiveness of the vaccine? Would seem so.

 

[AvidDisReader]

I have been vaccinated with a booster last year. so in January I went to the doctor for a different issue, but they tested me for COVID, and I tested positive. Did not even now I had it as it was like just a mild cold. It seems that each mutation of COVID is a little milder than the previous. Still an issue for High Risk patients but no so much for the healthy. Anyway, since I work from home, did not miss even one day of work. Just to be safe, I self isolated for several days. I have had no side effects in the 5 months since.

 

[Pyotr]

I had Covid two weeks ago after returning home from a trip to Wisconsin. Symptoms were barely allergy level. I wouldn’t have even tested myself if I hadn’t traveled.

I’ve had Taco Bell that has made me sicker for longer.

 

[dvcgirl67]

I know of two people who got it recently after returning from trips (both on planes).....one a 19 year old, and one a 40 year old in very good shape. Both were surprisingly sick...in bed with a few for 3-4 days. One has lingering symptoms. It's just a super weird virus....it affects people in so many different ways. Makes me a bit nervous for our upcoming trip to Mexico, but we're determined to go....just got 2nd booster on Friday, and will wear a mask on the flight down to Cabo. The resort restaurants and entertainment all have mostly outdoor seating, so that makes us feel better.

 

[VandVsmama]

For my sample size of N=4, the short answer is "Yes, COVID is getting weaker."

5/25 - ODD had to get COVID test for a choir trip she was supposed to go on. Tested positive. NO symptoms at all except for seasonal allergies-type of congestion. Didn't even need to take OTC meds.

2 days later - I felt super duper tired for 24 hr. Went to bed early, took extra Vitamin C, just fine.

DH - no symptoms at all.

1 day after that - YDD gets a what sounds like seasonal allergy cough. Gets a little worse after 5-6 days. Take her to urgent care for COVID test, tests positive. Prescribed inhaler, used it a couple of times for 2 days. About 2 days after that, she's fine. No OTC meds needed. No antibiotics or other measures required.

FWIW, we are all vaccinated. DH & I got additional boosters in April. Kids' most recent boosters were in January.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Tough to say what's happening

DH's coworkers traveled and brought it back with them from West Coast this week they were vaxed and isolated. High fevers and cough but doing ok from what I gather so in this area seems tolerable I suppose, had another set of breakthroughs go around in Feb.

On the other hand my friends 18YO son & DH in another Eastern state had 2 really sick days of headache, vomiting and high fevers but fought it off in a few days. The vomiting was weird and unexpected but the fever made them test and it was positive. No vax but he had it at least one other time at Christmas when that was his gift to his nearly 60 dad, who was vaxed - they both had similar symptoms. Friend had it in Feb, vaxed early no booster and had the long term cough. Definitely weird how it does different things to different people and each new infection even does different things to the same person, tricky.

 

[georgina]

I know of two people who got it recently after returning from trips (both on planes).....one a 19 year old, and one a 40 year old in very good shape. Both were surprisingly sick...in bed with a few for 3-4 days. One has lingering symptoms. It's just a super weird virus....it affects people in so many different ways. Makes me a bit nervous for our upcoming trip to Mexico, but we're determined to go....just got 2nd booster on Friday, and will wear a mask on the flight down to Cabo. The resort restaurants and entertainment all have mostly outdoor seating, so that makes us feel better.

It is weird. DH and I, both in our 60’s, had very mild cases after trip to Orlando in May. Our 32 year old DD and her DH caught it independently and were both somewhat sicker than we were, but recovered quickly. I do believe the vaccine helped with that.

 

[tvguy]

I have been vaccinated with a booster last year. so in January I went to the doctor for a different issue, but they tested me for COVID, and I tested positive. Did not even now I had it as it was like just a mild cold. It seems that each mutation of COVID is a little milder than the previous. Still an issue for High Risk patients but no so much for the healthy. Anyway, since I work from home, did not miss even one day of work. Just to be safe, I self isolated for several days. I have had no side effects in the 5 months since.

I have been lucky so far, but if I had cold symptoms, I'd be breaking out one of the home test kit. Haven't had a cold, cough or scratchy throat since before the pandemic. Normally I have two or three such infections a year.

 

[ronandannette]

I have been lucky so far, but if I had cold symptoms, I'd be breaking out one of the home test kit. Haven't had a cold, cough or scratchy throat since before the pandemic. Normally I have two or three such infections a year.

Same, and I've taken many a home test over the past months because I've sneezed too often or have a little bit of a headache. Never tested positive though, nor has anyone in my household. It is so crazily hit-or-miss with no logic to who is getting it or how severe it ends up being.

 

[superme80]

The numbers seem to be going up a bit in my area, but not too terrible. My immediate family are unvaccinated and we all got it. It was bad for about 48 hours, then we got better. We were tired for a couple of extra weeks. About 6 weeks later got another virus that was in the covid family, but not THE covid. It was way worse. We were sick for a full month. That sucked.

 

[Kitty 34]

Any of you who have recently had Covid, did you have a horrendous cough with it?

 

[mamamary]

Any of you who have recently had Covid, did you have a horrendous cough with it?

My sister tested positive about 2 1/2 weeks ago and had very mild symptoms. She mentioned the slightest cough only lasted about a day or two.

 

[Her Dotness]

There's a very interesting explanation of what eventually occurs as respiratory viruses mutate in John M. Barry's book about the 1918 flu, The Great Influenza.

It mentions that as viruses spawn more variants, they tend to focus their energy upon becoming more transmissible. They also tend to weaken as that happens.

Which doesn't, of course, mean they're not still potentially lethal for vulnerable people. Due to unknown conditions, no one can be certain they're not vulnerable.

It's an interesting book but quite graphic in its descriptions of how horribly the 1918 flu victims died. Be forewarned if you choose to read it.

 

[Kitty 34]

My sister tested positive about 2 1/2 weeks ago and had very mild symptoms. She mentioned the slightest cough only lasted about a day or two.

Thank you for your reply. Glad your sister didn't have it too bad or long.

 

[Pyotr]

Any of you who have recently had Covid, did you have a horrendous cough with it?

I had a very mild cough for a couple of days.

 

[rangerxenos]

Hard to answer this question but one thing I do know is that compared to 2020 when it was originally posted, the Delta and Omicron waves have resulted in more fatalities in our province in the past 10 months than the entire pandemic previously. And that’s with a population almost 80% double-vaxxed and with hospitalization and ICU admissions being much lower. It’s confusing but we no longer do public testing or report case-counts. Who knows what’s actually going on.

This is the problem, you can't trust positivity rates because at least in the U.S., at home positives aren't being reported, and depending upon the state they may or not be reporting test results.

I'm going by what I see, and that's the fact that I currently know a lot of people getting Covid, either for the first time, or again. Yes, most cases are much milder due to vaccinations and/or boosters, but I also know two people who are struggling with symptoms after getting infected and recovering.

At this point I believe that most places have pretty much given up the fight, and we're going to have to learn how to best deal with this all. I'll get my 2nd booster based on my doctor's recommendation, and I continue to wear a mask indoors right now most places unless I'm eating based on what I'm seeing.

I personally am not really worried about myself, but DH would most likely have some issues based on his health.

 

[rangerxenos]

I have been lucky so far, but if I had cold symptoms, I'd be breaking out one of the home test kit. Haven't had a cold, cough or scratchy throat since before the pandemic. Normally I have two or three such infections a year.

Same, and I honestly think it's because of masking up during the pandemic.

I'm in an odd boat, I honestly wouldn't know if I had Covid unless I had a fever or persistent cough. I suffer from allergies year round, and have also been dealing with menopause symptoms for the last few years. More than half the symptoms for Covid mirror what I deal with on a daily basis.

 

[leebee]

A lot of how ill one becomes with covid also depends on which variant is responsible. DD had covid in the "first round," in January 2020. She was terribly ill for about 2 weeks: Fever >101F, loss of voice, terrible congestion, complete loss of taste and smell, blinding headaches, debilitating body aches, fatigue, migraine. She had repetitive, crippling migraines for over a year and still hasn't fully recovered her senses of taste and smell. I have had covid twice; first in Dec 2021 and most recently tested positive on May 22nd. I am pretty sure the case in Dec was the first omicron variant, based on the initial symptom being scratchy throat and headache. I was sick for about a week, ran a fever of 99F-100F, was very congested and achy, was out of work for 2 weeks. Long term I had exhaustion for several weeks and brain fog for several months. The second time I had covid was weird. DH was sick, tested positive, took an antiviral and was on his feet in a matter of days. At the same time, I was sick as a dog, worst cold I've ever had, sore throat, sinus issues, headache, totally congested- and tested negative by at-home testing every other day for 2 weeks. As I was testing negative, I continued to work. On May 22 I went to walk-in care for a knee issue, and as I was slightly congested they swabbed me and ran a PCR, and I was positive. No symptoms at that point, but positive. The doctor told me that they are finding that a variant of the omicron variant isn't showing up as much on the home tests- meaning there's probably a mutation in the antibody binding site, so the home tests don't "see" the nucleic acid and therefore give a negative result. PCR is significantly more sensitive and detects genetic material from the virus whether you've been recently exposed, are ill, or were ill and still have minimal amounts of RNA running around in your system. She said she thought I probably had covid when DH did but it was the omicron variant (the variant's variant) and didn't show up on the home test. Makes sense.