Is covid getting weaker?

[China Expat]

I was chatting with a neighbor the other day and she feels the virus is weakening. She personally knew someone with it back in March who was very very ill and almost died. she recently knew of two people who had it and both said it was just a couple weeks of being mildly ill and tired.

Could it be a milder version now? Or is it simply because we have more of an understanding of the virus and how to treat it?

I would assume it is milder in vaccinated people.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

It's not even talked about in the area we live (N.E. GA) and I haven't seen or heard of anyone getting it in months. I have had it twice. First time I sick for 3 weeks and bed bound for 2 weeks and couldn't even walk up 2 steps. Second time was on the day we were coming home from a Legoland / WDW / Universal trip. I got tested and it was positive. It only lasted about a week. No one in our family is vaxed and I don't need a lecture about that. If it does start back up we all decided we will go get the shot but it's too late for me. I have been going to the doctor since my first bout and he said I have "Long covid" whatever that is. The first 6 months I had a strong metallic taste that never went away. I chewed gum, used expensive mouthwash, made 3 separate dentist trips and nothing helped. Finally one day it was just gone. The one problem I am still dealing with is worse that the bad taste. My doctor calls it, what it says on my paperwork is "Musculoskeletal, Shoulder and Back Pain due to SARS-CoV-2". What it means is I am always sore and my arm hurts all the time. If not my right arm then my left arm hurts. It's never both at the same time. I cannot take NSAIDS due to previous stomach issues and I refuse to take any Narcos. If, I mean a really strong "IF" I could turn time back I would not have been so hard headed and I would have gotten the shot when it was first available. Now I am paying the price. Every day.

 

[ronandannette]

My husband tested positive for COVID. I decided to test also and was positive. My husband had mild symptoms and I had none. I would have never known I had it if I had not tested. I did feel tired but no more than usual.

I've always been afraid of being one of those people who contracted Covid asymptomatically and then unwittingly spread it around. I've tested so many times after being notified of exposure or having vague symptoms but so far, never positive.

 

[disneychrista]

I've always been afraid of being one of those people who contracted Covid asymptomatically and then unwittingly spread it around. I've tested so many times after being notified of exposure or having vague symptoms but so far, never positive.

I think I’ve been tested so much that my nose is now desensitized to the swab.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

This is really increasingly what I'm hearing. It's very random...you just never know. DH and I are going to take our trip in a few weeks...and wear KN95 in airport and on flight...and transfer to resort. After that we'll be free...outdoors breathing covid-free air. Wish I didn't have to wear that mask all the way down, but I won't be comfortable taking that risk otherwise. We're not afraid of getting covid, but it would really suck to go to all of the effort to get there to possibly get a case of covid that knocks us out of commission for a few days.

I remember back in the early days of Covid there were studies and research being done in regards to blood type and contracting it. My cousin actually thinks this is what happened to her and her family. She has a different blood type from her son and husband. They both got it and she didnt.

Now granted we need a lot more research on that, but it was something to think about.

The studies that will come out in the future will be fascinating and intriguing that’s for sure

 

[Disney Ella]

I have been going to the doctor since my first bout and he said I have "Long covid" whatever that is. The first 6 months I had a strong metallic taste that never went away. I chewed gum, used expensive mouthwash, made 3 separate dentist trips and nothing helped. Finally one day it was just gone. The one problem I am still dealing with is worse that the bad taste. My doctor calls it, what it says on my paperwork is "Musculoskeletal, Shoulder and Back Pain due to SARS-CoV-2". What it means is I am always sore and my arm hurts all the time. If not my right arm then my left arm hurts. It's never both at the same time. I cannot take NSAIDS due to previous stomach issues and I refuse to take any Narcos. If, I mean a really strong "IF" I could turn time back I would not have been so hard headed and I would have gotten the shot when it was first available. Now I am paying the price. Every day.

That sounds awful. I hope the pain eventually goes away just like the metallic taste did.

 

[Christine]

I remember back in the early days of Covid there were studies and research being done in regards to blood type and contracting it. My cousin actually thinks this is what happened to her and her family. She has a different blood type from her son and husband. They both got it and she didnt.

Now granted we need a lot more research on that, but it was something to think about.

The studies that will come out in the future will be fascinating and intriguing that’s for sure

I thought that they had kind of ruled that out for now, but not sure. I was always interested in that because I am A+ which was the most vulnerable it seemed, but I read somewhere where that's no longer the case. But who knows!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I thought that they had kind of ruled that out for now, but not sure. I was always interested in that because I am A+ which was the most vulnerable it seemed, but I read somewhere where that's no longer the case. But who knows!

It’s very intriguing about how much is still unknown after over 2 years. I mean we know so much more now then we did but it’s going to be very interesting

 

[wenrob]

As mentioned previously that’s what viruses do. While still cautious I’m not near as concerned about these days though I’ll probably always be a mask user.

Around Thanksgiving my younger brothers families and my mom and stepdad all got Covid. Mom and Stepdad were both vaccinated but as far as I know not boosted. This was at the very tippy top of that big Delta surge. Mom and Stepdad both very frail health and mom had told me that she’d had pneumonia. Now my mom had a habit of self diagnosing so I don’t know if that was ever confirmed by a doctor. Anyway they both seemed to come out pretty well which was amazing given their health. Flash forward to Dec. 21st they’re going to Hawaii and unfortunately mom had one of those light switch completely fine one moment and gone the next moments. Pulmonary embolism. Did Covid do that to her? She had a history but we’ll never know for sure. I lean toward yes.

Beginning of January at the height of the Delta surge we realize communication with my stepmother has been very sporadic. The only person she’ll let in the house and can get in goes to check on her. She’s very sick. So my brother rushes into town (it’s a very complicated situation) and ends up calling an ambulance. Ends up being Covid. She is unvaccinated. From going through her texts she started feeling sick the day after Christmas. She was in the hospital for 2.5 weeks and rehab another 2 weeks. She’s still suffering side effects.

Early/Mid March we’re in the Omicron phase. SIL “hasn’t been so sick in years.” Horrible sore throat, awful cough that lasted five days. She’s vaccinated and boosted. Home tests came up negative but I’m not entirely convinced it wasn’t Covid because:

End of March I go visit DD (we’re both vaccinated and boosted) in Seattle. We’re pretty much on top of each other in her tiny apartment and her tiny car for three days. Both wore masks in public etc. She drops me off at the airport early Friday morning and then calls me Sunday telling me don’t freak out but she thinks she has Covid. She woke up with a scratchy throat Friday morning but attributed it to the pollen which is crazy there. By Sunday her symptoms were exactly like SIL’s except DD did run a high fever for 24 hours. Home tests came up negative but a PCR came up positive. She also described it as “never been so sick in her life” but when I brought up other times she’d say “no, not that bad.” She was back to work after five days. A little run down but recovering fairly quick. I never got sick. Probably tested a half dozen times over ten days.

Since then as we’ve moved onto more strains I’ve known several people vaccinated and boosted who have gotten it (including bro and the above mentioned SIL) who have described it as a bad cold and recovered fairly quickly. One who was not vaccinated and it was much worse symptoms wise and took longer to recover but did not get anywhere needing medical intervention.

TL;DR Yes, given these experiences I feel like it gets weaker as time goes on.

 

[wenrob]

Also in the you just can’t tell how someone will react subject. My DD’s job had three waves of Covid (which is where we think she picked it up). It’s required to be vaccinated there. Out of both shifts and crews only two people did not get it. But the weirder thing is people they spent time with or lived with did NOT get it.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

As mentioned previously that’s what viruses do. While still cautious I’m not near as concerned about these days though I’ll probably always be a mask user.

Around Thanksgiving my younger brothers families and my mom and stepdad all got Covid. Mom and Stepdad were both vaccinated but as far as I know not boosted. This was at the very tippy top of that big Delta surge. Mom and Stepdad both very frail health and mom had told me that she’d had pneumonia. Now my mom had a habit of self diagnosing so I don’t know if that was ever confirmed by a doctor. Anyway they both seemed to come out pretty well which was amazing given their health. Flash forward to Dec. 21st they’re going to Hawaii and unfortunately mom had one of those light switch completely fine one moment and gone the next moments. Pulmonary embolism. Did Covid do that to her? She had a history but we’ll never know for sure. I lean toward yes.

Beginning of January at the height of the Delta surge we realize communication with my stepmother has been very sporadic. The only person she’ll let in the house and can get in goes to check on her. She’s very sick. So my brother rushes into town (it’s a very complicated situation) and ends up calling an ambulance. Ends up being Covid. She is unvaccinated. From going through her texts she started feeling sick the day after Christmas. She was in the hospital for 2.5 weeks and rehab another 2 weeks. She’s still suffering side effects.

Early/Mid March we’re in the Omicron phase. SIL “hasn’t been so sick in years.” Horrible sore throat, awful cough that lasted five days. She’s vaccinated and boosted. Home tests came up negative but I’m not entirely convinced it wasn’t Covid because:

End of March I go visit DD (we’re both vaccinated and boosted) in Seattle. We’re pretty much on top of each other in her tiny apartment and her tiny car for three days. Both wore masks in public etc. She drops me off at the airport early Friday morning and then calls me Sunday telling me don’t freak out but she thinks she has Covid. She woke up with a scratchy throat Friday morning but attributed it to the pollen which is crazy there. By Sunday her symptoms were exactly like SIL’s except DD did run a high fever for 24 hours. Home tests came up negative but a PCR came up positive. She also described it as “never been so sick in her life” but when I brought up other times she’d say “no, not that bad.” She was back to work after five days. A little run down but recovering fairly quick. I never got sick. Probably tested a half dozen times over ten days.

Since then as we’ve moved onto more strains I’ve known several people vaccinated and boosted who have gotten it (including bro and the above mentioned SIL) who have described it as a bad cold and recovered fairly quickly. One who was not vaccinated and it was much worse symptoms wise and took longer to recover but did not get anywhere needing medical intervention.

TL;DR Yes, given these experiences I feel like it gets weaker as time goes on.

I’m so sorry for your loss

 

[wenrob]

I’m so sorry for your loss

Thank you.