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orleans

(34,105 posts)
Fri Mar 29, 2024, 12:50 PM Mar 29

"COVID-Cautious Americans Feel Abandoned" [View all]



For all of 2020, Alex, a 28-year-old living in New York, followed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 guidance “religiously.” Then, in 2021, something began to shift. That spring, the CDC said it was okay for vaccinated people to ditch their masks in most places. But people were clearly still getting sick—including Alex, who got COVID-19 for the first time in late 2021 and later developed Long COVID symptoms.

“There was this reckoning moment where it was like, ‘Maybe the CDC is not being totally honest with us about the situation,’” he says. “‘Maybe they’re trying to present it like we can go back to normal when we can’t.’”

For Alex, who asked to use only his first name to protect his privacy, that feeling has only deepened. The virus killed roughly 1,000 people in the U.S. during the week ending March 2 and has left about 7% of U.S. adults with Long COVID—but despite its continuing toll, real-time data on infections are limited, most mask mandates are gone, and isolation guidance has been scaled back.

(snip)

Though it may not feel like it, a significant portion of U.S. adults still care about COVID-19. In a KFF survey from late 2023, 26% of respondents said they were “somewhat” or “very” worried about catching the virus, and about half said they planned to take at least one precaution during the winter season, such as wearing a mask or avoiding large gatherings.


(more at link)
https://time.com/6960789/covid-19-cautious-americans/



i guess i'm one of those 26% -- i mask at work and in the grocery store and any occasional trip i make to michaels or target and such. no one enters my living space without wearing a mask (and the only ones that come in are essential such as plumbers or company doing checks on fire alarm, etc. even tho i have 4 air filters), i don't go to crowded places -- haven't been to a restaurant or movie theater since before 2020. i work with a lot of kids and parents do not always keep them home when they are sick (with colds, bad colds, flu, and even fucking covid!) -- and they also don't teach them to cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze. when i visit my granddaughter i wear a mask unless we're outside b/c if i have something (such as covid) and am asymptomatic i certainly don't want to be passing that on to my 3 yr old grandbaby.

such is my life as a 26 percenter.
oh well. i'm definitely used to it.
sometimes i just miss the "before" times

107 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Another 26 percenter here. CrispyQ Mar 29 #1
Me too nuxvomica Mar 29 #67
Ditto RockCreek Mar 29 #99
I've had it twice - Xmas 22 and Xmas 23. Neither time was particularly bad. maxsolomon Mar 29 #2
Long Covid prevalence Blues Heron Mar 29 #6
Well, I stand corrected. maxsolomon Mar 29 #13
Covid probably kills off more older people so less long Covid. CrispyQ Mar 29 #70
More women getting it which from my experience, jimfields33 Mar 29 #73
More women are in work roles that don't allow them to work from home meadowlander Mar 29 #89
Probably? Mainly. maxsolomon Mar 29 #95
I've had it twice. First time was January of '20. bluesbassman Mar 29 #92
Maybe it was all those anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers spitting on and attacking public servants in state houses Aristus Mar 29 #3
I'm with ya. 617Blue Mar 29 #4
Want like hell to see the second DUNE in a theater. Prairie_Seagull Mar 29 #5
Didn't see a single mask at the IMAX when I went. maxsolomon Mar 29 #14
If I had been able to get a ticket for the primier of U2 Prairie_Seagull Mar 29 #18
I think you should risk it. maxsolomon Mar 29 #19
What you got a problem with me? Prairie_Seagull Mar 29 #24
Yup. Happy Hoosier Mar 30 #107
I'd rather have Covid Mr.Bill Mar 29 #48
I've had good luck with weekday (late) morning movies with basically no crowds. BannonsLiver Mar 29 #79
Also don't have to go to the premiere. Wait a couple weeks and go at a quiet time. meadowlander Mar 29 #90
All of us should be feel abandoned, whether we're protecting ourselves or not, because that's what happened. WhiskeyGrinder Mar 29 #7
you are much more cautious (sensible?) than I... ret5hd Mar 29 #8
Same for me. pazzyanne Mar 29 #26
I'm very disappointed that free COVID tests are no longer available. Coventina Mar 29 #9
I haven't heard of anyone getting Covid in four months jimfields33 Mar 29 #56
I had it back in February. Coventina Mar 29 #57
Yes, bdamomma Mar 29 #82
I got it in January of this year. SergeStorms Mar 29 #61
I'm sorry you went through that. jimfields33 Mar 29 #72
I hear of people I know getting it all the time. stage left Mar 29 #69
Thousands still dying? jimfields33 Mar 29 #74
US COVID death data from the CDC, weekly since last December Blues Heron Mar 29 #97
Wow. Definitely newsworthy jimfields33 Mar 29 #98
Over 5.8 young Americans are suffering from Long Covid... Pluvious Mar 30 #106
My vaccinated friends had it. 70 and 60 something . She works in a college with young people. Maggiemayhem Mar 29 #77
Hopefully we time goes, it will be less and less. jimfields33 Mar 29 #80
There's a strain going around now. meadowlander Mar 29 #91
I hope it's very weak for them and they will recover in jimfields33 Mar 29 #93
A colleague of mine received his last rites. Wednesdays Mar 30 #105
'like we can go back to normal when we can't.' NutmegYankee Mar 29 #10
Don't say that out loud. maxsolomon Mar 29 #15
I agree. SergeStorms Mar 29 #63
you sound like you're mocking those who are "worried" / concerned / extra cautious about covid orleans Mar 29 #85
I'm mocking the poll's "somewhat worried", which is amorphous and ill-definied. maxsolomon Mar 29 #86
pretty much verifies what we already know Skittles Mar 29 #101
Same up here in Canada. EllieBC Mar 29 #17
This might help explain the current guidelines from the CDC Chakaconcarne Mar 29 #11
I wear masks still... 2naSalit Mar 29 #12
That's where it makes sense. That's where I still wear one. maxsolomon Mar 29 #20
I bought into the bs XanaDUer2 Mar 29 #16
The CDC didn't say that vaccines would stop you from contracting it. maxsolomon Mar 29 #21
I misunderstood XanaDUer2 Mar 29 #23
I had all the vaccines and boosters without any problems, but young_at_heart Mar 29 #30
Sorry to hear that. maxsolomon Mar 29 #35
Yes....I should have mentioned that! young_at_heart Mar 29 #46
I rarely see masks here in TX anymore, and folks will look away if you mention "pandemic" TBF Mar 29 #22
still cautious, still haven't caught it paulkienitz Mar 29 #25
For it to be as high as 26%, I'd have to conclude not just masking, but avoiding being in public at all... Silent3 Mar 29 #27
That's my approach. WestMichRad Mar 29 #34
I don't avoid going into public at all meadowlander Mar 29 #94
OG COVID and post Omicron COVID are not the same disease. speak easy Mar 29 #28
Very few masks PennRalphie Mar 29 #29
I respect what other people choose to do. Happy Hoosier Mar 29 #31
For the most part, the only folks I see wearing masks in public places are the ones my age * Oopsie Daisy Mar 29 #32
mandatory in hospital/lab or dr's office? what state are you in? it sounds great! nt orleans Mar 29 #60
MD/DC * Oopsie Daisy Mar 29 #71
that's great. i wish the places around here (chgo burbs) would do that. they do not. nt orleans Mar 29 #87
I still wear masks everywhere dlk Mar 29 #33
We can mask if we want to IronLionZion Mar 29 #36
Not sure DENVERPOPS Mar 29 #37
Actually, the COVID death toll was 383 last week. speak easy Mar 29 #38
The story says the week ending March 2, which is accurate according to your own source Prairie Gates Mar 29 #42
This message was self-deleted by its author speak easy Mar 29 #43
But the death toll for the week of March 2nd thucythucy Mar 29 #44
On an article posted 27 March. speak easy Mar 29 #45
So it was written maybe a week or two earlier? thucythucy Mar 29 #49
I am not taking COVID lightly. speak easy Mar 29 #96
I wear masks out in public. thucythucy Mar 29 #39
"Trivial inconvenience"? maxsolomon Mar 29 #62
Not everyone is a shut-in Sympthsical Mar 29 #40
Really, all those people with cancer thucythucy Mar 29 #47
People not masking isn't an American only thing. Ace Rothstein Mar 29 #52
Most people hate paying taxes thucythucy Mar 29 #54
It's just like the flu Sympthsical Mar 29 #55
Oh I "accept the reality." thucythucy Mar 29 #100
Agree 100% beaglelover Mar 29 #78
I haven't a business or a customer's home unmasked since the pandemic began Orrex Mar 29 #41
I had it before they knew what it was, although they'd isolated the virus. Warpy Mar 29 #50
Just to let you know newdayneeded Mar 29 #102
Still mask indoors outside of my own apt. Unmask outdoors, but avoid big crowds, or mask when passing modest groups... electric_blue68 Mar 29 #51
I've never stopped masking indoors EnergizedLib Mar 29 #53
I am still pretty hermitized since the COVID 19 hit the scene SouthernDem4ever Mar 29 #58
I still always mask. Got laughed at in a checkout at Target in Huntsville, AL. sybylla Mar 29 #59
Some of the cashiers at the supermarkets here wear masks... IcyPeas Mar 29 #64
I take precautions, but I would be surprised if I didn't get it at some point over the past few years. Gore1FL Mar 29 #65
We have masked since the beginning. Never MOMFUDSKI Mar 29 #66
I agree stage left Mar 29 #75
I don't mask up anymore, but I am compulsive about washing my hands. I wash my hands catbyte Mar 29 #68
I'm with you! Hope22 Mar 29 #76
Since my daughter's disability is the result of a brain injury (cerebral palsy), we are still doing deurbano Mar 29 #81
I was one of few masked passengers on recent flights ClickClack Mar 29 #83
The CDC isn't there to keep any individual person safe Mountainguy Mar 29 #84
The goal was never stop everyone from ever getting Covid. It was always focused on not overwhelming the medical system. meadowlander Mar 29 #88
I also mask at the supermarket LetMyPeopleVote Mar 29 #103
k&r n/t area51 Mar 30 #104
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