8 ms·

For two years we’ve been asked to park our problems and to act like literally all that matters is the spread of Covid. Nothing else matters. Just a myopic fixat

For two years we’ve been asked to park our problems and to act like literally all that matters is the spread of Covid. Nothing else matters. Just a myopic fixation on the spread of one highly infectious respiratory virus. Even a year after vaccines we are still being asked to treat Covid like it is the #1 priority in our lives. More important than our well being, our mental health, our communities, our children, or anything else. Heaven help you if your value system is incompatible with such an idea. Be prepared to be yelled at, called names, lose your career, and become marginalized.

giantg2 5y ago
"Even a year after vaccines we are still being asked to treat Covid like it is the #1 priority in our lives. More important than our well being, our mental health, our communities, our children, or anything else." Depends on where you live. There are many rural/red areas that are basically back to normal.
deleted 5y ago
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edgyquant 5y ago
Well put. I’m a 29 year old male who moved to a new city right before covid and my life has basically been put on hold for two years now with my only access to meeting potential partners being Tinder (or bars, I suppose.) All the activities I try to join (other than my BJJ classes) are remote. Chess club is remote (might as well just play chess.com) my bipolar support group is remote, etc.
- standardUser 5y ago
  I am very curious, which city? I moved to NYC in early pandemic and have had an extremely robust dating and social life. Even in 2020 dating was not difficult here. And for the past year or so life has been 95% normal, with big events, shows, packed bars, etc.
hydrok9 5y ago
How about if you have anxiety issues and the reduced inflow of air from masks gives you panic attacks? This has been my life for this pandemic. I take medication but it does not stop them 100% from happening, and I have to use anti-anxiety techniques most times I put one on to stop from being overwhelmed by anticipation. Does anyone care about people like me? It sure feels like they don't. And I have seen my physical and mental condition degrade largely due to this (I was never personally panicked by the virus itself). There are others like me and it is deeply upsetting that we have to suffer like this.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  [ EDIT: other commenters response to this comment made me go look up some original research on the topic. As a result, I fully retract what I've said below. I found several papers that report substantial restrictions of airflow from wearing a correctly fitted N95 mask. I was wrong, and I apologize for the misinformation. I did try to explicitly say that I was not doubting someone's experiences, but I apologize for appearing to do that too. I've left the text up because that seems more honest. ] I do not want to seek to diminish your very real anxiety and panic issues. But you should be aware that there is no actual reduced inflow of air due to mask wearing, certainly not one that you would detect physiologically. In 2020, there were numerous demonstrations of this, both with actual measurements (lung volume, blood oxygen etc.) and with more anecdotal illustrations such as vigorous exercise even while wearing multiple masks. Your mental conditions matter, and I hope you are able find ways to live reasonably happily without too much anxiety.
  - hydrok9 5y ago
    I do not want to seek to diminish your very real belief that my issues are not real. But they are. My panic attacks in public started when I had to wear masks. When I am anxious or stressed, my breathing shallows. When this happens and I am wearing a mask, i have even less airflow coming in. I have tested this by simply lowering my mask, and examining how much air enters my nasal cavity. It is a huge difference. Or, I should say, it makes a huge difference to my mental state, even if the change in oxygen is relatively small. My psychiatrist, therapist and gp all confirmed this. Frankly, you should trust people with these actual conditions. We are living it, you aren't.
subsubzero 5y ago
The north star for most countries and cities has always been cases over hospitalizations or deaths. With vaccine intake high in most developed countries a covid infection is like a cold or a bad flu for some. I think the time has come to rethink this goal of cases being a metric to shut down everything and let society return to some sense of normalcy while still maintaining a safety mandate for those with special conditions(who could potentially die from covid). Another thing to note, the CDC has mentioned that cloth masks are not effective against omnicron, I know this firsthand as my whole family wore them and we all spread it to each other as the masks did not stop the spread despite hospital levels of disinfection and extreme precaution. With that being said most kids masks are cloth and surgical masks or n95/kn95 masks(cdc says these are effective) are not made for little kids. So whats going on is kids are forced to wear masks that will not protect them against omicron. Lastly, although the sample size is low my daughter and other kids in her class got covid and had zero symptoms or very minor ones at worst(they were all fully vaccinated) so I wonder what is the benefit of these extreme precautions that don't really seem relevant based on government health declarations(cloth masks don't work, kids[who don't have serious medical issues] have good protection against covid due to age).
- hammock 5y ago
  Sounds like you are on a path to awakening so I don't want to discourage you, but it might be worth sharing additional data and context to parts of your comment. >With vaccine intake high in most developed countries a covid infection is like a cold or a bad flu for some. That may be more driven by the mildness of Omicron than it is by the protective effect of the vaccine. For example, the latest data show that vaccinated (but not boosted) are getting sick and dying at higher rates than unvaccinated. One source (14 per 100k vs 10 per 100k): https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/11318/22-01-26-covid19-winter_publication_report.pdf https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/11318/22-01-26-covid... >Another thing to note, the CDC has mentioned that cloth masks are not effective against omnicron This is something that is in all likelihood not variant-specific. In other words, cloth masks were always ineffective, however with the increased transmissibility of Omicron, this fact of ineffectiveness has become readily apparent.
  - 5y ago
standardUser 5y ago
I have to assume you live on the West Coast. I have spent a couple months in and around SF during pandemic, but I live in NYC and have travelled to many other places. The West Coast experience seems to be a singularly restrictive experience. I'd hesitate to assume the entire nation is experiencing things the same way as you describe them (they are not). Though it does seem like many students across the nation are getting the super-restrictive experience as well.
- dymk 5y ago
  It also depends where on the West Coast you live, of course. It's more of a city/rural divide. I live south of Seattle. Seattle is restrictive, everybody outside is wearing masks, many restaurants are still take-out only, business are open for limited hours. But you go 40 minutes south to, say, Puyallup, and the COVID restrictions are much more relaxed (if present at all).
  - techsupporter 5y ago
    > Puyallup, and the COVID restrictions are much more relaxed (if present at all). Meanwhile, the medical group I work for in Seattle is being absolutely swamped by patients being transferred from overwhelmed hospital and urgent care facilities in Pierce and Thurston counties. We've had to stop doing anything but COVID-related care and the only reason we have the capacity to do that is because we don't operate an emergency room so we can't take on the worst-of-the-worst cases. According to our daily COVID update report, we have a handful of patients who gave residence addresses--we ask for this because the county and state departments of health want it for statistics, among other reasons--inside Seattle and just a few more inside King County. It's a very stressful time for many of us, and it isn't helped by the disparity in level of care, let's say, over COVID prevention measures even inside the region.
    - dymk 5y ago
      I'd imagine this is also due, at least in part, to Pierce County / South Sound having a lower vaccination rate than the Seattle metro area.
jasonlotito 5y ago
> For two years we’ve been asked to park our problems and to act like literally all that matters is the spread of Covid. The problem is only half the population really followed through. These measures are still needed more because half the population effectively thinks COVID is no big deal or a hoax.
- xigoi 5y ago
  Many of the restrictions were mandatory, so all people had to follow through…
  - ajford 5y ago
    Yeah, just because it was mandatory doesn't mean people followed through. I live in a very progressive city and we still had many people refusing to follow mask mandates at the height of pre-vaccine pandemic. People ripping down mask signs, spitting on people, arguing at the doors to a store, etc.
    - xigoi 5y ago
      Interesting, I haven't noticed any of that. Maybe my country has a different mentality. I do see some people not having the masks cover their nose, but definitely nowhere near 50%, more like 5% at worst.
      - ajford 5y ago
        Totally get that. A friend of mine from Finland said compliance with mandates and safety advisories was a lot better back home than those in the US. There's a lot of people in the US arguing that mask mandates and other medical precautions are "violating their freedom".
    - spookthesunset 5y ago
      As they should. Mask mandates were always more religion than science. Calmer heads decades from now will suggest as much.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Mockapapella 5y ago
Just to throw my anecdote into the ring -- I live in a mid sized city in the midwest. People have largely stopped wearing masks since about March of last year in all places except for hospitals (and even then it's just those crappy generic blue masks). My GF and I actually had a bit of culture shock when we took a trip to Chicago a few weeks ago and 95%+ people were wearing masks everywhere they went, along with private businesses requiring masks and proof of vaccination. It's not like the people around here aren't aware of COVID-19 and the subsequent variants, we just kind of moved on.

giantg2 5y ago

"Even a year after vaccines we are still being asked to treat Covid like it is the #1 priority in our lives. More important than our well being, our mental health, our communities, our children, or anything else." Depends on where you live. There are many rural/red areas that are basically back to normal.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

edgyquant 5y ago

Well put. I’m a 29 year old male who moved to a new city right before covid and my life has basically been put on hold for two years now with my only access to meeting potential partners being Tinder (or bars, I suppose.) All the activities I try to join (other than my BJJ classes) are remote. Chess club is remote (might as well just play chess.com) my bipolar support group is remote, etc.

standardUser 5y ago
I am very curious, which city? I moved to NYC in early pandemic and have had an extremely robust dating and social life. Even in 2020 dating was not difficult here. And for the past year or so life has been 95% normal, with big events, shows, packed bars, etc.

hydrok9 5y ago

How about if you have anxiety issues and the reduced inflow of air from masks gives you panic attacks? This has been my life for this pandemic. I take medication but it does not stop them 100% from happening, and I have to use anti-anxiety techniques most times I put one on to stop from being overwhelmed by anticipation. Does anyone care about people like me? It sure feels like they don't. And I have seen my physical and mental condition degrade largely due to this (I was never personally panicked by the virus itself). There are others like me and it is deeply upsetting that we have to suffer like this.

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
[ EDIT: other commenters response to this comment made me go look up some original research on the topic. As a result, I fully retract what I've said below. I found several papers that report substantial restrictions of airflow from wearing a correctly fitted N95 mask. I was wrong, and I apologize for the misinformation. I did try to explicitly say that I was not doubting someone's experiences, but I apologize for appearing to do that too. I've left the text up because that seems more honest. ] I do not want to seek to diminish your very real anxiety and panic issues. But you should be aware that there is no actual reduced inflow of air due to mask wearing, certainly not one that you would detect physiologically. In 2020, there were numerous demonstrations of this, both with actual measurements (lung volume, blood oxygen etc.) and with more anecdotal illustrations such as vigorous exercise even while wearing multiple masks. Your mental conditions matter, and I hope you are able find ways to live reasonably happily without too much anxiety.
- hydrok9 5y ago
  I do not want to seek to diminish your very real belief that my issues are not real. But they are. My panic attacks in public started when I had to wear masks. When I am anxious or stressed, my breathing shallows. When this happens and I am wearing a mask, i have even less airflow coming in. I have tested this by simply lowering my mask, and examining how much air enters my nasal cavity. It is a huge difference. Or, I should say, it makes a huge difference to my mental state, even if the change in oxygen is relatively small. My psychiatrist, therapist and gp all confirmed this. Frankly, you should trust people with these actual conditions. We are living it, you aren't.

subsubzero 5y ago

The north star for most countries and cities has always been cases over hospitalizations or deaths. With vaccine intake high in most developed countries a covid infection is like a cold or a bad flu for some. I think the time has come to rethink this goal of cases being a metric to shut down everything and let society return to some sense of normalcy while still maintaining a safety mandate for those with special conditions(who could potentially die from covid). Another thing to note, the CDC has mentioned that cloth masks are not effective against omnicron, I know this firsthand as my whole family wore them and we all spread it to each other as the masks did not stop the spread despite hospital levels of disinfection and extreme precaution. With that being said most kids masks are cloth and surgical masks or n95/kn95 masks(cdc says these are effective) are not made for little kids. So whats going on is kids are forced to wear masks that will not protect them against omicron. Lastly, although the sample size is low my daughter and other kids in her class got covid and had zero symptoms or very minor ones at worst(they were all fully vaccinated) so I wonder what is the benefit of these extreme precautions that don't really seem relevant based on government health declarations(cloth masks don't work, kids[who don't have serious medical issues] have good protection against covid due to age).

hammock 5y ago
Sounds like you are on a path to awakening so I don't want to discourage you, but it might be worth sharing additional data and context to parts of your comment. >With vaccine intake high in most developed countries a covid infection is like a cold or a bad flu for some. That may be more driven by the mildness of Omicron than it is by the protective effect of the vaccine. For example, the latest data show that vaccinated (but not boosted) are getting sick and dying at higher rates than unvaccinated. One source (14 per 100k vs 10 per 100k): https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/11318/22-01-26-covid19-winter_publication_report.pdf https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/11318/22-01-26-covid... >Another thing to note, the CDC has mentioned that cloth masks are not effective against omnicron This is something that is in all likelihood not variant-specific. In other words, cloth masks were always ineffective, however with the increased transmissibility of Omicron, this fact of ineffectiveness has become readily apparent.
- 5y ago

standardUser 5y ago

I have to assume you live on the West Coast. I have spent a couple months in and around SF during pandemic, but I live in NYC and have travelled to many other places. The West Coast experience seems to be a singularly restrictive experience. I'd hesitate to assume the entire nation is experiencing things the same way as you describe them (they are not). Though it does seem like many students across the nation are getting the super-restrictive experience as well.

dymk 5y ago
It also depends where on the West Coast you live, of course. It's more of a city/rural divide. I live south of Seattle. Seattle is restrictive, everybody outside is wearing masks, many restaurants are still take-out only, business are open for limited hours. But you go 40 minutes south to, say, Puyallup, and the COVID restrictions are much more relaxed (if present at all).
- techsupporter 5y ago
  > Puyallup, and the COVID restrictions are much more relaxed (if present at all). Meanwhile, the medical group I work for in Seattle is being absolutely swamped by patients being transferred from overwhelmed hospital and urgent care facilities in Pierce and Thurston counties. We've had to stop doing anything but COVID-related care and the only reason we have the capacity to do that is because we don't operate an emergency room so we can't take on the worst-of-the-worst cases. According to our daily COVID update report, we have a handful of patients who gave residence addresses--we ask for this because the county and state departments of health want it for statistics, among other reasons--inside Seattle and just a few more inside King County. It's a very stressful time for many of us, and it isn't helped by the disparity in level of care, let's say, over COVID prevention measures even inside the region.
  - dymk 5y ago
    I'd imagine this is also due, at least in part, to Pierce County / South Sound having a lower vaccination rate than the Seattle metro area.

jasonlotito 5y ago

> For two years we’ve been asked to park our problems and to act like literally all that matters is the spread of Covid. The problem is only half the population really followed through. These measures are still needed more because half the population effectively thinks COVID is no big deal or a hoax.

xigoi 5y ago
Many of the restrictions were mandatory, so all people had to follow through…
- ajford 5y ago
  Yeah, just because it was mandatory doesn't mean people followed through. I live in a very progressive city and we still had many people refusing to follow mask mandates at the height of pre-vaccine pandemic. People ripping down mask signs, spitting on people, arguing at the doors to a store, etc.
  - xigoi 5y ago
    Interesting, I haven't noticed any of that. Maybe my country has a different mentality. I do see some people not having the masks cover their nose, but definitely nowhere near 50%, more like 5% at worst.
    - ajford 5y ago
      Totally get that. A friend of mine from Finland said compliance with mandates and safety advisories was a lot better back home than those in the US. There's a lot of people in the US arguing that mask mandates and other medical precautions are "violating their freedom".
  - spookthesunset 5y ago
    As they should. Mask mandates were always more religion than science. Calmer heads decades from now will suggest as much.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Mockapapella 5y ago

Just to throw my anecdote into the ring -- I live in a mid sized city in the midwest. People have largely stopped wearing masks since about March of last year in all places except for hospitals (and even then it's just those crappy generic blue masks). My GF and I actually had a bit of culture shock when we took a trip to Chicago a few weeks ago and 95%+ people were wearing masks everywhere they went, along with private businesses requiring masks and proof of vaccination. It's not like the people around here aren't aware of COVID-19 and the subsequent variants, we just kind of moved on.