Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: home, tenant, live)

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Oh yeah I would think that would be cancelled...we had a xmas pageant that was cancelled on december 16th.

However sporting events seem to be going on as usual...although I did read that the NFL is thinking of moving the location of the superbowl. It's supposed to be in LA but they are worried about the restrictions the city might put in place. I get that isn't all in MA...but just interesting on what gets cancelled and what doesn't. My friends husband was supposed to fly out to western MA to receive some boy scout award but that event was cancelled too. It's all about money in the end...schools are cancelling things because no one is getting paid for those extras.

Down here in West Portugal, they pulled the plug on High School sports a few days ago. They're doing what they can to keep the schools open and it's not "as usual".

[msRB311]

I'm talking about professional sports as well, not just school sports.

My kids don't play town sports so I can't really speak to that. As far as I know town hockey and basketball are still on.

The hockey program we're involved in shut down for a week before xmas.

[charolastra00]

Everyone is looking for some normalcy and I think have been buoyed because omicron is usually less severe, particularly among people who are vaccinated. What is open and what's not is just bonkers.


That said, we should all be prepared for a lot of disruption in the next few weeks. While I think the train is rolling so a shutdown isn't likely, two of my favorite restaurants and one of my favorite breweries are all closed for the next few days per their Facebook posts because so many people are out sick. 10% of the Boston Public School staff (450 out of 4500 teachers, and just as many janitors, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and other staff) were out as of Tuesday, and a friend of mine on the south shore who is an elementary art teacher is currently manning the cafeteria where students are sent when there aren't enough staff or subs to man their classroom. Luckily, she had covid last month so she is hopefully good - I can't imagine how that scenario doesn't end with lots more people sick! 20 bus drivers are sick in my town, so bus drivers are doing back to back runs to get kids to school - my neighbors said their kids were 2 hours late every day this week because their bus is on round 2. Almost all of my coworkers who have kids in daycare in daycares literally around Massachusetts, RI, and southern NH have their kids home because they are closed due to staffing. This is all at the heels of New Year's and it's just spreading. Like Mike said, I think most people are going to get it in the next few weeks.



If you have kids in school, make some preparations in the likelihood that the schools may have to close for some period of time in the next few weeks. If they were at 10% down before everyone was back in the building, I don't know how schools will be able to stay fully staffed by the end of next week. I hope I'm wrong, but it's pretty messy in schools right now.

Also, really really really take care of yourselves shoveling tomorrow. You don't want to end up in the ED. Last night, a dear friend (who has a lot of health issues) showed some signs of possibly having a stroke. To the hospital's credit, they got him in immediately (as one does when a 35 year old comes in with stroke symptoms!), determined it wasn't a stroke, and discharged him quickly. The neurologist who consulted said that any other time, they'd want to keep him in for observation and to try to figure out what was going on (clearly something neurological) but since it wasn't life-or-death, they both needed the bed and didn't need to risk his exposure. He said the hospital (Emerson) looked like a fire hazard with patients in the halls. Between COVID, the flu, and just run of the mill heart attacks and other issues, you don't want to have a health issue right now because doctors and nurses are going down with COVID too.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by porterhouse

Enjoy watching your child sing as I'm sure they will be thrilled to have you there. .

Kiddo had a great time. It wasn't that packed. Very large auditorium and everyone was spread out. Not a huge deal really and i wasn't really too concerned

Originally Posted by charolastra00

Everyone is looking for some normalcy and I think have been buoyed because omicron is usually less severe, particularly among people who are vaccinated. What is open and what's not is just bonkers.

I think that's worth stating. Personally i'm a little more relaxed with the news that Omicron is less severe and if you've had your booster, in the vast majority of cases it's nothing more than a bad head cold. And in my inner circle, this is exactly what i've been seeing. 3-4 days of congestion and then quick recovery. It really does help build confidence. I personally know 10 folks who have it right now. All report really minor symptoms. All are vax+booster.

I am well aware of what is happening at the ICU's. My sis has been working Covid ICU since the beginning so i've always had the updates. Medical resources are stretched to the limit, so fingers crossed that we are at the worst and the sheer number of cases come down. We are at what? 16k per day? I'd imagine that number is higher considering the amount of folks who don't want to wait hours in line for a PCR test or who take a at-home test and discover it's positive and never report it.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

I think that's worth stating. Personally i'm a little more relaxed with the news that Omicron is less severe and if you've had your booster, in the vast majority of cases it's nothing more than a bad head cold. And in my inner circle, this is exactly what i've been seeing. 3-4 days of congestion and then quick recovery. It really does help build confidence. I personally know 10 folks who have it right now. All report really minor symptoms. All are vax+booster.

I am well aware of what is happening at the ICU's. My sis has been working Covid ICU since the beginning so i've always had the updates. Medical resources are stretched to the limit, so fingers crossed that we are at the worst and the sheer number of cases come down. We are at what? 16k per day? I'd imagine that number is higher considering the amount of folks who don't want to wait hours in line for a PCR test or who take a at-home test and discover it's positive and never report it.

Same here. For us, it's more disruptive to routines than it is scary. I don't want to pass it on to anyone who may be susceptible to severe infection, so I'm trying to balance that with otherwise living my life. Up through the holidays, it wasn't hard. We tested several times per week, wore masks even when we didn't need to, and avoided crowded bars and restaurants. Now, testing is hard to come by. I canceled dinner at my mother's on Saturday because I have a little chest congestion and a mild sore throat. Unfortunately, it's impossible to find a test and given how highly contagious Omicron is, it'd be irresponsible not to assume I could potentially have it.

I hope we're approaching the peak. Some experts seem to think we're getting there, though other sources seemed to think MA could peak in late January at over 85,000 cases per day.

It's hard not to believe that current testing limitations are leading to vast undercounts. The current dashboard indicates the positivity rate is over 22% which is just staggering. The fact that it's extremely contagious combined with the wastewater numbers, the surge in at-home test use (the results of which are unreported), the apparently mild symptoms, and the general difficulty finding tests or testing availability, it seems like a safe bet that the case numbers are significantly higher than what's being reported.

[redplum33]

WTF. First time in ages I can't get a Whole Foods delivery slot...

[redplum33]

Detector dogs are walking the halls of Massachusetts schools in search of COVID-19

[charolastra00]

I wasn't too concerned until I got sick myself (and before I knew it wasn't covid, my biggest fear was passing it to my elderly grandmother). Now that I'm at the tail end of my flu, my lungs are trashed. I'm wheezing, coughing, and can't take a full breath. And this is all as a result of what, for me, was a fairly minor cold with a side dish of a bit of fever. It will be at least a month until my lungs are back to "normal" and I'm concerned with my ability to stay out of the hospital (or if there would even be a bed for me) if I were to get even a mild case of covid on top of my already recovering lungs.



Of course, my lungs have been my fear all along.



Luckily absolutely no one is in Wegman's in Northborough at 11:30 at night, because I haven't been able to get a grocery delivery slot in weeks.

[brightdoglover]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

... if I were to get even a mild case of covid on top of my already recovering lungs.

Of course, my lungs have been my fear all along.

...

It would appear that Omicron doesn't affect the lungs the way other variants do. Of course, no one wants to get it, but lungs might be the reason Omicron is less severe.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by redplum33

WTF. First time in ages I can't get a Whole Foods delivery slot...

I'm very surprised. I haven't used a delivery service since May 2020. Especially with N95s freely available, and the average person in public in MA being vaxxed, no way do I fear getting Covid in a supermarket!