Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston: apartment, house, to buy)

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

What was there to talk about? There was no natural immunity to this virus, but yes people who were younger and/or had better immune systems and/or lower viral loading did better before vaccines!

By the way, a good immune system takes years to build. It's useless advice to dole out during a crisis when thousands are dying by the day.

A good immune system is not built by being in a bubble. A good immune system builds over time. Most often people are exposed to viruses with minimal impact. This begets immunity, whether from antibodies or from T-cells. Those do not develop by cowering in a locked house or apartment.

[BruinsGirl]

How many people were covering in locked apartments?
We did not even have real lockdowns like in many other countries.
Nobody prevented people from going outside at any point of time.
Even in places with stringiest measures full lockdowns were never implemented.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by BruinsGirl

How many people were covering in locked apartments?
We did not even have real lockdowns like in many other countries.
Nobody prevented people from going outside at any point of time.
Even in places with stringiest measures full lockdowns were never implemented.

No one prevented people from going outside, but people couldn't have weddings and other events. I wasn't affected but if I was planning to get married or had plans to do so I'd be pretty devastated. People lost money, didn't get refunds back on events like that. I mentioned before some women having babies couldn't have their partner in the room or have family see the babies for a long time. People didn't see grandparents in some situations for a year or more.

Schools also closed from March on making things difficult for working (or even non working) parents. No kids sports, there was nothing. Just families sitting at home, going for walks here and there. Then the next school year kids were in school like twice a week (that's how it was for my kids when it would have been 5 days a week for my son).

I could go on but those are some big ones. I'm not complaining at this point but it's not like nothing happened. People were affected. Don't forget about all those out there with PTSD and mental illness now from going through that....*eyeroll*

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by msRB311

No one prevented people from going outside, but people couldn't have weddings and other events. I wasn't affected but if I was planning to get married or had plans to do so I'd be pretty devastated. People lost money, didn't get refunds back on events like that. I mentioned before some women having babies couldn't have their partner in the room or have family see the babies for a long time. People didn't see grandparents in some situations for a year or more.

Schools also closed from March on making things difficult for working (or even non working) parents. No kids sports, there was nothing. Just families sitting at home, going for walks here and there. Then the next school year kids were in school like twice a week (that's how it was for my kids when it would have been 5 days a week for my son).

I could go on but those are some big ones. I'm not complaining at this point but it's not like nothing happened. People were affected. Don't forget about all those out there with PTSD and mental illness now from going through that....*eyeroll*

Right, the United States did not endure lockdowns. Most destinations were shuttered or restricted for a period of time that varied by municipality or state but we were never banished to our homes. Denser areas endured stricter controls for obvious reasons. In New Hampshire businesses deemed nonessential were shuttered for about three months (March - June of 2020) and then things began slowly returning to normal. From July 2020 onward businesses were given the freedom to set their own COVID restrictions or follow CDC guidance to the letter.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by jbgusa

A good immune system is not built by being in a bubble. A good immune system builds over time. Most often people are exposed to viruses with minimal impact. This begets immunity, whether from antibodies or from T-cells. Those do not develop by cowering in a locked house or apartment.

This reminds me of a buddy of mine. During 2020, he said he'd jog behind other runners who might be coughing, in the hopes that he'd pick up a "small" amount of virus and gain natural immunity.

[BruinsGirl]

Originally Posted by msRB311

No one prevented people from going outside, but people couldn't have weddings and other events. I wasn't affected but if I was planning to get married or had plans to do so I'd be pretty devastated. People lost money, didn't get refunds back on events like that. I mentioned before some women having babies couldn't have their partner in the room or have family see the babies for a long time. People didn't see grandparents in some situations for a year or more.

Schools also closed from March on making things difficult for working (or even non working) parents. No kids sports, there was nothing. Just families sitting at home, going for walks here and there. Then the next school year kids were in school like twice a week (that's how it was for my kids when it would have been 5 days a week for my son).

I could go on but those are some big ones. I'm not complaining at this point but it's not like nothing happened. People were affected. Don't forget about all those out there with PTSD and mental illness now from going through that....*eyeroll*

Wait a second. I am not saying that nothing happened.
I am talking about affected immunity.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

This reminds me of a buddy of mine. During 2020, he said he'd jog behind other runners who might be coughing, in the hopes that he'd pick up a "small" amount of virus and gain natural immunity.

Ew. Covid made me realize how much we breath in each other's germs on a regular basis. Crowded spaces have new meaning to me after watching some immunology videos and what really happens when people, speak, chew, cough and sneeze and laugh. Ugh.

[BruinsGirl]

As an immigrant (some long time ago) I was surprised that sick people were coming to work, sick kids to childcare etc. I understand that main reason was small or nonexistent number of PTO or sick days.
With this pandemic people started paying more attention.

I know it is tied to economy and not sure I know what is the best, but where I lived prior to US (that was highly imperfect place due to other things), but when we got sick we would call to hospital and schedule a house visit of primary doctor. Then in a week or so when we felt better we had to visit our primary doctor and receive clearance document to return to work, school, childcare etc.

If during flu cases in schools were going up sharply we had one week off from school. (Usually once a winter, not every winter.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by BruinsGirl

As an immigrant (some long time ago) I was surprised that sick people were coming to work, sick kids to childcare etc. I understand that main reason was small or nonexistent number of PTO or sick days.
With this pandemic people started paying more attention.

I know it is tied to economy and not sure I know what is the best, but where I lived prior to US (that was highly imperfect place due to other things), but when we got sick we would call to hospital and schedule a house visit of primary doctor. Then in a week or so when we felt better we had to visit our primary doctor and receive clearance document to return to work, school, childcare etc.

If during flu cases in schools were going up sharply we had one week off from school. (Usually once a winter, not every winter.

If kids have a fever or have obvious signs of sickness like vomiting they can't go to daycare. Are you saying in your country kids had to be kept home for a cough or runny nose?

I am not crazy about how American culture was in terms of being sick. I think a lot of people would try to be a hero and still show up for things sick, work included. People should stay home so they don't get others sick and it's also better to rest. We do live in a culture where it's frowned upon to call out sick from work, I'm not sure if that has changed. It pisses me off. Unless someone is sick all the time and calling out it shouldnt be a big deal to call out 3 times a year for example...maybe more if you have kids who are sick and need to be with them. Work places should be able to carry on when one person is out sick.

[BruinsGirl]

Originally Posted by msRB311

If kids have a fever or have obvious signs of sickness like vomiting they can't go to daycare. Are you saying in your country kids had to be kept home for a cough or runny nose?

I am not crazy about how American culture was in terms of being sick. I think a lot of people would try to be a hero and still show up for things sick, work included. People should stay home so they don't get others sick and it's also better to rest. We do live in a culture where it's frowned upon to call out sick from work, I'm not sure if that has changed. It pisses me off. Unless someone is sick all the time and calling out it shouldnt be a big deal to call out 3 times a year for example...maybe more if you have kids who are sick and need to be with them. Work places should be able to carry on when one person is out sick.

If kids were sick. Temperature + runny nose. I do not remember exact criteria. One parent could stay home with a kid. Of course it was dependent on kids age (and kids had usually way more independence. Like even first graders were coming from school, opening doors and being home alone), but parents could stay home, maybe with some loss of income, but not sure.

We had completely different society with huge cons too, but pros too (If I list them you would be amazed, but you need to now trade offs). That country does not exist anymore, so no points to discuss, however many elements of helathcare are found in Western Europe too.