Cough over there, please

~ MaryG
Daily writing prompt
How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?
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I’m not a big masking fan. I mean, I was at the beginning. I was adamant. Then the vaccines came out. I got them, including all the boosters. By summer 2022, I was pretty much done with masking, so I threw caution to the wind and came down with COVID in early October after attending a funeral unmasked. I did not get terribly sick, but I did take Paxlovid because people said it helped if you started on it early. My husband also came down with it, but wasn’t too sick. He also took Paxlovid. Unfortunately, I ended up getting bouts of vertigo about ten days in (when I was otherwise feeling OK) and then had a lot of trouble with my hearing and tinnitus that still has not fully resolved.

For this reason, I really do not want to contract COVID again, but masking is just not fun. My husband had a cough in January and did not want to test because he didn’t want to mess up his gym schedule. Finally, when the cough was keeping him up at night, I forced him to test and it was COVID. I moved to the other bedroom and made him wear a mask at home for a few days. I did not come down with it. (Maybe the boosters actually worked.)

I’ve worn masks a few times recently. When I was going to Florida to visit my elderly parents in February, I wore a mask most of the time in the airport and on the plane. I also wore a mask at church when I had a cold that was not COVID a few weeks ago.

Basically, my tolerance for unmasked sick people is lower now. If you’re obviously coughing and sneezing, I don’t want to be near you. I wish sick people would either stay home or wear a mask. (Apologies to allergy sufferers.)

Image from Pexels

20 thoughts on “Cough over there, please”

  1. Same. I’m very quick to wear a mask at work if I don’t feel well, even though my manager gives me side eye about it. Then again, even before Covid I felt masking was a smart and considerate thing to do.

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    1. Ideally, everyone could just stay home when they don’t feel well, but I know that’s not reality. Nobody gets side eye for wearing a mask in Massachusetts, but I guess it’s different in other areas. 😷

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      1. I’m in South Florida and here there’s still lots of looking for ideological dividing lines in every little thing.

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  2. My husband, my daughter, and I all work from home, which meant we were able to stay COVID free, and still haven’t had it. We stay home when we are sick, and if we must go out, we wear our masks. Why expose others to our germs, whatever they might be?

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  3. I and everyone in the family came down with Covid after we attended my grandsons birthday party last year. None of us took Paxlovid but we were all vaccinated. The symptoms were mild and actually for me, the reaction to the vaccine was worse. Having said that, I plan to get vaccinated every late fall because I fear the covid symptoms might be worse if I don’t. I do were a mask in public indoor settings.

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  4. The problem with Paxlovid is that there is a very limited window in which you can take it after getting Covid.

    I tried it once when I tested positive and the stuff didn’t touch me. But I have heard of some people actually getting sick from Paxlovid.

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  5. I wore the masks during the shut down and a little while after. Like you, I stopped after a few boosters in. My wife is more of the mask wearer between us two. She usually wears it in big crowds. I figure the vaccines are enough for now (knock on wood).

    Last night I was at Starbucks and the guy at the next table was hacking up a lung as if it was no big deal. I almost gave him one of my wife’s masks.

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      2. They should lower that age! My husband got shingles in his fifties and it went into his eye. They said he was lucky not to lose vision.

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