Ed SuominenJun 6, 2023

My wife and I just returned from a trip to Western Washington State, doing our best to stay free of #Covid. Mostly outdoor stuff, darting into a restaurant for takeout, using way more public toilets than we’d have liked. This after basically living like hermits for much of the past three years.

I wish I could say it was great to be around people again, but it wasn’t. I’m frustrated, tired, and so very disappointed with almost everyone.

This 🧵 is a bit of a rant for fellow #ZeroCovid people.

Show threadEd SuominenJun 6, 2023

2/🧵

We were the only people wearing masks anywhere, with the exception of another person wearing a KN95 at the grocery store. It was alienating and surreal. I now feel almost more like a stranger in a strange land (nod to Heinlein for his classic sci-if book title) than I did before.

WTF is wrong with everybody? Sure, there is less virus circulating in this part of the country right now. And sure, you probably won’t wind up in a hospital or morgue from #Covid if you’re vaccinated. But…

Show threadEd SuominenJun 6, 2023

3/🧵

…do all those people really have no idea that they have essentially zero protection against infection, no matter how many boosters they’ve gotten? Or that the #vaccines only reduce their odds of #LongCovid by about half? Does that make the remaining half somehow acceptable to them?

A few days of doing the thousand-yard stare past all those naked snouts looking at my #Envomask #elastomeric #N95 was more than enough. Masked for every bathroom visit, the store, getting takeout, even trails.

Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 47Jun 6, 2023
@edsuom Had to listen to an acquaintance over the weekend telling me she's had it three times, it was mild every time, it's just like the flu, she's not really taking any precautions anymore.
Couldn't take it anymore. "Actually it's not like the flu at all, the flu doesn't typically go after every organ in your body, and every time you get the flu doesn't dramatically increase your chances of lifelong illness. At least 10% of COVID cases lead to chronic conditions. Is that what you want?"
smdh
Show threadFrancisca Sinn
@jik @edsuom I know of three friends with Long Covid, it may well be more. Of the three, one just started back at work, part time, after 14 months. One has been up and down for a year. The third had to leave work months ago, now permanently and just resigned. All 48-58 yrs, fit, no pre-existing risk factors. Preaching to the choir here, I realize, but people don’t seem to get this information enough. #LongCovid #ItsNotTheFlu
Jun 6, 2023 at 3:27amWeb
Show threadEd SuominenJun 6, 2023
@fsinn @jik You’re preaching to an exhausted choir that is happy to sit and listen to the sermon after too much singing. Amen!
Show threadFrancisca SinnJun 6, 2023
@edsuom I’m with you, friend. 100%. @jik
Show threadSean C.Jun 6, 2023
@fsinn @jik @edsuom @tokyo_0 i have a family member with a specific piece of long COVID and after months and months of tests and attempts at remediation, still a roller coaster of intermittent relief
Show threadFrancisca SinnJun 6, 2023
@filmfreak75 I’m really sorry to hear they’re going through that. I know how debilitating it can be. I’ve watched friends have to stop between sentences to breathe, for months, not be able to climb a set of stairs without stopping a few times on the way up to rest. On the brain health, one doctor recommended they just tell people they have a serious concussion as their symptoms overlap significantly. I wish your family member all the best for a speedy & complete recovery.✨ @jik @edsuom @tokyo_0
Show threadFrancisca SinnJun 7, 2023

@filmfreak75 @jik @edsuom @tokyo_0

In case this is of interest or any help…

https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/potential-new-treatment-for-brain-fog-in-long-covid-patients/

Potential New Treatment for “Brain Fog” in Long COVID Patients

While the number of patients they studied is too small for their results to be definitive, Yale researchers—using their extensive experience with two existing

Yale School of Medicine
Show threadSean C.Jun 8, 2023
@fsinn @jik @edsuom @tokyo_0 thank you