TromboneChat

Just a psa that this thing is still very much going around. I had to fly in to Boston for a business trip last week, and I still take pretty excessive precautions N95 everywhere public etc … tested positive this weekend and I’ve barely been able to get out of bed. Double vaccination plus booster. They aren’t letting you come in to get tested in my state if you already have a positive test, so I assume I have omicron. But If this is the mild version I can’t even imagine how bad the other variants were.

Anyway time to take my 3rd nap today.

So sorry to hear this. I am already anxious about some trips I have to take over the next few months, both domestic and abroad. Take care, Matt, and get medical help if you need it!

Get better soon, Matt!

Get well soon.

Oh man, sorry to hear that. Get all the rest you need.

We keep getting new variants of this thing and each successive one seems to be more contageous (catching) but less severe than the last. It seems here in New England we are the hotbed for the latest wave. I'm hoping since I had the last variant (along with two vaccinations and a booster) I won't be as bothered. At least the vaccines have made is a lot less likely to wind up dead from any of the variants. I guess that is a good thing for now.

Matt, take care. At least while you are confined to quarters you can spend a little more time here. And maybe get in some practice (although I can understand if you don't feel like it).

I’m sorry to hear that, hope you feel better soon.

I’ve had the darn thing twice…the initial wave, got my vaccines, and then followed up with another bout middle of last year. The first time was way worse than the second for me.

Matt K wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:32 am ...and I’ve barely been able to get out of bed. Double vaccination plus booster...

That is very concerning. I hope you are on the mend soon!

Hope you feel better soon, take care!

Hope you feel better soon. Anecdata, but seems like everybody's getting it lately, including people with 3-4 doses who managed to dodge first Omicron wave...

BGuttman wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:46 pm We keep getting new variants of this thing and each successive one seems to be more contageous (catching) but less severe than the last.

Common misconception; it won't necessarily get less severe over time (Delta was more severe than previous variants, Omicron was probably about as severe for a susceptible individual as the original Wuhan strain). By now there's a lot fewer completely susceptible people, since most unvaccinated people and many unvaccinated people have been infected at least once already.

Those of you who have had covid, how has it affected your lungs, the ability to breathe and to play a wind instrument? That's the one big thing I'm afraid of.

Theres a thing... I had it three weeks ago. Almost symptomless ... in fact kept working from home. Just a slight cough and some congestion on the chest so thought I was pretty fortunate. However... now I am back to playing and didnt notice until gigs and rehearsals but I am breathing every full bar when playing a single f... this is a dual bore bass trombone but none the less - I hope it gets better shortly, its embarrasssing! (someone remind me what the term 'phrasing' means!)... Doug

I've done a lot of travel this year and it's interesting what the restrictions are compared to when I traveled overseas last year. The airlines still require a negative COVID test, but apart from the baggage check, nobody even looked at it. Belgium requires you to upload a negative test in a pre-screen, but the airports don't require masks or any real precautions except on the aircraft itself. Germany and Austria require masks in public transport, but nowhere else (it's voluntary for private stores and restaurants) and they no longer require written permission for work related travel or notification of travel to their Ministry of Health. Austria has one of the lowest rates of vaccination in Europe, but also the lowest illness rates as well. Returning to the USA required a negative test, either the PCR or Rapid, but again, nobody looked at it because the policy is now that it is an "inspectable" item that is only randomly checked.

Seems that by and large countries around the world are dropping restrictions. Whether it's because COVID isn't the threat it was 2 years ago, or for political reasons I can't really say. So far I've been in conferences and events with several hundreds of people from all over the US and Europe and I am still COVID negative.

I too share Matt's levels of risk tolerance: masks in public and at work will be with me for at least the rest of the year. I was planning to travel to Boston soon as well: I was there for nearly 15 years and miss it tremendously.

Hang in there, Matt (and the rest of you as well): could just as easily be me.

John

hyperbolica wrote: ↑Wed Apr 13, 2022 10:23 am Those of you who have had covid, how has it affected your lungs, the ability to breathe and to play a wind instrument? That's the one big thing I'm afraid of.

Tiredness and a general feeling of being ‘washed out’ struck me more. No real breathlessness when playing 3B or 3B+. After about five weeks I’ve felt far less ‘washed out’ and done a couple of runs, around 1.5 miles, to start returning to a normal regime. Found it hard to run, even slowly, for more than 2-3 minutes. Breathless but not tired.

6th wave sigh

My wife tested positive yesterday, after a couple of days of feeling sick, but not testing positive. She has been in bed for 3 days. Even with being vaxxed and boosted she has been hit pretty hard.

Matt - you be careful, I got covid by sleeping with a woman that had covid! In the interest of good form I point out I was married to that woman!!!!.... Doug

DougHulme wrote: ↑Fri Apr 15, 2022 1:29 am I point out I was married to that woman!!!!.... Doug

Not a good excuse

My mother did warn me but... !

DougHulme wrote: ↑Fri Apr 15, 2022 1:29 am I got covid by sleeping with a woman that had covid!

Does that make Covid a STD?

Sorry. I could not resist.

For us single folks out there, that's actually true! The symptoms may be worse as well, depending on how your body reacts. A lot of people's relationships have not lasted through the pandemic, and people's levels of risk acceptance are quite different, so you kind of _do_ have to approach COVID like another STD. Conversations nobody enjoys....

It is a staggering factoid that COVID has killed more people in the US in two years than AIDS has in four decades.

And yet the public response is more denial and impatience than anything else.

Geordie wrote: ↑Thu Apr 14, 2022 9:35 am

hyperbolica wrote: ↑Wed Apr 13, 2022 10:23 am
Those of you who have had covid, how has it affected your lungs, the ability to breathe and to play a wind instrument? That's the one big thing I'm afraid of.

Tiredness and a general feeling of being ‘washed out’ struck me more. No real breathlessness when playing 3B or 3B+. After about five weeks I’ve felt far less ‘washed out’ and done a couple of runs, around 1.5 miles, to start returning to a normal regime. Found it hard to run, even slowly, for more than 2-3 minutes. Breathless but not tired.

When I had it, I was crazy tired and had massive headaches and joint pain. My airways were never really too bad. I never felt out of breath on either bout with Covid. I will say, sometimes I would walk up a small hill or stairs that I would routinely go over or up and never feel out of breath, but did at times…but after awhile even that disappeared.

robcat2075 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 8:51 am It is a staggering factoid that COVID has killed more people in the US in two years than AIDS has in four decades.

The United States has not done well in terms of deaths per capita compared to other countries. Somewhere around 20th, depending on whose stats you're looking at. Obviously the method of transmission is very, very different for COVID than for AIDS, so it's expected that COVID will have caused more deaths. The degree of lifestyle interruption for COVID is considerably higher for AIDS as well: nobody is worried about catching AIDS at the grocery store or by going to concerts.
Perhaps a better comparison would be the influenza pandemic of 1918-1921, which killed far more people worldwide than World War I. Likewise, the U.S. lost fewer people in the Civil War than to the COVID pandemic. The numbers boggle the mind.

We _must_ continue to support one another: as much as we'd like this to be over, viruses are really good at mutating.

Yes, the concerns are different.

If COVID was like AIDS... and catching it made everyone think you were gay... this country would be masks on top of masks inside personal isolation suits and decontamination ray guns. They'd be talking about concentration camps for carriers... as people were talking in the 1980s.

As it is, if you die of COVID today, we just presume you were a Republican.

A problem for the 1918 epidemic was that no one knew what a virus was yet. They had to work on vague ideas about transmission without knowing what the transmitted thing was.

hyperbolica wrote: ↑Wed Apr 13, 2022 10:23 am Those of you who have had covid, how has it affected your lungs, the ability to breathe and to play a wind instrument? That's the one big thing I'm afraid of.

I spent 10 days in ICU last year with covid, i wasn't intubated (narrowly) but i did have to live with an oxygen tank for about a week after wards and was on of breathe with even light activity for about weeks, i would say a total of 6 weeks of total recovery. I had a chest x-ray and exam from a pulmonologist and was told there was no permanent lung damage/scarring. I will add that I am relatively young (late 30s)

Sorry to hear about everybody who has had it. I caught it last week as well, and I'm isolating in my house from my wife, who is still testing negative. My symptoms are like a chest cold, and the antiviral meds seem to be working to minimize and shorten them.

I don't know if it made national news, but 31 musicians of the Boston Symphony and Tanglewood Festival Chorus caught covid a couple of weeks ago, related to unmasked concerts of the Britten War Requiem and causing the BSO to cancel their European tour. There has also been a minor outbreak among the music students at Boston University. It's hitting the Boston music community pretty hard right now, just in time for all the big choral concerts planned to end the season. At least I'll be immune for a while...

Hey all, thanks for the kind words! I am happy to report that I am, in fact, still alive (to the best of my knowledge)! I basically slept for like 4 days and then had to play catch up with work but I really truly appreciate everyone who sent me a message, and really sorry I didn't respond (promise I'm getting to it!!)

I'm still really tired far more than I used to be prior to covid. And I'm still coughing. But I actually had a lot of improvement over the weekend being out doing yardwork and getting lots of fresh air. I took my first deep breath in like, a month yesterday. Still have a much reduced sense of taste/smell too. But that's coming back too. Really strange how people react so differently to it.

At any rate, I suspect I'll be back to normal by next month. Yikes though, that took me out of the game for most of April. I'm mostly happy that I managed to avoid giving it to my family!

Good to hear, Matt.

I come out of quarantine tomorrow. Never lost my taste or smell. After I finished the Paxlovid my relatively mild symptoms had a resurgence. Lots of coughing the last two days. This morning feels better so far. Fingers crossed.

Mucinex helped a lot with my coughing (because it made the… yucky… thinner). But I’m young enough that they didn’t let me have an antiviral. Not sure if there’s an interference with the antivirals and that. Might be redundant for you!

Been taking Mucinex too...

I had Covid early - around Christmas 2020. I thought I was being really careful, but obviously was momentarily close to someone else that had it. Still, with the conscientious mask wearing and hand washing, I think I avoided getting a "large viral load" as they call it, and my case was relatively mild. A couple of really crappy days, though, with bad chills at night. After that, I was almost first in line when they okayed the vaccines for my age group, and at this point, have had 4 shots, since I started with AstraZeneca, and switched to Pfizer for my booster (and then was told that I needed another since it's also 2-shot dose). No regrets at all about getting my shots - it was a bit scary having Covid when the hospitalizations were very high. Let's hope that there are no new variants that bring back that scenario.

Jim Scott

Glad to hear you all are bouncing back. I shall be interested to hear your updates in the weeks to come.


Did we ever hear again from the guy who said the vaccine gave him Bell's palsy?

Got covid with everyone else back in January. Whole family had it, all vaccinated- nobody was super sick. I continued practicing through it at altitude.

Word of advice though, don't get sick with anything else while the boogeyman of covid is still around. I was almost turned away from urgent care in September of 2020 when I had a bad infection because I honestly answered the covid questionnaire. Instead of me seeing my ENT, they wanted to turn me around and send me to the ER.

Suddenly this has become a personal dilemma.

The orchestra of which I am a member has been preparing for a concert with a choir (Requiem, Carmina). I confess I hadn’t really turned my mind to the COVID implications. But today, I received an email stating the choir will have rapid testing kits available at the dress and at the two concerts.

I am reminded that one of the early super spreader events was a choir practice in Everett WA back in March 2020. And, my understanding is that the studies distinguish between instrumental rehearsals and choirs, the latter being riskier.

So far no one in my immediate family has come down with COVID. But my bubble includes my 93 year old father in law. We’ve all been vaccinated and boosted but that is far less than 100% effective. And some in-laws and nieces have come down with COVID notwithstanding being full vaccinated and boosted.

I just played a concert of the Brahms Requiem and the conductor, strings, and choir all wore masks. Only the wind players didn't.

paulyg wrote: ↑Tue May 03, 2022 9:31 amWord of advice though, don't get sick with anything else while the boogeyman of covid is still around. I was almost turned away from urgent care in September of 2020 when I had a bad infection because I honestly answered the covid questionnaire. Instead of me seeing my ENT, they wanted to turn me around and send me to the ER.

I've run into that, too. The medical group I go to has a pretty long screening questionnaire, even now.

One curious question is that they want to know if you've been tested recently. Not if you've tested positive - just if you've been tested.

A month or so ago I had a concert scheduled for the band that I co-manage. I got covid just before but was completely Asymatic - I only knew I had it because I was testing each day because of working with different children everyday. I missed a couple since I knew I had it anyway then started testing again. On day 5 I tested negative, which just happened to be the day of the concert, so I thought I would be ok but we had, until that very day a covid law that said we had to stay at home for 5 days from testing positive. Strictly 5 days if you worked by 24 hour periods wasnt until 9am the following morning. The rest of the management (both of them) insisted despite the negative test that I should obey the previous law, even though that law finished at midnight the day before the concert. Not wishing to rock the boat and to be socially agreable - I didnt attend. Three days after the concert 5 of the band went down with covid (not badly I am pleased to say). I am quite sure had I gone (which legally I was entitled to) I would have almost certainly got the blame for spreading the virus. I have never been more thankful for deciding to be 'socially responsible'!... Doug

In my state they're saying 10 days after you first test positive is when you can stop isolating. There's effectively no enforcement, but that seems reasonable to me for people who don't have a compelling need to be around others for that time frame. I've long thought it should be the same way for most communicable illnesses.

Matt K wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 6:03 am In my state they're saying 10 days after you first test positive is when you can stop isolating. There's effectively no enforcement, but that seems reasonable to me for people who don't have a compelling need to be around others for that time frame. I've long thought it should be the same way for most communicable illnesses.

Different diseases remain communicable for different periods. We're still learning about COVID and I'll bet the 10 days is still an estimate. If you are really paranoid, stay isolated longer. If you go out with symptoms, you must be Donald Trump

I am not expressing MY opinion here but, from the beginning of April the UK government removed any obligation to self isolate. That said I think we are probably better vaccinated (% population) than you in the US are? certainly despite this new relaxation the death rate continues to drop and everyone catching it now apperars to only have moderate to no symptoms. There remains the request/advice to self isolate of course... Doug

Im honestly not sure. Im definitely on the paranoid side of things and my job can be done totally from my
Home office so it could have been 30 days and it would have minimal impact on my lifestyle. So I’m totally bias in that regard. If my livelihood was impacted by that number I’d probably feel a lot differently

What is it they safe "better safe than sorry". It is different if your livelyhood or someone elses life depends on you though.

I’ve been told that our rehearsals and concerts will have everybody but the winds/brass masked.

I’m still not thrilled but whatever.

DougHulme wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 7:22 am ...That said I think we are probably better vaccinated (% population) than you in the US are? certainly despite this new relaxation the death rate continues to drop and everyone catching it now appears to only have moderate to no symptoms...

I don't doubt that the UK has been better at all this than the US (it would be hard to be worse) but by the measure of deaths the UK seems to be long ramp-up rather than a decline. Not nearly as bad as the peaks, however...
For comparison, here is the US... If were going to make a prediction for the US based on this chart, Summer 2022 will be another low period for cases/deaths as it was in 2020 and 2021, people will say it's all over as they did in 2020 and 2021 and it will come roaring back in the fall.

Interesting... I dont have enough knowledge to dispute the UK stats but I do know that anyone who dies of anything within a month of catching covid is recorded as death by covid so that includes all cancer patients, heart attacks, sepsis, dementia - you name it and thats not to mention the good old winter flu which seems to have entirely disapeared as a cause of death. Is that the same in the US? It just seems to my simple and largely naive brain that that might completely skew the real figures as many of these people would have, sadly, died anyway... just thinking out loud

John Campbell (look him up on YouTube) uses a statistic called "excess deaths" where he compares current deaths against a historic average. A significant increase can be attributed to COVID, but a statistically insignificant increase should be ignored.

Incidentally, CDC data shows that the US is undergoing a gradual increase in cases (although not a great increase in deaths); especially here in the Northeast. I think COVID has degenerated to something like a bad flu and we will not see as serious a problem as we did with the earlier variants.

Peripheral: I got my 2nd booster (total 4 shots so far) today. We'll see if I have some kind of reaction. OK for 4 hours thus far.