I'm 72, and one great benefit from my ongoing masking, avoiding travel, never publicly eating indoors, keeping up with "boosters," and being largely retired is that I have been free of the common cold since Covid began (with possibly one mild exception). Friends I know who are taking no Covid precautions other than (maybe) vaccines, on the other hand, have been continually catching "colds," which they always vehemently insist are "not Covid," as they claim they have been testing negative. This morning a friend who has had a bad cough for more than a week went to the doctor who told her it's " not Covid but just "a nasty virus," and that she wasn't contagious. I find myself wondering, are rapid tests actually catching Covid cases now? Are doctors, too, generally in denial about how much Covid is circulating? And is it possible to have "a nasty virus," Covid or not, and yet not be contagious?
I'm 72, and one great benefit from my ongoing masking, avoiding travel, never publicly eating indoors, keeping up with "boosters," and being largely retired is that I have been free of the common cold since Covid began (with possibly one mild exception). Friends I know who are taking no Covid precautions other than (maybe) vaccines, on the other hand, have been continually catching "colds," which they always vehemently insist are "not Covid," as they claim they have been testing negative. This morning a friend who has had a bad cough for more than a week went to the doctor who told her it's " not Covid but just "a nasty virus," and that she wasn't contagious. I find myself wondering, are rapid tests actually catching Covid cases now? Are doctors, too, generally in denial about how much Covid is circulating? And is it possible to have "a nasty virus," Covid or not, and yet not be contagious?
This is essential work. Thank you.