Personal Experience Alert: New COVID Strain is Sneaky

[Charles Fischer]

My FishDuck Friends, and I have friendships now with so many of you, and at times seeing the "regulars" post gives me great comfort, as I know these are "good people" that I respect and care about.

 

With that, I wanted to convey a warning about a new strain of COVID that is surprising, as you have no idea and would not think you have it.  My wife Lois, began on Monday to not feel well and her symptoms have been:

 

--Stuffy nose, but not like a bad cold.  It was like a milder, but annoying cold and she began to wonder if this was not an allergy, but she's never had any.

--Sore throat, but not real sore like Strep Throat.  It was sore, with a tickle that would generate a dry cough on occasion.

--She sounds terrible, like a super cold or flu with a hoarse voice.  But she admits she sounds worse than the condition actually is.

--No fever or temperature above normal.

 

She tested negative twice on the home tests, (Lovely) and then went to Urgent Care and got the more accurate test that takes 48 hours to learn the result, and then this morning learned she was positive.

 

Someone she knows also just tested positive with just the stuffy nose!  What seems to be a mild cold or allergy is a new COVID strain?  Sheesh.  

 

I care about so many of you and wanted you to know.  (As I hastily left for the office this morning to write an upcoming FishDuck article--she offered a 'Goodbye' kiss that I had to politely decline!)

 

 

The Political Impact:

 

There is none, so don't go there or I will delete in a heartbeat.  We have had many FishDuck COVID articles in the past where we were able to stay on topic and not go political, and the moderators and I will be sure of that this time.

 

It is unfortunate that so many here, people I really like have decided to slip in political comments in the last month or so.  And when I delete the post and gently remind them of the rules--they get quite annoyed.  (Like this is a new rule?)

 

There are some members that love the rules...until the rules are applied to them. Please know that your comment may not be blatantly political, but it could start something, and thus it gets deleted.  (No reference of any kind to Politics)  We have had some terrible political threads in the early days of moderating, and I've learned to stop them before they get started.

 

My friends, this is not going to get easier with a political season coming up, and all the political ramifications and tangents that occur with conference realignment news that occurs.  But this community can do it, as the moderators and I will enforce our "no reference to politics of any kind" quickly.

 

The Good News?

 

You have not had to see these comments, as they have been removed before being on the site for very long. 

 

The other good news?  We had a really bad USC fan who was the classic "Drive-by Troll," who signed up just to spew his hatred of Duck fans.  The heck of it is...it was a long post, an article in itself.  And his insults took time to consider and write, and I could see that he spent a ton of time on this and was effectively doing his "Hate-Dump"  But it was not up in the forum for long!

 

It was not very noble, and I should ashamed at how I took such great pleasure in emailing this Trojan fan and chortling about how he spent a lot more time creating and writing his post....than it was up on the forum!

 

Love you all,

 

Mr. FishDuck

[HappyToBeADuck]

Thanks for sharing Charles and Lois get better soon 

 

In the last 4 weeks 50% of our companies work force have been out ill with this variant. Our staff is exposed daily so being infected or transmitting the infection is common 

 

Stay safe 

 

Go Ducks........

[Charles Fischer]

On 7/23/2022 at 12:15 PM, HappyToBeADuck said:

In the last 4 weeks 50% of our companies work force have been out ill with this variant.

Yikes.  I had no idea.  I am glad that it is mild, but it can still slow you down.

[NJDuck]

Thanks Charles.  I had gone to a conference for a week and my wife accompanied me on this trip.  Both of us came down with this COVID.  We are better, but we are still not fully back to normal yet.

[DuckUp1]

Our family just tested positive Thursday! Our kids brought it home from daycare. We have all those same symptoms plus body aches. Our voices are super raspy and we have super bad head aches. No fun.

[McDuck]

Until your post I had basically ignored information regarding the BA.5 variant so I started looking.  Hopefully CNET is sufficiently apolitical (if not delete this post) and the article is both recent and informative.

 

Another COVID Wave Is Here: What to Know About BA.5

WWW.CNET.COM

---

A new, more contagious version of omicron is causing high numbers of COVID cases and a rise in hospitalizations.

 

[idontrollonshobbas]

Get well soon to all infected.  My symptoms were similar to Lois' and I was shocked to learn I had COVID as opposed to seasonal allergies.  The fatigue/brain fog was the longest lasting symptom.  My wife claims that actually started decades ago 

[CalBear95]

I’m sorry to hear the news.  This variant is indeed sneaky.  Read (or heard) it had an R naught of 18 which is bonkers (for context, the average flu variant is 1.2).  
 

I have a critical follow up with my hip surgeon (been dealing w/post procedure pain for 10 months and they have no idea why) and I have been holing up as much as I can so I don’t have to reschedule against his jammed calendar.   
 

Take care all of you out the in OBD land!

Edited July 23, 2022 by CalBear95

[Goutes18]

My family got over it a few weeks ago.  Big commonality was all three of us had symptoms (allergy/cold)  and tested negative until the third day of symptoms.  

 

Went from one of us to the next to the next, so we were pretty sure we all had it after we got the first positive test.

 

Our advice to friends has been be very cautious around others if you have symptoms and keep testing.   Good luck to you all and hope no one gets a serious case.

[JDuck]

That banner is very Stanturd red...what about lightning yellow?  

[Charles Fischer]

Because yellow blends in with the other banners and you guys don't read it.  I need to use colors that grab attention, and I cannot avoid all the colors of opposing schools, so I've decided that the only off-limits one is purple.

 

This is purple, and last time you called this purple, and it is actually fuchsia, a shade of pink.

[Mike West]

I wish this topic wasn't brought up.  

 

I've had an extremely different experience that I don't feel I can share because it would be considered political.

 

That's unfortunate because part of it involves speculation, and most of it is fact that half our beloved posters would fight to the death in disagreement.

 

And that is highly unfortunate.

 

Fortunately, most of us are alive and well.  Which is a beautiful thing.  

 

Good health to us all, and to OBD. 

[Pocketchange]

Prayers for a quick recovery for Mrs FishDuck  and that you don’t get it.

[Vandownbytheriverduck]

Dang, a new strain?

Im going out and getting shots again today. 
 

[EastBayDuckDad]

Thanks for the posting, Charles. Speedy recovery for Madame FishDuck Home Boss. My daughter is a flight attendant for Delta, is vaccinated and after a Europe stint still got hammered by one of the Omicron variants this week. The virus is craftier than we are.

 

Silly thought Charles, but would it be an option to have a special "Troll Vault" for the toxic spewings, like what the USC fan posted? Nothing political and no back and forth, but a file we could all access and enjoy a little chuckle at how inventive some folks that do not share the love of OBD can be. Kind of an alternate universe Axel, but not as funny or entertaining, as it were.

[Charles Fischer]

The Troll Vault is an interesting idea, but one on the back-burner for now.  Too many other projects with football season approaching...but it is a good idea.

[HawaiiDuck]

Sorry to hear Mrs. Fishduck got it - my family got over it a few weeks ago.  My son brought it home from daycare and inevitably all of us got sick, though not too bad as my husband and I are double boosted.  Hope all who have the 'VID recover quickly!

 

 

[Charles Fischer]

Thanks to all who contributed to this, as I learned some things and realized that the big headaches Lois had....were a symptom.  

[lownslowav8r]

Best to Lois and a speedy recovery. R-Naught of 18 is right there with measles. 

[FanGirlDuck]

Glad her symptoms were much milder than this quad-vaxxed Duck loving person. I wore a mask the minute I felt a scratchy throat because I knew I may have been exposed (this variant is harder to get a positive OTC test result--BinaxNow worked well for me). I didn't transmit it to others, so that's a win! Hugs for full recovery and hopefully no Long Covid or complications. Thank you for caring about your FishDuck Flock!

[kirklandduck]

My family got hit with it over the last couple weeks.  Symptoms aren't too bad but this latest variant sticks with you longer than the previous ones did so you have to isolate even more.  My 3 year old got it first nearly 2 weeks ago and finally had a negative test yesterday, my wife caught it from him just a couple days after and is still positive as of yesterday.  I got it from one of them this past weekend so I'm expecting it to take at least to next week before it clears up for the entire family.  Ugh!