Conavirus......

Thanks!

My first ventures into mask were a neck gator and some N95 masks that were out in the garage but have the exhalation valve. Now both of those are not recommended. Then I bought some masks from Adidas that are supposed to be good for exercise. They don't have the metal piece to mold around the nose and cause my sunglasses to fog up. I just ordered one of the Beau Ties off Amazon (thanks for the suggestion) thinking I would like the nose piece and adjustable ear straps. I expect masks are here to stay and don't mind a little trial and error. Not into the disposables being a hopeless environmentalist, but I suspect in the big scheme of things it's not that important.

And...best wishes Tammy!

I have already gone through two masks - straps wore out on one and the other was white and got stained. This is getting really old.

This is the mask company we have used: https://www.shopprefix.com/products/nightingale-mask
Their masks are sturdy and have stood up to many wearings and washings. They do have the metal strip that is so essential for those of us who wear glasses.

I have 10 I can rotate. Only one had the elastic wear out.

I continue to take in news and in the past 24 hours I have heard of large numbers of false positives in both Massachusetts and Connecticut. I also heard that 40% of deaths are in nursing homes although only 1% of the population lives in them. Meanwhile schools, designed for the young, continue to report numbers like due to 20 positive tests 1200 students and faculty are quarantining although in none of these cases are any of the 20 reported as having symptoms, being sick, being hospitalized or dying. How many of these cases are even real and not false positives?

Common sense seems to have fallen prey to paranoia. Let kids with immune problems and those living in multigenerational homes, or just those who are afraid, go to school virtually, but don't shut down the schools for flimsy reasons. I wonder in future years if we will look on this like we did the mass paranoia that started with Fells Acre Day Care. For those of you too young to remember, it was the start of hysteria about supposed sexual abuse in daycares that later turned out to be largely nonexistent. Charlatans hopped on the bandwagon convincing people they had been molested but suppressed the memories. Now we have a medical industrial complex selling bad tests with false positives to fuel the flames of anxiety and direct more and more of our economy towards their sector. We aren't even supposed to breathe freely anymore, but wear masks that trap our carbon dioxide around our faces because vents on masks are bad. It's disheartening.

My cousin's wife is a teacher in a small town in western Kansas. Population 4800. Last week that county had 27 cases. Today they have 69. And a greater than 10% positive test rate. In other words it's completely out of control and soon the infection rate will look like NYC during the worst time there. But not to worry. The county has a hospital with 18 beds/5 ICU... School is opening next week with no restrictions. Cousin's wife went to a teacher planning session yesterday and she and her co-teacher were the only ones caring enough to wear masks. CW lives in a neighboring county. If she catches it at work she will take it home to her family and everyone else she comes in contact with. Hopefully CW and her family will be smart enough to stay away from my elderly aunt/uncle who live nearby.

Kids and younger people are dying. I guess you missed that Y.

Here’s info on COVID long haulers:

https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/615382/

I’m at 6 weeks and in no shape to return to work yet. I’m hoping I fully recover by month 3.

The hardest part for me is not doubting myself that I have ongoing fatigue and shortness of breath with exertion. I fall into the category of those who were raised to pull myself up by bootstraps, don’t be a whiner, push yourself, work hard ... “it’s all in your head”

I bought a pulse ox because it gives me objective data - helps with the self doubt.

I drop to 90-92% with exertion. But I have great improvement in other areas. Just not the fatigue and drop in pulse ox.

Tammy that’s awful.