COVID-19 is not the common cold. Here’s an effort to keep you up-to-date on long COVID developments.
Not “in the clear” after first infection
Catch up quick: Long COVID – by Katelyn Jetelina
- What we knew: Long COVID after first infection was clearly a risk. The risk of long COVID-19 after re-infection was not known.
- New info: In the U.K., risk of long COVID dropped after second infections compared to first infection (4% → 2.4%). This is good and bad news: Risk drops, but risk is clearly not zero.
- Why it matters: There is still reason to avoid COVID-19, even if you’ve had it already.
I know we all want COVID to be over, so much so that some of us (most of us?) have seemingly agreed that it is over. Hey, I can’t tell people how to live their lives but I can tell you that I want nothing to do with having Long COVID.
Masking seems to be a fairly simple way for me to protect myself, and still be out and about (I went to Texas and we didn’t get COVID! Hurrah! You can still do stuff sensibly.. and not so sensibly too).
Not everyone will get COVID, and not everyone who catches COVID will develop Long COVID (though the risk increases with every reinfection) so it seems like a remote possibility for most people. And I suppose it is. However, check out this Youtube video about a vibrant YouTuber who got Long COVID and how they are doing:
Every now and again I’ll re-evaluate my mask wearing, because I’m not doing it just to hide my fat face (that’s a bonus). For example, before we went to Texas I thought, “Do we really need to wear masks on the plane?” I then read several recent articles from epidemiologists who all said, “WEAR A MASK ON THE PLANE.” And we did.
Watching the above video really makes it clear that I don’t want anything to do with Long COVID, thank you very much! I’m tired enough as it is!
If you want to help out Dianna here’s her patreon (I will note that if we lived in a society where people didn’t have to worry about healthcare Dianna’s situation would be slightly less stressful for her loved ones, but that’s neither here nor there).