How are you all dealing with coronavirus and the restrictions... #2

I don’t know about the US but in the UK it’s no sooner than 28 days after a positive test.

@Discombobulated - that is interesting about sick pay not taking effect right away. Here it is similar. You start getting paid on day 4 from your insurer. Although, some employers agree to compensate for some of those days. My last job would pay for 4 days a year.

This may sound odd but all the covid restrictions have been traumatizing, because they remind me of the power hospitals and doctors have. It bled out into society.

I'm constantly reminded of my stays in 4 North, a psychiatric inpatient unit.

I also heard 3 months.

And wow @ the sick pay. In Germany sick days are paid. Employers can require a doctor's note though. Some do from day 1, some only if you're sick a few more than 2 or 3 days in a row. But your pay just continues, only when it's for several weeks (I think it's 7 but not sure) on the insurance takes over.

Thank you, Sarah, for sharing. You brought up a point that we all have to consider. The role of the medical staff is very hard.
I saw a documentary about how it all began in China and how the nurses faced to a terrible stress because of having to deal with people dying everyday and the impotence they felt and how they were the only ones who can have contact with sick people. They were alone there, as well as the patients.
I wouldn’t be shocked if they develop PTSD.
Hope your brother take it as good as possible.

Here the masks now are not needed outdoors.
Anyway, I’m as always, a free verse. I don’t care about what a politician decide we have to do at a moment.
I take the mask hanged with a lace and I put it on when I have to interact with a person.
I only listen to doctors and scientists.

A perfect example of stupidity by politicians is the covid passport. It simply has not f@cking sense. Vaccines don’t prevent contagious. It’s a defence for the person who get vaccinated. It doesn’t make any sense.

Still waiting a brilliant idea from a politician. That day, I will bathe naked in the fountain of Trevi. 🙄

Ah, I forgot. Next 16th will be hold a demonstration in my city for Public Health. Of course, I will be there. 😀

I must be the biggest hypocrite here for getting annoyed when people ignore covid rules but still traveled to the UK during a pandemic twice, even. have to admit I got out of the habbit of wearing a face mask in stores & cafes pretty quickly. but I still wore one where it was required, unlike a lot of people around here.

You aren’t at all a hypocrite, you’re within rules and it sounds like you’ve followed guidance wherever you went too.

Hoping you enjoyed your trip!

Not at all. People at this point in time, should be free to travel whenever they want. You took all kind of safety rules along the worst and long time during the pandemia. Don’t feel like that because it’s not true.
And you had all the right to complain about how some citizens had behaved when the vaccines weren’t still ready and they didn’t care. But, you know...there’s always a group of people who never give a $hit about others. They feel entitle.
You behave as a good citizen. And having social anxiety, develop depressions as many people have developed...all this makes things very hard for us. We need at this point, a kind of relief.

Our cases have plummeted 93%. They are talking about no masks in schools by march.

I got back from the UK on Sunday and have been staying at home since then. I'm not required to quarantine because I've been vaccinated, I just want to be on the safe side.

And my app also showed up with a red warning of an increased risk due to an encounter last Friday. Interesting because I was in the UK for most of the day where people don't have the German app, and I had Bluetooth switched off before take off on the plane. (I hope it wasn't the maskless arsehole next to me who tested positive!)

Might go for a walk after work today if it's not raining. Then tomorrow do a test before going to the store. I have a slight sore throat and foggy head, but I have that all the time so I'm not worried I might have covid.

Getting into the UK was lot easier than expected. They only checked my passenger locator form and vaccination certificate when I checked in my luggage, no checks at all upon entering the UK. A lot of people probably wouldn't even have check in luggage for a weekend away so they just breezed through.

On the way back, the airline didn't check anything at all. (Corona wise I mean. Obviously they did check boarding passes and passports ;) )
Back in November when I traveled by train, the train company wouldn't even let people enter the terminal without showing them all the documents.

Getting back into Germany was more of a pain. The automatic passport gates were closed so everyone was being checked manually. One by one. Stood in line for ages. And they almost gave me a heart attack when the first sign I came across said ALL passengers from a high risk area MUST provide a negative test result. "What, how, I triple checked I didn't need a test? Oh god are they not going to let me in, am I going to be that idiot who didn't follow the rules?!" I was seriously starting to panic until I saw the smaller sign at the front "please keep your test result or vaccination certificate ready." :rolleyes:

Did you enjoy your trip, @BreakForTheLight ?
I hope so!

I cannot wait to go on holiday but I have a couple of friend's weddings (and my own) to attend this year so Im not sure when or if we'll get away until after the wedding.

I absolutely love travelling and I have missed it sooo much!

My coping mechanisms for working in a high stress job are socialising, exercising and travelling - all of which I couldnt do initially because of the rules and everywhere being closed. Ive really struggled with the social isolation part of the restrictions but Ive followed the rules and been very careful.

Ive worked through the pandemic without really taking any time off for an extended period (2 or 3 weeks) so that probably hasnt helped.

I think thats probably why I have ended up in such a bad episode. It all just got on top of me. Along with general life stressors which would be difficult to deal with on their own, never mind when I have very few coping mechanisms left to fall back on.

I suppose I need to find some other coping mechanisms that will help me to deal with life stress and work stress that I can do alone. Its hard to think of some. I do enjoy painting and art but I dont know if I can relax enough when I do it, maybe I should take an art class to learn more.

Sorry for telling you all of my life story
I hope you are all having a lovely day!

It hasn’t been said in outright but there’s indications the free testing is going to more or less end here, PCR and lateral flow.

This worries me, I still use lateral flow tests before I volunteer with the elderly, and before I visit my parents. If it weren’t for lateral flow tests I wouldn’t have known as soon as I did that I had covid and wouldn’t have known to stay away from people.

I’m really confused and concerned. I’ve actually started stocking up on lateral flow tests. I don’t trust the government to do the right thing by the public.

I have some positive news from here. Omicron seems to have hit its peak when comparing daily cases week on week.

I been trying to stay busy and sanitize everything.

Here, masks outdoors are not needed anymore. Nonetheless, I put it on when I have to approach to people.
In school are neither needed anymore but I’m not sure if it’s only outdoors, in the playground.

The same here. 😀

Now, when we thought nothing worst may happen other than a pandemia, here’s the war. 😔

I have to admit the current corona situation feeling much less pressing hasn't made me get my booster yet I keep planning on going "this Saturday" but then I figure "I'll do it next week." I don't have any plans requiring a booster shot, I'm still working from home, masks are still required in stores, I don't feel any urgency to get it.

Pfizer is still being rationed here - it's only available for people under 30, people who are pregnant or for people getting the 2nd shot who had Pfizer as their first shot. I know there's not much difference between Pfizer and Moderna but with emetophobia the tiny bit higher incidence of nauseau with Moderna is an extra hurdle to take to get the Moderna shot (and yes, I am perfectly aware I'm being irrational but that's the thing with phobias )
I don't really get why they're still rationing it when there's fewer and fewer people getting a vaccination - surely they should have enough doses to give people a choice?

If it’s any encouragement I was mostly fine with Moderna, just an evening of chills, a bit achy, then fine.

Moderna wasn’t widely available last year, but became so for the booster programme. Pfizer and Moderna seemed to be given equally by that time. Some people I knew did feel more unwell with the third shot, but equally the same with both Pfizer and Moderna.

They opened up fourth doses for all adults who got their third dose on September 12th or earlier. It's sort of starting to feel like overkill. My husband does want to get his, but he had 2 doses of Sinovac plus one of Pfizer. Maybe it makes more sense in that case. I got three doses of Pfizer. I still have some time to think about it, at least. I got my third dose at the end of November.


I'm not sure what vaccine they will be using this time or if it will depend on what you got before. Moderna was recently approved. The outgoing Health Minister said they could buy more Sinovac "if we want", so it sounds like they don't have that readily available any more.

I don't know if the Minister is losing it, but he made a really weird comment last week. He said that there would be no changes to the "Step by Step" plan of Covid restrictions in the foreseeable future. The thing is, he is only Health Minister until Friday. That is when the new administration starts. I guess someone is going to have to tell him he is no longer Minister and help him clean out his desk come Friday.

Yes, I received my first two shots of Pfizer and the third shot was Moderna.

Not to mention in pretty much any other country I am considered boostered. I think it's only Germany that no longer sees 1 shot of J&J as a full vaccination?

I been keeping myself busy by decluttering my bedroom and bringing in the positivity into my home. I'm thinking about getting back into my old hobbies again. I turn the news off so I wouldn't be triggered by all the negativity on the news.

I am also ready to resume some of my old hobbies. I feel safer making plans with friends and going to restaurants, events, etc. Hearing someone cough still sends me running in the opposite direction. Yesterday I saw a box of the free n95s at a local store. I took some to have on hand for the next wave.