I might well be wrong, but I thought I’d read BA.4 and 5 variants had reverted back to the pre-Omicron location of deep within the lungs.

UK Covid is being downplayed massively now, including just weekly stats released from the .gov site, when these two variants are bucking the summer trends and giving high population levels of positives despite the lack of free tests and relatively low level of testing.

Even the NHS are about to revert to standard absence procedure and dumping special Covid sick policy.

Still no obvious sign of another booster date for non-vulnerable under 75s, now almost seven months since my last booster aged 48.

Concerning times.

Well it took over two years and a few months for me to catch it, but the lack of any current protocols and a village shop full of infectious farmers a couple weeks ago saw me in bed for a week and staffing the shop. Hi likelihood my wife who is in the most vulnerable cat. Has also no caught it. Thankfully from a financial pov we both didn’t get it at the same time.

First few days I felt awful, headache, fever and blocked up. Thankfully I never had a severe cough or breathing issues – but it cirtainly knocked me harder than other viruses I’ve had in  the past. As for long Covid, I went out on the bike (now one week after testing negative) and although I have no fatigue issues, felt quite dissy….

Concerning times…

…if you’re an obese nonagenarian or someone with health anxiety, maybe.

Meanwhile my fit 80 year old London based dad is getting on with life, planning summer jolly boy trips with his mates; and my 53 year old teacher sister, who tested +ve on Friday and feels, well, a bit cold-y, is teaching remotely from home for the next few days before she can go back in. I told her to sack it off completely and milk a few days sickleave like all the other malingerers, but her pride won’t let her.

Me? Well, tonight’s my one evening off this week because, as usual, I’m spending the others covering for the usual sicknotes. It’s just like being a postie again! Think I’ll go out on the hill for a bivi.

like all the other malingerers

I know plenty of people ill and/or positive, and working from home. Whether you can work from home depends on your role and industry, of course. We need to get away from the idea that people are either “malingerers” or “super-spreaders”… this is what living with Covid looks like… stay away from your work colleagues (and fellow commuters) when you are likely to be contagious. Work from home if you can. If you’re too ill, or have to be in the workplace to do anything, then it’s sick leave time.

Concerning times…

…if you’re an obese nonagenarian or someone with health anxiety, maybe.

Meanwhile my fit 80 year old London based dad is getting on with life, planning summer jolly boy trips with his mates; and my 53 year old teacher sister, who tested +ve on Friday and feels, well, a bit cold-y, is teaching remotely from home for the next few days before she can go back in. I told her to sack it off completely and milk a few days sickleave like all the other malingerers, but her pride won’t let her.

Me? Well, tonight’s my one evening off this week because, as usual, I’m spending the others covering for the usual sicknotes. It’s just like being a postie again! Think I’ll go out on the hill for a bivi.

Well if we’re using personal anecdotes for guidance rather than national and global statistics…

My unbelievably fit 43 year old mate. Regular triathlete. Ran the Marathon De Sables a few times etc. Lean and shredded physique. Ran and cycled hundreds of miles a week. Caught covid in spring of last year. Absolutely devastated him. Can barely do any exercise now.

My missus’ friend’s husband. Caught it early in the first wave. Young, no known underlying health conditions. Spent months in hospital in a coma. Chest cracked open a couple of times for life saving surgery. Toes amputated.

Me. Cycled thousands of miles a year. Went to the gym 5 times a week. Raced the EWS last October. Caught covid in November and I’ve been absolutely ruined since then. Can hardly ride 10k without being floored for days. Zero history of any medical problems. Barely back to normal now just in time to test positive again last week.

I have somehow managed to avoid Covid for the last couple of years but caught it last week. I was the last in my extended family other than my parents to get it. I think it was on a short shared car journey on a kayak trip (windows were open). Splitting sore head for couple of days, bunged up, a bit of brain fog. Feeling a bit better a week later. I am rarely ill and only tested myself (as i have some LF left over) and I have a family get together soon and I wanted to know for sure. My only real symptom was a 2 day headache, the rest the same as a heavy chesty cold. I am on holiday so didn’t impact work, however I would only have not gone to work one day when I felt bad. So if there is no testing how do people know they have it or not and can take sensible precations, limiting contact with others etc. No wonder so many people are getting it.

I know plenty of people ill and/or positive, and working from home.

I had half a day off on Friday, worked yesterday to keep up with what I needed for an important live webinar today, and have delivered said webinar after taking every cough suppressant under the sun.

I’ve no idea year how my cycling is affected yet, be seeing as most of my races have been cancelled I’m seriously considering a pause in coaching and enjoying a summer on my bike if I can, and restarting training in October.

I might well be wrong, but I thought I’d read BA.4 and 5 variants had reverted back to the pre-Omicron location of deep within the lungs.

Based on my experience of a “Bruised” feeling in my lower chest this could be right, although equally that could be my diaphriam aching from all the coughing.

I tested positive this morning having felt fairly crap yesterday but testing negative.
Main symptoms are dry, annoying cough, splitting headache, and possibly a bit of stomach cramps.
I’ve managed 2 years without an infection and 3 years without being ill at all so this feels completely crap!

Day 7.

Still coughing/congested. Background headache.

Still negative.

It’s perfectly possible there is a non-Covid thing going around too.
It’s also possible that the tests are rubbish.

I’ve not been ill for a few years but I’m currently off work getting over what I think is Covid.
Felt really tired in work last Sunday,got home & was asleep by 7.30.I hardly ate anything for 3 days,had a proper constant banging headache,eyes streaming,could hardly breathe through my nose.I’ve never had so much ‘discharge’ exit my nostrils & it felt really hot around my sinus area plus lots of sweating.No sign of a cough or loss of taste though,now I’m just really tired & keep falling asleep.
I was planning on getting a Covid test but all the Covid test centres are closed so I’lljust phone the GP when I need a return to work note.
Seems to be a lot of it about…

I would only have not gone to work one day when I felt bad

No wonder so many people are getting it.

If you have symptoms or test positive you should isolate!

10yr old sons just tested +ve after running a fever for 24hrs Saturday into Sunday.  seemingly absolutely fine now.

my RHR has rocketed from 52 to 70 today and feeling a little bit off so we’ll see how wild the ride is. Testing -ve for now.

first time anyone in the house has tested +ve.

Covid does seem to hit the superfit quite hard.

I should be just fine then…

From last Thursday.

Well, day 7 from first symptoms and I’ve just tested negative. Still have a slight productive cough, woke up with a headache and a longs days work (sitting behind a laptop, some presentations and meetings) yesterday has knocked me out a bit.

Perhaps I can now stop isolating / mask wearing at home at least.

After testing positive yesterday today I’m feeling quite a bit better.
Basically just feels like a cold – with ringing in my ears.
Slight cough and sniffly nose.
Hopefully I’m past the worst.

Well day 3 after my positive test and, other than a very slightly blocked nose, my symptoms have effectively gone.
Just for fun I did another test this morning which was nicely positive still (no surprise really) – but my mate, who probs got it from me, has tested negative!!

I’m staying at home for another two full days though as per the recommendations.
Think I’ve got a way with it fairly mildly compared to some/many – maybe it shows how unfit I am!!

I might well be wrong, but I thought I’d read BA.4 and 5 variants had reverted back to the pre-Omicron location of deep within the lungs.

No evidence of greater severity. The faster replication may be due to additional changes at the furin cleavage site and that allows infection of the upper respiratory tract. More likely is a waning in protection from morbidity afforded by time since vaccination and possibly time since infection.

Paper here shows the same hospitalisation rates for omicron variants.

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1792132/v1

After controlling for factors associated with hospitalisation and severe outcome respectively, BA.4/BA.5-infected individuals had a similar odds of hospitalisation (aOR1.24, 95% CI 0.98–1.55) and severe outcome (aOR 0.71, 95%CI 0.41–1.25) compared to BA.1-infected individuals.

The increase in BA.4 and BA.5 hospitalisations in the UK is at a rate seen previously for omicron emergence. https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare patients in hospital on a log scale over past 12mo is informative of the double omicron (BA.1 then BA.2) peaks, to be followed by a BA.4/5 peak that I think will look similar.

I’m waiting for this autumn’s omicron-specific variant. Strains may have over on, but this vaccine will be at least closer to circulating strains.

Covid does seem to hit the superfit quite hard.

And I resemble the MdS athlete – still wiped out two years later. the working hypothesis is that such athletes are in a state of immunosuppression due to extended training. This puts them at risk of more serious infection, and in the first wave, without protection, significant systemic organ morbidity.

Wow.

Well, I continue to recover, but still with the odd cough during the day today and a headache upon waking.

I’m going for my first gentle bike ride tonight, I’ll post later to report on any post viral fatigue.

Sorry to hear @tired you’re still suffering. You have to wonder what the societal effects of Long Covid will be, both for the individuals involved and the NHS/etc…

I tested negative yesterday and went for my first ride/any real exercise in a week. Definitely felt quite “lung-y” similar to riding post Asthma flare up. Was okay but done in at the end. Also felt like there was a lag between brain and rest of body. Normally only get that with a hangover and not touched a drop for a week!

Garmin (no HR strap, just wrist one) told me ’66 hours’ to recover. Normally after a night ride, it’s 30-40 hours. No idea if that’s coincidence or not but pretty tired today

After 2 years avoiding it in the UK we came out to Perth for a family funeral a bit of chillout time. And bam 1 week in 2/3 house tested positive. Im testing negative but identical symptoms to everyone else so assume I have it as well. Horrible head cold and brain fog for 2 days but feeling a lot better now on day 5. I’m horribly unfit now so this might be fun!

So, I just did my first post-covid MTB ride. I wasn’t expecting much as last time I had 3-4 weeks of post viral fatigue. I just rode my bike, tried a few efforts and didn’t feel strained or tired at all.  I felt quite rested and free to do what I needed to do, so no post viral fatigue this time.    

However – also experienced at work – I did have “brain fog”.  It quickly became apparent that my decision making was slow and eye to brain coordination poor, so I slowed down on the descents for safety.

I guess I can count myself lucky for the second time.

On the way out the other side now. 3 days of feeling pretty grotty but I’ve had worse.

Winter time here in Queensland and as was predicted at the end of last year the numbers are climbing. There’s another virus / flu thrown in the mix too.

Brisbane hospitals are cancelling elective surgery due to being overloaded with COVID and flu patients (not something that happens with normal flu seasons) and of course lots of staff are off sick.

Australian government is making a fourth jab available for all +30yr olds and recommending it for all +50 and vulnerable (I know some who’ve already had five).

Recent east coast natural disasters and riding cost of living will compound the difficulties too. There’s still plenty of people displaced from February’s floods and it all kicked off again in New South Wales this week.

Curious if anyone is aware of plans to roll out further vaccinations to the general pop towards autumn?

And I resemble the MdS athlete – still wiped out two years later. the working hypothesis is that such athletes are in a state of immunosuppression due to extended training. This puts them at risk of more serious infection, and in the first wave, without protection, significant systemic organ morbidity.

Sorry to hear you’re still suffering..

I caught it right at the end of a 4 month block & was totally pole-axed by PVF. Took me 2 months before I could even walk to the shops. Others I’ve known who have had it & train significantly less fared better. Still had some PVF but no more than a few wks at best. I’ve decided now not to train for anything longer than 2 1/2 months at a time so to not run my system down so much. Also this winter I’ll just be on a maintenance program opposed to anything more taxing…lesson learnt!

7 days into my infection. Friday through Sunday weren’t very nice, lots of coughing and sweating. Monday I tried to work from home including holding a Teams interview but it knocked me right out. Wednesday I felt better and put the bins out. Pulse above 120 and needed to go back to sleep for an hour. Officially I can stop isolating tomorrow but I’m going to minimise contact for another week.

I’m on day 12.
I tested negative 8 days after the initial positive test but I may have been clear a day or two before that (very faintly positive on day 6).

I felt like I recovered quite quickly but started a dry asthma-type cough around day 6 that refuses to go away.
It’s mostly fine until I lie down then I’m coughing constantly.
I have a feeling that I may be like this for some time.
Oh, and a headache when I wake up.

Tested -ve on day 10. Still got a lingering sinusy, phlegmy thing going on. Not a massive amount of go. Not sure a couple of the hottest days of the year are a good time to test out getting on a bike. I’ll leave it until it cools down….

And I resemble the MdS athlete – still wiped out two years later. the working hypothesis is that such athletes are in a state of immunosuppression due to extended training. This puts them at risk of more serious infection, and in the first wave, without protection, significant systemic organ morbidity.

That’s interesting. My neighbour was very fit – did regular triathlons and marathons. He’s had Long COVID for over 2 years and has been diagnosed with myocarditis, for which he’ll be on meds the rest of his life by the looks of it.

I was ‘fit’ in comparison to the rest of my office but not seriously ‘fit’. I’m 28 months into Long COVID and seem to have developed some kind of rheumatological issue in my back, which is a shitter. Pretty fed up of the whole thing now.

Australian government is making a fourth jab available for all +30yr olds and recommending it for all +50 and vulnerable (I know some who’ve already had five).

had my 4th today – mixed things up with Moderna this time – wooooooo.

We all came down with flu (or something like flu) a few weeks ago that was absolutely horrendous. We RAT tested every day: apparently not covid, but it was brutal. I can understand why the hospitals are under strain – if anyone remotely vulnerable gets that they are really going to struggle.

And therein lies the problem; for those who have a straightforward, basic infection they are happy to dismiss the concerns of those at greater risk or those who have already had an awful experience. However, Covid infection can and does wreck lives. I’m raging at the amount of idiocy I see every day. And just because you had an easy time, first visit, doesn’t mean that you won’t be in the percentage who get either clobbered or get long covid after your second infection. Or your third, fourth….
The overall numbers of long covid cases are still going up very much more rapidly than people are clearing from it.
I see so many of our athletes with hopes and dreams trashed by an infection; it’s so sad and is much more avoidable. I’d also like to thank the person who gave me covid while I was on medic duties at the West Highland Way race in June. Despite strict protocols.

Latest reports estimate the R0 of the newest variants as greater than 18, which is mind-boggling, and make them pretty much the most transmissible viruses known to man. Measles, the benchmark of high transmissibility, is 18. The original Wuhan version was 3.3, I believe.

And the so-called Centaurus variant is apparently possibly outcompeting BA.5 in India…

Tested positive for 7 days then had 7 days of negative tests but still symptomatic. I’m asthmatic and it’s hit me pretty hard.

Was ill about 6 weeks ago and tested negative throughout but some symptoms very similar.

Now been given antibiotics as there’s suggestion of the original illness being a chest infection that never really left, lowering immunity and flaring up again during Covid. Strava results show a definite dip in performance between the two bouts of illness.

On day three of the antibiotics and starting to feel a bit stronger, might even try to gently turn the cranks Sunday if the improvement continues.

Tested positive on Thursday. Since then it was all going pretty normally (had it last September)  with slightly elevated temp, sore throat, light cough and lots of sneezing

But tonight I woke up soaked through with sweat to the extent my duvet was wet through though cover. Checked my heart rate and it had dropped to 39-40 and my pulse ox measured on a garmin was 95. Its never been lower than 98 before

Just checked again hr later and its 100…..hr back to a more normal for me 55-58

should I be worried? No breathlessness

Pulse ox of 95 is not concerning.

We all came down with flu (or something like flu) a few weeks ago that was absolutely horrendous. We RAT tested every day: apparently not covid, but it was brutal. I can understand why the hospitals are under strain – if anyone remotely vulnerable gets that they are really going to struggle

Yep. My colleague’s mum tested positive but she’s remained negative but been sicker for the last week.

We’ve 70 clinical staff off in one hospital today. All qualified non-clinical staff are being pulled back into play.

Apparently our area is experiencing double the five year average for this time of year of confirmed flu cases.

And just because you had an easy time, first visit, doesn’t mean that you won’t be in the percentage who get either clobbered or get long covid after your second infection.

An appropriately qualified person was interviewed on the radio this morning and said that there’s a higher chance of getting long covid from a second infection than from a first infection.

Pulse ox of 95 is not concerning

On its own no, but you wouldn’t want it much lower.

Also these uncalibrated ebay devices are not totally reliable and so if you have one it makes sense to use it while you are fit and well and see what sort of numbers you get then, and then look at whether the number you are getting when infected (doesn’t have to be Covid, other respiratory infections are available) is substantially different.

If you normally are 99 or 100 and you are now 95, I’d be thinking about watching it. If your normal is 96 and now 95 not so much.

Same as going OMG my RHR is 80 what should I do….. if it’s normally 75; nothing, if it’s normally 50 – maybe watch it.

Finally got me, scratchy throat, elevated temp (couple of degs) hacking cough. On the hottest day of the year so far, I’m wrapped in a blanket and can’t stop shivering 🙄