Experiencing Omicron, and "covid tongue"

 

My family got covid, myself, my wife, and two kids, just not my wife's mother or two aunts that are visiting.

My son first came down with it coming up on two weeks ago, on Friday, Feb. 25, with a test confirming that the next day.  Then my wife and daughter on Monday (on Eye's birthday, too bad about that), and I showed symptoms that Tuesday night, with testing on Wednesday not returned until Thursday, by which time I was good and sick.  

Basic Omicron symptoms seem to be dry cough, headache, fatigue, sore throat (with mine fairly intense), possible early high temperature (moderate though, and I didn't get that), limited body aches, and some sneezing.  And "covid tongue."

My sense of taste had shifted a lot over the day I first wrote some of this, Sunday the 6th, even though I was really recovering (all relative, kind of a long process).  The day before that I had tasted metal when I wasn't eating or drinking anything, and the next day my tea tasted just like water to me, with even tongue based sensation seeming to drop out.  I could detect sweetness, but not very well, not getting as clear an impression of the level.  I tried some of my kids' Trix cereal and it seemed sweet, but it could've been Fruit Loops or Fruity Pebbles and I couldn't tell the difference.  Later Sunday my sense of taste seemed normal again, and I could taste later rounds of that same tea just fine.  Then yesterday morning and this morning again nothing from the tea I tried; I couldn't have been sure it was tea just from the taste.

It's all good though; we're all going to be fine, and my sense of taste will return whenever it does.  It coming and going seems strange, and that strange metallic taste "noise" experience was really something.

The kids had an easy time with it, but a harder first day, experiencing mild fever for the first 24 hours.  Then within 48 hours of showing symptoms both were clear.  I'm at day 8 of having symptoms and I'm past the worst, I hope, and feel better, but not normal.  We all took anti-viral meds, and I'm also on anti-biotics for a secondary bacterial infection that came on fast.  That can happen to me with colds and flus too, seemingly an immune system weakness that I should get sorted out.  I had the Pfizer booster a month ago, and two AstraZeneka shots last year, as my wife did, with both of us getting the second within 6 months prior to now.

Thailand's Omicron wave ran late, so that the country has been caught in what hopefully is the peak of it for only a couple of weeks now (but may not be the peak yet):

March 7 capture

It helps place that to review deaths stats as well:

Of course those numbers are under-counted, as all covid stats are, regardless of what pandemic deniers like to claim about hospitals making up cases.  I know people here who "rode out" covid without ever getting an official test result or medical support.

To Americans it might seem strange that this peak relates to approaching 60 people dying per day, which will surely keep increasing.  The US numbers just dropped below 2000 deaths per day, where it had been for over a month (I think; I don't keep track):

Thailand has just over 70 million residents, so between a fourth and a fifth of the US population.  We could be undercounting more here, but it's really just a different kind of pandemic experience.  I've been working from home for almost two years now, and when I go out to run for the last year I wear a mask.  I don't think that really helps, although wearing masks in malls and such might.  The point is that people overreact, which kind of works.

At this point I think a lot of the citizens of every country are going to experience covid infection first hand.  Being most of the way through that process myself I can't imagine how it would've been different without vaccination.  I'm fairly healthy, eating well, not overweight, with minimal health issues (except a tendency to get secondary throat infections), and I run multiple times a week, but then I am 53.

As I write this last edit the story of our experience is that it lingers.  I've been sick for over a week, and my wife for 10 days now, although she did seem to turn a corner yesterday and stop coughing.  We're better, but it just won't end.  Getting a booster apparently isn't a guarantee that you're going to have an easy time of it, although compared to people dying or nearly dying that's what this still is.  

I must admit, I thought that some people claiming they were going into their second week with symptoms might've been milking the experience for extra down-time, but it's real enough.  It's hard to imagine what a bad reaction to a more severe strain would be like.  You would die, I guess, but I mean short of that, still in that other normal range of being moderately sick and it running long.  I hope I don't go on to experience what long / long haul covid is like.

Update:  I finally tasted some tea in the morning!  I picked a 2015 Dayi Jia Ji sheng pu'er tuocha, so there would be a lot of intense flavor to come through, and I noticed part of it.  It even worked, enjoying the stripped-down version of heavy mineral, somewhat warm tones, typically slightly harsh towards wood and smoke range (just not really smoke).  I've been worried that the throat issues never really eased up but I might clear this in the next few days, or at least see it taper off enough that I'm not freaked out about recurring infections or "long covid."

we had celebrated Eye's birthday early, which really worked out.  I'm doing a 70s movie villain look these days, which I'm not completely pulling off.