D&D and the rising pandemic

[JEB]

I'd really be severely cautious about going to any concentrated indoor event for a while yet. We're going to probably try and go to some Halloween events come October, but we won't be inside for any long period.

My brother and his girlfriend's mother both caught Covid a few weeks ago from a crowded restaurant outing. Not so surprising with my brother, who (being well under 50 and with no qualifying conditions) can't get a second booster, and therefore doesn't have any particular protection at this point. (Booster #1 was late last year, and IIRC the protection wanes after 4-6 months.) The mother, on the other hand, is physically active and just got a second booster last month, and thus should have been about as protected as possible - but she still caught it. The upside is, her case was very mild (my brother got more of a standard flu-like case - not fun but at least no hospitalization).

So yeah, I agree that caution indoors is a good idea for a while, until we can get access to upgraded booster shots. Or cases go way down like last summer, but that would depend now on folks being cautious...

 

[Zardnaar]

Think I haven't gone to any events in 2 years.

Dining out during quiet times is the extent of my risk factor. Think I went to a restaurant once in a Saturday night.

 

[Ryujin]

Think I haven't gone to any events in 2 years.

Dining out during quiet times is the extent of my risk factor. Think I went to a restaurant once in a Saturday night.

This will be my third season of not shooting any racing events. At this point it feels like I'm done.

 

[Umbran]

This will be my third season of not shooting any racing events. At this point it feels like I'm done.

I went to a house con a couple of weeks ago. With a low attendance, the hosts could make some hard rules - everyone vaccinated and boosted, and everyone tests before coming. And, with that, three out of the four games I was involved with (played, three, ran one), were outdoors.

As far as we can tell, nobody got covid at the event. One person seems to have gotten it on their way home, but since nobody who spent time with them (including me - the one indoor game I played), we are fairly sure it had to do with the airport, not the event.

I think folks may want to learn to trim down their events, and we can then still have fun in relative safety.

Of course, one of my players has ended up with someone testing positive in their house. So, my home game next week is going to be delayed.

 

[CapnZapp]

Please don't downplay Covid by comparing it to "con crud".

Covid is a very serious potentially life threatening disease. Just because it is also a disease many young people shrug off does not change this fact.

The only way to minimize exposure is to NEVER go to any large indoors congregations.

That means NO airplanes, NO conventions.

Restaurants? Try to take away. Shopping? In our day and age everything from shoes to food can be delivered home to you.

The alternative is a real and prominent risk of getting infected, and everything that comes with it - accidentally killing off your elder relatives, getting this nebulous "long covid" and more.

Too many people pretend the pandemic is over. It is definitely far from over. The fact politicians in most Western countries have basically given up does send the signal there's nothing to worry about any more, and nothing could be further from the truth.

 

[Umbran]

Please don't downplay Covid by comparing it to "con crud".

Please do not misconstrue what was said. Indeed, by jumping off this way, you managed to miss the valuable point that you could have raised - yes, in fact, "con crud" and low-end covid infection can be indistinguishable. Which means that if you get something that feels like con crud, you should treat it as if you probably had covid.

The only way to minimize exposure is to NEVER go to any large indoors congregations.

Technically, dying is the only way to assure you will never be exposed again. Aside from the dead, the rest of the world has to manage their risk, rather than absolutely minimize it. Especially because this looks like it is going to be pretty much a forever thing.

 

[Retreater]

The first exposure my family had to COVID was attending the grandmother's funeral around Thanksgiving 2021. It was a short service, about 15 minutes, with around 20 people. They were distanced, they were vaccinated and boosted. Some were still masked.
So if - even after all the precautions - some of us ended up getting it, so be it. So be it if I get it. So be it if I die of it. I've done all I can for going on 2.5 years.

 

[BookTenTiger]

My 8-month-old son got his first Covid shot yesterday!!!

 

[CapnZapp]

Technically, dying is the only way to assure you will never be exposed again. Aside from the dead, the rest of the world has to manage their risk, rather than absolutely minimize it. Especially because this looks like it is going to be pretty much a forever thing.

This relativism is really not helpful.

When I read about people flying or taking cruises and shopping at malls and over and over again express surprise at getting infected, I despair for humanity. Deep down, they knew they took actions that flies in the face of science. THEY KNEW. They just choose to act recklessly and stupidly, despite not wanting to admit that.

Yes, you should manage risk.

But you should not talk yourself into believing indoor structures is a containable risk. Entering airplanes/ports, malls, shops, boats etc WILL get you Covid, full stop. Why? Read on...

It's not that there's a risk you reason yourself into a "small" one.

But a tangible prominent real risk you're actually going to get much more trouble than you bargained for when you decided those hand-picked vegetables or that 'con trip was worth the risk you somehow told yourself was abstract and small.

Do it once and you might luck out. But nobody acts like that. Once you've decided you "deserve" restaurant dinners (or cruises etc), you're going to stop making covid a decision point, and that's when you will have stopped managing risk, in a sensible measured manner.

The individual trip will not 100% give you Covid. But taking that trip indicates you are no longer taking actions that protect you from Covid, and that's what will get you in the end.

TL;DR: Tell yourself the pandemic is over for you and it very likely won't be, for you.

 

[Umbran]

This relativism is really not helpful.

On the contrary, it is required. Absolutism is not practical for most people. The overwhelming majority of us cannot perfectly isolate forever - we do not have the situation, means, or the psychological makeup to support that kind of life. In addition, it is well known that perfect, eternal vigilance fails. It fails every time.

Thus, a focus on managing risk becomes key.