PSA: "Starting to feel better" does not equal "not infectious"

[sonia]

This PSA brought to you by the friend I met with outdoors, so no masks, who breathed in my face and then said he's recovering from a cold. "I'm feeling better, so I'm not infectious anymore." His voice was still raspy and it was clear his head was still full of gunk. I had a stuffed head and occasional sneezing for a week. Fortunately a week when I didn't have many in-person plans.

And also by the friend who said she had a mild sore throat a couple days before I was seeing her. When I checked in, she said she was feeling fine and a mask wasn't necessary. I had my doubts, but went along with the social pressure. Now I have a scratchy throat and raspy voice, and she has developed laryngitis. Welp. I did have a lot of in-person plans this week, but I guess I'll be canceling them.

I haven't tested positive for Covid in all this, so maybe they're "just" colds. But I still don't feel well, and they disrupt my life, since I don't want to keep passing the germs along.

I sympathize - before the start of the pandemic, my mantra used to be "I'm not sick! I'm not sick! I'm getting better! I'm getting better!" I know it's hard to communicate about illness and just stay home, but please, just stay home until you're really symptom-free, not just starting to feel better.

Comments

as you know

[redbird]

Maybe they're "just" colds, but there's no way to be sure of that, and the same people who tell me that covid is no big deal will confidently say "well, it's not covid, so stop worrying."

And the sort of interactions you describe are part of why I have almost no in-person social life.

Re: as you know

[sonia]

I'm sorry for your loss of in-person social life, and it totally makes sense to avoid the risks. I start to feel like I'm being over-anxious, over-cautious, and then I get sick and go back to being more careful again. The PSA is a reminder for future!me as much as anyone else.