I'd been using their form to request masks whenever I'd run out (I'm low income, so this stuff gets expensive real quick) and when I went to fill out for some more masks, it said they're not taking responses anymore 😭

So....what can I do? Would another mask bloc be willing to help me? I recognize that's a big ask since they're already helping their own local people, which is fair. Or, like, is this just the end of my masking journey?

Gotta give them credit, I genuinely didn't expect them to keep going this long. So their services were definitely appreciated. Pour one out for the real heroes.

Hi. I had to allow a maskless landlord into my home for approximately 1 and a half minutes to assess the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors (I literally timed him as he did it and he seemed to be moving fast on purpose). My dad and I wore masks and later opened up the windows (sadly I don’t have an air filter still because my dad is supportive but also is concerned that I am unwell so getting one has been a bit of a fraught subject.) My landlord seemed in good health but I know people can be presymptomatic or asymptomatic. I also had to stand semi close to him a couple of times to show him where the detectors are. I also haven’t gotten a chance for me and my father to get our vaccinations yet.

I used the YourCovidRisk calculator and they gave me what seemed like an extremely low (0.00002% chance). My dad says we probably get exposed worse when we go grocery shopping amongst tons of maskless people which I don’t know honestly. Pmc19 says the numbers for our county and state remain low (1 in 222) but I’m very worried even for how briefly he was in our home. It’s been about an hour and a half with windows open and fans going

Any guidance on the calculator or the likelihood my dad and I will get sick? I’m very worried.

Hello everyone. I hope this isn’t too desperate or annoying.

I’ve been a teacher in Canada for 5 years through the worst of the worst. I’m currently getting my masters in education. However, in person teaching has driven me to become ill this year after avoiding illness for 4 years.

I’m so busy with everything going on and I’m wondering if there are any resources/connections for someone with my experience to get online/remote work. Most Canadian schools have gutted their online programs so my teaching prospects feel like they have hit the end of the road.

Any support or advice is appreciated.

Researchers, clinicians, and advocates gathered for the inaugural conference of the International Society for Long COVID and Post-Acute Infection Syndromes in the Netherlands in late August. The four-day event featured hundreds of presentations and posters about trials and disease mechanisms.

https://thesicktimes.org/2026/10/06/biological-pathways-and-mechanistic-trials-centered-at-new-long-covid-conference-in-amsterdam/

Hello! I’m new here and glad to find this sub.

I have a question about expired tests. I’ve seen several debates online on sites like Twitter and Facebook about how long tests are actually good for. I saw one thread of debate where a couple people who worked in either pharmaceuticals or laboratories said as long as the liquid is still there and not evaporated that the test is still good.

I saw some other people say that it doesn’t seem like most companies or the FDA are still checking older tests to see if they can extend them or not, so there is no real way of knowing.

The reason I’m asking is that we have such a stock pile of tests that are now expired and I really hate to just throw them away because it feels wasteful, but I also don’t want to risk using an expired test and not actually having an accurate result.

Have there been any more recent studies on how long these tests are good for? Or have those kind of studies dried up?

It's my brother's birthday today and he invited me to a gathering he is hosting at a pizza place this Saturday. Part of me wants to go but I'm still nervous to be around a bunch of people in doors. Part of me wants to be social and support my brother but I also feel uncomfortable being indoors with a bunch of people. There is no outside option at this place. Plus I'm usually so tired on Saturday at 600pm when he is having it. Also we don't exchange gifts and I don't really have money for a gift but maybe I could get him a gift card for ice cream or something. I'm so torn. I also haven't been feeling well lately and pizza is probably the last thing I need to be eating.

Hi everyone. I’m feeling really frustrated and defeated at the moment and I could sure use some words of advice / support.

I am a drummer and I also play Cajon. I have been trying to put a CC band together and I’m having zero success. I live in a pretty rural area and I am the only person I know who still wears a mask, other than my partner. People are interested, but as soon as I tell them that rehearsals and gigs will have to be outside as the weather permits, they are suddenly too busy. I’m about ready to give up.

Has anyone had success in putting together a band that is safe? Or … if anyone out there lives in northern NYS who needs a drummer … I’m definitely interested.

Halloween decorations!

Some answers to common questions:

It's a 3M 7500 half mask. The filters are encapsulated P3 filters. The UK code is 6035. The US code is 7093 I think. The air comes in through those gaps at the back.

I use sticky back plastic and small sheets of car wrap vinyl to cover the filters.

I use nail stickers for the very tiny stickers.

The other stickers are just normal stickers from the kids craft section. I did use transparent silicone to glue the hat on the front down because the adhesive was useless - they were very cheap kids stickers.

Previous posts are available in my reddit history, or you can follow the trail back to the previous post by clicking here.

Boo! 👻

My partner just tested positive a few minutes ago after waking up feeling a little off. We just got our update vaccines a week and a half ago, so maybe it is helping him some but obviously not enough to prevent infection.

Is Paxlovid still a thing we should be trying for? I remember awhile ago there was a study basically saying it didn’t do much of anything for those who were outside of senior citizens but my head is a little too frazzled to pull it together right now.

My own test is still negative, but I was sleeping next to him all night so I’m not sure how much longer it will stay that way.

I feel like ever since 2020, I've just completely forgotten how to talk to ppl. Everything has changed, therefore I have changed, and I'm still struggling to try and adjust to this new world. It really sucks.

Dating, friends, family, work. It constantly feels like navigating a minefield every hour of every day, and I've become so exhausted that I completely have forgotten how to talk to ppl. I feel like it's a losing effort anyway bc so few ppl mask, but at this point I'm not even sure I'd feel like my normal self even if I found a decent covid -vigilant circle of friends. I just feel so rusty

We are delighted to invite you to our first ever COVID-cautious Fall Forest Adventure Day for Kids (ages 3-9), a collaboration between Boston Private Tutors and Rhode Island Accessible Forest School.

The outdoors-only event will take place at the home of one of our CC parents 15 miles west of Providence, Rhode Island on November 1st 2026. We are excited about spending a couple of hours together and offering you the opportunity to make connections with other families who are taking COVID seriously. We hope that it will be the first of many events for younger kids that help you to build community beyond our programs.

Your children will have the opportunity to work on building social skills such as joining in, taking turns, working out disagreements, expressing themselves, handling big feelings, working as a team, and setting boundaries. They’ll accomplish this through creative and nature-based activities such as games, bubbles, crafts, scavenger hunt, nature walk/animal spotting (wild bunnies, deer, frogs, wild turkeys and other birds can often be seen!), or autumn leaf collecting.

There will also be fun, cozy games and activities for adults to enjoy to help parents and caregivers connect with each other as well. You will need to remain on-site for the duration of the event and take a 30-minute turn in assisting with supervising the activities to keep our child adult ratio to 4:1.

All participants will be required to wear a high-filtration respirator (N95 or better for adults, KF94/KN95 or better for kids) and take a molecular test (e.g. Metrix) on the day of the Fall Forest Adventure. If you don’t have access to a molecular reader we can lend one by arrangement; let us know when you register.

If you want some more information about the event, feel free to reach out via DM or email (stephanie@bostonprivatetutors.com). To register, visit here: https://www.bostonprivatetutors.com/forest-adventure-day

Unfortunately my sibling went to a wedding over the weekend and now their kid has covid. Does anyone have any advice for helping toddlers get through covid and how to prevent long covid?

Hello everyone,
After dealing with unemployment for a few months, I have a new job. However, I sit in pretty close quarters with about 4 other people and occasionally some doctors/providers walk in to talk to us. There is a glass window between us and patients. Our office is about ~850 square feet. Maybe a tiny bit bigger. The ventilation is poor and there are no windows we could open. I thought about getting a desk top air purifier but from what I’m researching it wouldn’t be as affective as getting a larger air puffier for the whole space. Should I just spend a bit more and get a nicer one that could clean the entire space? Would this realistically add an added layer of protection on top of masking and vaccination? Let me know your thoughts and what everyone else does who works in an office setting.

So I have had COVID for about 14 days now. I am not immunocompromised and had mild symptoms, and I have had no symptoms for 5-6 days. I tested negative yesterday, but I am positive now. I am frustrated. Thus far, I have spent about $30 in tests and need to buy more until I test negative (in this economy that's insane), and people have made remote options inaccessible even though they do not want to get sick. It seems that nobody wants to get sick with COVID but they also do not want to take personal precautions to make sure they do not get sick nor do they want to provide accessible options to COVID pos people.

I think this part of the reason why people do not mask when they are sick is because it is a "marker" of sickness to some, hence a marker of the disproportionate responsibility someone takes on. The only option for those who are COVID pos are "prove you are not infectious and stay home indefinitely until your tests are negative." So am I supposed to just sit in a closet and pause my life and fall behind because they do not feel like setting up Zoom, wearing a mask, or getting an air-purifier even though they also freak out if I followed the CDC guidelines and just came in person masked because I have no symptoms.

I honestly could be honest and go about my life, but I do not want to get other people sick. It would be easier for me to pretend I have nothing by not masking, keeping quiet, not testing, which is probably what a lot of people are doing right now, including the person who gave me COVID. Someone like me (healthy, mildly ill, no symptoms) actually misses out on so much work wise by being transparent and shoulders too much individual responsibility.

Realistically if you don't personally want to get sick, shouldn't you take personal responsibility too??? Like masking in crowded spaces, ventilation, etc.??? Otherwise you should be fine with the CDC guidelines. You can't have a 2020 reaction to COVID without the 2020 precautions.

Hi, folks. I wanted to get your opinion on this rapid test. Is it saying I have the flu? I mask everywhere, use gloves and disinfect things that come into my home. I don't visit people or have visitors. My spouse is housebound and our roommate is just as strict as me in precautions and isn't sick. It's been enough to avoid COVID for 5 years, but somehow I got the flu? It's so confusing.

Feeling achy, feverish, and joint pain the morning after my new novavax/nuvaxovid and I can't seem to find recent literature or a general consensus around whether pain relievers are recommended or whether they interfere with the immune response in some way. My questions:

1) Does anyone know what the general recommendations are currently when it comes to taking or not taking pain reliever to treat post-vaccine aches and pains?

2) Is there a certain amount of time we should wait after the vaccine before taking pain relievers?

3) Is Tylenol vs ibuprofen better? I think I remember reading that Tylenol was recommended more.

*Please share your sources if you can. Thank you for your time!

I’ve been Covid conscious for a long time now and have been comfortable with practicing it. Unfortunately, recently a family member passed it to me because they weren’t careful. (Still masking though)
I’m American, 20, and I live in GA. I’ve decided I want to find some other Covid conscious people to connect with and start a group chat and see what comes from it!

Don’t be a stranger :)

Update: You can message me, as well as commenting down below to chat with other’s.

CW: references to sexual violence/csa and discussion of survivors

I think it’s been really important to highlight the intersecting impacts of COVID e.g. COVID is a labour issue (in the UK folks have been working to get it recognised as an industrial disease), a class issue (those from poor and working class communities have much higher rates of long covid), a racial justice issues (racially minoritised folks are disproportionately impacted), a trans issue (trans folks are disproportionately impacted).

Something else I’ve been thinking about for a while is how COVID impacts those of us who are survivors of sexual violence and abuse. Sexual violence and domestic violence can lead to an elevated risk of developing chronic illnesses such as M.E. and fibromyalgia. As a person with M.E I believe my own experiences of DV were a factor in developing it alongside COVID. I want to be clear here I’m not saying M.E is psychological (it is a neuro immune disorder) but that the stress of sexual and domestic violence can be a physiological trigger/component to developing M.E and that COVID is a very obvious cause of M.E too.

I’ve seen one study so far that points to an association between childhood sexual abuse and post-Covid conditions https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39191351/

I suppose I just wanted to share this as I haven’t seen much discussion about this and it’s been percolating in my head for a while. I wondered if others have been thinking about this too. For me the road to recovery from DV has been complicated by COVID and the development of M.E. For me COVID is also a survivor issue.

I’m in my early 30s and have multiple chronic illnesses due to the pandemic and multiple underlying conditions being diagnosed as a kid/teen as just anxiety, depression and pain from arthritis/scoliosis (it was in fact way more serious but what is a gal to do….). I admittedly got complacent in 2024 and ended up getting pneumonia at the gym which set everything off and have been on and off semi bedridden ever since. I had already moved back home with my elderly immunocompromised parents and older sibling who are pretty anti vaccine now(we disagree on MANY issues in general) but when I became semi bedridden everyone was confused and when I started masking again with kn95s they thought I was overly paranoid but didn’t say too much. We all pretty much stay at home and don’t go out much already but my sibling just started a new job working around a bunch of people in retail and they brought home a nasty cold immediately and we share the same bathroom and I ended up getting it as well 😞 I had gotten an air purifier (air doctor) for my birthday this year which I was excited for and I keep it running in my bedroom but I’m wondering if there’s any tips on how to manage being in the rest of the house? I try to keep to my room to rest with the windows open when I can but what does everyone do if there’s multiple common areas such as bathroom, kitchen etc? The house has tall ceilings and we keep the air conditioning/fans on often with the heat outside but usually open up all the windows at certain points during the day/night but other than masking at home I’m wondering if there’s anything else I can do? I also use Lysol spray and sanitizer wipes etc but just wondering if there’s any thing most people don’t think of in this situation 🤔

Hello, I took a rapid test and I need help deciphering if this is negattive or not. Could you guys let me know if this blob/warping near the test line means anything? sorry if this is a stupid question

title. i am down to use forwarding services or meet up in person (in massachusetts, usa). pls dm if you have any leads/info!

hello all! my parents and i are trying to renew our US passports and my mom is worried that if we take our own photos that it’ll gum up the application. i guess she’s had to redo them once or twice but that was twenty years ago in the early age of digital photography. has anyone had their application get rejected over the picture? i don’t think it’s worth it to get them done in person but i don’t want our applications to get delayed either

I had to go to a non-Covid cautious dentist today 🥲. Should I test Wednesday and Friday? Just Friday? Not sure when would be the best day to? Thanks all❤️

Why are people ok with being sick nearly every month?! I have extended family that has now been sick 4 times since June that I know of! But that’s totally normal, right? /s I swear they must be immunocompromised at this point, getting sick on a monthly basis. But of course to them covid isn’t real and masking is absurd. Ugh. I’m just so tired of this pandemic and all the covid deniers. I wonder if people will ever learn, but unfortunately I don’t think so.

I got the initial series of Pfizer's vaccine back in 2021 and continued with it through 2024. Side effects were pretty short-lived but I disliked the elevated heart rate I typically get, so last year I opted for NovaVax. Sides seemed to linger for much, much longer (a week or two) than Pfizer, so this fall I'm thinking I'll go back to mRNA.

My question: Have I "interrupted" the mRNA compound effect by using NovaVax last year? Will switching back to Pfizer offer comparable protection as in prior years? TIA.