this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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[–] cobysev@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I was serving in the last couple years of my military career when the pandemic started. The military took it very seriously, because we still have a mission that needs to be accomplished. Anyone dropping out for a severe illness would compromise our capabilities.

So we went on full lockdown. No one was allowed to leave military bases unless you lived off-base, in which you were only authorized to go straight home and then back to work. It was highly recommended you order delivery services for groceries and stock up so you wouldn't need to leave home. Going to the grocery store was the only exception to the lockdown, but it was considered an extreme risk and should be avoided if possible.

Our work shifts (in my unit, anyway) were split in half. Half the crew came in for the morning shift, then thoroughly disinfected the office, locked up, and went home. Then 30 minutes later, the second shift would come in and do the afternoon shift. The 30-minute break ensured no physical contact between shifts. The split-shift allowed a shift to take over full work days in case someone on the other shift got sick. Their whole shift would stay home for 2 weeks to ensure the contagious period passed before sending them back into the office to resume split shifts.

We would've moved to work-from-home (WFH), but unfortunately, I happened to be working in an Intelligence unit at the time and 90% of their job was on classified computer systems, which we couldn't access from outside the office. I was an IT guy, fixing the Intel guys' computers, so I did WFH for a few months, managing their unclassified computer accounts from a laptop. But eventually, I was needed in the office for their other systems.

We were also required to wear masks outside of our homes at all times. Anyone caught without a mask anywhere - even sitting in our car on the drive to or from work - could be punished for violating a direct order from our base commander. We used to make fun of conservatives who bitched about how uncomfortable the masks were and how they couldn't breathe while wearing them. We had to wear them all day without breaks, from the moment we left home until the moment we got home. I empathize with emergency room workers; it was brutal, but it wasn't impossible to do, and we got used to it eventually. After a while, I started to feel naked without my mask on.

In the last 2 years I served, we had a few people drop out with COVID-19 (their civilian families brought it home from their work/school), but the majority of us stayed COVID-free.

When I retired last summer, I moved in with my elderly hermit dad who lives out in the countryside. He avoided leaving his house for the whole pandemic, and even now rarely goes into town. He, my wife, and I are still COVID-free to this day.

My sister and her family caught it 3 times! But my sister married into an ultra-conservative religious family who thought the pandemic was a hoax and continued to hold religious parties and barbeques for the neighborhood all throughout the pandemic (They were anti-vaxxers too; something my sister fought with her husband about long before the pandemic occurred). There were a few scares when she came to care for our father and then got diagnosed with COVID-19 a day or two later. But somehow, my dad never tested positive for COVID antibodies. And despite my sister's husband losing his sense of taste and smell (which is still not fully recovered to this day), her whole family has thankfully survived their run-in with COVID.

[–] autismdragon@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago

The secret is to barely go outside.

I mean I have grocery shopped one a week the whole time but I've literally not been sick, not even with a cold, this whole time (and I used to get colds all the time). I didnt even mask for awhile there though I decided to start again because of the surge and the fear of long covid.

[–] Littleborat@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago

I never got covid and if I did it was completely without symptoms.

Rest of the family got when visiting me in the city but somehow I did not get ill.

[–] seitanic@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 1 year ago

Is there a vaccine that helps you win the lottery?

[–] PeWu@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I can't say I've completely avoided it, but I've only experienced loss of taste, although it may be placebo effect caused by the times.

Edit: grammar

[–] lugal@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

I had it once and it was after a family gathering and every member of my family had it, except my mom. She didn't have it till now and barely reacted to the vaccine. She seems to be immune or something

[–] SheDiceToday@eslemmy.es 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Never caught it, or never tested positive... or even bothered to be tested. I'm pretty sure I just had one of the mild cases, because I've had 'generic respiratory illness' with sniffles and congestion a few times since COVID-19 became a concern. I'm betting there is a large group of people who fit into my category.

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[–] Phen@lemmy.eco.br 4 points 1 year ago

I live in a very small town and pretty much only leave home for groceries. In general I'm never around people. On top of taking all the precautions, it wasn't that hard for me.

[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I went three years without catching it then it spread through my workplace like wildfire because people won't stay home when they're sick and the one guy has to go to Vegas first chance he got.

[–] Spitzspot@lemmings.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

SO and I still remain un-infected.

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I got it in January, but aside from the fever it wasn't any different from a cold for me, so I still consider myself lucky.

[–] HornyOnMain@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

I'm pretty sure my bodies just built different at this point, like I've had multiple people in my family catch it, multiple people in my house at uni and I tested pretty frequently even when I wasn't showing symptoms until they stopped giving the tests away for free, but I've not tested positive even once

[–] carbonprop@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

Don’t bother with a lottery ticket, you’re more likely to catch Covid.

[–] RoyaltyInTraining@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Managed to avoid it for a long time, but then got it from sitting shoulder by shoulder in uni after mask mandates were phased out. It was not pleasant, but luckily I didn't get any really bad symptoms.

[–] Mr_Buscemi@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago

I somehow dodged it until earlier this year and it barely affected me. Just woke up now at 6am and I have it again lol. The rest of my family spent the last week dealing with it and now it's my turn again.

[–] Bristlecone@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I think this number is a lot lower than people may think. From personal experience I have had covid more than four times (not testing anymore), I was only actually symptomatic to any degree with the first one. By contrast, my partner has never once actually tested positive, despite certainly having it at least once, having caught it from me, and being very symptomatic. Some people shed a lot of the virus, and some people shed not any basically whatsoever, since the tests are based on actually shedding the virus, many people who simply don't shed the virus have caught covid-19 and simply don't realize it or won't ever test positive

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