Why Do We Keep Saying COVID Symptoms Are ‘Mild’?
‘Mild’ compared to hospitalization or death, we guess.
Dr. Jill Biden, the first lady, has tested positive for COVID-19 again. The White House confirms that President Joe Biden has tested negative since his wife’s diagnosis, even though they seem like a couple that snuggles. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden will continue to “test at a regular cadence this week and monitor for symptoms.” It’s unclear why she said “regular cadence,” like she’s discussing a piece of music, instead of just “regularly.”
This is Dr. Biden’s second bout with the virus, which has reached the endemic phase where we all just have to live with it. That’s how it goes now so shut up and don’t even think of asking anyone to wear a mask, even in a crowded Barbie screening. Biden signed a congressional bill ending the COVID-19 national health emergency in April, which is legally binding so someone should tell COVID to “lawyer up, asshole.”
The good news is that Dr. Biden’s symptoms are “very mild,” and she’s just going to rest a bit at the Bidens’ home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. COVID symptoms are often reported as “mild” for politicians, even the ones in at-risk groups. (Dr. Biden just turned 72.)
There is a reason why politicians probably say their COVID symptoms are either mild or even non-existent. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you can end isolation five days after your positive test. Moderate symptoms, however, would extend your isolation period to 10 days.
That’s a big difference, as Dr. Leana Wen explained to CNN:
If [Dr. Biden’s] symptoms began on Sunday, that would be day zero, so day five would be Friday. She should not be around people until Friday. After that, assuming her symptoms are improving and she is fever-free, she needs to take precautions for another five more days, until the following Wednesday.
Specifically, she should wear a high-quality mask any time she is indoors around others, and she should stay away from those who are more vulnerable to severe illness, which would include her husband, who is considered higher risk by virtue of being 80 years old.
There’s no reason to think Dr. Biden would lie about her condition like a common Trump, and maybe the White House doctor officially declared her symptoms mild and not any more severe. The reporting is unclear as to whether the president and first lady routinely test at a “regular cadence” or if Dr. Biden was only tested after experiencing “mild symptoms.”
What does “mild” COVID symptoms even mean, though? I’ve seen them described as “scratchy throat, stuffy or runny nose, occasional mild cough, fatigue, and no fever” — so a “bad cold” where you’re still able to work remotely like a productive citizen! However, I’ve personally never been as sick as I was with “mild” COVID. I know what a “bad cold” feels like and COVID ain’t it. I’m not talking about when you’d curl up in bed with Chinese takeout and watch “Law & Order” reruns for a couple days at most. In my experience, COVID-19 symptoms can fluctuate maddeningly. You can feel like you have bad allergies one day and then a full-on sinus infection the next. This can go on for a while, like my most recent bout with COVID. It was almost two full months of existing at 80 percent, with nagging post-nasal drip and that metallic taste in your mouth as unwelcome companions.
Last year, health reporter Nina Feldman wrote about how COVID-19 symptoms can linger for weeks or months in some people, including herself. It’s not as debilitating as long COVID but it’s hardly “mild.”
FELDMAN: I got COVID over the holidays. I had a sore throat, was super tired and had to take more than a week off work. I tested negative after eight days and thought I was feeling better. But pretty quickly, it became clear I wasn't. I started getting these waves of extreme fatigue. Soon, I realized they were brought on by physical activity — a walk in the cold, a ride on the exercise bike. I'd get bone crushingly weak a day after a workout. It would take days to recover. I couldn't drink alcohol. Even one glass of wine made me feel like I'd partied all night. All of this lasted for weeks, and I wasn't alone.
The US has recorded 103,910,034 million coronavirus cases to date. As Feldman notes, if even just nine percent of those individuals dealt with symptoms for roughly two months, that’s more than 10 million people.
“I was lucky,” Feldman wrote. “I could work from home and control the pace of my day. But what if I worked in a restaurant? Or any kind of job where I needed to be on my feet all day? I would have needed to take medical leave. And if that hadn’t been possible, maybe quit my job.”
I get that there’s no collective appetite for treating COVID-19 as anything but a minor inconvenience, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt for public figures to fess up when COVID is kicking their ass. For most people, even the best COVID case isn’t fun, and it’s certainly not “mild.”
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People don’t understand or talk about the often chronic effects of long Covid, which varies in severity and symptoms, but can be far more debilitating than the initial illness. You don’t want it. You can be moderately ill for a few days, only to find you are having cloudy thinking, headaches, nausea, fatigue and other symptoms for months or longer. That’s scary. Plus, the new vaccine with recent variants isn’t widely available until later this month, weeks after schools and colleges resumed. We are still in trouble.
I’ve been battling Covid/Long Covid since June 24, 2020. I spent the first 22 days either in bed or the bathroom as anytime I put anything in my body it was immediately, violently ejected, including the tiniest sip of water. I lost 30 lbs in 3 weeks.
I have lived with constant nausea for over 3 years now. My Brain Fog is so severe it takes me upwards of 30 minutes to write a simple non-comment. Taking a ten minute shower is so exhausting I have to rest for at least 30 minutes afterwards.
I’ve learned I must be gentle with my energy for if I expend too much of it doing a task, I will pay for it dearly. I volunteered at a Food Bank for 3 hours one Tuesday. When I got home around 5, I fell asleep and did not wake until the next morning. I spent Wednesday in bed. Thursday I volunteered for another 3 hour shift. Halfway through my throat hurt. I got home, fell asleep at five, and knew I was fucked the second I gained consciousness the next morning. I had come down with Strep that kept me in bed for a week.
The worst part of any extended illness, especially a mostly invisible one, is when people decide you’ve been sick long enough so if you’re not better, it’s your fault.
I wish Covid was a mild flu or bad cold. If it presented that way for any of you, that is fantastic. I wouldn’t wish what it’s done to me on anyone. But please, my friends, do not be cavalier about this virus. It is not gone. The latest booster is supposed to be released the middle of this month. Please get it if you can.