In Germany they showed the whole shift of an covid nurse on tv. They really should show something similar in every country. Gives you a lot of perspective.

Do you know what the name of this program is? I'd be interested to see if I could find it online somewhere.

Pflege ist #NichtSelbstverständlich | Joko und Klaas

Edit: It's available on a german video on demand service maybe a vpn will work for you https://www.prosieben.de/tv/joko-klaas-gegen-prosieben/video...

my coworker's parents caught it. they were in their 50s. the mom became severely ill and was hospitalized for weeks. the dad died. my coworker himself got it and was mostly fine.

it's really hard to intuit how wildly variable this disease is when you only have a couple personal data points and distrust/feel detached from the statistics being reported, but it's real.

Going only off personal experience can really skew your perceptions. If I'd've been living away from home at the time, and thus avoided catching it, it would've completely changed the colour of our experiences:

* Mother, 50s - metallic taste for two weeks, loss of appetite, some fatigue * Father, 50s - sore throat for a week * Sister, ~20 / Grandmother, ~80 - both had similar symptoms of fatigue, body aches, sore throat, feeling hot/cold, some change to taste * Grandfather, ~85, multiple pre-existing conditions (COPD, heart failure, prediabetes, history of TIAs) - only reason we knew he had it was due to a positive test

Going off those alone, it seems unpleasant but not too dire. Then you add me in:

* Me, 30 - same symptoms as sister/grandmother for about a week, then ten days in the ICU after my O2 sats dropped to 78 overnight (and remained in the 80s on oxygen). Narrowly avoided ventilation as I responded to CPAP.

Suddenly it seems a lot more serious.

> Was in the emergency room with my son a few months back, not overflowing or anything, but I wasn't there to track Covid cases.

In most (all?) hospitals, Covid cases are separated from general emergency because you don't want your emergency room transformed in a constant cluster.

I think parent's advice is solid. Covid sits at this sweet spot where it's not that bad for young folks, but it's easily transmissible and mortality increases exponentially with age. Which means certain demographics will be hit disproportionally hard.

At the same time only a small fraction, say 10-20%, of the population has had a Covid infection. So while some are hit hard, at the same time it might not affect you and the people around you too much.

Maybe ask your family doctor/general practitioner, or you have a nurse in your network or wider family, or somebody working in a hospital or care home? Also speaking to older folks like parents or grand-parents can be helpful to get another perspective.

Well I've had two family members die from it and another on death's door in the hospital and now is losing her hair months after recovery, so anecdotes can go both ways.

I'm also not claiming anecdotes are what are making up my mind. I was simply responding to the suggestion that I walk into a hospital.

I too believe that anecdotes are poor evidence at best, and I completely believe others have had 180* experiences from myself.