So lately every time I've called my mother's doctors

[conuly]

I've had to leave a message and then got a return call from somebody's home number.

It's little things like this, more than anything else, that convince me that it's covidy out there and I should be taking it extra seriously (again).

It's like being back in March 2020 again.

Comments

[dewline]

Yeah. Agreed on this.

[alexseanchai]

*wince* yeah

[mtbc]

Mmm, one of the earliest signs for me was, I worked somewhere with the next building over being full of research biologists who generally started working from home whenever possible rather before any official edicts came down to that effect.

[fred_mouse]

In our local variant, three individuals working for different government departments have had to urgently get working from home permissions sorted. One of these works for a department that I don't believe got the WFH working previously.

[movingfinger]

The local medical system accepted remote visits, but in the past month or so that seems to have become the absolute default, as in "do not come in unless a blood draw is needed." Even for the dermatologist, who needs to really see their patient!

My mother is still going to her doctors in person back East, but she's 93 and I could probably set up remote consultations with everyone but the podiatrist and I am sure it would not go very well for her. She relies a lot on cues.

[thewayne]

The only slightly encouraging thing is that while Omicron seems to be highly, highly infectious, it doesn't seem to be more lethal. But official reportage isn't out yet.

I'm just happy that my county is no longer the worst in the state that it was a few weeks ago.

[frandroid]

A lot of doctors here in Toronto have never returned to in-person practice, and send patients needing physical consults to the emergency. Lots of emergency room doctors fed up to be dealing with this extra volume of routine cases, as if they weren't loaded already...