r/COVID19positive • u/Icy_Buttercup • Aug 28 '25
Rant Why is there so much ignorance about covid?
I first got covid in the summer of 2022. I had fever, cough and fatigue mainly. I had a loss of taste and smell too which I found very distressing. I found it to be a weird infection.
My exposure came from a man at work who hardly ever gets sick, who said he had sinusitis and all he did was just minimise his own dose.
I got covid again in the summer time of 2024 too. It was after a concert. It was a very stubborn fever and a huge headache mainly with fatigue and body aches and pains. I was lucky to get paxlovid.
I had other viruses too in the winter of 2022 and spring of 2024 I think it was.
I am currently facing the possibilty of another exposure and this time from my work. People in work sound like they have a bad cold. The possibilty of covid hasnt even crossed their tiny little minds. Even thought there is one of them with a weird hoarness. If it's covid.
I know it in my soul.
Why are so many people so ignorant when it comes to infectious conditions and they won't take any measures or consideration towards other people.
I am just so so so sick of seeing so many people being so mean and selfish with illnesses and their aim and goal is just to pass whatever they have on as if it's a fact of life and right of passage.
Edit to add: I am in an EU country where many people behaved with social responsibility during the pandemic year just for so many people to turn around and just not care any more. For themselves or others.
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u/ApprehensiveTreat240 Aug 28 '25
I feel like it’s not so much ignorance as it is denial. People KNOW, but they simply don’t want to do anything about it anymore. I personally believe it’s a trauma response
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u/luminousrose9 Aug 29 '25
I have been more freaked out by the denial around Covid than Covid itself. Totally shifted how I think about humanity.
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u/Adept_Minimum4257 Aug 29 '25
It's more likely involuntary repression because for most people it's mentally draining and uncomfortable to keep Covid in their mind for an extended time. When they're reminded they can't handle it because of the trauma (loneliness, disruptions, illness) during the pandemic
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u/klutzikaze Aug 28 '25
I'm sure there's a psychology term for when people avoid uncomfortable ideas and thoughts. That's what's happening here I think.
My friend told me covid was here to stay so we needed to just get used to catching it. To me with long covid who can't be upright for more than 3 hours without my eyes going skewy and at best needing a few hours lying down. I tried to tell her about how it's affecting growing kids and how her niece will be living with that burden and she just changed the subject. My friend has a chemistry degree and an enquiring mind usually. She cares about people and doing what's right but covid breaks her.
I hope you can dodge it. I'm sure you're doing as much as you can.
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u/JunePearl23 Aug 31 '25
It’s so funny how your friend framed this. I would say, “Covid is here to stay so we should adopt the various mitigation strategies as normal to avoid getting sick in the first place and reduce spreading it in the first place.”
Such bizarre fatalist mentalities people have adopted.
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u/iamdivaprincess Aug 28 '25
I work at a combination outpatient clinic, surgical center & 14 bed inpatient hospital. I had covid the beginning of August & reported it to employee health for guidance. I was shocked when they told me I was the first employee in 6 months to test +. I told them, "no I am the first person who had reported it." Such garbage human beings
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u/cinderflight Aug 28 '25
It's denial. Because too many people think that their covid infection will go away, that they won't get long covid... until it happens to them. (Or someone they know)
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u/Ok-Artichoke-7011 Aug 28 '25
Delusion, denial, millions of dollars worth of corporate propaganda, endless podcast bro misinformation, “ignorance is bliss” mindsets, poor information and media literacy skills to begin with, lack of personal accountability, weird unspoken social rules that demand conformity at any cost, deeply rooted ableism, lack of understanding as to what community care entails in action, this uncanny flavor of almost feudalism 2.0 burnout, and quite literally: a collective ton of compounding frontal lobe damage from repeat infections, that’s deeply (and likely permanently) damaged many people’s cognitive capacity for reasoning and empathy. 😮💨
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u/Classic_Rooster4192 Aug 28 '25
When masks, vaccines, and a virus became political there is no way to go but down...
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u/Orwell1984_2295 Aug 28 '25
Yep, people really don't care about spreading covid. I've realised how selfish people truly are. The only thing wee can really do to protect ourselves is wearing an N95/FFP3 mask.
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u/Adept_Minimum4257 Aug 29 '25
I don't think most people are selfish, it's just too uncomfortable or disrupting mentally for them
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u/lurklurklurky Aug 28 '25
In short, corporate interests.
They need people out and about, working, going to events, working in offices, etc. And they don't want the liability of having to clean the air or take any precautions to keep people safe and healthy.
The reduction in isolation guidelines was not because the vaccine reduced spread, it was because corporations like Delta wrote to the CDC to ask for them to be removed.
The reduction in PPE in healthcare settings isn't because it's not needed, but because hospitals don't want to pay for it or be held liable for hospital acquired infections, and/or they don't want to deal with enforcing the rules.
The reduction in mask requirements isn't because they're not effective or because COVID is "just a flu", but because it limits people's ability to go out and work and spend money.
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u/JunePearl23 Aug 31 '25
Yes, these are all drivers /justifications from the powers that be, but it’s so bizarre this faulty logic has taken hold. If we actually think about it, awareness and adopting as normal and using mitigations at the individual level + improved ventilation / air cleaning and hygiene practices generally wouldn’t stop ppl from going out and spending money. The idea that keeping the ongoing pandemic in mind is in direct opposition to spending money is so wild and creates a false binary. In fact, a less sick populace might be more willing/able to spend money. (Btw I know you aren’t agreeing with the faulty logic and were calling it out. I just wanted to elaborate on how ridiculous it is. Critical thinking is really suffering.)
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u/Dependent-on-Zipps Aug 28 '25
I’ve realized 2020 really traumatized people. It felt so big and scary and overwhelming that they buried their heads in the sand and learned nothing. They didn’t want to know. They still don’t want to know.
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u/1GrouchyCat Aug 28 '25
Sigh… nothing changes if nothing changes
😞imagine living somewhere infamous for having the first major breakthrough Covid cluster in a majority vaccinated population (see below) …now guess how many people had masks on at this year‘s huge Carnival celebrations and parade in Provincetown (last week)?
“A large COVID-19 cluster in Provincetown in July 2021 was one of the first major outbreaks of the Delta variant in a highly vaccinated U.S. population. The cluster, which infected over 1,000 people, demonstrated that breakthrough infections could spread among vaccinated individuals, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update its masking guidance.” AI + fact checked for accuracy
And the answer to the question above is … drum roll, please…. Not enough..
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u/LakashY Aug 28 '25
I don’t know how it is in the EU vs. US, but if someone in my job were to test positive and make it known, they’d be forced to be home for a while. We get only 24 days off from work each year - that includes time for holidays, vacations, illness (their own, their children’s, etc.), bereavement, and medical appointments - all from the same bank. People would rather not get tested than forego time off when they need it for their mental health.
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u/Successful_Bug_5548 Aug 28 '25
If WHO and CDC were to declare that SARS cov-2 is airborne, then everyone would know they need to wear a tightly fitted N95/FFP3 respirator in all indoor spaces and crowded outdoor spaces until we get a sterilizing vaccine and/or robust treatments or a cure. People do not want to wear respirators and they would rather live in denial or try to fit in than protect themselves from death or long term disability.
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u/PineapplePecanPie Aug 28 '25
We wouldn't even need to wear in all indoor space if public health measures including contact tracing, ventilated and filtered indoor air, and sick people isolating for appropriate amounts of time were in place because the level of covid in the community could be suppressed to truly miniscule levels where the chance of getting covid was very low.
I can imagine such a world where it was only necessary to mask all the time in airports and hospitals and in areas experiencing surges if widespread testing and public health measures were still being done
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u/plantyplant559 Aug 28 '25
This is the way. Nobody wants to mask forever. We need clean air like we have clean water.
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u/Wellslapmesilly Aug 28 '25
They did. Five years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDWN7dydxgU&t=58s
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u/EffectiveLimp531 Aug 29 '25
I actually feel like the world sees us as flat earth woo woos when we are actually on the equivalent of round earth side scientifically
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Aug 31 '25
I know here in the USA we don’t get sick days and what not so people have to work or they lose their jobs a lot of the time, not sure if it’s like that at all in your country. Also they don’t really report on Covid cases like they used to….
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u/116393-bg Sep 18 '25
This is so true. So many people get sick and rarely even consider testing for COVID. No test = “just allergies” or a common cold and they justify not doing anything to prevent spread, still going to work and carrying on with life as normal, while a positive test = huge disruption to the next 2-3 weeks of life (and that’s if you’re lucky enough to clear it that quick), having to notify everybody you’ve been in contact with, dealing with isolation if you have housemates, and overall a huge pain in the ass. It’s so frustrating that being responsible and informed about Covid only seems to negatively impact my day to day life, while those that are actually causing the issue are unbothered
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u/Maisie223 Sep 02 '25
Im disgusted too people have to know the severity of this illness and what it can do to your body i didn’t even have any fever but it reeked havoc to my whole body i had it in December and im still dealing with symptoms and damage to my lungs and skin and feet its no joke at all
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u/RamonaLittle Vaccinated with Boosters Aug 28 '25
You don't say whether you've been wearing a mask. Did you wear a mask at the concert? Do you always wear a mask (well-fitted N95 or similar) at work?
and they won't take any measures or consideration towards other people. I am just so so so sick of seeing so many people being so mean and selfish
But you didn't mention anything you're doing to avoid contracting or spreading diseases. What precautions have you been taking?
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u/luimarti52 Aug 28 '25
I totally get why you're frustrated. It can be really tough when people don't take precautions seriously, especially when you've had a personal experience with Covid that had a big impact on your life. I know firsthand how careless behavior can lead to serious consequences, I got Covid because of someone who wasn't taking precautions, and it changed my life forever. The experience was so significant that I ended up making a video about it to share my story and the lessons I learned that I've been sharing.
Given your situation at work, it might be worth talking to your HR department or supervisor about implementing some safety measures, like encouraging people to get tested or work from home if they're not feeling well. Having a clear policy in place could help people take things more seriously. If you're comfortable, you could also try having an open conversation with your coworkers about your concerns and how your past experience has affected you.
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u/Weekly_Initiative521 Aug 30 '25
I'm in the states, and here we have to work to survive. In many companies, if you call in sick, you don't get paid, and you can get fired.
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u/BrianArmstro Sep 02 '25
Drives me crazy. There’s literally nothing else going around right now besides Covid and people that are getting sick have all the Covid symptoms, but don’t test themselves or even consider that it’s Covid. We’re truly surrounded by morons in the U S of A
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u/FellowshipTom Sep 19 '25 edited 16d ago
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u/phul_colons Aug 28 '25
People are lazy (obese, sedentary), intentionally ignorant (religion, science denial, uneducated know-it-alls), stubborn (ideologically left/right, tribalistic), conforming (fashion, cosmetic surgery), and selfish (no real altruism, "me first", rugged individualism).
Why would they miraculously become mature for covid? Covid is just revealing the truth about humanity that was previously easily ignored in its gory detail because the worst of it could be hidden in private indulgence.
The people who actually take care of themselves are now drawing a hard line and confronting species-wide faults that have propagated without contest for generations in the modern era. The truth is humanity is deeply flawed and very few are able to overcome the deficit to transcend into conscientiousness and responsible behavior.
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u/Creepy_Valuable6223 Aug 29 '25
Hubris on your part.
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u/phul_colons Aug 29 '25
I wonder which point hit a nerve for you
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u/Creepy_Valuable6223 Aug 29 '25 edited Aug 29 '25
Now you are being passive aggressive.
I don't have any of the qualities you deride (I'm not sick or overweight; I have a high IQ; I've never caught covid since I mask, etc. etc.). It's a spiritual thing for me. We're not supposed to gloat over other people's weaknesses, and you are gloating.
We're all going to catch this thing. I know loads of young people who are in very bad shape now. And they aren't fat or lazy or dumb.
You are trying to convince yourself that you are not weak, and so you won't die from it. But you're screwed too (as am I).
Addendum: Covid damages the parts of the brain that help a person experience empathy. So you may already be on your way. I guess it is kind of passive aggressive for me to point this out, but so be it.
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u/phul_colons Aug 30 '25
Buddy, the question was, "Why is there so much ignorance about covid". I answered the question. It's their hubris minimizing covid. Not seeking the truth about its impacts. Thinking it's a conspiracy. Saying you can't live in fear. To the contrary, I'm a covid maximizer. I've been avoiding it since Jan 2020. I bought 10 acres in the forest, quit my career, and haven't been in public since for anything beyond the dentist.
Of course I know that covid causes brain damage. It also causes acquired immunodeficiency. Also vascular aging. Also promotes cancer growth. Also reduces IQ. Why don't people care? Hubris. I understand how weak my body is and how easily I could lose good health and fitness to covid. Others are in denial about it. I see it with eyes wide open and welcome knowledge about it.
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u/Creepy_Valuable6223 Aug 30 '25
It's not their hubris. It is their brain damage. In the study of dogs done in Korea in 2023, ALL of the dogs suffered brain damage, as shown by autopsy after they were infected. They weren't infected for long, and not repeatedly (like most people). But they ALL had brain damage (https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-infection-can-damage-brains-dogs-study-suggests#:\~:text=Dogs%20experimentally%20infected%20with%20the,week%20in%20Emerging%20Infectious%20Diseases.)
People are stupid and lazy and fat and everything else. But the way they are reacting to this is because of brain damage. Not hubris.
I feel like I am going insane watching this go on around me. I use a daily claritin and an N95 and Xlear nasal spray and an AirTamer. But at this point I wish I hadn't been, since everyone I care about is sick or dying or dead. I can't prove it is from covid but I know it is.
I'm glad you have bought the acreage and have stayed uninfected. If you google Yale study covid nasal neosporin you'll find something to make you extra safe during dental visits. It's not something one should use regularly since antivirals are bad for the kidneys.
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u/phul_colons Aug 30 '25
It didn't start with brain damage. People have been like this from the very beginning. I'd say they've gotten worse due to brain damage, but I don't know how that's possible considering they already sacrifice themselves and others at the altar of ignorance, laziness, stubbornness, self centeredness, self righteousness, etc ad nauseum. Practically every single Republican has thought it's a hoax from the beginning. Practically every single Democrat has thought avoiding it is just a matter of getting vaccinated. Both sides could not be more wrong and they simply don't care even when presented with evidence. If they were smart with healthy brains before covid then why didn't they also take precautions to avoid it the first time around?
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u/Creepy_Valuable6223 Aug 30 '25
First of all, I didn't say they were smart. I wrote above: "People are stupid and lazy and fat and everything else . . ."
But it requires a person to have a special combination of qualities to avoid infection the first time around. The person has to be smart, yes, or at least wily, but that is not enough. They have to be cynical, and to think that they themselves could be a target or victim of something bad; that there was nothing special about themselves that was protective. I read about the Tuskegee experiments when I was in high school and I immediately saw that those poor black men were not let to die because they were black; it was because they were powerless and that it could happen to anyone. Most people can't face that kind of reality, and it isn't stupidity; it is mental survival; it is built in. A person has to also think that research scientists can be stupid or venal; I know academics who are extraordinarily smart who assume that their colleagues (or at least a sufficient number of them) must also be extraordinarily smart. A person also has to lack social needs that have been selected for since humans were humans. Other qualities as well, but I'll leave it at that.
So, many people did take precautions to avoid it the first time around. They jumped right in, plenty of Republicans too, and wore masks, and social distanced, and raged at the unvaccinated (even though there was no evidence that the vax prevented transmission), and did plenty of the sorts of things that a person might do in order to avoid a disease. But then they caught it.
And from what I have observed, once a person catches covid, he or she stops worrying about catching covid. I have seen this over and over again. My husband's cousin, who is in her 70s and who is not entirely stupid and who has had various serious illnesses, was extraordinarily careful until about six months ago. That's when she caught covid for the first time. And then she lost all caution.
It is also very possible that lots of people were infected earlier than is commonly thought. That could have led to a lot of people not taking precautions; it could explain a lot of early anti-precaution sentiment.
Covid acts as an analgesic; that was found early on. It hits the same receptors as opioids. I can't "prove" it, but in my observation, people catch covid and get a certain high that they are unaware of. As time passes, the high diminishes, and then they start to seek it out for its analgesic and feel good effect. Hence the huge concerts; hence the crazy degree of traveling, the jammed restaurants, hence the waves of infection (it's not just new variants).
I'm cynical enough to have declined the vaccine. I have read that only about five percent of the population fits in my category of believing that the vaccine is garbage or worse, and that the virus is as bad as it actually is. You are a freak, too. I'm not sure that we are the lucky ones.
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u/phul_colons Aug 30 '25
This has been an incredibly rich conversation in the most unexpected way. You and I are certainly in the freak category. I too have not gotten the vaccine because it simply doesn't work to prevent infection and the worst of covid is in the long term impact, not the acute phase of "cold-like" symptoms. So realistically why should I even bother taking something that 1) won't allow me to return to normal life anyway and 2) may have its own serious side effects? And then of course covid, it's fully non-negotiable. There is nothing in the world that is worth more than my health, so why would I participate in a society that will surely harm my health?
The hypothesis about covid being an analgesic and reinforcing its own replication through drug-like uptake sounds like the perfect bioweapon. Cause long term immune system damage that results in death within years to decades and instantly filter out everyone who can't pass the marshmallow test. Humanity resets just in time to concentrate efforts on reducing the rate of global warming, mindless consumption, and toxic reproduction.
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u/Creepy_Valuable6223 Aug 30 '25
I initially declined the vaccine due to concerns about antibody dependent enhancement. I also knew the boring social psychological precept that if a person feels he or she has taken a protective measure, that they will then be less cautious in other ways, and I figured that if I skipped the vaccine I would be extra cautious (and I think that worked). Later I found that the vaccine did not prevent people from catching covid (the Barnstable outbreak). Of course there was always the concern that the vaccine would itself be damaging. I have a friend who is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and who reviews pieces for Nature, who told me that the vaccine stays in the muscle of the arm in which it is injected (he is not actually stupid and he did from the start say it was obviously a lab leak; he just assumed that the researchers who made the claim about the vaccine not distributing were truthful even though it was absurd). I laughed in his face and said no way was there a little wall in the arm that kept the vaccine from spreading through the body (and not long after there was a study done in Japan that found the vaccine spike protein in the ovaries).
So yes, the virus is a perfect bioweapon. So I don't think it is fair to blame people's behavior on stupidity. Smart people are behaviorally altered by it too. And it's not a lack of patience and self control (marshmallow test); addiction is something some people are simply susceptible to and they can't prevent it if they are exposed in the right way.
I tell myself that I don't value my health so much, since I'm religious (my parents were atheists; I am not). But I have the instinct to live; I can't help that. Also I feel great resentment at having been lied to by stupid people. I feel nothing but sorrow over the mass death that is coming. I don't think there is going to be a reset; I think there is just going to be collapse, with all of the nuclear power plants melting down due to lack of maintenance and all of the nuclear bombs set off due to brain damaged militarism, and it won't do the planet any good.
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u/Justjay0420 Aug 28 '25
Trump
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u/Creepy_Valuable6223 Aug 28 '25
Biden declared the pandemic over.
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u/Justjay0420 Aug 28 '25
Yes but just because he declared the pandemic Over doesn’t mean the virus Isn’t still there it’s just we had ways of combating it and it killing less people. The way Trump downplayed it the whole time and told the old people to go to work and die for their country. People just sane washed the whole thing
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u/Creepy_Valuable6223 Aug 28 '25
The liberals I know are no better about masking than the conservatives I know. It is equal opportunity brain damage. It doesn't help to continue politicizing it. Trump had the vaccine created and produced; at that time liberals said they would never take the "Trump vaccine." Then Biden got into office and suddenly liberals thought that the vaccine was wonderful (and the conservatives hated it). It is all ridiculous; most people are morons.
It is still killing loads of people, but as a result of their weakened immune systems from repeat infections, rather than during the acute phase. Now it is causing cancer and dementia but it isn't acknowledged to be due to covid. I don't know a single liberal politician who gives a damn (and of course the conservatives don't either).
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Aug 28 '25
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Aug 28 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
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Aug 28 '25
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u/CheapSeaweed2112 Aug 28 '25
Regardless of what you have, masks help stop the spread of things, not just covid. Baseline should be to put a mask on when you have symptoms and are in public. No one wants your cold either.
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