Jump to content

Covid 47: Waving Invisibly


Zorral

Recommended Posts

Tests are not infallible. PCR is somewhere between 80-95% real world depending on which paper you read. All dependant upon point in disease progression, sampling, sample processing. Home antigen tests are somewhat lower.

Anecodotally I've known 2 people off the top of my head who have returned initial negative PCRs while symptomatic, isolating at home with a PCR confirmed cases. In one of those (my SiL) it was immediately after a positive home antigen test. When that result came back negative she immediately went out for another PCR which came back positive.

The only real way to tell if you've had covid is a serum antibody test against a non-spike target (if immunised). But even then those antibodies will wane over time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Technically I haven't either even though I think I've had it twice. 

Same here. I lost my sense of taste for the first time in my life, along with having a fever, back in March of 2020. 
 

Sadly tests weren’t available unless you had recently been out of the country back then. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’ve never lost my sense of taste or smell during covid*. During the Bronchitis Episode, I took multiple PCR tests every week and Yes, It Was Bronchitis.

I’m really pretty confident that with my Moderna x2 and one J&J booster, I’m good.

I’ve also had multiple close contacts with positive, symptomatic cases (my lovely colleagues keep coming to the office) and still PCR tested negative on a weekly basis. This included my cube-mate, who was symptomatic and positive with probably omicron due to the timing, over an 8 hour workday. Also, my boss, who probably had Delta due to timing, I sat right next to him at his desk looking over files as he was coughing. For at least an hour. And multiple PCR tests over weeks were done by me to make sure I was negative.

 

* In 2018, I lost both due to a 4-month sinus infection that preceded my January 2019 sinus surgery. I got both back about two weeks after surgery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had my second booster shot at the beginning of last week.  I've got a wedding to attend this upcoming weekend and even though I plan on wearing a mask the whole time, I am sure no one else will be so just continuing to do what I can do.  I'm the only one still wearing a mask at work and I think at this point everyone there has had Covid in the past 6 months except me.  I hope my losing streak continues!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, lady narcissa said:

I had my second booster shot at the beginning of last week.  I've got a wedding to attend this upcoming weekend and even though I plan on wearing a mask the whole time, I am sure no one else will be so just continuing to do what I can do.  I'm the only one still wearing a mask at work and I think at this point everyone there has had Covid in the past 6 months except me.  I hope my losing streak continues!

I have to ask, given this specific example, is wearing a mask even worth it? I assume you're going to be eating and drinking at some point, and if literally no one else is wearing a mask, what's the point? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I have to ask, given this specific example, is wearing a mask even worth it? I assume you're going to be eating and drinking at some point, and if literally no one else is wearing a mask, what's the point? 

Better protection for most/nearly all of the time is better than no additional protection at all (aside from vaccines). What point are you trying to make? 

She literally says everyone else in the office has gotten it other than her -- uhh, yeah that's the point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I have to ask, given this specific example, is wearing a mask even worth it? I assume you're going to be eating and drinking at some point, and if literally no one else is wearing a mask, what's the point? 

I will not be eating and drinking.  I'll eat on the way - I have a two hour drive to get there.  And I'll snack after on the way home - I'm bringing Tupperware to take my cake to go!  I honestly would not be even going to this except it's my cousin's wedding and she was supposed to get married in 2020 then postponed till 2021 and now 2022 and she has been depressed and half our family is not attending because they are older and being careful.  So I'll go but wear my color coordinated to my outfit (hot pink!) N95 mask and hope for the best.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, lady narcissa said:

I will not be eating and drinking.  I'll eat on the way - I have a two hour drive to get there.  And I'll snack after on the way home - I'm bringing Tupperware to take my cake to go!  I honestly would not be even going to this except it's my cousin's wedding and she was supposed to get married in 2020 then postponed till 2021 and now 2022 and she has been depressed and half our family is not attending because they are older and being careful.  So I'll go but wear my color coordinated to my outfit (hot pink!) N95 mask and hope for the best.

I respect the dedication. As I've said in these threads before I work in a hospital and was tasked early on for a time with overseeing compliance to protocols. Personally at this point I think it's not all that helpful if people are overall basically returning to normal. My guess is less than 10% of the staff here still wear masks daily in secured areas and front line medical staffers are back to hanging out in small enclosed rooms without them. What's odd about that to me is that in the fall they let everyone know that all staff of any kind who didn't get vaccinated would be let go. But that only required the first shot. There's since been zero follow up. That seems to be an obvious oversight. Anyways, I hope you're safe and have a good time, wish there were more people on my current team who took this as seriously as you do.

20 minutes ago, Week said:

Better protection for most/nearly all of the time is better than no additional protection at all (aside from vaccines). What point are you trying to make? 

She literally says everyone else in the office has gotten it other than her -- uhh, yeah that's the point.

Just to add to the above, we're at the point where we're living with this, and I think it's okay for people if they feel comfortable to attend special events like this and not be constantly thinking about Covid. Be vaccinated of course, and wear a mask if it's what makes you feel comfortable, but I'm not sure what good it will do you if you're indoors in an enclosed space in which no one else is wearing one. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you!  Most people I know stopped wearing masks as soon as they could because they found them uncomfortable and hard to breath in.  I personally do not find masks uncomfortable - I found a brand that fits me well and I have no problem keeping them on for long periods of time.  And I found I got used to the breathing in an N95 pretty quick.  Masks have also eliminated an issue for me that I have - I am somewhat allergic to dryness which triggers my Eustachian tube dysfunction and I have found wearing a mask really eliminates this issue for me.  So basically no downsides for me with mask wearing.  Of course, I have no idea if my not getting Covid has anything to do with wearing the mask or if I'm just one of those people who will never get it no matter what.  I'm not willing to stop wearing a mask to find out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

There is, but western politicos don’t have the will to try that hard anymore.

One of the pitfalls of democracy is a lot of the electorate want immediate, comfortable solutions, to long-term problems that require a degree of sacrifice.

Oh yeah sure, they could have figured out a solution in the past two years, but it kinda seems like it was only ever putting out fires. 

10 hours ago, Padraig said:

There is a wave in pretty much every country in Europe at the moment.  Except Portugal, which was first hit by this latest Omicron variant (or two) and has come out the other end.  Fatalities did jump in Portugal, but to previous Omicron levels rather than Delta levels.  It has gotten some attention here as hospitalisations have gone up significantly but based on Portugal, we should be peaking around now.

It’s allegedly the omicron subvariants here, which are even faster and even more contagious… I suppose the next ones will be called Flash or something… 

8 hours ago, Zorral said:

Our Omicron wave disappeared, They Say, under the waves of the next two variants.  Wastewater tests in many cities are off the hook.

Here wastewater tests have been showing an increase and then this week they show stagnation again. Then again, they showed stagnation and moderate levels in peak omicron period as well, so I’m not entirely sure they tell us all that much. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The worst virus variant just arrived. The pandemic is not over.

Meaning BA.5 -- meaning

Quote

"...that the finish line in this race is nowhere to be seen." ...

.... The obscure names should not hide the punch of BA.5. Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, says that BA.5 “is the worst version of the virus that we’ve seen.” He adds, “It takes immune escape, already extensive, to the next level, and, as a function of that, enhanced transmissibility,” well beyond earlier versions of omicron. There has not been a marked increase in hospitalizations and deaths, he reports, because there is so much immunity built up from the winter omicron wave. But there are aspects of this new variant very much worth keeping an eye on as the United States remains stuck at an uncomfortably high plateau of pandemic misery. And the new variants are driving a case surge in Europe. ....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/07/worst-virus-variant-just-arrived-pandemic-is-not-over/

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The notion that it's the 'worst' version is bullshit and total alarmism. It may be the most infectious - hard to say given where we are now. It is clear that it's the most infectious against a largely vaccinated population. It is not, however, more deadly or more harmful (and may actually be less) so saying that it's the worst is really just trying to get people to freak out. 

Bad science reporting. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, KalVsWade said:

more deadly or more harmful

The article SAYS that nobody knows whether it is more deadly though it is more infectious. We do know that reinfection after reinfection is very bad for health.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We certainly know this poster has never and still knows nothing about covid -- or at least won't admit to knowing anything.  He can play with his herd immunity, let the elderly die for the sake of the economy, and the more people who are vaccinated the more virulent cases of covid will be.  All of which he has stated more than once is the case.

:rofl:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Ok please cite evidence then.

Re-Read the multiple covid threads, particularly the winter of 2020.  So now you're adding lying to the list of your long list of foolishness, ignorances and bigotries.

The first thing anyone on this board ever saw of you was ranting about the terrible wokeness of 1917 have Sikhs as part of the British army in Europe because you said it didn't happen.  You've gone on from there consistently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...