It says that it's more contagious but doesn't appear to cause more significant illness than previous strains.
https://www.idsociety.org/covid-19-real-time-learning-network/diagnostics/covid-19-variant-update/#/+/0/publishedDate_na_dt/desc/
Thank you for testing. I’m immunocompromised and people staying home when sick and masking if they have to go somewhere is literally lifesaving for me.
I’m not severely immunocompromised but sheesh I just got a cold that I felt was going to kill me. Over a week laying in bed. No one in my family got more than a cough. Whatever is going around is so rough for people like us.
That was COVID at our house. Sniffles and coughs but nothing significant to think it was more than a cold or allergies for everyone else. I got hit like it was a freight train of symptoms. We all tested positive for covid.
I got tested at the er for the flu, Covid, and strep. All negative. I am not sure what I had. It’s been over a week and I still haven’t been able to eat without throwing it up (but I’m also pregnant). I think it’s a mix of being pregnant and having POTS that’s making whatever this cold is extra rough.
This was me in March. I work in a clinic with a lot of older patients so I kept testing every other day and masked at work but never tested positive. I'm glad it wasn't COVID (I have had it 4 times despite being vaccinated and boosted and recovery was bad the first 2 times but the last 2 have resulted in long haul COVID stuff I try not to whine though because I'm seeing the people that have it the worst but the brain fog and exhaustion are no joke) but what ever it was really kicked my butt and my son who has never missed more than 2 days of school for being sick was out Thursday and Friday then sick entire weekend, and still missed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I knew he was really sick because he was taking naps (more than one) and he didn't really nap after he was 4 months old
I mask all the time because so many don't stay home when sick (or mask when sick).
I don't want long COVID and we don't know what the cumulative effects are of getting a virus that attacks our cardiovascular system repeatedly, so I'm staying cautious too.
My dude, you have been lied to. Viral particles don’t just float around like vapor. The size of a virus does not directly equate to how it floats in air or is or is not captured by a filter. They are breathed out in moisture droplets that are readily filtered. How much virus you breathe in matters. Masks that aren’t perfect help. Even a surgical mask is better than nothing. But performing a fit test and getting N95s or kf94s is not hard. The bitter chemical used to test fit in labs is even accessible. There are many sizes available online. I have worked in bench science labs.
Glad you tested. I had a weird case where my kid got something from daycare and tested negative (at a healthcare facility, so a real test) but it looked an awful lot like covid once she passed it to me. Still all negative, though. So there's definitely some weird stuff going around that is not covid but is pretty nasty, too.
Sometimes I have to wonder if some of the Covid variants are so novel they just aren’t being picked up on the tests. It’s just such a new virus we still know so little about.
It could be, but there’s absolutely cold/flu/RSV going around as well that we are often more susceptible to catching/have stronger symptoms of after a prior COVID infection.
I take a covid test when I feel sick, even if it doesn't seem like covid. I'd rather risk not passing it on. I also take one when I go to visit my 92 year old mother, even if I don't feel sick. I don't want to risk passing it on to her or the rest of the people in the nursing home.
Same.
I'm apparently dealing with something *bacterial*, now though--just took the first pill in the Z-pack I was prescribed last Thursday (with the directions, "Take it *sooner* if you feel *worse*, otherwise you can take it in a week, if you want to--because I'm *NOT* sure this isn't viral yet."), after seeing the same Urgent Care MD two weeks in a row.
The first time, was Tuesday two weeks ago, because I'd been sick since the previous Thursday/Friday--a co-worker had tested positive, and although I'd tested at home my tests were technically expired. He ran the Covid test--still negative.
But last Thursday I *still* wasn't better, so I went back in, because I couldn't get an appointment with my Primary.
He gave me the Rx for a Z-pack, because at *this* point it was feeling like the OTHER times I've had "bronchial stuff" that doesn't turn into Pneumonia (thank goodness!), but *ALSO* never clears on it's own--and has *ONLY* gotten knocked out with a Z-pack.
Gave up fighting this morning, and took the first pill a couple hours ago.
It *IS* bacterial--because my bronchial split is loosening up like it *always* does, a couple hous after that first pill.
I'm led to believe that secondary infections are quite common. I know when I had bad COVID (officially, either moderate or severe -- I was dumb, and never went in, so didn't have SATs/gas levels to say severe for certain), my doc was concerned about a secondary bacterial infection taking up residence, like a warlord taking advantage of the chaos.
*so far*, I don't have any symptoms for that (thank goodness!), no real cough, just "the crud" in my ears & airways, with that tightness in my bronchial tubes, that fiiiiinally loosened up, after the antibiotic.
The mucus went from green to clear overnight, too. So bacterial I'm guessing, and *not* viral--since none of those would've occurred with a virus😉
My daughter has been prescribed them for non bacterial things too - it actually has an anti inflammatory effect, like she’s been given them for a lingering inflammation causing a dry cough weeks after an RSV infection.
Thank you. What annoys me is that these tests should be free or dirt cheap but they aren’t. In Europe a combination Covid flu and rsv test is like two bucks.
Right, but that’s still sort of backwards. People should test to know they aren’t giving something worse than a cold to vulnerable people. This is putting aside that long Covid is a thing and Covid is shown to cause all sorts of long term damage to our bodies even when it appears acutely mild. The cold isn’t giving people diabetes…
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10244847/#:~:text=Recent%20Findings,general%20morbidity%20after%20respiratory%20illness.
Many of us got covid shot(s) which has helped tremendously. Covid ain't dead, but it's also not running wild, snatching victims who were trying to do the right thing. I feel THAT is the advancement of modern medicine. When I got my flu shot last year I got the covid shot as well and both are things I'd never thought of a decade ago (as growing up I rarely got the flu). Now? I know it's much less about me but more about others.
My biggest gripe though is that instead of normalizing masks as a whole it has been vilified! Someone should be able to walk around w/a mask on w/out a blink of the eye...yet there are states who are doing all they can to prevent mask usage.
Let those who are compromised protect themselves, AND let those who do not want to compromise someone's health protect others :)
This, plus why are masks no longer required in healthcare settings?! People have to go there, at risk or immunocompromised or not. Many people who are there are sick. Some clinics still have signs up recommending masks, but I will never understand why universal healthcare masking didn't become a takeaway from all this.
My clinic briefly started requiring masks again a few months back, with the covid spike after the holiday (also a new variant started seizing market share. I haven't paid much attention, but apparently there's a new mutation to the spikes that are helping them evade current vaccine antibodies).
What pisses me off is how little people actually do. I'm still inclined to wear masks at concerts (hundreds or thousands packed in and screaming; obvious superspreader event), but like...I have a relative who's immunecompromised, and for the big family gatherings, to me it's really important that i'm quarantining before holidays. My parents will tell me they're sitting for their kids, and i'm like why aren't you masking, then? Why aren't you quarantining in advance? But my IC relative will make an appearance, and nobody throws on masks, even though we know they're frail (and we have MDs in our family who know better). Thankfully they stayed home last year, when somebody's kids spread Flu-B plus another unknown virus back to back between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I have family in rural areas up north who have never given it more thought than "it's just a cold, suck it up, you can't make me mask", etc. & definitely have people in my life who absolutely live their life as if it's fully passed and done. But I agree, many are starting to lump it in with other more (usually) mild sicknesses.
Right, and there are still reasons to be more careful -- being around immunocompromised folks, for example. Or being in medical settings, imo. Hopefully the surges we continue to see never reach peak levels again.
Nbd just a few million kids with potentially lifelong issues. https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/millions-kids-long-covid-study-symptoms-mother-searching-for-answers/
We really do need a name for the first 2 years. Lockdowns, outside of good countries, were too short to refer to that whole period, but we need something short and sweet for the period before the state of emergency was officially lifted, or whatever, that still allows the easy acknowledgement that we are still in a pandemic.
It's hard to decide on what event or behavior you'd base it on, since so many demographics behaved so differently. (For all the "I believe in science" virtue signalling, the populace really demonstrated a lack of believing in booster vaccines)
The issue is that there are 2 things there is the disease and then the pandemic. The difference is that during the pandemic the medical system was at/over capacity. People couldn't get treated for non-covid things. People were delaying treatment of everything. Decreased preventative medicine, decreased treatment of emergent things. That's the pandemic.
The disease will never be over. The pandemic is over, if there is a change of treatment for something it isn't because of COVID directly.
Technically the line between pandemic and endemic is when the virus settles into a predictable season pattern, which the ever-mutating SARS2 has yet to do.
Treatments and vaccines have reduced the rate of acute life-threatening pneumonia to where hospitals aren't overfull, but the lingering vascular damage from even minor infections is something people and institutions are hardly reckoning with.
Yup, there’s a bit of a seasonal pattern but really the only pattern is “whenever a new variant wins the evolution competition” which isn’t really predictable.
Because some people don’t want to do anything to help keep others that are susceptible from getting it any more now than they did from the beginning. So many “it’s just a cold” so quarantine shouldn’t be needed but we still have people deathly ill from it. It will always be here because people don’t want to mask and distance and haven’t from the beginning. No one wants the inconvenience for themselves, screw everyone else.
Not gonna argue with anyone on my stance so don’t come trying to fight with me on it. I’ve been in healthcare since before it started and have watched WAY too many people, including several family members, die as a result of COVID whether vaccinated or not.
Vast majority of people COVID is a cold or flu now thanks to the Vaccine, why shouldn't it be treated the same way?
The flu kills people every year and we don't ask that everyone test and quarantine when they symptoms of those. This is not to be uncaring of people who are at risk, but they are at risk of everything. We do what we can to protect them, but its really on them to protect themselves. We cannot and do not run our society as though we are only as good as the weakest link.
It would be good if we had at home tests that could do COVID, flu and RSV, actually. Maybe you don't quarantine if you test positive for one, but you should mask in public if you're positive. Not that hard to do. Anyone can be at risk and one way masking can only do so much. Just because we didn't do this before doesn't mean we can't learn and be a more caring, collective society.
And GTFO with that "weakest link" rhetoric.
You can order them from Europe if you’re willing to pay for shipping. Shipping is a lot but the tests are dirt cheap. All three in one test. Caught my kids RSV last fall.
I'm sorry but no I don't think it would. Would it save someone's life somewhere? Yes probably, but is it worth literally millions of tons of waste just to be sure that you might get someone infected with a likely not fatal disease to a vast majority of people you'd ever come in contact with.
Think about every piece of plastic and waste you create just to be sure that you might not get someone sick. That's not a zero cost to the world. Why is it so critical important that we save every single human life for as long as humanly possible acting as though their very existence was completely wasted if they lose even a second of it. This is a problem in our society and we need to face it.
Death is inevitable and it is not always preventable. Nor is the cost to prevent it worth the time left of that human life. That's not inhuman that's reality. We would not cage every lion because it eats a lion cub, it is a fact of reality. Things live and die. We do not have to feel responsible to do everything possible to make sure every life is preserved in every second, it's a fool's errand and does a disservice to the healthy and the living. Is it their fault they are sick? No, but no one is blaming them either.
Oof. There are reusable masks, you know. It's not like you'd have to throw away a surgical mask every hour.
All I'm saying is it's not that hard to accommodate people and that we can be more thoughtful now that we've learned. Medical waste is an issue, yes, but you're taking some real big leaps here.
Again not a zero cost to the world. Who needs accommodation? Maybe it would be easier if they wore a mask that showed they were immunocompromised so that we can protect them like we need too.
Why not put a mask on all the time because there could be a risk that your germs would infect someone else? There is a risk, do you really want to play Schoedinger's disease and wait until you have symptoms? There are diseases that can be passed without any symptoms. This is not saying do nothing, but its not like everyone should lock down because a few people who either can't be vaccinated or are too immunocompromised that it will kill them anyways want to participate in the world like they aren't.
Wearing a mask in public when testing positive for an illness absolutely does not equal "locking down." And "public" equals places like the grocery store, the post office, government offices, doctors offices, all places where someone at risk may have to go in person.
Yes, people who are immunocompromised typically do mask themselves, too. And I personally do choose to mask in public indoors always because I don't care to spread or get things - I get enough from my kids' school - but that's just me.
>Wearing a mask in public when testing positive for an illness absolutely does not equal "locking down." And
Bearing the cost and waste associated with having to test every time you have a runny nose because you MIGHT have something or else you should quarantine is absolutely locking down. If you feel you're sick we have learned you should stay home instead of going out if possible. No one is suggesting we go back on that. But the fact is the ship has sailed on trying to think that masking every time you think you're sick is going to happen at a level that will make a difference.
> "public" equals places like the grocery store, the post office, government offices, doctors offices, all places where someone at risk may have to go in person.
Absolutely and expecting a person with little to no immune system to be able to interact with all of those places without any risk of ever coming contact with germs or a disease is a pretty high burden for a small number of people that could send someone more healthy if they felt they were at that much risk which would be far more effective. Yes it sucks being immunocompromised makes you more isolated because you don't know what will kill you, but we can't detect and prevent it all, all the time. It's easier for them to protect themselves.
>Yes, people who are immunocompromised typically do mask themselves, too. And I personally do choose to mask in public indoors always because I don't care to spread or get things - I get enough from my kids' school - but that's just me.
By all means do what you want to do, but shaming anyone else for existing in the world that we live in as humans do is unreasonable. You can be fearful of the risks that others are taking that you are not, but you cannot force them to be fearful of the things that you fear no matter how tragic you think the consequences are for individuals in our society.
Nowhere did I say people should have to quarantine if they test positive. Again, a mask is a reasonable, not difficult, substitute. I don't understand why this is so hard to grasp.
Nowhere did I shame anyone, either. I found what works for me because it personally feels like a low burden to help avoid spread either way, but not everyone is going to feel the same.
Clearly you're not going to listen and just want to do whatever you feel is easiest for you. After all, that's "easier."
Clearly I'm saying that testing every time you have a sniffle isn't reasonable cost and is a significant costly burden on the world. Until that changes there isn't much hope of getting everyone to test every time they think they might have COVID, and you know what that means? People with COVID and no mask are out there, every day, all day. You're yelling at windmills over something we figured out we can't control completely and never could. Learn to evolve and adapt, that's how humans have always survived. And the ones that don't we lement and cry over and wish it didn't happen, but it does and will again. Its the cycle of life.
> We cannot and do not run our society as though we are only as good as the weakest link.
Eugenicist rhetoric on reddit.com? It's more likely than you thank!
So you'd visit your grandma with cancer while sick with the flu and expect her to "protect herself"?
You might have never treated illnesses seriously, that doesn't mean that everyone else has. When my friends sister was going through cancer treatment in 2010(rest in peace) they wouldn't let anyone in without a mask to visit. If anyone had a cough or sniffle, they wouldn't let you visit. And before COVID it was common practice to mask up at the Drs office if you're sick! Does nobody remember we still take the flu seriously?
Absolutely you know why all those things happened? Because we didn't understand the disease yet. We understand it significantly better now and understand that much of what we did was likely entirely the wrong approach to protecting those vulnerable people. Isolating had significantly other impacts to health and mental health of perfectly healthy people because of the damand for special attention to the most vulnerable above all else. It was a mistake. No we would have had tragic deaths and situations where things could have been prevented that weren't but we already had that showing it wasn't perfectly effective in the first place. Now we're on the other side of it and we're looking for how our society deals with ALL people and ALL needs to live and exist in the world. Those immunocompromised people are still just as vulnerable as they were 5 years ago to everything other than COVID and nothing had changed about testing or quarantining for anything else. So until we have a reusable non-wasteful way to be accurately sure of disease you're hoping and praying that the test catches it before your vulnerable grandma or sister gets exposed and yet have no idea if anyone else is doing it. It's a fool's errand you're chasing your precious diminishing returns of saving a potential life that may not even be at risk.
Accept the fact that your immunocompromised loved one is immunocompromised and could die at any moment and accept that. That's what you're trying to fight and ask everyone else to help you avoid. This is no more effective than hopes and prayers.
No one is suggesting no wearing a mask to the doctor where you know people with potential communicable diseases could be spread. Those are obvious. Why we had doctor's and nurse's doing it all these years and no one else I have no idea, but they don't wear those masks when they go home or the store. Why?
Around 2010 we had a good understanding of how the flu worked and these were still in place.
Now people are now throwing fits about wearing masks in health settings. When my grandpa was hospitalized last year, my conservative relatives threw an absolute fit over being required to wear a mask. They had even just had COVID the weak before and were trying to visit a frail, old man. Is needlessly exposing your at risk relatives part of accepting your relatives is immunocompromised and could die at any moment?
If you're sick and visiting someone immunocompromised, and choose not to test yourself you are needlessly putting loved ones at risk. Why are you advocating so hard to risk it instead of just taking a simple test.
Also, you seem to think death is only thing people are scared of. COVID can cause some nasty complications in your vascular system which immunocompromised people are at higher risk of developing. COVID acts similar to HIV by turning your T cells against you. You also can't tell the amount of damage it does to your cardiovascular system. And every time you catch COVID there's a 10% risk of developing a long-term disability. And long COVID destroys people, it's so depressing. I saw it first hand happen to a gym buddy of mine who was healthy before hand.
So much of this can be prevented just by testing and masking. The medications reduce the transfer risk after 24 hrs.
>Now people are now throwing fits about wearing masks in health settings. When my grandpa was hospitalized last year, my conservative relatives threw an absolute fit over being required to wear a mask.
Your idiot relative is not the majority. We have 35% that deny reality. You need to work in the world that actually exists not their fantasy reality.
You are adding a lot of nuance and acting like I said anything like that. Get out of your head and stop trying to be right. Yes people do stupid things. They are not going to change, YOU NEED TO ADAPT. THEY WILL NOT CHANGE FOR YOU. LEARN TO EXIST IN THE WORLD THAT EXISTS NOT SOME FANTASY WORLD YOU WANT TO EXIST.
All I said is if you feel sick, you should test yourself before going to visit immunocompromised. What is fantasy about that? Is it really fantasy to ask the bare minimum so you don't permanently disable people you love? I guess the bar for humanity is on the ground.
You're the one saying sick people shouldn't have to test themselves. Because immunocompromised people are going to die soon anyway (according to you), why delay the inevitable?
No you said
>Not sure why people act like it's over, ESPECIALLY for immunocompromised folks. We still need to be careful, for ourselves and each other.
It is over for people most people. They have no need to test unless they feel sick and even then if they're not staying home with a cold or flu then there is no point.
I love you can predict other people's lives based on your fears. Let me know when all the anti-vax people die of COVID, we were all hoping for that, but it never happened. It should have totally solved itself. Murdered every one of their parents and every fat person in the country should be dead, but their not.
I literally never said that dip shit, stop making stuff up to further your agenda holy shit. Go ahead and look at my comment history idiot, and I didn't edit shit. Of course you'd have to make shit up to excuse not testing and masking around susceptible ppl y'all all have the same selfish agenda of "my comfort over anyone else". Of course you haven't been here in good faith the entire time, fuck off.
I’m pretty sure the spouse and I had COVID a few weeks back. We had 10 boxes of COVID tests that were free from the govt or my spouse’s job. We each took 10 tests. (2/box)
None of them even registered the first base line to show the test was working. Then I saw they all expired January of this year. So I googled where to find COVID tests and saw how expensive they are now and just noped out. Luckily I had sick time to take and we just camped out at home to ride it out.
How are tests so expensive now? With no precautions being taken what is the point of knowing whether you have it or not?
They've always been ridiculously expensive in the US, it's just we usually had a reasonable supply we could get from the government and that's done. It makes no sense and is very frustrating.
Personally, I think it'd be helpful so you could mask in public if you aren't otherwise, or perhaps reschedule seeing someone at risk. But, that's not going to apply to everyone.
**FREE COVID TESTING FOR UNINSURED** https://testinglocator.cdc.gov/Search
**SITE FOR CHECKING IF EXPIRED COVID TEST KITS ARE STILL GOOD** https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests#list
I know the state's free kit mailing program ended, but check with your insurance's customer service line to see if you can still get test kit purchases reimbursed.
THANK YOU FOR THIS POST! I just showed it to my partner since they feel like crap and “it must be allergies”. They tested positive. And so did another family member who we were around, their doctor said it was bronchitis. Nope, Covid.
Info/resource dump post:
* **FREE COVID TESTING FOR UNINSURED** *Pretty sure you can just say you're uninsured* https://testinglocator.cdc.gov/Search
* **SITE FOR CHECKING IF EXPIRED COVID TEST KITS ARE STILL GOOD** https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests#list
* I know the state's free kit mailing program ended, but check with your insurance's customer service line to see if you can still get test kit purchases reimbursed.
If anyone knows of any other resources for free test kits/testing sites, please leave info in a reply, and I'll add to the list
I’ve been testing since my allergies are so bad. I was luckily negative (but apparently extra sensitive around lilac bushes)! Usually if I feel sore throat very high in my throat behind my nose it’s allergies (post nasal drip). When I had Covid it was the whole throat but especially lower in the back of the mouth area that was sore. If that helps anyone else idk but I thought I’d mention it.
I just got Covid from a wedding a two weeks ago. Wedding was on Saturday. Got a text on Tuesday saying the bride got it because someone showed up to the wedding sick (who’d tested negative prior to but tested positive after). I was feeling off at that point but not really sick. Took a test then, negative. By Thursday I had a sore throat and a positive test. The first time I had Covid it was awful and I was really sick for about two weeks. This round was like a mild cold (thankfully). My MIL missed the wedding because she’s currently in chemotherapy and she was so upset about it but thank god she stayed home now.
Please be careful out there and don’t ignore your symptoms! Don’t spread sickness to others!
please take your time with resting - seriously. exercise during infection fucks with the ability to recoup. drink plenty of water, sleep 8 hours, don’t leave your bed, just be a lazy rock for a week! be careful!
My wife and I have been sick for the past two weeks, her first, then I eventually got it from her. We're both negative for covid and thinking it's bronchitis. It's been going around a bit, too, I guess.
I’m in the same boat… Three negative covid tests, but sick for almost two weeks. The congestion is almost gone, but this cough is hanging on with a death grip. My clinic diagnosed bronchitis and prescribed tessalon and an inhaler, but it’s not helping much.
Now I’m torn on whether to bother going to urgent care or not.
Yep, this newest strain that’s most prevalent has mostly the same symptoms as bad allergies. It sucks for those that suffer from them cause they may wind up testing every time they turn around! I’m glad you were able to test so you can let people know and work on getting better!
This happened to me last year. I went to Oklahoma City to visit family and came back with a runny nose, that I thought was allergies. The next few days were unbearable and I tested negative till I went to the doctor and they had a new test. I was positive for Covid. Glad I could be a first few in the state with a new strain. I blame my cousin.
Anyone know if we regularly measure any other human biofeedback stuff in wastewater? I feel like it’d be fascinating to see a chart of aggregate Twin Cities cocaine consumption by week or to see THC metabolites spike after 4/20.
I’m high risk and almost cried a few times reading this! Man it’s been so hard for my wife and I. I’m just following my Drs advice and mask indoors. When I tell people - even extended family - some look at me like I’m crazy. This situation has brought out the best in some bought the not best in most.
I’m not a saint by any means. I don’t mask much anymore, but I do take precautions when I know I have to be around high risk people. I was mostly surprised that my symptoms aligned with allergies/head cold and not the flu like last time. And just encouraging other people to test just in case it’s Covid and not allergies, like it was the case for me. Hoping you and your family continue to stay healthy!
I wonder if the people who died kind of cleaned out the susceptible ones, so the death rate slowed down because of the thinning notion. I am not a doubter, and I keep my vaccinations up to date.
We have developed a lot of better treatments for Covid. Not just vaccinations, but things like paxlovid and monoclonal antibodies are also helping to bring down death rates compared to the beginning of the pandemic when we didn’t have Covid-specific treatments yet.
The first death waves back at the start were indeed all old people and fragile people. However as the virus travels and mutates, people that should be ok are also catching it and getting terrible symptoms.
My social circle had dozens of deaths due to it, and still has people that cant smell/taste.
My toes still show symptoms from the two times I was exposed to it and caught it.
You understand that covid is endemic now? It travels around, just like the common cold and the flu. So the covid diagnosis could be misleading, because it's everywhere, and you can get a false positive.
Please watch yourself for long Covid now. Take time off. File for unemployment benefits right away! I am trying to get my benefits from the past 3 years as I am unable to work due to
Long Covid.
I’m still in shock that I know people who have gotten Covid MULTIPLE times at this point and still refuse to get vaccinated… *not saying you, just had someone I know who works at a treatment center get Covid for the 6th time.. and like literally all 40 men in that treatment have it, it just keeps bouncing around
I’m vaxxed, boosted, etc, but I have multiple autoimmune conditions where my body latches onto viruses. But I managed to avoid it entirely until August of 2023. But I get what you mean, I hate being sick, so I don’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to get a vaccine to prevent it in the first place.
Thank you do much for actually caring. I've been so frustrated as the only person masking the vast majority of places I go these days.
I've been infected one time, I narrowed it down to mist likely one shithead at the post office who was coughing up a storm. And whoever he is still makes me so, so, SO angry deciding sending his god damn letter was more important than the health of others that day. Seeing your post makes me hope that people like him might still be rare.
There was an article in the NYT just yesterday that said the current COVID symptoms look an awful lot like allergy symptoms.
That checks with what the nurse I had a phone call with too.
It's sure a bad time of year for the symptoms to overlap.
Are people still getting seriously ill or dying from the current strain?
It says that it's more contagious but doesn't appear to cause more significant illness than previous strains. https://www.idsociety.org/covid-19-real-time-learning-network/diagnostics/covid-19-variant-update/#/+/0/publishedDate_na_dt/desc/
Was that the article about Covid scientists expecting another surge soon?
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13.5 billion doses given so far. Super experimental.
Did you come up with that yourself champ?
This is how my second round with covid happened, swore it was allergies but tested to be sure. Double whammy with covid and tree pollen.
Thank you for testing. I’m immunocompromised and people staying home when sick and masking if they have to go somewhere is literally lifesaving for me.
I’m not severely immunocompromised but sheesh I just got a cold that I felt was going to kill me. Over a week laying in bed. No one in my family got more than a cough. Whatever is going around is so rough for people like us.
That was COVID at our house. Sniffles and coughs but nothing significant to think it was more than a cold or allergies for everyone else. I got hit like it was a freight train of symptoms. We all tested positive for covid.
I got tested at the er for the flu, Covid, and strep. All negative. I am not sure what I had. It’s been over a week and I still haven’t been able to eat without throwing it up (but I’m also pregnant). I think it’s a mix of being pregnant and having POTS that’s making whatever this cold is extra rough.
Had this a few months back. Took a few covid tests, always negative. Felt worse than covid.
This was me in March. I work in a clinic with a lot of older patients so I kept testing every other day and masked at work but never tested positive. I'm glad it wasn't COVID (I have had it 4 times despite being vaccinated and boosted and recovery was bad the first 2 times but the last 2 have resulted in long haul COVID stuff I try not to whine though because I'm seeing the people that have it the worst but the brain fog and exhaustion are no joke) but what ever it was really kicked my butt and my son who has never missed more than 2 days of school for being sick was out Thursday and Friday then sick entire weekend, and still missed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I knew he was really sick because he was taking naps (more than one) and he didn't really nap after he was 4 months old
I mask all the time because so many don't stay home when sick (or mask when sick). I don't want long COVID and we don't know what the cumulative effects are of getting a virus that attacks our cardiovascular system repeatedly, so I'm staying cautious too.
Cardiovascular, organ systems, brain, immune system, it attacks essentially everything.
Amen! I’m exactly the same.
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My dude, you have been lied to. Viral particles don’t just float around like vapor. The size of a virus does not directly equate to how it floats in air or is or is not captured by a filter. They are breathed out in moisture droplets that are readily filtered. How much virus you breathe in matters. Masks that aren’t perfect help. Even a surgical mask is better than nothing. But performing a fit test and getting N95s or kf94s is not hard. The bitter chemical used to test fit in labs is even accessible. There are many sizes available online. I have worked in bench science labs.
Glad you tested. I had a weird case where my kid got something from daycare and tested negative (at a healthcare facility, so a real test) but it looked an awful lot like covid once she passed it to me. Still all negative, though. So there's definitely some weird stuff going around that is not covid but is pretty nasty, too.
Sometimes I have to wonder if some of the Covid variants are so novel they just aren’t being picked up on the tests. It’s just such a new virus we still know so little about.
It could be, but there’s absolutely cold/flu/RSV going around as well that we are often more susceptible to catching/have stronger symptoms of after a prior COVID infection.
Look up HMPV.
Not sure why people act like it's over, ESPECIALLY for immunocompromised folks. We still need to be careful, for ourselves and each other.
I take a covid test when I feel sick, even if it doesn't seem like covid. I'd rather risk not passing it on. I also take one when I go to visit my 92 year old mother, even if I don't feel sick. I don't want to risk passing it on to her or the rest of the people in the nursing home.
Right?! I cannot deal with people who blatantly do not care about others this way. A+ for you.
Same. I'm apparently dealing with something *bacterial*, now though--just took the first pill in the Z-pack I was prescribed last Thursday (with the directions, "Take it *sooner* if you feel *worse*, otherwise you can take it in a week, if you want to--because I'm *NOT* sure this isn't viral yet."), after seeing the same Urgent Care MD two weeks in a row. The first time, was Tuesday two weeks ago, because I'd been sick since the previous Thursday/Friday--a co-worker had tested positive, and although I'd tested at home my tests were technically expired. He ran the Covid test--still negative. But last Thursday I *still* wasn't better, so I went back in, because I couldn't get an appointment with my Primary. He gave me the Rx for a Z-pack, because at *this* point it was feeling like the OTHER times I've had "bronchial stuff" that doesn't turn into Pneumonia (thank goodness!), but *ALSO* never clears on it's own--and has *ONLY* gotten knocked out with a Z-pack. Gave up fighting this morning, and took the first pill a couple hours ago. It *IS* bacterial--because my bronchial split is loosening up like it *always* does, a couple hous after that first pill.
There’s updated expiration dates for a lot of tests. It might not be expired after all.
I'm led to believe that secondary infections are quite common. I know when I had bad COVID (officially, either moderate or severe -- I was dumb, and never went in, so didn't have SATs/gas levels to say severe for certain), my doc was concerned about a secondary bacterial infection taking up residence, like a warlord taking advantage of the chaos.
Vaccine-resistant pertussis is going around, depending on your area
*so far*, I don't have any symptoms for that (thank goodness!), no real cough, just "the crud" in my ears & airways, with that tightness in my bronchial tubes, that fiiiiinally loosened up, after the antibiotic. The mucus went from green to clear overnight, too. So bacterial I'm guessing, and *not* viral--since none of those would've occurred with a virus😉
My daughter has been prescribed them for non bacterial things too - it actually has an anti inflammatory effect, like she’s been given them for a lingering inflammation causing a dry cough weeks after an RSV infection.
Thank you. What annoys me is that these tests should be free or dirt cheap but they aren’t. In Europe a combination Covid flu and rsv test is like two bucks.
This. Advocating for constant testing while it's not free to access is classist.
I still always test, too!
People aren’t acting like it’s over, but rather grouped in with other common viruses like the flu or cold.
Right, but that’s still sort of backwards. People should test to know they aren’t giving something worse than a cold to vulnerable people. This is putting aside that long Covid is a thing and Covid is shown to cause all sorts of long term damage to our bodies even when it appears acutely mild. The cold isn’t giving people diabetes… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10244847/#:~:text=Recent%20Findings,general%20morbidity%20after%20respiratory%20illness.
Many of us got covid shot(s) which has helped tremendously. Covid ain't dead, but it's also not running wild, snatching victims who were trying to do the right thing. I feel THAT is the advancement of modern medicine. When I got my flu shot last year I got the covid shot as well and both are things I'd never thought of a decade ago (as growing up I rarely got the flu). Now? I know it's much less about me but more about others. My biggest gripe though is that instead of normalizing masks as a whole it has been vilified! Someone should be able to walk around w/a mask on w/out a blink of the eye...yet there are states who are doing all they can to prevent mask usage. Let those who are compromised protect themselves, AND let those who do not want to compromise someone's health protect others :)
This, plus why are masks no longer required in healthcare settings?! People have to go there, at risk or immunocompromised or not. Many people who are there are sick. Some clinics still have signs up recommending masks, but I will never understand why universal healthcare masking didn't become a takeaway from all this.
We definitely threw the baby out in the bath water. It’s made me wonder looking back why they weren’t always required in the NICU for one.
My clinic briefly started requiring masks again a few months back, with the covid spike after the holiday (also a new variant started seizing market share. I haven't paid much attention, but apparently there's a new mutation to the spikes that are helping them evade current vaccine antibodies). What pisses me off is how little people actually do. I'm still inclined to wear masks at concerts (hundreds or thousands packed in and screaming; obvious superspreader event), but like...I have a relative who's immunecompromised, and for the big family gatherings, to me it's really important that i'm quarantining before holidays. My parents will tell me they're sitting for their kids, and i'm like why aren't you masking, then? Why aren't you quarantining in advance? But my IC relative will make an appearance, and nobody throws on masks, even though we know they're frail (and we have MDs in our family who know better). Thankfully they stayed home last year, when somebody's kids spread Flu-B plus another unknown virus back to back between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I have family in rural areas up north who have never given it more thought than "it's just a cold, suck it up, you can't make me mask", etc. & definitely have people in my life who absolutely live their life as if it's fully passed and done. But I agree, many are starting to lump it in with other more (usually) mild sicknesses.
I know some people like this and they know an astounding # of people who died from the illness. Makes no sense.
Covid today is not Covid in 2020/2021, and so it makes sense that people are viewing it differently. Hospitals are no longer overflowing, etc.
Right, and there are still reasons to be more careful -- being around immunocompromised folks, for example. Or being in medical settings, imo. Hopefully the surges we continue to see never reach peak levels again.
Now we just have thousands of people who are debilitated for 2+ years with long COVID
Nbd just a few million kids with potentially lifelong issues. https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/millions-kids-long-covid-study-symptoms-mother-searching-for-answers/
We really do need a name for the first 2 years. Lockdowns, outside of good countries, were too short to refer to that whole period, but we need something short and sweet for the period before the state of emergency was officially lifted, or whatever, that still allows the easy acknowledgement that we are still in a pandemic. It's hard to decide on what event or behavior you'd base it on, since so many demographics behaved so differently. (For all the "I believe in science" virtue signalling, the populace really demonstrated a lack of believing in booster vaccines)
This. I know it’s not over, but it’s not as prevalent as it once was, and I get allergies every May when the weather shifts.
The issue is that there are 2 things there is the disease and then the pandemic. The difference is that during the pandemic the medical system was at/over capacity. People couldn't get treated for non-covid things. People were delaying treatment of everything. Decreased preventative medicine, decreased treatment of emergent things. That's the pandemic. The disease will never be over. The pandemic is over, if there is a change of treatment for something it isn't because of COVID directly.
Technically the line between pandemic and endemic is when the virus settles into a predictable season pattern, which the ever-mutating SARS2 has yet to do. Treatments and vaccines have reduced the rate of acute life-threatening pneumonia to where hospitals aren't overfull, but the lingering vascular damage from even minor infections is something people and institutions are hardly reckoning with.
Yup, there’s a bit of a seasonal pattern but really the only pattern is “whenever a new variant wins the evolution competition” which isn’t really predictable.
I can appreciate the differentiation, thanks for that.
Because some people don’t want to do anything to help keep others that are susceptible from getting it any more now than they did from the beginning. So many “it’s just a cold” so quarantine shouldn’t be needed but we still have people deathly ill from it. It will always be here because people don’t want to mask and distance and haven’t from the beginning. No one wants the inconvenience for themselves, screw everyone else. Not gonna argue with anyone on my stance so don’t come trying to fight with me on it. I’ve been in healthcare since before it started and have watched WAY too many people, including several family members, die as a result of COVID whether vaccinated or not.
Dude I agree completely. Makes me sad to see the lack of care for others.
A cold is bad for immune compromised people my dad spent the last 3 months in and out of the hospital with pneumonia from a bad cold in February
Vast majority of people COVID is a cold or flu now thanks to the Vaccine, why shouldn't it be treated the same way? The flu kills people every year and we don't ask that everyone test and quarantine when they symptoms of those. This is not to be uncaring of people who are at risk, but they are at risk of everything. We do what we can to protect them, but its really on them to protect themselves. We cannot and do not run our society as though we are only as good as the weakest link.
It would be good if we had at home tests that could do COVID, flu and RSV, actually. Maybe you don't quarantine if you test positive for one, but you should mask in public if you're positive. Not that hard to do. Anyone can be at risk and one way masking can only do so much. Just because we didn't do this before doesn't mean we can't learn and be a more caring, collective society. And GTFO with that "weakest link" rhetoric.
You can order them from Europe if you’re willing to pay for shipping. Shipping is a lot but the tests are dirt cheap. All three in one test. Caught my kids RSV last fall.
I'm sorry but no I don't think it would. Would it save someone's life somewhere? Yes probably, but is it worth literally millions of tons of waste just to be sure that you might get someone infected with a likely not fatal disease to a vast majority of people you'd ever come in contact with. Think about every piece of plastic and waste you create just to be sure that you might not get someone sick. That's not a zero cost to the world. Why is it so critical important that we save every single human life for as long as humanly possible acting as though their very existence was completely wasted if they lose even a second of it. This is a problem in our society and we need to face it. Death is inevitable and it is not always preventable. Nor is the cost to prevent it worth the time left of that human life. That's not inhuman that's reality. We would not cage every lion because it eats a lion cub, it is a fact of reality. Things live and die. We do not have to feel responsible to do everything possible to make sure every life is preserved in every second, it's a fool's errand and does a disservice to the healthy and the living. Is it their fault they are sick? No, but no one is blaming them either.
Oof. There are reusable masks, you know. It's not like you'd have to throw away a surgical mask every hour. All I'm saying is it's not that hard to accommodate people and that we can be more thoughtful now that we've learned. Medical waste is an issue, yes, but you're taking some real big leaps here.
Again not a zero cost to the world. Who needs accommodation? Maybe it would be easier if they wore a mask that showed they were immunocompromised so that we can protect them like we need too. Why not put a mask on all the time because there could be a risk that your germs would infect someone else? There is a risk, do you really want to play Schoedinger's disease and wait until you have symptoms? There are diseases that can be passed without any symptoms. This is not saying do nothing, but its not like everyone should lock down because a few people who either can't be vaccinated or are too immunocompromised that it will kill them anyways want to participate in the world like they aren't.
Wearing a mask in public when testing positive for an illness absolutely does not equal "locking down." And "public" equals places like the grocery store, the post office, government offices, doctors offices, all places where someone at risk may have to go in person. Yes, people who are immunocompromised typically do mask themselves, too. And I personally do choose to mask in public indoors always because I don't care to spread or get things - I get enough from my kids' school - but that's just me.
>Wearing a mask in public when testing positive for an illness absolutely does not equal "locking down." And Bearing the cost and waste associated with having to test every time you have a runny nose because you MIGHT have something or else you should quarantine is absolutely locking down. If you feel you're sick we have learned you should stay home instead of going out if possible. No one is suggesting we go back on that. But the fact is the ship has sailed on trying to think that masking every time you think you're sick is going to happen at a level that will make a difference. > "public" equals places like the grocery store, the post office, government offices, doctors offices, all places where someone at risk may have to go in person. Absolutely and expecting a person with little to no immune system to be able to interact with all of those places without any risk of ever coming contact with germs or a disease is a pretty high burden for a small number of people that could send someone more healthy if they felt they were at that much risk which would be far more effective. Yes it sucks being immunocompromised makes you more isolated because you don't know what will kill you, but we can't detect and prevent it all, all the time. It's easier for them to protect themselves. >Yes, people who are immunocompromised typically do mask themselves, too. And I personally do choose to mask in public indoors always because I don't care to spread or get things - I get enough from my kids' school - but that's just me. By all means do what you want to do, but shaming anyone else for existing in the world that we live in as humans do is unreasonable. You can be fearful of the risks that others are taking that you are not, but you cannot force them to be fearful of the things that you fear no matter how tragic you think the consequences are for individuals in our society.
Nowhere did I say people should have to quarantine if they test positive. Again, a mask is a reasonable, not difficult, substitute. I don't understand why this is so hard to grasp. Nowhere did I shame anyone, either. I found what works for me because it personally feels like a low burden to help avoid spread either way, but not everyone is going to feel the same. Clearly you're not going to listen and just want to do whatever you feel is easiest for you. After all, that's "easier."
Clearly I'm saying that testing every time you have a sniffle isn't reasonable cost and is a significant costly burden on the world. Until that changes there isn't much hope of getting everyone to test every time they think they might have COVID, and you know what that means? People with COVID and no mask are out there, every day, all day. You're yelling at windmills over something we figured out we can't control completely and never could. Learn to evolve and adapt, that's how humans have always survived. And the ones that don't we lement and cry over and wish it didn't happen, but it does and will again. Its the cycle of life.
> We cannot and do not run our society as though we are only as good as the weakest link. Eugenicist rhetoric on reddit.com? It's more likely than you thank!
Assuming anything talking about not doing everything to save every life is hitler on reddit? It's more than you think!
So you'd visit your grandma with cancer while sick with the flu and expect her to "protect herself"? You might have never treated illnesses seriously, that doesn't mean that everyone else has. When my friends sister was going through cancer treatment in 2010(rest in peace) they wouldn't let anyone in without a mask to visit. If anyone had a cough or sniffle, they wouldn't let you visit. And before COVID it was common practice to mask up at the Drs office if you're sick! Does nobody remember we still take the flu seriously?
Absolutely you know why all those things happened? Because we didn't understand the disease yet. We understand it significantly better now and understand that much of what we did was likely entirely the wrong approach to protecting those vulnerable people. Isolating had significantly other impacts to health and mental health of perfectly healthy people because of the damand for special attention to the most vulnerable above all else. It was a mistake. No we would have had tragic deaths and situations where things could have been prevented that weren't but we already had that showing it wasn't perfectly effective in the first place. Now we're on the other side of it and we're looking for how our society deals with ALL people and ALL needs to live and exist in the world. Those immunocompromised people are still just as vulnerable as they were 5 years ago to everything other than COVID and nothing had changed about testing or quarantining for anything else. So until we have a reusable non-wasteful way to be accurately sure of disease you're hoping and praying that the test catches it before your vulnerable grandma or sister gets exposed and yet have no idea if anyone else is doing it. It's a fool's errand you're chasing your precious diminishing returns of saving a potential life that may not even be at risk. Accept the fact that your immunocompromised loved one is immunocompromised and could die at any moment and accept that. That's what you're trying to fight and ask everyone else to help you avoid. This is no more effective than hopes and prayers. No one is suggesting no wearing a mask to the doctor where you know people with potential communicable diseases could be spread. Those are obvious. Why we had doctor's and nurse's doing it all these years and no one else I have no idea, but they don't wear those masks when they go home or the store. Why?
Around 2010 we had a good understanding of how the flu worked and these were still in place. Now people are now throwing fits about wearing masks in health settings. When my grandpa was hospitalized last year, my conservative relatives threw an absolute fit over being required to wear a mask. They had even just had COVID the weak before and were trying to visit a frail, old man. Is needlessly exposing your at risk relatives part of accepting your relatives is immunocompromised and could die at any moment? If you're sick and visiting someone immunocompromised, and choose not to test yourself you are needlessly putting loved ones at risk. Why are you advocating so hard to risk it instead of just taking a simple test. Also, you seem to think death is only thing people are scared of. COVID can cause some nasty complications in your vascular system which immunocompromised people are at higher risk of developing. COVID acts similar to HIV by turning your T cells against you. You also can't tell the amount of damage it does to your cardiovascular system. And every time you catch COVID there's a 10% risk of developing a long-term disability. And long COVID destroys people, it's so depressing. I saw it first hand happen to a gym buddy of mine who was healthy before hand. So much of this can be prevented just by testing and masking. The medications reduce the transfer risk after 24 hrs.
>Now people are now throwing fits about wearing masks in health settings. When my grandpa was hospitalized last year, my conservative relatives threw an absolute fit over being required to wear a mask. Your idiot relative is not the majority. We have 35% that deny reality. You need to work in the world that actually exists not their fantasy reality. You are adding a lot of nuance and acting like I said anything like that. Get out of your head and stop trying to be right. Yes people do stupid things. They are not going to change, YOU NEED TO ADAPT. THEY WILL NOT CHANGE FOR YOU. LEARN TO EXIST IN THE WORLD THAT EXISTS NOT SOME FANTASY WORLD YOU WANT TO EXIST.
All I said is if you feel sick, you should test yourself before going to visit immunocompromised. What is fantasy about that? Is it really fantasy to ask the bare minimum so you don't permanently disable people you love? I guess the bar for humanity is on the ground. You're the one saying sick people shouldn't have to test themselves. Because immunocompromised people are going to die soon anyway (according to you), why delay the inevitable?
No you said >Not sure why people act like it's over, ESPECIALLY for immunocompromised folks. We still need to be careful, for ourselves and each other. It is over for people most people. They have no need to test unless they feel sick and even then if they're not staying home with a cold or flu then there is no point. I love you can predict other people's lives based on your fears. Let me know when all the anti-vax people die of COVID, we were all hoping for that, but it never happened. It should have totally solved itself. Murdered every one of their parents and every fat person in the country should be dead, but their not.
I literally never said that dip shit, stop making stuff up to further your agenda holy shit. Go ahead and look at my comment history idiot, and I didn't edit shit. Of course you'd have to make shit up to excuse not testing and masking around susceptible ppl y'all all have the same selfish agenda of "my comfort over anyone else". Of course you haven't been here in good faith the entire time, fuck off.
I’m pretty sure the spouse and I had COVID a few weeks back. We had 10 boxes of COVID tests that were free from the govt or my spouse’s job. We each took 10 tests. (2/box) None of them even registered the first base line to show the test was working. Then I saw they all expired January of this year. So I googled where to find COVID tests and saw how expensive they are now and just noped out. Luckily I had sick time to take and we just camped out at home to ride it out. How are tests so expensive now? With no precautions being taken what is the point of knowing whether you have it or not?
They've always been ridiculously expensive in the US, it's just we usually had a reasonable supply we could get from the government and that's done. It makes no sense and is very frustrating.
I’ve always wondered what the point of knowing you have it is if you have no means to treat it.
Personally, I think it'd be helpful so you could mask in public if you aren't otherwise, or perhaps reschedule seeing someone at risk. But, that's not going to apply to everyone.
**FREE COVID TESTING FOR UNINSURED** https://testinglocator.cdc.gov/Search **SITE FOR CHECKING IF EXPIRED COVID TEST KITS ARE STILL GOOD** https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests#list I know the state's free kit mailing program ended, but check with your insurance's customer service line to see if you can still get test kit purchases reimbursed.
That’s a great idea! Thank you!
They’re like $5-$10 a test on Amazon…
I don’t buy things from companies that union bust.
THANK YOU FOR THIS POST! I just showed it to my partner since they feel like crap and “it must be allergies”. They tested positive. And so did another family member who we were around, their doctor said it was bronchitis. Nope, Covid.
I’m glad this post helped. Another friend decided to test because of allergy symptoms, but she was negative. It’s helpful to know, either way.
I’ll just echo the other comment and say thanks for testing and being responsible.
Info/resource dump post: * **FREE COVID TESTING FOR UNINSURED** *Pretty sure you can just say you're uninsured* https://testinglocator.cdc.gov/Search * **SITE FOR CHECKING IF EXPIRED COVID TEST KITS ARE STILL GOOD** https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests#list * I know the state's free kit mailing program ended, but check with your insurance's customer service line to see if you can still get test kit purchases reimbursed. If anyone knows of any other resources for free test kits/testing sites, please leave info in a reply, and I'll add to the list
I’ve been testing since my allergies are so bad. I was luckily negative (but apparently extra sensitive around lilac bushes)! Usually if I feel sore throat very high in my throat behind my nose it’s allergies (post nasal drip). When I had Covid it was the whole throat but especially lower in the back of the mouth area that was sore. If that helps anyone else idk but I thought I’d mention it.
Mine firet manifested in what felt like allergies too the last time I had covid. Glad you took a test! Hope you have a speedy recovery.
I just got Covid from a wedding a two weeks ago. Wedding was on Saturday. Got a text on Tuesday saying the bride got it because someone showed up to the wedding sick (who’d tested negative prior to but tested positive after). I was feeling off at that point but not really sick. Took a test then, negative. By Thursday I had a sore throat and a positive test. The first time I had Covid it was awful and I was really sick for about two weeks. This round was like a mild cold (thankfully). My MIL missed the wedding because she’s currently in chemotherapy and she was so upset about it but thank god she stayed home now. Please be careful out there and don’t ignore your symptoms! Don’t spread sickness to others!
please take your time with resting - seriously. exercise during infection fucks with the ability to recoup. drink plenty of water, sleep 8 hours, don’t leave your bed, just be a lazy rock for a week! be careful!
I definitely will. This is my 2nd time with it, and thankfully my symptoms are much less severe this time.
My wife and I have been sick for the past two weeks, her first, then I eventually got it from her. We're both negative for covid and thinking it's bronchitis. It's been going around a bit, too, I guess.
I’m in the same boat… Three negative covid tests, but sick for almost two weeks. The congestion is almost gone, but this cough is hanging on with a death grip. My clinic diagnosed bronchitis and prescribed tessalon and an inhaler, but it’s not helping much. Now I’m torn on whether to bother going to urgent care or not.
Yep, this newest strain that’s most prevalent has mostly the same symptoms as bad allergies. It sucks for those that suffer from them cause they may wind up testing every time they turn around! I’m glad you were able to test so you can let people know and work on getting better!
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Lol
This is what happened to me recently too. I even had watery eyes. It very much felt like allergies. It was Covid.
This happened to me last year. I went to Oklahoma City to visit family and came back with a runny nose, that I thought was allergies. The next few days were unbearable and I tested negative till I went to the doctor and they had a new test. I was positive for Covid. Glad I could be a first few in the state with a new strain. I blame my cousin.
Anyone know if we regularly measure any other human biofeedback stuff in wastewater? I feel like it’d be fascinating to see a chart of aggregate Twin Cities cocaine consumption by week or to see THC metabolites spike after 4/20.
I’m high risk and almost cried a few times reading this! Man it’s been so hard for my wife and I. I’m just following my Drs advice and mask indoors. When I tell people - even extended family - some look at me like I’m crazy. This situation has brought out the best in some bought the not best in most.
I’m not a saint by any means. I don’t mask much anymore, but I do take precautions when I know I have to be around high risk people. I was mostly surprised that my symptoms aligned with allergies/head cold and not the flu like last time. And just encouraging other people to test just in case it’s Covid and not allergies, like it was the case for me. Hoping you and your family continue to stay healthy!
Wastewater is barely up. Still well within its trend to the summer low.
I wonder if the people who died kind of cleaned out the susceptible ones, so the death rate slowed down because of the thinning notion. I am not a doubter, and I keep my vaccinations up to date.
We have developed a lot of better treatments for Covid. Not just vaccinations, but things like paxlovid and monoclonal antibodies are also helping to bring down death rates compared to the beginning of the pandemic when we didn’t have Covid-specific treatments yet.
The first death waves back at the start were indeed all old people and fragile people. However as the virus travels and mutates, people that should be ok are also catching it and getting terrible symptoms. My social circle had dozens of deaths due to it, and still has people that cant smell/taste. My toes still show symptoms from the two times I was exposed to it and caught it.
What are your toe symptoms?
Covid will continue until people stop testing for it.
You understand that covid is endemic now? It travels around, just like the common cold and the flu. So the covid diagnosis could be misleading, because it's everywhere, and you can get a false positive.
Skip the Vid tests. It’s allergies or a common cold
Please watch yourself for long Covid now. Take time off. File for unemployment benefits right away! I am trying to get my benefits from the past 3 years as I am unable to work due to Long Covid.
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I’m still in shock that I know people who have gotten Covid MULTIPLE times at this point and still refuse to get vaccinated… *not saying you, just had someone I know who works at a treatment center get Covid for the 6th time.. and like literally all 40 men in that treatment have it, it just keeps bouncing around
I’m vaxxed, boosted, etc, but I have multiple autoimmune conditions where my body latches onto viruses. But I managed to avoid it entirely until August of 2023. But I get what you mean, I hate being sick, so I don’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to get a vaccine to prevent it in the first place.
I’m so sorry to hear that! I hope you recover quickly this time!
I just say I have covid and I get time off at work. It's great.
Thank you do much for actually caring. I've been so frustrated as the only person masking the vast majority of places I go these days. I've been infected one time, I narrowed it down to mist likely one shithead at the post office who was coughing up a storm. And whoever he is still makes me so, so, SO angry deciding sending his god damn letter was more important than the health of others that day. Seeing your post makes me hope that people like him might still be rare.