The other thing I wanted to point out to, was that ‘testing sites’ seem also highly non-existent. Essentially now when we have these ‘At-Home’ tests that are available -versus- driving to a site location, people are back to the s assumption of ‘Well, I must just have a cold’. When we know that’s not the case in many situations, but people want to make the excuse that it possibly couldn’t be anything more than that, mainly because they don’t want to disclose anything to their employer, drive to a site to be tested, miss work, etc. that’s also partially because we are not seeing that encouragement we were in the past about ‘Get tested’, where that message has ultimately been dropped and pushed to the wayside.
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Coronavirus (Covid-19) informational thread
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The diametrically opposed approach is what we see in China and it has been devastating to their economy and their economic prospects. Expats and expat services are voting with their feet. The wealthy and middle class are doing the same thing where they are able to do so.
There are a lot of people that can't afford to miss work and can't work from home and, what do you do when it comes to putting a roof over your head or feeding your kids when you don't have sick time benefits? Do you drive 15 miles to get tested in the era of $5 - $6 gasoline? Even if the test is free?
From what I see, there are very few precautions taking place nationally and our charts are in good shape. My state is doing quite a bit better than the country as a whole and this is with next to no mitigation.
FEAR IS mostly gone, to many people COVID is indeed nothing more than just a bad flu. and they don't want to tell their employer because well bills pile up. testing is no longer free as well.
The vaccinated people I know of that had it just called it a mild cold; not even the flu.
I am NOT vaccinated, nor do I plan on getting it.
I had it and the only thing that it did to me was put me to sleep a couple of days, I have NEVER slept that much.
34 years old and I „finally“ got covid in Mexico 3 weeks ago and the first two days, I thought I was dying, even though I am 3 times vaccinated. My Apple Watch kept warning me literally every 10 minutes, that my heart rate is over 120 (it was well over 150) and I was simply sitting down, taking a shower was so exhausting, I needed to sit down on the toilet and rest. I was also freezing with goosebumps all over while my face and hands were burning
Once those 2 days had passed, I was still dealing with a lot of clear mucus and coughing. I was feeling much better last week. However, suddenly this Sunday it was hitting me again. My throat is all clocked up again, I have to cough all the time, so much that my chest hurts and as soon as I am dealing with something like excel for 5 minutes, my brain spins out of control. It’s like I am having a out of body experience. It’s so weird. Last night I went out with my dog and when I returned to the house, I literally could not remember if I walked around the whole block with him or I am watching a reality show with my BF and suddenly I could not remember what the contestants looked like, it was just gone! The most annoying part is my chest pain and being put of breathe so easily.
I did do an antibody test after my 3rd shot and it was only at 200 (something). I hear there are people with 2,000+. Clearly that vaccine didn’t work properly on me
Once those 2 days had passed, I was still dealing with a lot of clear mucus and coughing. I was feeling much better last week. However, suddenly this Sunday it was hitting me again. My throat is all clocked up again, I have to cough all the time, so much that my chest hurts and as soon as I am dealing with something like excel for 5 minutes, my brain spins out of control. It’s like I am having a out of body experience. It’s so weird. Last night I went out with my dog and when I returned to the house, I literally could not remember if I walked around the whole block with him or I am watching a reality show with my BF and suddenly I could not remember what the contestants looked like, it was just gone! The most annoying part is my chest pain and being put of breathe so easily.
I did do an antibody test after my 3rd shot and it was only at 200 (something). I hear there are people with 2,000+. Clearly that vaccine didn’t work properly on me
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I'm thankful for your response even though it's about how devastating your situation was.
All too often people are judged by a graph.
Who cares if 90% of people who get covid consider it a mild flu. It's those who have debilitating symptoms we should be concerned about.
Covid has turned into the morning traffic report - just stats about how it's messed up our morning.
It should be sympathy and safeguarding about how we can prevent more than we contribute.
Yeah, and your 90% seems about right too. I hear about so many friends and family that had COVID, and it was no big deal. But, occasionally, a friend will tell me how it really kicked their butt for a week or more. Essentially, all of our friends and family (me included) are fully vaccinated and boosted, so there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to it. I just spent a month traveling primarily in Europe. No masks in most countries. Wife and I tested negative when we got home. Who knows!
Fear is gone. Go to any grocery store or gym, even airlines, where it’s plenty obvious people have mentally blocked ‘fear’. And rightfully so, either stay home or take advantage of modern science to aid in the protection where someone has the privilege of participating in large scale events and traveling.
The only side effect to fear where I suspect vigilance is necessary, is health care facilities/retirement communities/geriatrics.
Actually, there’s plenty of employers who offer ‘hazard pay’ with the exception a positive test results has to be documented/submitted in order to be compensated. This was a significant movement from a plethora of companies/organizations in our state.
This isn’t exactly accurate.
First, most (If not all) county health departments are a great resource that likely have additional ‘At-home’ health test kits for free and/or can easily put someone in contact for free testing.
Testing is becoming a Problem in the UK. The private test facility that I used in January for a travel document is closing all of its offices in the UK from today. I am travelling in two weeks time and need an Antigen test 48 hours before i travel. The reason they are closing is that there is not enough foot traffic anymore because less and less countries are requiring negative test for travel. i can see this becoming a larger problem in the months ahead.
A point of clarification; the vaccines for children under 5 years of age are "authorized," not "approved." Although seemingly indifferent, an authorization can be revoked quite easily, whereas revocation of approvals is a more complicated process.
Last week, Alameda County (CA) removed their indoor mask mandate after 3 weeks. The only county in the US with such a mandate. In the Bay Area, you could go to the Warriors playoffs (SF county) and scream indoors with thousands of maskless fans, then return to neighboring Alameda county and have to wear a mask when you walk to your restaurant dinning table.....then take the mask off again when you sit down three feet away from the neighboring table. Pure performance art.
Per this article in SFGate, there was no measurable difference in health outcomes between Alameda and neighboring counties without mandates. Other than generic response, Alameda Director of Public Health would not answer journalist's questions regarding these results. So, "follow the science" unless the data does not agree with your policies and narrative. In my view, this is a case of too much power in the hands of an individual without sufficient public accountability.
www.sfgate.com
Per this article in SFGate, there was no measurable difference in health outcomes between Alameda and neighboring counties without mandates. Other than generic response, Alameda Director of Public Health would not answer journalist's questions regarding these results. So, "follow the science" unless the data does not agree with your policies and narrative. In my view, this is a case of too much power in the hands of an individual without sufficient public accountability.
Do mask mandates work? Bay Area data from June says no.
Graphs compare Alameda County’s COVID-19 case rates to rates in neighboring counties.
www.sfgate.com
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I think public officials have to assume the worst case scenario, and recommend behaviors that will mitigate negative outcomes. When those recommendations work, people say the POs were too alarmist. It wasn't so bad after all. When people ignore the recommendations, and the worst case scenario plays out with catastrophic results, no one ever says, "Well, we should have listened to that PO." So, they can't win. It's easy to be the Sunday morning quarterback. When faced with the unknown, seems like it's better to be conservative. Once data is available, the recommendations can be adapted to what is known.
I agree. But, some things are just doomed to fail and are pretty obvious. When you are the only county in a region like the Bay Area to have an indoor mask mandate, the results are pretty predictable. These counties all kind of run together. One of my friends lives in a "border" town in Alameda county, and he shopped and visited restaurants in the neighboring town that is part of another county....just a couple of minutes drive. If the PO can't get other counties in the region to agree with his approach, maybe he should have reexamined that approach before instituting the only indoor mask mandate in the country.
I avoided COVID for almost two and a half years. Flying back and forth from the Philippines to the UK and travelling around London on public transport extensively in my job. I have always worn a face mask when travelling Internationally or domestically and used alcohol hand wash. I was always mindful of not catching the virus and passing it to my 84 year old mother.
One day 3 weeks ago Mum went to lunch with some friends, contracted the virus and kindly brought it home to me!
All that worry about giving my mother the virus with my high risk travelling and she gives it to me.
One day 3 weeks ago Mum went to lunch with some friends, contracted the virus and kindly brought it home to me!
All that worry about giving my mother the virus with my high risk travelling and she gives it to me.
Oh in the Philippines it is still law that you wear a mask as soon as you leave your home. Even back here in the UK I feel uncomfortable on public transport if I am not wearing a mask. Totally counter intuitive here in the UK. I feel uncomfortable without a mask when most feel uncomfortable with it.
I had the exact same experience with my now 9 month baby boy. I think he brought it home, I only cared about avoiding it for him. We all (wife, baby, and me) had it, and are over it. I took Paxlovid, wife didn't, I recovered in 2 days, wife took a couple weeks to get over the cough. Wife and I were vax'ed and boosted, baby nothing (wasn't available yet). We did not have fevers.
Now we are at a point were if you get it, you wont die, or clog the health care system (at least in the UK, and US), so no more need for required mask mandates, it should be optional. I agree with mandates in health care settings (I work in a hospital, so am mandated) as the sick come to us, we shouldn't be adding to their illnesses with hospital/clinic acquired infections.
I also agree with mandates in third world densely populated cities. Without access to health care, it is a big risk to the general population.
I still wear a mask in populated indoor areas like grocery shopping.
I just tested positive. Most likely got it at the gym.
I had a small bowel obstruction on Monday so I thought that the symptoms were from that but I had a headache and low fever. My watch indicated that I had something probably back on Monday.
I took an aspiring this morning which took care of the headache. I'm generally functional but will work on getting as much rest as possible. Nobody else in the house is showing symptoms. I have lots of test kits available so will be able to verify that I'm over it next week or the week afterwards.
I had a small bowel obstruction on Monday so I thought that the symptoms were from that but I had a headache and low fever. My watch indicated that I had something probably back on Monday.
I took an aspiring this morning which took care of the headache. I'm generally functional but will work on getting as much rest as possible. Nobody else in the house is showing symptoms. I have lots of test kits available so will be able to verify that I'm over it next week or the week afterwards.
Hope you feel better soon.
You are not alone. In February, the CDC estimated about 60% of the US population has had COVID. Yesterday, I heard from my daughter (credible source w/Masters in Public Health) that the current estimate is over 80%. Most infections go unreported, since many people are taking the home test and have mild symptoms, so not going to the hospital. Dr Fauci got it. President Biden got it. VP Harris got it. These are the best protected people in the world who have access to the best care in the world and certainly the best medical advice. Of course, they spend a lot of time with the public, but it just feels like the clock is ticking for all of us. Eventually, pretty much everyone is going to get it.
The UK estimates are 85% and they have much better tracking.
I looked for a way to report my case to my state and couldn't find anything.
I am able to work from the basement today so it's not that bad.
We received a total of 12 Rapid Tests. 4 from the Feds, 4 from the state and 4 from my daughter's UK boyfriend, courtesy of the NHS. I'm not sure of the status of health insurance covering these things anymore.
In the US, private insurance covers the tests, up to 8 tests per individual per month.
Biden-Harris Administration Requires Insurance Companies and Group Health Plans to Cover the Cost of At-Home COVID-19 Tests, Increasing Access to Free Tests
Biden-Harris Administration requires insurance companies and group health plans to cover the cost of at-home COVID-19 tests, increasing access to free test
Also, Medicare part B has the same coverage:
Medicare Covers Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Tests | CMS
Medicare has a new initiative that will cover up to eight over-the-counter COVID-19 tests each calendar month, at no cost to you. Who’s eligible? Medicare will cover these tests if you have Part B, including those enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan.
Found with search terms:
us insurance covid test coverage
medicare covid test coverage
I'm not at all convinced of that.
So far, I have had one PCR test and one lateral flow test. And that's all. (Not that I have tried to get any others.)
I'm quite sure lots now don't bother if they are only mildly unwell. Especially if it doesn't affect work directly. We have a few LFTs in the cupboard and keep wondering whether there will be a rump of the population who never get it? Or that it will eventually hit me/us.
The people it affects is friends and family, the people in the store you shop at, etc.