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CNN article on the new BA. flippin' 5. 'The most infectious and transmissible variant'. Inserted video with Fauci commentary.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/13/world/co ... index.html

Riddle me this, you guys, what happened to the claims that we can easily and rapidly tweak the vaccines (using the mRNA technology) and match them to the variants? What window did that idea fly out of?

Anyway, I wanted to report that I do still see many people masking. I mask up as well. I visited the base pharmacy yesterday and they've completely removed the social distancing stickers on the floor. Walmart still has the hand sanitizer pull out sheets at the entrance though I don't think they are sanitizing the carts. Hobby Lobby (I don't go many places, can you tell?) still has Purell hand sanitizer stations at the entrance. They are empty now. And I know that HL hasn't been sanitizing carts for several months now.

How stupid are we?

I mask.
I sanitize carts myself.
I keep my distance.

I remain disgusted with our lackadaisical attitudes. I guess if bodies aren't piling up in refrigerated trucks, then we're in the clear.

My home tests turned negative 3 days ago. 2 days ago I got a PCR test from Kaiser Permanente, which was positive. From my doctor at Kaiser:

The issue with doing a PCR test this close to infection is that it can remain positive for up to 3 months. It doesn't meant that you're contagious for 3 months, it's just that the test is very sensitive at picking up remnants of the virus long after a patient has cleared the infection. This is why we recommend using a home antigen test to end your isolation period since this will go back to being negative much faster than a PCR test.

The one way that Covid feels different that the common cold is that it feels like the recovery period is longer. Yesterday I got on my Ebike for the first time in a week, and my stamina was diminished, more noticeably than I would have expected. So Covid has been like a cold with long lasting side effects.

MeDotOrg wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 15, 2022 6:20 pm

My home tests turned negative 3 days ago. 2 days ago I got a PCR test from Kaiser Permanente, which was positive. From my doctor at Kaiser:

The issue with doing a PCR test this close to infection is that it can remain positive for up to 3 months. It doesn't meant that you're contagious for 3 months, it's just that the test is very sensitive at picking up remnants of the virus long after a patient has cleared the infection. This is why we recommend using a home antigen test to end your isolation period since this will go back to being negative much faster than a PCR test.

The one way that Covid feels different that the common cold is that it feels like the recovery period is longer. Yesterday I got on my Ebike for the first time in a week, and my stamina was diminished, more noticeably than I would have expected. So Covid has been like a cold with long lasting side effects.

I watched WHO's regular Q&A session yesterday. They said that as long as your home test is positive, you are still contagious and should continue to isolate Also, you should start to isolate as soon as you develop symptoms, as that is when you are likely to be the most contagious. PCR can pick up the infection before you are contagious, but can also remain positive long after you are no longer contagious. When I was exposed through close contact, I got a PCR test to see if I'd been infected. If I had been, I'd have isolated until my home test started showing negative.

Res Ipsa wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 15, 2022 7:49 pm

MeDotOrg wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 15, 2022 6:20 pm

My home tests turned negative 3 days ago. 2 days ago I got a PCR test from Kaiser Permanente, which was positive. From my doctor at Kaiser:



The one way that Covid feels different that the common cold is that it feels like the recovery period is longer. Yesterday I got on my Ebike for the first time in a week, and my stamina was diminished, more noticeably than I would have expected. So Covid has been like a cold with long lasting side effects.

I watched WHO's regular Q&A session yesterday. They said that as long as your home test is positive, you are still contagious and should continue to isolate Also, you should start to isolate as soon as you develop symptoms, as that is when you are likely to be the most contagious. PCR can pick up the infection before you are contagious, but can also remain positive long after you are no longer contagious. When I was exposed through close contact, I got a PCR test to see if I'd been infected. If I had been, I'd have isolated until my home test started showing negative.

I'm never sure whether to say positive or negative. I had several days of home tests indicating I had Covid. I have now had 3 days of home tests that are negative for Covid. The PCR test I had indicated that it still saw the virus while the last 3 home tests did not.

The question that I have would be how many consecutive days of negative home tests would you need to have before your viral load is considered non-transmissible?

Res Ipsa wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 15, 2022 7:49 pm

MeDotOrg wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 15, 2022 6:20 pm

My home tests turned negative 3 days ago. 2 days ago I got a PCR test from Kaiser Permanente, which was positive. From my doctor at Kaiser:



The one way that Covid feels different that the common cold is that it feels like the recovery period is longer. Yesterday I got on my Ebike for the first time in a week, and my stamina was diminished, more noticeably than I would have expected. So Covid has been like a cold with long lasting side effects.

I watched WHO's regular Q&A session yesterday. They said that as long as your home test is positive, you are still contagious and should continue to isolate Also, you should start to isolate as soon as you develop symptoms, as that is when you are likely to be the most contagious. PCR can pick up the infection before you are contagious, but can also remain positive long after you are no longer contagious. When I was exposed through close contact, I got a PCR test to see if I'd been infected. If I had been, I'd have isolated until my home test started showing negative.

Yes, but MeDot's best friend's daughter is medically fragile and he needs to know when he's actually negative and non-contagious in order to visit in person. Kaiser won't PCR test him for 3 months.

What would you do, RI?

I can't say what I would do myself because I don't know what her medical condition is and particularly if she's immune compromised. MeDot may have supplied this information in the past here, but I don't recall that information. I suppose I would err on the side of caution and wait for the PCR test.

The confusion is real.

Jersey Girl wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 4:21 am

Res Ipsa wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 15, 2022 7:49 pm

I watched WHO's regular Q&A session yesterday. They said that as long as your home test is positive, you are still contagious and should continue to isolate Also, you should start to isolate as soon as you develop symptoms, as that is when you are likely to be the most contagious. PCR can pick up the infection before you are contagious, but can also remain positive long after you are no longer contagious. When I was exposed through close contact, I got a PCR test to see if I'd been infected. If I had been, I'd have isolated until my home test started showing negative.

Yes, but MeDot's best friend's daughter is medically fragile and he needs to know when he's actually negative and non-contagious in order to visit in person. Kaiser won't PCR test him for 3 months.

What would you do, RI?

I can't say what I would do myself because I don't know what her medical condition is and particularly if she's immune compromised. MeDot may have supplied this information in the past here, but I don't recall that information. I suppose I would err on the side of caution and wait for the PCR test.

The confusion is real.

I wouldn’t rely on a PCR test, as they can still generate positive results weeks after the risk of contagion is gone. If I had been symptomatic, I’d wait until my symptoms had completely resolved, wait five days, and then take an at home test daily until I got 3 negatives in a row. And I’d ask my friend if he was comfortable with that.

I think the tougher problem is that a person can be contagious before developing symptoms or testing positive on an at home test.

I agree — the confusion is real. Especially when it comes to protecting the vulnerable.

MeDotOrg wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 15, 2022 6:20 pm

My home tests turned negative 3 days ago. 2 days ago I got a PCR test from Kaiser Permanente, which was positive. From my doctor at Kaiser:

The issue with doing a PCR test this close to infection is that it can remain positive for up to 3 months. It doesn't meant that you're contagious for 3 months, it's just that the test is very sensitive at picking up remnants of the virus long after a patient has cleared the infection. This is why we recommend using a home antigen test to end your isolation period since this will go back to being negative much faster than a PCR test.

The one way that Covid feels different that the common cold is that it feels like the recovery period is longer. Yesterday I got on my Ebike for the first time in a week, and my stamina was diminished, more noticeably than I would have expected. So Covid has been like a cold with long lasting side effects.

Interestingly, my recent experience with Covid differs markedly, in some ways, from yours. I first tested positive June 29 and started taking Paxlovid the next day for 5 days. My symptoms were very mild to begin with, and all but disappeared the day before I took my last dose. Tested negative on July 10. Got rebound symptoms 3 days after that (runny nose and occasional sneezing) and again tested positive. Another 2 days (and a whole box of Kleenex) later, I am now asymptomatic again and had enough energy to go for about a 2-mile walk. Both the original symptoms and the rebound symptoms were much milder and of shorter duration than I ever experienced with a regular cold. I have not yet retested to see whether I am still positive, though. I think I will wait a day or two to retest again. I understand, though, from what I have read, that even if I do test positive, that doesn't necessarily mean I still have Covid, or am still contagious. I hate the uncertainty about that!

Res Ipsa wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 16, 2022 6:06 am

I agree — the confusion is real. Especially when it comes to protecting the vulnerable.

Indeed!

Veritas, Gunnar, and MeDot.

When you suspected that you had Covid, what were your next steps? What I'm getting at is did you go to the doctor, call your doctor, and for Veritas and Gunnar, what were the steps you took to getting Paxlovid?

What's the process for that? Because I honestly don't know...