COVID-19 thread

[Raphael]

And that's it: looks like I've got Covid myself now.

Or not? I just did a lateral flow test, and it's negative. But that would mean that I'm feeling seriously ill for, I think, the first time since before the whole Covid thing started, and the symptoms are fairly Covid-like, and it's in the same week that my flatmate got Covid, but somehow, it's supposedly not Covid? I don't trust this at all.

[linguistcat]

And that's it: looks like I've got Covid myself now.

Or not? I just did a lateral flow test, and it's negative. But that would mean that I'm feeling seriously ill for, I think, the first time since before the whole Covid thing started, and the symptoms are fairly Covid-like, and it's in the same week that my flatmate got Covid, but somehow, it's supposedly not Covid? I don't trust this at all.

I mean stranger coincidences have occurred. There are quite a few respiratory viruses that look "Covid-like" without being Covid. But I'd get a third test if you're worried and try to avoid your roommate/wear masks as much as possible. It couldn't help to have a Covid-like respiratory infection AND Covid on top of it.

[doctor shark]

And that's it: looks like I've got Covid myself now.

Or not? I just did a lateral flow test, and it's negative. But that would mean that I'm feeling seriously ill for, I think, the first time since before the whole Covid thing started, and the symptoms are fairly Covid-like, and it's in the same week that my flatmate got Covid, but somehow, it's supposedly not Covid? I don't trust this at all.

If you can get one, a PCR test will be more accurate and is the normal "gold standard" for diagnosis. I do know of a case where one of my fellow lab group members tested negative with an LFT but positive with a PCR.

[Raphael]

If you can get one, a PCR test will be more accurate and is the normal "gold standard" for diagnosis. I do know of a case where one of my fellow lab group members tested negative with an LFT but positive with a PCR.

Hm, right now, I don't know how I'd travel to the nearest PCR test center without violating isolation rules in the process. And I don't know if they'll agree to do a PCR test if I can't show them a positive LFT.

Right now, the unpleasant feeling seems to be focused on my tonsils.

[doctor shark]

If you can get one, a PCR test will be more accurate and is the normal "gold standard" for diagnosis. I do know of a case where one of my fellow lab group members tested negative with an LFT but positive with a PCR.

Hm, right now, I don't know how I'd travel to the nearest PCR test center without violating isolation rules in the process. And I don't know if they'll agree to do a PCR test if I can't show them a positive LFT.

Right now, the unpleasant feeling seems to be focused on my tonsils.

At least in the Netherlands, travel for a PCR test is an acceptable reason to exit isolation (pretty much, any essential care is a potentially valid reason, though we bike everywhere, so no need for public transport). If you talk to your primary care provider/GP, maybe they can provide a "prescription" for a PCR test and tell you how to go about doing one.

[Raphael]

Thank you!

[alice]

Heigh-ho, it's my time now. Yes, alice tested positive for covid, just two days after getting back from a holiday at which something was clearly up. The loss of my voice should have been a clue.

Nevertheless, while it's debilitating and the coughing is annoying my other half no end, it's no worse than the respiratory viruses I used to get before the ME/CFS came along. And self-isolating is much like what I've had to do for the past few years. Which is kind of a blessing in disguise.

(Freudians might like to run with the fact that I originally wrote "testes pisitive" up there. Go for it!)

[Raphael]

Get better!

[Travis B.]

Hope you feel better soon!

[alice]

Thank you!

[Ares Land]

Same! Hope you feel better soon.

[Raphael]

Looking back on it all now, I feel a bit weird about the fact that Covid was generally so much less dramatic for me than for most of the world. When Covid started, I had already been unemployed for years, I had lost contact with the people who used to be my real life friends without finding new real life friends to replace them, I couldn't afford to go to restaurants or bars anyway, and I was already in the habit of leaving my place mainly to buy groceries and occasionally go on a walk, and for little else.

So, odd as it may sound, for me, Covid was actually something that happened mainly on the news. And on the internet, and in what I heard from my family and flatmate.

[Ares Land]

You're not alone. Several friends of mine had a similar experience.

More generally, that was a really unevenly distributed kind of disaster.

The lockdowns and curfews were pretty painful in Paris (tiny apartments, millions of people to catch germs from). Meanwhile, friends of mine who live on the countryside barely noticed anything unusual was going on.

COVID itself was very random too. Caught it twice, and while unpleasant it was basically a bad cold. Other people I know had long stays in the hospital.

[Vardelm]

More generally, that was a really unevenly distributed kind of disaster.

Very much so. I joke that I've had the best pandemic ever. I've been working at home for almost 3 full years now and love it. I had a 1 hour commute each way, so without that or a lunch hour I now have 15 more hours in my week than I did pre-pandemic. I also don't have the expenses associated with commuting, including gas, eating out more than I do at home, etc. I'm better rested, can focus more on work without the distractions of co-workers, etc. My wife and I are 50+, so we've been able to get all of our boosters immediately, and neither of us has had COVID. I'm VERY aware of how much the pandemic has sucked for some people, so I'm grateful every day that my situation is what it is.

[malloc]

Apparently a new variant of COVID has recently emerged. They are calling it Eris. It's been nearly a year since my last booster so I have no idea whether I'm still protected to any great degree.

[Raphael]

Makes me wonder why they gave a Covid variant the same name as a dwarf planet. Are they just taking the piss?

[Travis B.]

Makes me wonder why they gave a Covid variant the same name as a dwarf planet. Are they just taking the piss?

You'd think they'd stick to Greek letters for cute names for variants.

[hwhatting]

Makes me wonder why they gave a Covid variant the same name as a dwarf planet. Are they just taking the piss?

You'd think they'd stick to Greek letters for cute names for variants.

Maybe they ran out of Greek letters? I stopped following some point last year.

[Raphael]

Maybe they ran out of Greek letters?

I think the last time I seriously paid attention, they were already pretty far into the Greek alphabet. Still pretty weird to use Eris of all possible words, IMO.

[Man in Space]

Three cases of the new variant in the States and one of them is in my county.