COVID strikes home

[bitflipper]

So my granddaughter, who lives with me, has COVID and has been symptomatic since Friday. No one else in the house has symptoms, and we all tested negative with home tests. We're all taking precautions, with my granddaughter pretty much staying in her room. And of course I'm in my usual state of isolation out in the garage - all I need is a couch here and I'd almost never have to leave (but I can't have a couch because it'd be too tight for band rehearsals). 

Now the band is arguing over whether or not to cancel Saturday's gig. We've cancelled two this year, but in those cases band members were positive for COVID so it was an easy call. So far 3 of the 6 of us have had COVID. We decided that if I test negative again Thursday and Friday that we'll go ahead with the date. I can't get proper lab test results before the weekend, so we have to trust the home test kits. I don't want to cancel because this is a frequent venue for us, audiences are great, and it's my kind of hours: 8:00 - 10:00.

I've heard that the home tests are unreliable, but I don't know if that's because they suck or that many users just can't follow instructions. What's been your experience with them? 

[Bapu]

So sorry to hear that Dave. I hope she fares well soon.

 

"I'm in my usual state of isolation out in the garage" {bapu hopes that means tracks are coming soon ? )

[PhonoBrainer]

My direct experience has been, both rapid and PCR test for omicron fall far short of anything reliable. I had false negatives for both, when I had Covid that was then confirmed by two positive tests the next day.

You could be the local edition of The Masked Singer. 

Hope you are feeling ok

Edited April 26, 2022 by PhonoBrainer

[Zo]

3 hours ago, bitflipper said:

So my granddaughter, who lives with me, has COVID and has been symptomatic since Friday. No one else in the house has symptoms, and we all tested negative with home tests. We're all taking precautions, with my granddaughter pretty much staying in her room. And of course I'm in my usual state of isolation out in the garage - all I need is a couch here and I'd almost never have to leave (but I can't have a couch because it'd be too tight for band rehearsals). 

Now the band is arguing over whether or not to cancel Saturday's gig. We've cancelled two this year, but in those cases band members were positive for COVID so it was an easy call. So far 3 of the 6 of us have had COVID. We decided that if I test negative again Thursday and Friday that we'll go ahead with the date. I can't get proper lab test results before the weekend, so we have to trust the home test kits. I don't want to cancel because this is a frequent venue for us, audiences are great, and it's my kind of hours: 8:00 - 10:00.

I've heard that the home tests are unreliable, but I don't know if that's because they suck or that many users just can't follow instructions. What's been your experience with them? 

I've found the test s to be quiet efficient ... the thing is that at the end trust your bodie ,if you have it and it's a bad one , you'll feel it , if not , just keep living normal ....

again after all this years we now know for sure that this is not in the air but "manu porté" (hand transported , need contacts) , air to be contaminated needs 8 hours straight exposure , confined witch is very rare scenarios , just do usuall procaution and mask yourself "for poeple to feel safe "...sad but that's the only impact of the mask 

 

PS : kids all had it once , wife also , me 2 times  ... (first time was the tuff version , taste lost , floored in bed for 3 days ,)

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by Zo

[Shane_B.]

5 hours ago, bitflipper said:

I've heard that the home tests are unreliable, but I don't know if that's because they suck or that many users just can't follow instructions. What's been your experience with them? 

My wife and I have done the home tests because she travels for work a lot and some of the government facilities show goes to require it. They all came back negative when we were feeling ill and she verified it with lab tests too.

The instructions aren't exactly clear on the ones we took so I can see how it's easy to do them wrong. It's been a long time since we did them so I can't remember specific details, but I do remember thinking it could be done wrong if you weren't one to follow directions well.

The other thing is, they can't be stored below a certain temperature so if you got tests that shipped during the winter by mail from the government then they won't be accurate.

Some brands were messed up and inaccurate but that was a while ago and I can't imagine that hasn't been fixed.

------- But the big thing that I seem to recall about the home tests is you have to be showing symptoms before the home tests show accurate positives. They are meant as verification for those who are showing definite symptoms. So if you have no symptoms you could test negative and still have it with a home test. The earliest signs of it are fever and blood oxygen levels. You can get those little finger clip O2 level meter things cheap at Walgreens and Amazon too I'm sure. My neighbor's wife had it at the height of the whole thing and one of the things they had him and the others in their house do is constantly check their temps and O2 levels. ------

I'm very sorry to hear this. I hope she gets well soon and please take every precaution. With your heart and age and all that it would more than likely not turn out well for you. It's a horrible way to go.

A friend of mine died from it a few weeks ago. He was in the hospital for months. When they send you from the hospital to rehab, then it's over. I've heard that story a dozen times and that's exactly what happened to him. Up then down several times. The final up they shipped him off to rehab and he was dead in 3 days. The nurse at my one doctors office is in her early 30's. Healthy as could be and vaccinated and she got it. She told me she wished she was dead it was that bad. My dad who is 84 got the first version of it that killed so many people and he just had the sniffles and he was not vaccinated at all at the time. It's a messed up situation so please take it serious as a heart attack.

Edit: BTW ... my wife and I have never officially had it, but I believe we did. We travelled all over the KC metro in a lot of crowded not so nice places back when I was doing my furniture flipping thing before the pandemic killed that too. We both got really really sick and then 2 weeks later they shut down everything due to "the first case" in the U.S.. I call B.S. on that 'first case'. I think it was here long before. In fact, the guy I told you about that died, his wife died of something months before there was any serious talk of it with the exact same symptoms as him and it wasn't the flu. I think it has been going around a lot longer than will ever be admitted to.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Shane_B.

[Will.]

My wife had Covid in Feb. We've done 2 home test each, over a period of 4 days including a lab test. All the home tests showed negative - with her lab test positive and my lab test negative. 

Don't know how covid works. When I had it last year - she tested negative. With her testing positive in February - i was the one that escaped the punishment this time. Don't know should or shouldn't we trust the home kit. 

[LAGinz]

Had it about a month ago. I was pretty aggressive in seeking out Paxlovid after I developed  cold-like symptoms (and positive test). Worked out well for me. I see in the news today they are relaxing the guidelines for dispensing it. YMMV

[telecode 101]

sorry  to hear it. hope the kid gets better. we have had covid enter our home 2 or 3 times so far. i have 2 school age kids, they keep getting COVID at school. there have been no long term issues. it resolves within 1 or 2 weeks. FWIW.. the tests have so far been useless. they test negative. and when you try it a few days later, its positive.

[Tim Smith]

I have read a lot about the tests giving false positives.

I had the long swab up my nose at the pharmacy drive through because we rented a house during the holidays with other persons who were especially prone to sickness. I tested negative then. I have had both injections and the booster. Not sure if the injections really helped much or not. 

Since they don't really know the long term effects of the vaccine, it's hard to tell what the outcome will be. When I look in the mirror in the morning I look normal. So far so good.

[Bapu]

48 minutes ago, Tim Smith said:

When I look in the mirror in the morning I look normal.

My, as yet unachieved, life goal. 

[InstrEd]

1 hour ago, telecode 101 said:

sorry  to hear it. hope the kid gets better. we have had covid enter our home 2 or 3 times so far. i have 2 school age kids, they keep getting COVID at school. there have been no long term issues. it resolves within 1 or 2 weeks. FWIW.. the tests have so far been useless. they test negative. and when you try it a few days later, its positive.

As my nurse wife has said countless times. People are testing too soon with the home tests.  It is a short window of time though to get the Paxlovid for it to do its job.  So my wife sees why folks panic and test right away.  Heck my daughter is coming home from University end of next week and her sister still has a few weeks left in High School. So we might be using those home kits on the college kid to make sure she doesn't have Covid and pass to her sister. She has AP finals and she doesn't want to get sick.

I'm still wearing a mask at work and when I'm out shopping. Every little precaution helps!

 

 

[Vernon Barnes]

I succumbed a few weeks back. I started feeling a bit rough on Sunday, a Lateral flow home test was  negative on Monday when I certainly had many of the symptoms and felt pretty bad. It was Wednesday before I had a positive test and Friday of the next week before I had my first negative test. I am still suffering headaches, earache's and fatigue.  The whole household went down with it, even my super fit 23 year old grandson was bad for a few days.

I know several people that say with Omnicron its often a few days from symptoms appearing to a lateral flow test showing positive.

I had the initial two Vaccine shots and a more recent booster.

Good luck.

[Zo]

Some good point here , it depends on several factor : 

 

1) the viral charge , doing a test at start or end will not be positive 

2) after a study on dead people from "covid" in germany , they find out that test where all positive in throat while 80 % on noise ... so it really depends on conditions and imho hygenia ....

At the end , positive doesn't mean you're sick !!! JUST TRUST your BODY , test is for legislation .... i really didn't cared about tests , and my wife forced me to do one , while i already i was sick , i asked here what for ? in all case i will treat the way i'm supposed to (artemesia /thym /vitamin D / Zync ect ...) 

If you lose taste it's a tuff one , if not , not worst than a regular flue ....

Edited April 27, 2022 by Zo

[Brian Walton]

Home tests are close to worthless unless they test positive then there is a pretty good chance it is right.   Neg tests are not reliable.  

If you are exposed to someone currently with COVID it seems the general guidance is you also quarantine for 10 days.

Even if you don't think you have it, the point is you can give it to others.  (as you note you can't get a real test between now and then so you really don't know).

If you care about spreading it how you feel in terms of sickness/wellness really isn't the deciding factor.  

 

[Byron Dickens]

When I got the Kung Flu, I would not have even known it unless I coincidentally had a regular checkup at the same time.

I got sick in the exact same pattern as I always do. Roughly once a year, I start getting crabby and really tired for about a week.  About the time I start figuring it out and saying to myself "I hope I'm not getting sick," I'll come home from work and collapse and be completely wiped out and have the sniffles for two days. Oddly, this almost always coincides with my days off. The third day, I'll bounce back to about 80-90% and then be fine. 

That third day was when I had my regular checkup scheduled.  That f-ing swab hurts.

[bitflipper]

5 out of 6 Russian Roulette players think that game is perfectly safe.

Almost everyone I know who's had it merely experienced an unpleasant few days and then got over it. That is the case with my granddaughter, who's returned to high school today.

But I also know people who have died from it. I have a relative currently in the hospital with it, who has no immune system due to chemotherapy. For him, 5 of the 6 slots have live bullets in them.

 

[Bapu]

I had a close family friend in the hospital with it, who also had no immune system due to chemotherapy. She died on Dec 6th, 2021.

I'm not afraid to publicly say we've had the first two shots and one booster.  Both of us work from home, have our groceries delivered (instacart.com) from both Ralph's and Costco. I do occasionally go pickup food at dining restaurants, but I still wear a mask most times.

Being a diabetic I try my best to be cautious.

 

[Shane_B.]

1 hour ago, Bapu said:

I'm not afraid to publicly say . . .

We got the single version exactly a year ago almost to the day and we both got a boosters 2 weeks ago.

Fo sar hhere tas ween no probrums. eYt! And the wife thinks the vestigial tail I've developed is kinda cute so there's that.

I'm excited because I'm going home in a few weeks. It's ramping up out there though so I figured it would be a good idea to get a booster. I recently read that Philly reinstated mask mandates. But, the current data, which changes as often as you change bass strings (Which is a lot I'm assuming ?.), suggests the single version with 2 boosters has the best protection so far. *FiNgErS cRoSsEd* But that data changes daily and I don't think the powers that be really know. In my opinion.

[bitflipper]

Well, we ended up having to cancel last night's gig anyway. Our singer came down with a 103.5 fever on Saturday. It wasn't COVID though. She's a farmer, so it was probably some exotic bug you can only get from goats or something.

[craigb]