Corona Virus Now Spreading

Beholder

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I agree it is quite clear and useful, however, not to beat a dead horse, but be careful when comparing sources like scientific studies to articles in food magazines. The only study I was able to find from that was from April 2020 and before other methods had been scientifically tested and established. They pretty much tested four possibilities and looked at what stuck, without ruling out others. Not denying it could be helpful for many people though!
 

Beholder

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I'm going to get a covid test in a couple hours. The only symptom I've felt is pain in my left lung. It's felt like there was a shard of glass in it for the past two days, and yesterday I had a very, very low fever. I'm usually at 97.8ish and I was at 99.6. I was talking to my partner and mentioning that it would be nearly impossible for me to have covid. The only time I leave my apartment is to go on a walk and I always have my N95 mask on around people. He then said, "Oh I haven't been wearing it around people that have been vaccinated. We don't need to do that, right?"

I wanted kill him. I'm literally in his ear everyday with new covid updates and news and somehow he thought being unmasked around vaccinated people was fine....even though he knows about all the breakthrough cases. Something just didn't click, I guess. Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

In other news: I also heard today that swine flu is expected to be the dominant influenza A strain this year, which is quite worrying. Especially with less than 50% of American adults vaccinated.

In addition, early preliminary studies out of the UK are suggesting Omicron reinfection rates are 5 times higher than Delta, and even that I would assume is still within/before 3 months of prior infection. We'll definitely need to wait for more information and I need to look more specifically into the study itself to see how the reporting was conducted, but nonetheless I think it's something important to keep an eye on.
 

KittyFriday

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Beholder - I hope all goes well!

I got tested Monday and still no results. I’ve just had nasal congestion (pretty mild, my nose is rarely blocked) and today have some sinus pain. I can think of four possible instances I could have picked it up, and have been wracking my brain and just honestly doing a lot of self blame, which isn’t helpful but it’s hard. I’m just a ball of anxiety and sadness right now. Wish this thing would have ended like a year ago.
 

Tobermory

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This is purely anecdotal, but I was just in my local clinic to arrange a sleep study (they think I have sleep apnea), and the aide said they’re estimating that one in four have COVID in our county.
 

artiemom

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Got tested tested yesterday. They discovered 5 more residents, testing positive. Out of 187. There are a Tory of 286 residents in the building.

The total, this year is now 38!!!! 😱

There are 113 tenants who did not get tested!! Ridiculous

Many of the positives did not have symptoms, as in a friend of mine. Today she has a runny nose!!!

I am still hibernating. Did a ton of laundry today. May end up sending most of it out in the future. Just so I do not have to use the laundry room.

I do wipe down the machines with disinfectant, before using— while wearing gloves.
 

Beholder

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Beholder - I hope all goes well!

I got tested Monday and still no results. I’ve just had nasal congestion (pretty mild, my nose is rarely blocked) and today have some sinus pain. I can think of four possible instances I could have picked it up, and have been wracking my brain and just honestly doing a lot of self blame, which isn’t helpful but it’s hard. I’m just a ball of anxiety and sadness right now. Wish this thing would have ended like a year ago.
Thank you! That’s such a long time to wait for results! I’m fairly lucky that here it only takes about 24 hours. I hope you feel better. Don’t blame yourself, I’m sure you did all you could to stay safe. The contagion level is just too high. My mom was recently having similar symptoms and found out it was just a sinus infection, so don’t lose hope.

I hope your mental health gets better as well. This isn’t a fun world to be in right now.
 

t c c

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Got tested tested yesterday. They discovered 5 more residents, testing positive. Out of 187. There are a Tory of 286 residents in the building.

The total, this year is now 38!!!! 😱

There are 113 tenants who did not get tested!! Ridiculous

Many of the positives did not have symptoms, as in a friend of mine. Today she has a runny nose!!!

I am still hibernating. Did a ton of laundry today. May end up sending most of it out in the future. Just so I do not have to use the laundry room.

I do wipe down the machines with disinfectant, before using— while wearing gloves.
I thought masks work? If masks work, why aren't they working?
 

KittyFriday

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Thank you! That’s such a long time to wait for results! I’m fairly lucky that here it only takes about 24 hours. I hope you feel better. Don’t blame yourself, I’m sure you did all you could to stay safe. The contagion level is just too high. My mom was recently having similar symptoms and found out it was just a sinus infection, so don’t lose hope.

I hope your mental health gets better as well. This isn’t a fun world to be in right now.
Thanks. I have health anxiety so it's been rough. It could definitely be a sinus infection or a cold. I live alone and spend most of my time in my office alone, but I still use the bathroom and use the elevator (mostly alone), so while I do wash my hands I have told myself I could definitely have caught a cold from a surface as I've read cold germs live longer on surfaces than covid ones do. At least, that's how I'm comforting myself, but I guess I'll see what my results say, if I ever get them.

Hopefully we are both feeling better soon!

I thought masks work? If masks work, why aren't they working?
Masks make it so that infected people are significantly less likely to transmit the virus, but at least here, no one is wearing them.
 

KittyFriday

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That's not true, so please don't spread misinformation and disinformation. And here in California, everyone wears masks, yet according to the CDC, California has more cases than any other state, and they have also had more covid deaths than any other state. Whereas, Kansas, where your profile shows you are from, and you state that no one is wearing masks, Kansas is 33rd on that list.
Are you aware that there is a massive difference in population between Kansas and California? We also have a huge test shortage here, so most people are either taking online rapid tests (unreliable and not reported) or just not testing at all because they simply can't.

Like another poster said, they are finding that cloth masks aren't as effective as the K95 or the KN95, especially with these more transmissible strains. If you don't think masks work, I guess you can think that. Scientific studies have shown that they reduce the spread, and masks have been used for years pre-covid to do just that.
 

Beholder

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That's not true, so please don't spread misinformation and disinformation. And here in California, everyone wears masks, yet according to the CDC, California has more cases than any other state, and they have also had more covid deaths than any other state. Whereas, Kansas, where your profile shows you are from, and you state that no one is wearing masks, Kansas is 33rd on that list.
Uhh I live in SoCal and everyone most definitely is not wearing masks. California has had more cases because of our population size. LA specifically, because of how dense the population is. Denser cities= more cases/deaths. Bigger populations= More cases/deaths. The only misinformation I'm seeing spread is in your post blatantly ignoring the actual statistics.

What you should be looking at is deaths per capita, which you can find here:

You can see by the link above that California is no where near the top of that list. Even New York, at number seven, is surprisingly low considering how small of a state and how densely populated it is.

As for masks: Masks are only effective when worn properly and at all times around other people indoors. This means covering the nose and mouth. It also must be tight on the face and clean, good quality and not damaged. Additionally, with the new variant (the most contagious in recorded human history) cloth masks just are not holding up as well because they let too many particles in. N95, KN95 and KF94 masks will provide the most protection when worn properly and consistently, as well as replaced/sanitized daily. Below is an image of mask effectiveness created by the ACGIH's Pandemic Response Task Force back in April, 2021. This will obviously not be accurate for the new variant, but for delta (which caused almost all of the deaths you're referring to) it shows mask effectiveness by mask type and by whether or not the person next to you is also wearing a mask.

https _bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com_public_images_b011d539...jpeg
 

artiemom

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I thought masks work? If masks work, why aren't they working?
Masks work, but they have to be worn constantly and correctly... Unfortunately, we have many people in here who refuse to wear masks, wear them incorrectly--below nose, or under the chin, wear cloth masks, go massless, or wash the disposable masks... or even never change the one mask they have....
And they congregate: card games with drinking, snacking, etc.... talking in groups, pulling masks down so people can hear what they are saying, etc....

And the masks have to fit properly...

Cloth masks do not provide much protection.

I really feel that the people who say they cannot breathe in a mask, are psychologically making themselves feel that way.
Look at all the doctors, medical professionals, health care workers--who use masks routinely..
it is mind over matter, as far as I am concerned.
 

mani

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Mod Note:

This coronavirus thread is getting into In My Opinion forum territory.

Political/argumentative comments belong in this thread
where you can post if you have the requisite conditions:
IMO is open to posters with at least 100 posts and 10 days of membership (adult cat), who are at least 18 years of age.

If you do not fulfill that criterea you'll have to wait to make your comments.
 
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denice

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There are a lot of things that go into how much a virus spreads. I have heard this about NYC. They have a very high vaccination rate, a lot of incentives to get vaccinated and longer exposure to the virus as a community. They still get hit with surges and have high rates of infection. They are also the most congested city in the U.S. People also spend the majority of their time indoors in the winter unlike places in the far South of the U.S. who can do things outdoors most of the year.
 
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Tobermory

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My husband has an outpatient medical procedure next Thursday (I have to have him there at 6:30 a.m. Ugh.). They are requiring a COVID test three days prior. I’m actually worried that he’ll be exposed to COVID in the testing facility! Others are supposedly there because they feel they might have the virus, so how do they protect people like my husband who are required to be tested before a procedure? He’ll be wearing a KN95 mask, but with omicron, it’s a real concern for me. But we’ve already postponed this thing for two years. :sigh:
 

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I think that was at least part of the reason for the drive thru testing. When I was getting my booster at a pharmacy, they had curbside testing. The person would call in and someone would go out to their car to get the sample.
 

Tobermory

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I’d prefer to use curbside testing, but this test site is tied to the surgery center so the results will be immediately available to them. We’ll just keep our 🤞.
 

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Effectiveness of Cloth Masks for Protection Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2

Here is the latest I can find from the CDC. The latest from them is that cloth masks should only be used as a last resort. They said there has been one study on their efficacy in a healthcare setting and the results are not good. Omicron has become fully airborne which is why it is so contagious. The issue with the N95 and properly fitting KN95 masks is that they are very uncomfortable and for people with breathing issues they can be a problem.
 

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I figure anything that keeps you from spraying spittle all over someone's sandwich probably helps at least a little, but then I was raised in Japan where everybody wears a mask if they feel a cold coming on or have a cough. That has to be better than the person I saw at Costco last week hacking all over the bulk goods :/.
 
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