Well shoot, thanks. Was still playing “Covid or cold?” yesterday since I don’t have to go in, but he’s going to get me a home test now. If it’s negative I’ll decide if we need to follow up with pcr.
Edit: thank God for the vaccine.
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Fingers crossed it’s just a cold!
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How are the covid numbers as bad as they are?
The US is back to where it was late last fall, my state exactly where it was at this time last year.
Are vaccinations just not doing anything? Even if cases are predominantly unvaccinated, how is it spreading THIS MUCH? Were we just THAT locked down last summer? Did restaurant closures make the difference?
My area of the country never really felt THAT locked down, but maybe my view was skewed because I don’t go out much anyway. But last fall most kids were in regular school, most restaurants were open with limited capacity again.
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Delta is several times more infectious than what we were dealing with last fall. Vaccines are doing A LOT to keep people from getting super sick, but don’t seem to be as protective against contracting against delta as they were against the earlier variants. Delta is the difference.
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Delta predominantly. 
we’ve lost a lot of the protective effects of being outdoors, for example, it seems. And vaccinated people are now carriers more often.
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Yeah, I assume the rates of infection are actually MUCH higher than reported.
Because, at least here, unvaccinated people are not getting tested when they are sick. They are tested when they are hospitalized.
I hadn’t heard the outdoors thing.
My daycare FINALLY decided to require masks again, but still only inside.
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B_J, do you have good resources you’d be willing to share on outdoor spread? I’ve found a few things here and there (mostly quoting Berkeley/Stanford profs) but was wondering if you’d found something different/with more actual data.
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No, sadly we’re still waiting for actual studies to come in. It’s mainly theoretical based on the rates of transmission and the fact that it’s more contagious. More contagious anywhere means more contagious everywhere, even outside. That means outside offers less protections. It’s still going to be safer than inside, relatively.
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Australia has offered us some compelling data what with the passing in the street type transmissions going on. They’ve really been a global example of really tight Covid protocols, and they’ve had so many leaks just because of how much more contagious Delta variant is. They’re up to a couple thousand cases a week now if I recall correctly.
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A lot of people are getting tested as a matter of routines for work/school - so looking for the positivity rate for local tests is the best indication of the real infection rate is much higher.
Early on in the pandemic it was very hard to get tests so I think we had a lot of symptomatic cases not getting tracked.
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I haven’t heard of anyone who does that around here. Quite honestly, it’s like the pandemic is over (except the parents freaking out about kids returning to school with mask mandates illegal.)
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No one is testing for work or school here, either. It’s a whole different world.
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Home test negative. PCR results would not be back by the time I need to go anywhere (Wednesday), so going to see what the symptoms do for the next day or so. I won’t go to work with symptoms, don’t worry.
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You wouldn’t have a PCR by Wednesday?
I’ve never had them take more than 12 hours, and it’s usually closer to 8. Man our hospital really spoils us…
But a negative rapid test is a good sign that it’s a cold.
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No hospitals here. It’s our GP, if he’s still doing tests, or wait until the weekly testing at the health department. Come to think of it, there might be an option at the urgent care. I’ll see if I still have symptoms tomorrow - won’t hurt my feelings to stay home and log in to the stupid meeting in question anyway. Should regardless - somebody’s got to model responsible behavior around here.
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Here in NYC, the urgent cares are advertising 3-5 day turnaround for PCR because the demand is so high now…even before that, most places only guaranteed within 48-72 hours. 12 seems so fast!
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Looks like I could get one at CVS with a 1-2 day turnaround (maybe), but there are no tests available until Wednesday.
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One of the classrooms at our daycare closed last week because a teacher tested positive. She was vaccinated and asymptomatic; tested because of requirement for her other job. All kids and siblings have to test negative before returning. Hopefully that’s enough to keep it contained.
Public school starts today around here. LAUSD is mandating weekly testing for all staff and students, regardless of vaccination status. It should be interesting…
Husband and I are being prepared to isolate at short notice if our classroom closes. I’m bringing home my laptop and everything I need to wfh every night. I think I should order some of those antigen tests online, just for my peace of mind in case we have an exposure.
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I looked at the paperwork and it says 24-hours, but I’ve never had it take that long.
You have to certify it is not for travel though, and have an appt to get it. If the NP/PA doesn’t order the test, you don’t get one.
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Honestly, I wish “work from home when I have a cold” was a thing in our society. Especially now that we know many many jobs can be done from home.
On the same vein, our schools are still giving perfect attendance awards. Perfect attendance almost always just means you got someone else sick.
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