If its only day 3 does that mean the likelihood of a false negative is higher than day 5? Is a rapid test ok? We have a nanny so I am trying to figure out the right way to do this so she doesn’t get exposed.
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There’s a much lower chance of a false negative with Delta on day 3, because people (even the vaccinated) have much higher viral loads, and the incubation period is shorter. Would be especially true if you’re also experiencing symptoms. How hard is it to get a test where you are? If you get a negative test on day 3 & want to make extra double super sure, you can repeat on day 5. Where I am it’s very easy to get tested.
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If you’re going to do a rapid, I would combine that with a PCR in your case, since you had known exposure and are having symptoms. Fewer false negatives on rapid with Delta, but PCR is still the better test (you just don’t get the results immediately).
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Sorry, I miscommunicated. I went to the ER with my son for an unrelated issue and there was definitely a patient constantly coughing. Everyone was masked and I did my best to avoid people except for when I had to walk through the very full ER room, but it’s more exposure to sick people than I’ve had in forever and just want to be sure. 🤷
I think the advice still holds though and I’ll get both. Thank you!!
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Ah, I see. I think if everyone was masked, you weren’t that close to the coughing patient, and you’re fully vaccinated, it’s less likely you have covid, but it also depends on your local prevalence right now.
Where my husband works, 4 people tested positive last week, including the clerk who sits in his courtroom all day. DH is fully vaccinated, never stopped wearing a KN95 mask, and didn’t have any symptoms. He had a negative PCR on day 3, and we didn’t do any more investigation.
This describes a study showing peak PCR positivity for Delta was 3.71 days after exposure, compared to 5.61 days for an outbreak in 2020:
https://medical.mit.edu/covid-19-updates/2021/07/are-things-different-delta
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Wow that story with your husband was definitely comforting. I’ll do a PCR and hopefully get back to normal life by Weds (if it’s negative… Fingers crossed)
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I know you had more potentially exposure than me, but the weird weather/stupid high humidity is making my nose, throat and head feel weird. Fingers crossed that’s it for you too!
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Remember also that you just moved… breathing in lots of dust definitely causes coughing.
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Thanks, everyone, those are good scripts. What I am trying to avoid is the implication of “OMG, you work IN PERSON with PEOPLE who are antimaskers and unvaxxed, UNCLEAN, UNCLEAN, we think you are a disease vector.” Because that seems… classist? Hm, that’s probably the wrong word though considering these friends are better off than we are financially and have a gorgeous large house that we’d never be able to afford.
But, well, that is kind of how I feel - if one works around antimaskers, one has more exposure, that is just fact. It’s not her fault though.
We already decided that’s not a conversation Boyfriend can have with FIL and SMIL (both vaxxed, at least, but living in a county with the highest positivity in IL) so he is just going to wear a mask around them. If they hassle him he’ll come up with a diplomatic way of saying “you guys are old AF with a shitton of health problems and I don’t want to give covid to you.”
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Pfizer got FDA approval
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I was just thinking this all sort of feels like uncomfortable pre-sex conversations in the age of AIDS - how many partners have you had, have you been tested recently, do you engage in high risk behavior. (Do people still do this? I certainly hope so but I have been monogamous for 17 years now…)
Easier to abstain from sex than from being around people in general though. Or from breathing.
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Apparently even Trump’s not Trumpian enough anymore.
I’ve heard the “it’s just an emergency authorization” people say “they rushed it, I don’t trust the approval”. The anti-vaxxers will never get vaccinated
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How much does testing cost if you don’t have symptoms? I haven’t had me to get a preventative test like that yet, but I understand my friend has been paying $175 a test. If someone wanted me and my partner to get tested before staying the weekend, I would probably suggest they stay at a hotel instead. Especially if the partner would be working while they were here, there’s still a chance of exposure.
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It’s $11 here without ins.
I have no idea what they cost in their city, honestly. This is a good point. There are free sites here that don’t require symptoms.
$175 is obscene! Way to disincentivize testing. I have heard though that some urgent cares here will take your vitals so they can bill you for an office visit and not just the test, which is super shady.
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It is absolutely the same vibe. And one of the ways I’ve been working around my low-key social anxiety in general is to say to myself that I do want a culture where people explicitly ask each other what they need to feel comfortable in a given situation and people are comfortable asking for what they want or need, and so I’m doing a teeny tiny bit to make these kinds of conversations more normal and lower stakes because they are more common. Informed! Consent! Matters! For! Everything! Not! Just! Sex!
I’m also the one who is making their pod have Sunday dinner outside for a bit until we see what the case load is like at the kiddos new kindergarten, so I’m obviously way to one side at this point on this one.
I don’t think is an UNCLEAN reaction, but I can see how the implication could get in there. The fact is that if they work in public, their risk is higher. And it’s fair to say that makes you nervous.
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Holderness family knocks it out of the park again (IMO)
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I was about to post that one too. 