Yeah, testing due to exposure is only really useful if you (general you) can get a fast test to give you actionable info. It’s not like you’re going to quarantine for the 2-5 days it takes for the test to come back if you don’t have symptoms, and by then it’s usually clear whether you’re sick or not.
A rapid test may honestly be a good option if you have some on hand. If it comes up negative, you’re probably not very contagious even if you do have an asymptomatic case. And if it comes up positive, well then, you know.
With how rampant covid is right now and how hard it is to get a PCR, in my view, exposure notifications are only really good for alerting you that any symptoms you may develop are likely covid and you should treat it as such.
A friend’s kid did a RAT test, with no symptoms, and it showed positive immediately. They did a second for confirmation and it was also positive.
What is being suggested here (Ontario, Canada) is to swab the back of the throat first then the nose. Apparently Omicron hangs out in the throat more, so there were a lot of false negatives happening when people only swabbed the nose.
I had read this too and I think I even suggested it upthread, but I’ve since read that doing this can turn back a false positive if you’re using a test meant for a nasal swab. Apparently the solutions you use for saliva vs. nasal samples are different, and acidity in the throat (especially if you ate recently) can react with the solution the wrong way. So throat/saliva tests are probably better for omicron, but only if you have a test that’s specifically meant to be done that way.
Daycare was open for approx 1 week before a positive covid case. We are sending our son back on 1/18. Basically feels like that’s when we’re sending him to get covid. 🤷💩
Yes? Omicron peak hitting soon. Vaccination rates really high (90% maybe?) but only just starting roll out to kids 5-11 years - mine are younger anyway.
10,000+ cases yesterday but with the clusterfuck that is PCR testing it’s probably a whole lot more.
Government is like “assume you have it or will get it”. Everyone knows someone with it now.
I was just discussing possible isolation options with the Boy, and he expressed that because we all vaxxed and the adults are boosted, he does not think the benefits of isolation are worth the cost. This… seems suspect to me, especially because I’m pregnant. He is willing to do it if I think it’s important (and let’s hope it doesn’t come up) but he is super skeptical.
Earlier on I know there was concern about essentially sharing your viral load with your partner even if they were also infected. Has anyone seen anything new about isolation specific to the omicron variant?
All I’ve seen is threads on Twitter saying you should still try to avoid household transmission and detailing the herculean efforts it would take. Stuff like leaving the windows open with a box fan blowing for 5 days. I think we’ve decided to go down with the ship if one of us brings it home, but none of us are at particularly increased risk so…
Yeah, we have pretty much decided that we cannot isolate from one another effectively in an apartment with one bathroom. It did seem like herculean efforts - and no, we will not be leaving windows wide open when the wind chill is 4, the sick person would isolate in the bedroom which does not have a radiator or any other source of heat! We figure if it happens we’ll wear masks in the house and the positive person will not handle food or dishes themselves and stay in one room and we’ll try to wipe down the bathroom as best we can, but the rest didn’t feel do-able.
That being said, if we had the space, and a second bathroom, we’d stay apart as much as we could. We both have risk factors, though are not immune compromised or pregnant.
Anecdotally, some of my friends with omicron have successfully isolated themselves from their partners and seemingly avoided transmission. Box fans with filters, open windows, masks. But it sounded miserable.
We’ve talked about this, especially because my husband might have a high risk flight coming up. Basically, I think the only effective way with omicron to have him self isolate would be to have him go to a relatives’ empty house. We are all pretty low risk on the whole, so we’re basically at the point where I think having him help with the toddler and have life function normally would be worth the risk. If he was symptomatic and for sure had a positive, we might send him into isolation, but it feels kind of like a lost cause with how much contact we have. I feel like though by the time it became evident that he had a positive it would be too late for transmission, and we’re low enough risk that isolating proactively after a flight doesn’t seem worth it either.
Mental babble into voice to text, so hopefully this made sense, but ultimately I don’t think that we would have him isolate because it feels pretty futile and life with a toddler so demanding.
Shit, my BIL just tested positive, probably from my niece’s school exposure. My niece was just crying the other day that she can’t see her friends, and the quarantine is going to be really rough on her (and consequently for my sister). She already melts down multiple times a day and screams at the top of her lungs.
Wait, what? That sounds crazy. What happened to just staying in one room and trying to use a second bathroom? We could manage that for sure. Opening windows would be a no-go in Colorado in January.
Well, shit. Am I just doomed if someone at home gets covid? Should I not even bother having them isolate? Why is there not more information on the internet for 40-year-old pregnant people with asthma?
