Ha, about NYS being on top of things. My story from yesterday was about my call to NY State Department of Health yesterday afternoon. While I have had no one-on-one exposure to any of the group in Westchester who have this, I havenāt had any one-on-one exposure to anyone who has been sick at all, so whatever I have is the result of community exposure. And like most other people in Westchester, Iāve been out and about in the community, so plenty of chance for exposure during crowded train rides, shopping lines etc. Yet the attitude Iāve received so far is very passive, and along the lines of well, you can check with the hospital if you WANT, and you can see if theyād ALLOW you to be tested.
So Iām confused.
On the one hand we have the CDC briefings etc, where they make it very clear that there can be community transmission, and that even someone with MILD symptoms can transmit the disease, and if you infect someone who is over 80 years old, they have a 15% chance of DYING. This seems to me to be telling us to be extremely cautious. And if you look at the list of symptoms, someone with a simple cold with a fever hits the majority of the symptoms on that list.
On the other hand, we have how the NYS Department of Health is carrying this out. Since I didnāt have direct contact with one of the known people, and my symptoms were not significant, they kind of blew me off.
I get it. Practicalities. Look at the symptoms of a cold. They are so similar to this virus. So what, is everyone in Westchester with a cold and a fever supposed to get tested? Where do we draw the line? Especially if there arenāt many tests available, you want to keep them for people who are very sick. But doesnāt this fly in the face of the CDC advice? Isnāt it URGENT to find out if a person just has a cold or if they are a transmitter of the virus? Is everyone with a cold and a fever supposed to stay at home? That doesnāt seem very practical, and I donāt think people would stay at home if they think they arenāt that sick so they probably donāt have it.
Not to be Captain Obvious, but not only do we need a lot of tests, but they need to be made easily available in spaces where people feel like they wonāt be exposed to other things, and know they wonāt have to pay anything. South Korea has it right with drive-through testing, so people who have these symptoms can quickly ascertain whether they can get on with their daily lives or whether they need to stay home to protect our elderly and vulnerable.
Iād also like to know if you have it, just how quickly can you stop isolating after you feel better? And what is better? Fever gone, or everything gone? I know you can go out once you come back with 3 good tests, but if you arenāt getting ANY tests, and you are just self-isolating, when can you stop? No one gave me any answers to anything and just passed the buck. It would be a shame to go through the effort of self-isolating and coming out too soon, yet if you think you probably just have a cold, how long are you really going to stay isolated?
And Iād like to know, if you get it, are you now immune in the future? And if you are, does it mean you wonāt be a carrier either? I think we donāt know the answers to this yet, but it would be helpful to know.
And @WayOutWestMom the NY Times article was behind a paywall so I couldnāt read it, so I might not be using the terminology right at all about quarantine vs isolation, but I think everyone can figure out Iām talking about simply choosing to stay put and not have contact with others, and it is not being done pursuant to an order.
