Thankfully (so far) I feel fine.
But there is this push for “everyone to be tested”.
So…my question is…when would I get that done?
I see absolutely no reason to be tested if you feel fine and aren’t going to be in close contact with others who might be at risk if you are infected but asymptomatic.
Perhaps too early yet. It’s only been about two weeks since a few of the European countries opened schools.
I saw a news report on either Belgium or Denmark ( cant remember which one) and kids were not going into school building but tents - like what you’d have a wedding under. Lots of social distancing also. And iirc, they’ve only opened for elementary not higher grades.
Also, these countries had the virus much more under control then here. Much more.
I haven’t heard about Denmark, but a quick google search shows me Germany is seeing a rise in cases (via an R #, not just more testing). I googled Germany because NBC listed them, among others, as having a significant rise post reopening. We’ll see what happens as another week or two passes. This is an ongoing experiment. I’m content watching rather than being a subject.
I’m a first responder in Northern NJ, dead center in the epicenter of the North Jersey pandemic. As of this date, I can not get tested unless I am symptomatic. I have no clue if I was ever exposed in the thousands of calls we’ve gone on. I take every precaution with PPE, masks, hand washing, sanitizer, clothes washing, etc…I don’t go out when unnecessary, my family has been isolated at home for 2 months. I do the shopping and errands to minimize the risk for them. I know people who have died from the virus, I know people that are on ventilators, I know people that have recovered from it. I am not scared, just cautious. Overly cautious. This is the way it has to be until theres a vaccine or treatment. The world can open, but nothing has changed in the past 2 months other then the hospitals aren’t over run and the people are more educated. Life doesn’t stand still, need to slowly and carefully start opening up the economy. Schools need to come up with plan to socially distance, split schedules, etc…We can not hibernate forever
I would only get tested if I:
-was closely exposed to someone that was symptomatic for the virus or tested positive.
-felt unwell
-worked in the ‘front lines’ and was exposed to alot of people (and in that case, I’d get the antibody test vs the actual test)
-wanted to get tested before going into a risky scenario - visiting sick or elderly, traveling
Other than that - I’d love an antibody test, but feel no need for a regular one
Los Angeles plans to extend SAH thru August.
https://abc7.com/safer-at-home-stay-order-los-angeles/6176132/
No doubt other counties will follow.
Fore there first time since this has come down my 25 year old DS - who is working from home at a well paid position - has expressed a need to rebel. There is no honesty in this process, simply a continued moving of the goal posts.
Enough is enough (no we are not in LA). But I don’t see this staying anywhere close to peaceful for much longer.
@“Cardinal Fang” , thanks for the information about Santa Clara County. One of my daughters lives there, so I’m especially happy about the good news.
Wisconsin: now anyone can get tested in Dane County, where I live, and two health-care systems are offering antibody tests, I think to anyone who wants one.
What kind of test, one for current infection or one for past infection (antibody test)?
A test for current infection may be most useful when you suspect that you may be infected (e.g. you are a contact of someone who was found infected, or you work in or otherwise frequently enter a high risk environment). If you work in or otherwise frequently enter a high risk environment, you may want to get tested for current infection frequently.
A test for past infection (antibody test), if reliable, may be useful for that purpose. If it is later found that antibodies do suggest some level of immunity to future infections, then that could be useful in adjusting your willingness to enter higher risk situations (including doing so to keep more vulnerable people in your household from having to do that).
Most of the poor in LA do not have a/c. Where they gonna go to cool off?
(And the Gov suggested starting school earlier?)
No big deal. Just a birthday party. What can be the harm?
https://abc7.com/pasadena-covid-coronavirus-cluster/6173576/
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Here is a good read on this topic:
https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them
I’m just curious. For people warning about the effects of reopening schools, let’s assume in August/September, the situation hasn’t improved. What would be your suggestion for how to continue providing children with an education? Like, if schools can’t “safely reopen,” what is actually the alternative here?
Actually, if you want to make sports game comparisons, the analogy is that we have neither clearly won[1] nor lost[2], but the game finished regulation time tied[3] and went into overtime, and is still tied and going into another overtime (yes, going into overtime is unpleasant, but teams consider losing or forfeiting to be worse).
[1] Meaning that staying at home has brought the virus well under control so that people are confident in going back to normal.
[2] Meaning that staying at home has completely failed to stop the virus, so there is no more point in doing so.
[3] Meaning that staying at home has stopped the immediate panic in the emergency rooms, but has not fully controlled the virus, so that it is ready to accelerate its spread if people go back to normal, which they will not because they are still afraid of it.
Let me clarify.
Santa Clara County has expanded testing for covid-19 infection; not the antibody test, but the test for active infection. They recommend, inter alia, that all essential workers be tested. They also recommend that people over 60 be tested. I don’t really want to be tested, but they seem to want people like me to be tested, maybe to get a bigger sample of people in the vulnerable age group.
If Santa Clara County were a state, 12 states would have a smaller population. So it’s a good day when nobody dies of covid-19, as happened yesterday. I’m looking forward to the first day when testing reveals no new cases. I’m trying to plan how I’ll celebrate. Some people celebrate with alcohol, but for me, food is the thing. At first I thought I’d bake a buttery ring cake, like a bundt, maybe with a lemon glaze, with strawberrys, because it would be in the shape of a zero, but I’ve settled on a hot fudge sundae because I like them.
Yes, I read that.
I brought up secondhand smoking or vaping because it is mostly analogous to what is described there, and most people are familiar with secondhand smoking or vaping and how avoidable it is or not in various situations.
Given that most people seem to have difficulty modeling risk (consider all of the arguments about what is or is not a high risk activity), perhaps it is simpler if people just used a familiar model to approximate it. I.e. if someone were smoking or vaping in this situation, how difficult would it be to avoid breathing his/her secondhand smoke or vape? The more difficult it is, the higher the risk of getting an infectious dose of the virus if a contagious person were in this situation. Obviously, people density also matters, since a place packed with smokers or vapers or contagious people is higher risk than a sparsely populated place.
This is good but not quite on the mark, I think. When someone is smoking near me, I hate it and I move to avoid the unpleasantness. It’s easy for me to move away, because I can tell when I’ve escaped the nasty smoke. But if someone is exhaling lethal particles near me, I would want to move away, but how would I know to do it? How would I know I was in an unventilated area where their lethal breath was hanging around to infect me?
If you say, what situations would I avoid if people were allowed to smoke there, I’d have to say, anywhere indoors; I never want to be in any building where people are smoking, and I leave if I find myself in such a situation. Having been alive when indoor smoking was common, I can say that a nonsmoker is inhaling secondhand smoke anywhere indoors where a smoker is smoking.
I agree…that I have no real reason to be tested now. But others keep saying that they want “everyone tested”.
The antibody tests aren’t as readily available here from what I can tell…but I’m not sure I would need to do that right now.
I will do what is recommended…but I’m pretty unclear what that is.
I just scheduled an antibody test.
Sorry, lost me right there. Don’t watch sports, never really got the whole ‘my teams’ a winner so I’m a winner’, I don’t get the ‘fun’ of sitting around and watch grown (mostly men) move mostly round (or egg shaped) air filled objects around a field
If there is ONE area I could whole heartedly support in a hard and fast shut down - it would be professional sports.
And after attending a baseball game that went into 17 !!! innings (I went because I enjoy H and DS’s company - we left at 11), I can only say that the sports analogy and overtime is terrifying when applied to SIP. The teams may have considered losing or forfeiting to be a bad choice…but by the end…the stands were empty. They’d lost the attention of their audience.