@sdl0625 the same is happening here near me in MD. The governor started phase one of reopening but is allowing counties to make their own determination based on their own stats. But of course, this announcement coincided with some gorgeous weather. As of 5pm Friday people were allowed to recreationally boat and the weather was fantastic yesterday. I live in a waterfront town, so pictures were all over the internet yesterday of people flocking downtown to the waterfront, by boat and car with very little social distancing. Suddenly I’m seeing groups of kids playing together, albeit outside. People are enlarging their “bubbles” - two sets of my neighbors both went to friend’s homes last night for dinner. I just hope that since this socializing mainly seems to be taking place outside that perhaps our numbers wont increase again (as I mentioned earlier, my zip code, which encompasses a peninsula, has the largest amount of cases in my county). Most indoor activity is still closed or extremely limited, I.e. barbershop open for one client at a time, but restaurants only open for carry out/delivery.
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Do you know how accurate the Quest antibody tests are?
@HIMom and others with breathing difficulties, would you be able to wear one of those plastic face shields? I’m thinking that if a place of business wants to require masks, it could allow face shields instead for people who can’t wear masks.
Just want to add my known cases –
Deaths:
2 in Mass.
1 in OR
Pretty sick for a couple of weeks with lingering fatigue and breathing issues:
1 in WA
1 in MN
2 in IL
Sick but recovered in under a week, no lingering issues apparent:
2 in OR
I know people all over the country.
A few people have been asking the group consensus on assorted decisions. In my little family, so DH & I, adult kids & spouses, some with kids, we have scientists and physicians and also opinions, everyone has opinions. We have varying levels of abilities to SAH, WFH, etc. Some families are in close proximity and some hundreds of miles away.
With so much varied & conflicting information, we decided to run any tough decisions by the entire group. Then are asking, “If I do this and get the worst flu ever for 6 weeks, are you all going to be thinking “I knew that was stupid” and judging the choice?” and then, if that is a, “No, seems like an ok choice” then the follow up is, “how will you judgeif I do that thing and get so sick I am hospitalized with any of the litany of serious issues?”
We are just figuring that there is so much different info presented online, on the news, in the paper, in the different cities & states, running it by smart people who we respect and asking for their doubts about the validity of any choices should aid in no one talking themselves into anything they should not try.
Regarding the senior parents and choices, having been through this with three seniors in the past 5 years, I would say that Mom has no opportunity to tour the places, you likely have to choose for her and do one trip, to move her in. It makes sense to have senior parents nearby. I would also say she needs to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in your state/city, before moving in, so she cannot inadvertently spread the C19 and probably should be quarantined from you and your family, another reason the tour thing feels less than smart at this time. The move, yes, the trip to tour and then the trip back home and another trip to move, nah, now is not the time for that. That’s just my gut reaction. However, also consider, will you be able to interact once she is in that IL/AL or will they be locked down?
We did recently drive over 1200 miles, we were far from home when this thing hit and just remained there until the peak was over. Gloves, masks, santizing wipes. We cleaned each time we stopped, my DD delivered a click list so we could quarantine all those truck stop germs from spreading in our home town, just in case. It’s doable, but I don’t see multiple trips being wise.
One thing I have started doing is keeping a draft email with a list of any potential contacts, be that a gas station stop, a click list stop, a neighbor passed on a dog walk, I’m just logging everyone, both just i
Regarding antibody testing, I specifically heard on a podcast, that Quest is not using an FDA approved test.
And I head the following from my source, a guy who works in the field and he says this:
There are > 200 COVID-19 antibody tests that were allowed for release in the US under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) on the condition that manufacturers had validated their kits or lab developed tests. Unfortunately, many hadn’t and worse, many lied about it. In fact, 85% of the them are inaccurate, as independent researchers hired by the FDA have stated, with far too many false positives and false negatives. The FDA has since declared that ALL antibody tests must now submit their validation data for review within 10 days for ‘FDA Authorization’…thus far, only 12 antibody tests have received that certification. Euroimmun, which XXX uses and independently validated, is one of the 12 tests. Many clinics are offering what they call FDA cleared or approved antibody tests, often at inflated prices…they’re not, unless they are on the FDA web site as authorized.
I do not. And I do not know what test the walk in clinics are using.
The FDA also are the ones who recalled the initial covid 19 test because it had errors, and I don’t know for certain that this is true, but what I remember reading is that they recalled it because 1 of the 3 parts of the test didn’t work but the other two parts did. Other countries were using tests that only had 2 parts so our test had extra. They didn’t manage to fix the error and finally released it the way it was when it was recalled. I am not a doctor or scientist so am sure I could have a wrong idea about this but this is what I remember reading long ago about the cause of the 6 week delay in getting testing going. The FDA head who recalled the test was said to be a stickler for the rules and making sure everything was working properly but didn’t seem to judge the risk/benefit of allowing the virus to spread silently while the final kinks were worked out. During this time doctors were requesting permission to be allowed to test people and were refused. Some in Seattle tested anyway at the end of Feb and that’s how they found they likely had at least 6 weeks of previously undiscovered cases floating around Seattle.
This same person who recalled the initial tests and would not release them for such a long time seems to be the same one who also wouldn’t allow the Seattle lab to test for it in early January because they were a research facility and not a whatever facility and also seems to be the person who just ordered the Gates group to stop.
Based on how long it took them to get CDC-made tests out, I don’t have a lot of faith that the FDA will get this quickly resolved and question if it was necessary to have them stop testing. I worry about having a picky rule follower in charge of this decision at a time when this decision is likely going to cost lives and hurt the economy more. Sometimes seeing the bigger picture is more important than every little detail of every little rule. As I said, I’m sure there are things to do with this that I don’t know or understand and I’m not a doctor or researcher but this is how it seems to me from what I do know.
I sure to hope the FDA lets them restart testing asap. This seems to be the very opposite of what we need to be doing. I really, really hope it is not an attempt to prevent an accurate count of the number of cases in some misguided reasoning that it will help the economy because getting to where we can test massively and contact trace would be the most help to the economy. Short term, meaning days/weeks, maybe not, but longer than a few weeks, yes, more testing = better for the country.
Regarding antibody tests:
Know no-one that’s tested positive for the virus, but know of close to a dozen that were knocked in the dirt with something January to March, two being children of mine. Only one tested positive for the flu and came down with it a week after his co-worker was sick (with a negative flu test). All in the 25 to 45 age group and sick enough to miss work for a week to a week and a half.
If there’s a gastrointestinal version only, I might have had it back early April. Began with a single episode of stomach upset but went on for 12 days. No appetite but couldn’t eat or drink much anyway - things simply weren’t moving along and making room for more. Tired enough that I crawled into bed by 7:30 three evenings in a row, but only a low grade fever, and dropped from a weight of around 185 to 170.
(Fwiw, my children’s illnesses predate mine by 45 days or more, and they don’t live with us anyway.)
When the Roche test is available, I’ll ask for it.
^Edited the above to correct the date window.
I just watched the 8th and final episode of Some Good News with John Krasinski on YouTube and was in tears for much of the show. If you want to absolutely lift your spirits, tune in!
A good friend’s dad died of COVID. I had lunch at his house here last year. The parents of a woman I know through my sister both had COVID in Chicago. The dad died, and the mom recovered. My neighbors tested negative, but there is no way they were negative. These are a 61yo man and 59yo woman who had never called in sick two days in a row in their lives and were laid flat for almost two weeks. All the classic symptoms. I don’t know … this doesn’t feel theoretical to me at all.
Thanks @somemom . We don’t want to bother with an antibody test if it’s not very accurate. Wouldn’t trust the result, and would be a waste of time, money and an unnecessary contact. If we thought we could trust it, we’d do it, but we’ll just wait until there are more reliable tests available.
Here in PA I have three friends, all women around 60-65 who had full blown cases, all tested positive. All 3 were very sick but not hospitalized. One was sick in bed with fever and many other symptoms for about 5 weeks, probably would have been hospitalized in better times. Oddly enough she had no shortness of breath though she was a smoker. Even without lung problems she is still exhausted and not able to do what she could before. One of the others has recovered fully. The third, a runner, has recovered but still can’t run or even walk fast a month later.
All have husbands who caught a milder, but still rough form of the disease and one has a 21 year old daughter who showed no symptoms.I know half a dozen who have lost parents.
So although these weren’t hospitalized, 2 out of 3 of the worst cases haven’t really recovered.
The quest tests are only 90% accurate so I won’t get it. They are hiding those stats, hard to find. I’ll only do it when is 98%+. The quest one is not FDA approved.
Not sure if CT is using any FDA approved ones … frustrating if they are not. We’ll wait.
I saw a man yesterday with a t-shirt on with giant words that said, “6 feet or further!”, but he passed me on a sidewalk that was less than 6’ wide and he wasn’t wearing a mask. I was. Typical!
I saw an ad for a t-shirt that has an image of a black cat, wearing a mask and holding a bloody knife. It says “don’t cough on me!”. I wish it said “don’t breathe on me”, or just, “get back!”
My D who lives in NYC says that only about 1/2 the people she sees when walking her dog are wearing masks and most of the non mask wearers are men. I wonder if they’ve read the statistics…
When I asked my primary care physician, he wasn’t keen on the reliability of current Covid19 antibody tests. Maybe the new Roche test will be a game changer.
I know two people who had it and died who run a local restaurant.
One person in my local art association died.
My brother went into ER with symptoms, but they had no tests. After they decided he waasn’t having a heart attack they sent him home. He was sick for several weeks. The assumption is he had it. (He lives in Boston area.)
I know several people in the neighborhood who tested positive and were sick, but did not have to go to the hospital.
One person from my art class (who lives in NYC) had it, but was not hospitalized.
I had one client who was exposed to the New Rochelle lawyer, but when he was finally tested, he was negative.
My husband knows a bunch of people at work who had it and a few who died. (He does medical research.) They all did clinical work, which he does not. We do know one couple who might have had it - or might just have had bad colds for a couple of weeks.
I personally know four people who tested positive, and through them, heard of their family members who also got the virus and tested positive (about 10 in total). I know several others who displayed symptoms but were not eligible for testing at the time. I suspect I had it myself, but as I had no known contact at the time and had no breathing distress, I couldn’t get a test while I had symptoms. My husband’s coworker’s husband died. My town (pop. 65K) has had 609 positive cases and 15 deaths.
Yow. I’m sorry. That’s a lot for your community to go through.