Coronavirus pandemic - how are you affected?

[RCBH928]

It seems like the wave in South Africa is already going down. If that continues, then this might have been an aggressive, but short-lived wave. Hopefully that will be the case.

here is a question, will the variants ever stop or will we be living in wave forms when a new variant is out and spreads we hit peak and everything shuts down then as the infection rate goes down, while we wait for the next variant, we are at the wave's bottom (or trough as I believe they call it) we open up again ?

[marurun]

This is the kind of discussion that’s going to eventually lead to trouble, so stick to your personal encounters with COVID, please.

[o.pwuaioc]

Well, after a slew of negative tests, including a negative PCR test on the 23rd, my take home test finally delivered what I had feared these past couple days: I have COVID. This must be omicron, because I'm doubly vaccinated and boosted. This is not good.

[REPO Man]

Oh, shit. I'm sorry to hear that. Get well soon.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Well, after a slew of negative tests, including a negative PCR test on the 23rd, my take home test finally delivered what I had feared these past couple days: I have COVID. This must be omicron, because I'm doubly vaccinated and boosted. This is not good.

Sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better soon. The virus is so contagious now, I think it’s just a matter of time before we all get it. If you’re vaccinated and boosted, though, you should be alright, and you’ve done just about everything you can do to protect yourself.

[PretentiousHipster]

Getting the booster is kind of chaotic here now. Fortunately I got it before they were making it available for everyone. The amount of cases pretty much doubled the record, but they said it's a huge underestimate because of the backlog of cases we have yet to process. At work I now get rapid tested twice a week, but considering how contagious it is it is just matter of time before I go through my 3rd outbreak at work.

[o.pwuaioc]

I've been got. Quarantined for the next few days.

How're you doing, Sammy? How's it been handling you?

Well, after a slew of negative tests, including a negative PCR test on the 23rd, my take home test finally delivered what I had feared these past couple days: I have COVID. This must be omicron, because I'm doubly vaccinated and boosted. This is not good.

Sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better soon. The virus is so contagious now, I think it’s just a matter of time before we all get it. If your vaccinated and boosted, though, you should be alright, and you’ve done just about everything you can do to protect yourself.

I tried not to think like that, but when I first heard of omicron, that was my initial conjecture, too. I'm doing fine, no underlying respiratory illnesses, so I should be good. Feels like a really bad cold/very mild flu so far. We'll see what the second half brings...

[marurun]

Hang in there, you two! I’m glad you did what was best in keeping yourselves protected and I hope it pays off with only very mild illness. Feel better soon!

[prfsnl_gmr]

Yeah…I have two school age children; so, I’m just counting down the days until I’m infected. One of my daughter’s classmates had it recently, and her only symptom was a runny nose. We’re all fully vaccinated, and my wife and I are boosted. We’ll still be careful, of course, but if the new variant is as infectious as the common cold and produces negligible symptoms in most people, I’m not sure I’ll be able to avoid it much longer.

Thankfully, my parents gave us some COVID tests for Christmas; so, if any of us starts feeling something we can test and isolate pretty quickly.

[o.pwuaioc]

Yeah…I have two school age children; so, I’m just counting down the days until I’m infected. One of my daughter’s classmates had it recently, and her only symptom was a runny nose. We’re all fully vaccinated, and my wife and I are boosted. We’ll still be careful, of course, but if the new variant is as infectious as the common cold and produces negligible symptoms in most people, I’m not sure I’ll be able to avoid it much longer.

Thankfully, my parents gave us some COVID tests for Christmas; so, if any of us starts feeling something we can test and isolate pretty quickly.

Be careful about relying on the negatives, though. I had a sore throat and got a negative PCR test. While I get soar throats fairly regularly (no idea what that is about), this one got worse. The next day took an antigen test, and again got a negative result. I'm not sure whether I was infectious or not, but by the end of that same day, I was feeling like I had a cold. Took another two days to get another antigen test, but that one was positive and as clear as day.

I talked with a doctor, who said that false negatives were aplenty (virus isn't strong enough to be discovered yet), but there are virtually no false positives. If you have symptoms, might trust that over a single take-home test.