Covid Getting Closer to Home

[JoeWras]

To be fair, people are confused about N95, "surgical", gathering if vaccinated, and so on because the official advice has changed.

Now I'm not saying there is a conspiracy or the experts are all bozos.

What I am saying is have a heart about your fellow citizen. They have a right to be confused. Over the last 21 months, the message has changed so much regarding masks and vaccines that it is confusing.

Try to gently encourage them to keep up with the latest, and to discuss why advice changes.

I'm seeing too much "Experts are idiots because they changed their minds" and too much "People are idiots because they are not paying attention." Not here, but in general. So now people stop talking.

It is sad.

 

[Alan]

Just talked to my sister. An 11th person tested for positive at her work on Wednesday, and she realized that she had been close to her on the Monday so she tested herself every day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, all negative. Friday night she felt incredibly tired and this continued on Saturday with back pains and a tight chest plus waves of something akin to dizziness today like she had last time she had Covid. Now she tested positive with a very faint line so has been down to the test center on Rectory Lane and taken a PCR test.

Hey-ho, here we go again. I’ve told her that we can do shopping etc, as the whole family will be isolating. She had Covid just before Christmas a year ago (2020) and she and her husband were pretty sick for 3 weeks. They have both been triple vaccinated since then and at work she is in an office environment with screens between the desks and everyone wearing masks, especially this last 2 weeks. Obviously not good enough for Omicron.

 

[audreyh1]

Man, what a bummer to keep catching covid! Hope she has an easier time of it this time.

 

[Chuckanut]

I'm seeing too much "Experts are idiots because they changed their minds" and too much "People are idiots because they are not paying attention." Not here, but in general. So now people stop talking.

It is sad.

I would be very suspicious of any expert who does not change his/her mind. And even more suspicious of an expert who can't honestly say 'I was wrong back then as the new evidence shows'.

 

[sengsational]

While this seems to be the case thus far, I do wish people would stop focusing on that. The caseload is tremendous, even if it's mostly mild to moderate illnesses. It's not all so mild.


Our hospital system currently has the highest number of COVID patients hospitalized since the start. ICUs are at or near capacity and they are converting other rooms into additional ICU beds. There were about 100 patients holding in the ERs awaiting admission as of yesterday. There's just nowhere to put them. All elective surgeries have been cancelled. And they're talking about reactivating the emergency surge plan that could reassign staff to the hospitals to help deal with the crush of patients.


So yeah, a lot of people are getting a little sick, but a record number are also getting seriously ill.

I'm sure it's been referenced before, but if readers here want statistics on your state's hospital bed utilization, the John's Hopkins site has a nice presentation. Here's the Florida page: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/hospitalization-7-day-trend/florida

 

[Bigdawg]

I would be very suspicious of any expert who does not change his/her mind. And even more suspicious of an expert who can't honestly say 'I was wrong back then as the new evidence shows'.

I have zero issue with a so called experts changing their minds. Here is my issue: If an expert changes their mind quite often, like we have seen in the past two years, are they really an expert? Maybe they are the person that knows the most but I am doubting their expertise. For instance, in 1903 were Wilbur and Orville "experts" in aviation? I woud say no. Were they two individuals who knew more about flying that any other person on the planet at that time? I would say yes. Did they change their ideas/thoughts going forward? Of course they did. The issue that I have with todays experts is that they demand compliance with their current remedies. Then a short time later either backtrack on those remedies or are proven wrong. I don't mind the thoughts/ideas/proposed remedies. The issue I have is "VAX or your fired" mandates. I have a friend who almost died from his first anthrax shot during the gulf war. His doctors have advised him to NEVER get any vaccine. He is a gov employee and is being threatened with termination as we speak.

Note: I didn't hijack this thread. Just following some of the narrative.

 

[Sarah S]

I think the utilization statistics may be misleading in some cases. They are ( I believe) basing available beds on licensed beds. Here in Massachusetts at least that is not accurate because some physical beds are not open due to lack of staffing

 

[tmm99]

Just talked to my sister. An 11th person tested for positive at her work on Wednesday, and she realized that she had been close to her on the Monday so she tested herself every day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, all negative. Friday night she felt incredibly tired and this continued on Saturday with back pains and a tight chest plus waves of something akin to dizziness today like she had last time she had Covid. Now she tested positive with a very faint line so has been down to the test center on Rectory Lane and taken a PCR test.

Hey-ho, here we go again. I’ve told her that we can do shopping etc, as the whole family will be isolating. She had Covid just before Christmas a year ago (2020) and she and her husband were pretty sick for 3 weeks. They have both been triple vaccinated since then and at work she is in an office environment with screens between the desks and everyone wearing masks, especially this last 2 weeks. Obviously not good enough for Omicron.

Very sorry to hear about your sister. It's a bummer that it's the second time she's dealing with this, but being triple-vaxxed, I hope she will sail through this.

 

[Koolau]

I'm sure it's been referenced before, but if readers here want statistics on your state's hospital bed utilization, the John's Hopkins site has a nice presentation. Here's the Florida page: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/hospitalization-7-day-trend/florida

This seems like a very useful tool. It's much more instructive than case counts or even deaths-of-the-day - both of which local news has keyed in on since the beginning of the pandemic. NOW, finally, we are hearing about beds used for Covid patients. I think that offers a good perspective but YMMV.

 

[Ronstar]

Just talked to my sister. An 11th person tested for positive at her work on Wednesday, and she realized that she had been close to her on the Monday so she tested herself every day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, all negative. Friday night she felt incredibly tired and this continued on Saturday with back pains and a tight chest plus waves of something akin to dizziness today like she had last time she had Covid. Now she tested positive with a very faint line so has been down to the test center on Rectory Lane and taken a PCR test.

Hey-ho, here we go again. I’ve told her that we can do shopping etc, as the whole family will be isolating. She had Covid just before Christmas a year ago (2020) and she and her husband were pretty sick for 3 weeks. They have both been triple vaccinated since then and at work she is in an office environment with screens between the desks and everyone wearing masks, especially this last 2 weeks. Obviously not good enough for Omicron.

Hope the triple vaxxing works and your sis recovers quickly without the symptoms getting any worse.

 

[JoeWras]

This seems like a very useful tool. It's much more instructive than case counts or even deaths-of-the-day - both of which local news has keyed in on since the beginning of the pandemic. NOW, finally, we are hearing about beds used for Covid patients. I think that offers a good perspective but YMMV.

Keep in mind, however, there are a certain number of people who come to the hospital for something else (accident, chronic or acute illness, etc.). They come with COVID or acquire COVID in the hospital. They are then counted as orange even though their primary reason to be there was green.

That does not discount these graphs because no matter the reason they are there, they are a COVID patient which puts them into an intense special handling group.

The data may also need some checking. Something is wrong with Illinois' data. October shows 3 weeks of 100% COVID occupation.

 

[USGrant1962]

Keep in mind, however, there are a certain number of people who come to the hospital for something else (accident, chronic or acute illness, etc.). They come with COVID or acquire COVID in the hospital. They are then counted as orange even though their primary reason to be there was green.

That does not discount these graphs because no matter the reason they are there, they are a COVID patient which puts them into an intense special handling group.

The data may also need some checking. Something is wrong with Illinois' data. October shows 3 weeks of 100% COVID occupation.

Yes, Dr. Walensky recently estimated that, at some hospitals, up to 40% of "Covid hospitalizations" are with Covid, not from Covid. Everyone that goes in a hospital is tested, regardless of the reason they are being hospitalized.

 

[disneysteve]

This seems like a very useful tool. It's much more instructive than case counts or even deaths-of-the-day - both of which local news has keyed in on since the beginning of the pandemic. NOW, finally, we are hearing about beds used for Covid patients. I think that offers a good perspective but YMMV.

The number of COVID patients in the hospital is important, but so are the case counts. It's the latter that is overwhelming the system. It's the case counts that are resulting in schools closing, offices going remote, hospitals having critical staff shortages, restaurants and stores shortening hours or closing entirely, thousands of airline flights being cancelled, ERs and urgent cares being swamped, etc.


From a societal standpoint, the case counts matter a whole lot more than the number of hospital beds in use for COVID patients.

 

[Alan]

Hope the triple vaxxing works and your sis recovers quickly without the symptoms getting any worse.

Thanks. I'll be checking in with her every day.

Meanwhile, last night we heard from my wife's brother about her niece that is in hospital for a kidney infection and got Covid while there (her phone app indicated she had been in close contact with someone in ER the day she arrived, and then developed symptoms a few days later so was moved to a Covid ward). She had been in a Covid ward since January 3rd being treated but has now been declared cured of Covid and moved back to the renal ward. So back to only one life threatening disease.

 

[EastWest Gal]

My sister called me today, her morning (Washington State) and my early afternoon. She and my BIL got back from Jamaica last week. My 22 year old nephew drove them back from the airport. SeaTac had free Covid rapid test kits available, and she grabbed one and took it home. Nephew had a fever a couple of days ago, she tested him for Covid and he was positive. Today she and BIL have scratchy throats and are tired, so are isolating. She looked into getting a PCR test, and can't get one until next week. She was going to get to a testing site at 6 AM with BIL tomorrow for a rapid test. You can't get rapid tests locally anywhere, but are available online with no guarantee when they will arrive.

I have 5 test kits at home, so I boxed up two and sent them overnight to her: $100 charge at UPS. Then they can get tested and

BIL and nephew are unvaccinated . Sister just retired from nursing and is fully vaxxed and boosted. Sister is morbidly obese and 64, so is high risk. So I'll be calling every couple of days to see how they are doing.

I'm thinking of sending BIL and nephew a bill for the Covid tests and shipping cost, including my receipt for the shipping, but I'll wait and send it when they recover. I'm very unhappy with their behavior.

 

[Alan]

My sister called me today, her morning (Washington State) and my early afternoon. She and my BIL got back from Jamaica last week. My 22 year old nephew drove them back from the airport. SeaTac had free Covid rapid test kits available, and she grabbed one and took it home. Nephew had a fever a couple of days ago, she tested him for Covid and he was positive. Today she and BIL have scratchy throats and are tired, so are isolating. She looked into getting a PCR test, and can't get one until next week. She was going to get to a testing site at 6 AM with BIL tomorrow for a rapid test. You can't get rapid tests locally anywhere, but are available online with no guarantee when they will arrive.

I have 5 test kits at home, so I boxed up two and sent them overnight to her: $100 charge at UPS. Then they can get tested and

BIL and nephew are unvaccinated . Sister just retired from nursing and is fully vaxxed and boosted. Sister is morbidly obese and 64, so is high risk. So I'll be calling every couple of days to see how they are doing.

I'm thinking of sending BIL and nephew a bill for the Covid tests and shipping cost, including my receipt for the shipping, but I'll wait and send it when they recover. I'm very unhappy with their behavior.

How worrying, I hope they all manage to avoid serious illness. Let us know how they get on.

My sister called me today and she is already much better but still has what she describes as that "Covid feeling", and provided she tests negative Thursday and Friday she plans to go back to work on Monday. (She is the one who had Covid pretty badly over Christmas, 2022)

Her husband and adult daughter, who lives with them, are both still okay so far and test themselves every morning before going to work. (They also had Covid at the same time over Christmas 2020)

 

[JoeWras]

I'll chime in. My sister and BIL got Omicron 2 weeks ago or so. They are unvaxed. We've always had a good relationship but this last year has been tough because it seems like that's all she wants to talk about.

So, she and BIL went to another state for alternative treatment. Another story I really don't want to rehash.

Whatever. I changed the subject to TV shows. I'm tired of talking about it with them. Thankfully, it was Omicron and not Delta. They seem to be fine.

EDIT: oh! So how did they get it? Their dumb niece came to a family Christmas party feeling terrible and coughing. Nice, eh?

 

[jj]

So, she and BIL went to another state for alternative treatment. Another story I really don't want to rehash.

Please tell - sounds fascinating

 

[tmm99]

My friend's whole family including three children (from 10 to 20 yrs old) came down with COVID at the beginning of the year. DH (40) and two children (aged 10 and 14) are not vaxxed, but nobody got seriously ill. The 10-year-old had a fever for just one day. Unvaccinated DH was asymptomatic in one week but his rapid test returned positive, so he hasn't gone back to work yet. Evidently, they had a get-together with DH's family (some of them are unvaxxed) before NY's and they got sick as well, but no one got seriously ill.

I'm glad that they're all OK. They must have been infected with Omicron, and/or this family has a very strong immune system...

 

[JoeWras]

Please tell - sounds fascinating

Let's keep the thread clean. First, I may swear. Second, their reasons are stuff we don't need to discuss here.

 

[disneysteve]

Thankfully, it was Omicron and not Delta.

How did they know? Patients (and even healthcare providers) don't typically get that information. Or are they just assuming that since it's the dominant strain going around in most areas now?

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Most of what we are seeing here where we live in the US is a lot of folks are getting mild symptoms, but no more than the common cold. Out of those we know directly or indirectly who have been tested, about 75% come up positive for Covid. None have been hospitalized, most just live with it for a few days till it blows over. I assume all are triple vaxxed as we or our friends do not associate with unvaxxed folks for their own safety. We all take sensible precautions when we go out.

I have a very close immunocompromised friend that I visit (Liver Transplant) and I always wear a mask in his home when we are inside. All he has ever had is mild allergy symptoms, it is that time of year here. We are all looking forward to our second booster and the time when annually we can get a combo flu shot and return to normal. I think that is the direction we are going.

I reckon that with more free testing coming out (January 15th) there will be a lot more +ve's reported in our circle. So, in short, I think we will be living with this as we do with the common cold and flu for a long time to come.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

My sister called me today, her morning (Washington State) and my early afternoon. She and my BIL got back from Jamaica last week. My 22 year old nephew drove them back from the airport. SeaTac had free Covid rapid test kits available, and she grabbed one and took it home. Nephew had a fever a couple of days ago, she tested him for Covid and he was positive. Today she and BIL have scratchy throats and are tired, so are isolating. She looked into getting a PCR test, and can't get one until next week. She was going to get to a testing site at 6 AM with BIL tomorrow for a rapid test. You can't get rapid tests locally anywhere, but are available online with no guarantee when they will arrive.

I have 5 test kits at home, so I boxed up two and sent them overnight to her: $100 charge at UPS. Then they can get tested and

BIL and nephew are unvaccinated . Sister just retired from nursing and is fully vaxxed and boosted. Sister is morbidly obese and 64, so is high risk. So I'll be calling every couple of days to see how they are doing.

I'm thinking of sending BIL and nephew a bill for the Covid tests and shipping cost, including my receipt for the shipping, but I'll wait and send it when they recover. I'm very unhappy with their behavior.

That's all quite unfortunate. I would be unhappy too. SIL tested positive (vaxxed/boosted) but doesn't feel too bad while my best friend's father who is 70+ years old, diabetic and obese is now in the hospital with a 104 temperature and is unresponsive...not vaxxed.

Schools here are closing up faster than when a massive winter storms comes though and the hospitals have the highest number of admissions since this whole mess started.

 

[disneysteve]

I reckon that with more free testing coming out (January 15th) there will be a lot more +ve's recorded.

Just the opposite. With people able to get free home tests, the number of reported cases will likely fall. Although you are supposed to report a home positive, hardly anybody does, so those positives will no longer be reported and won't be included in the official numbers.


For all, keep in mind that if you get a positive rapid, you have COVID. You don't need to repeat the test. You don't need to get a PCR. However, if you get a negative rapid, it doesn't mean much. You may still have COVID. You may still be contagious. A negative rapid should not be used as the basis for returning to work or school, attending an event, etc. If you're sick, stay home even if the test is negative.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Just the opposite. With people able to get free home tests, the number of reported cases will likely fall. Although you are supposed to report a home positive, hardly anybody does, so those positives will no longer be reported and won't be included in the official numbers.

Sorry, I meant in our circle of friends and acquaintances. I agree with you on a national level.