April Covid Thread

[Velar Fricative]

I would travel too, mrsukyankee.

[Velar Fricative]

Why haven't cases been rising in the US as expected despite spikes in Europe?

www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/briefing/covid-cases-us-omicron-subvariant.html

Four reasons per the article:
1. More immunity here
2. Fewer tests and/or less testing here (plus the shift towards at-home testing)
3. Maybe it's just not happening yet but will soon
4. We don't know (like how Alpha swept through Michigan and Minnesota last year but...nowhere else in the US and we have no idea why).

We have another positive case at work so it's definitely increasing here, but maybe as with #4 above, the uptick may not be as high as last time and it might die out rather than spread through the rest of the country.

[gardengal]

Apr 6, 2022 2:18:34 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

I'll be honest and state that I will be travelling to the US this summer regardless of what Covid is looking like as I haven't seen my mom in 3 years and she's having major health issues so I NEED to see her. I don't even care if I get stuck in the US (which is privileged as it would be fine). I'm going to be a hermit the two weeks before we head there and masking like crazy in the airport and on the plane regardless of what other people are doing.

I traveled to FL during a peak to visit family & while I was nervous & we were definitely cautious about what we did/how we saw ppl while there, I have no regrets. My grandma is aging & I really wanted to spend time with her. It’d been 2+yrs of not seeing any of my family at that point.

My fingers will be crossed for you that your trip goes off without a hitch!

[Velar Fricative]

My 40th birthday is later this month and we've had tickets to see Hamilton the night of my birthday since Broadway resumed ticket sales last May. I'm getting a little anxious about the uptick in actors testing positive*, not to mention the possibility that I could get infected (or someone in my household). I'm so glad I splurged for the ticket insurance.

*Obviously their illnesses are not less important than my birthday, but just thinking about possible impacts.

[wildrice]

Apr 6, 2022 8:32:09 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

My 40th birthday is later this month and we've had tickets to see Hamilton the night of my birthday since Broadway resumed ticket sales last May. I'm getting a little anxious about the uptick in actors testing positive*, not to mention the possibility that I could get infected (or someone in my household). I'm so glad I splurged for the ticket insurance.

*Obviously their illnesses are not less important than my birthday, but just thinking about possible impacts.

The good thing is that Broadway hasn't dropped their mask/vaccine requirement yet, so hopefully that's one of the safest places you can be (other than isolating at home, obvs). That doesn't help much with the actors getting sick (though having audiences masked/vaxxed definitely helps protect them, too) but hopefully will keep you safe.

I'll admit that I've mostly dropped my mask locally lately - cases have been crazy low so it seemed like if not now, when? But if things start increasing I guess that was a short break. 

I have tons of plans this summer, including multiple trips, concerts, etc. I don't know what I'll do if there is another spike, which obviously seems likely. Our big trip to Croatia is fully able to be cancelled/rescheduled, but I don't know how long I can just let life keep passing us by. If this spike is coming, I hope it hits soon so we can be past it by the time summer is in full swing....

[Velar Fricative]

Apr 6, 2022 8:38:18 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Apr 6, 2022 8:32:09 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

My 40th birthday is later this month and we've had tickets to see Hamilton the night of my birthday since Broadway resumed ticket sales last May. I'm getting a little anxious about the uptick in actors testing positive*, not to mention the possibility that I could get infected (or someone in my household). I'm so glad I splurged for the ticket insurance.

*Obviously their illnesses are not less important than my birthday, but just thinking about possible impacts.

The good thing is that Broadway hasn't dropped their mask/vaccine requirement yet, so hopefully that's one of the safest places you can be (other than isolating at home, obvs). That doesn't help much with the actors getting sick (though having audiences masked/vaxxed definitely helps protect them, too) but hopefully will keep you safe.

Yeah I just want to be able to get to the show date without getting sick. If I get sick from the show I don't care lol.

I don't wear a mask unless I have to at this point. The only times/places I've worn them in the last few weeks are on public transportation and at the doctor's office. And obviously Broadway requires them through the end of the month so I'll wear one there too. I work in an office but by myself and rarely have close contact with any other staff, so I'll probably remain maskless here but if things get pretty dicey, back it goes on.

There are still people who wear masks around here but for a place that overall followed the public health protocols pretty well (re: masks, high vax rates, etc.), I get the sense that most people just got tired of the masks so I don't see them as much. A little more than usual now, but still not close to a majority.

[lo]

I just feel like crying. After what seemed like a long time of not hearing about any cases, now I know like 5 people who are positive. We are traveling to NC next week to visit family, including some from the UK. This is a rescheduled trip from over Christmas when my husband tested positive and we had to cancel everything.

[bears]

Apr 5, 2022 20:56:14 GMT -5 rubytue said:

Apr 5, 2022 18:10:59 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

I just got back from Florida yesterday.  It was so weird to be there, it is like living in 2019.  The only reason we went is because we had Covid in January, so we booked the trip to visit my parents while we had some immunity.  It was awesome, but I've lost all perspective on what is risky and what isn't anymore.  We even went to Disney for 1 day, and I haven't been around that many people at once in a LONG time.  We were waiting in an indoor queue for a ride, packed shoulder to shoulder with probably about 150 people and bad ventilation.  I told H if you hadn't had Covid before entering that room, you did now!  Other than at the airport, we saw very few masks anywhere during our trip.

It was very strange, but also reeeeaaaaally nice to have an actual vacation after so long.

I don't know, we tried *so* hard to prevent getting covid but we got it anyway.  I'm kind of done putting my life on hold.  At least until the next surge.  

We went to Key West at the end of Feb. 99% of everything we did was outside, but the bolted is so true. We are back in heavily masked, but not required MD now, and as we were walking into Lowe’s the other day, I comments to H that FL broke him. He didn’t even have a mask with him. And before we left, he would barely leave the house, I was starting to wonder if his social anxiety had progressed to full out agoraphobia. But yeah, a week in Florida, especially when you come back without covid, really does change perspective.

We went to DC in February and I think it was the best thing we did for MH's mental health. He works in person, but was very hesitant to do much indoors. We did all of the museums with masks and indoor dining and we were fine. He was holding in a lot of tension before that and, while he is still cautious, he is just dealing with it all so much better. 

[bears]

lo, please remove @ content.

[mrsukyankee]

lo, I hope you can make it.

[1confused1]

Everyone in my office has been coughing and sneezing, guess who woke up with the worst sore throat this morning? I called out sick, went back to sleep and now am super stuffy. I tested and am negative but, damn coworkers, do we need to remind you to stay home if you are sick?!

[Velar Fricative]

Apr 6, 2022 14:54:01 GMT -5 1confused1 said:

Everyone in my office has been coughing and sneezing, guess who woke up with the worst sore throat this morning? I called out sick, went back to sleep and now am super stuffy. I tested and am negative but, damn coworkers, do we need to remind you to stay home if you are sick?!

Apparently yes. At work there is another positive case. He admitted he came in sick and was visibly sick. He has plenty of sick leave in his bank, and would have not even had to take his own leave in this situation. STAY THE FUCK HOME. Let's stop trying to be heroes trying to come into work sick to prove you're a great worker - that era is done. There is no award for this.

[1confused1]

Apr 6, 2022 15:05:27 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Apr 6, 2022 14:54:01 GMT -5 1confused1 said:

Everyone in my office has been coughing and sneezing, guess who woke up with the worst sore throat this morning? I called out sick, went back to sleep and now am super stuffy. I tested and am negative but, damn coworkers, do we need to remind you to stay home if you are sick?!

Apparently yes. At work there is another positive case. He admitted he came in sick and was visibly sick. He has plenty of sick leave in his bank, and would have not even had to take his own leave in this situation. STAY THE FUCK HOME. Let's stop trying to be heroes trying to come into work sick to prove you're a great worker - that era is done. There is no award for this.

. That is awful! And yes, there is no award for coming in sick, I have one coworker who doesn’t understand that!

[fernweh]

Apr 6, 2022 14:54:01 GMT -5 1confused1 said:

Everyone in my office has been coughing and sneezing, guess who woke up with the worst sore throat this morning? I called out sick, went back to sleep and now am super stuffy. I tested and am negative but, damn coworkers, do we need to remind you to stay home if you are sick?!

I had really hoped that covid would end the era of
Coming into work sick but I guess we have learned nothing after 2 years of a pandemic. Sigh. If you don’t have sick time and MUST come in at the very least wear a mask -

[1confused1]

Apr 6, 2022 16:01:43 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Apr 6, 2022 14:54:01 GMT -5 1confused1 said:

Everyone in my office has been coughing and sneezing, guess who woke up with the worst sore throat this morning? I called out sick, went back to sleep and now am super stuffy. I tested and am negative but, damn coworkers, do we need to remind you to stay home if you are sick?!

I had really hoped that covid would end the era of
Coming into work sick but I guess we have learned nothing after 2 years of a pandemic. Sigh. If you don’t have sick time and MUST come in at the very least wear a mask -

We get so much sick time, there really is no excuse for it!!

[neverfstop]

Looks like an outbreak after a DC event
Two Biden Cabinet members among string of positive Covid-19 cases after elite Gridiron dinner
www.cnn.com/2022/04/06/politics/merrick-garland-covid-19/index.html

Tom DeFrank, the president of the Gridiron Club, said 14 guests at Saturday's dinner have tested positive and that other cases could be expected.

[rubytue]

Apr 6, 2022 14:54:01 GMT -5 1confused1 said:

Everyone in my office has been coughing and sneezing, guess who woke up with the worst sore throat this morning? I called out sick, went back to sleep and now am super stuffy. I tested and am negative but, damn coworkers, do we need to remind you to stay home if you are sick?!

We are reopening offices in May, but will still have to do screening questions daily. Today’s staff meeting was all about “what if we fail the screening but we know it’s allergies?” Have we learned nothing?!

But that said, they are strict ing enforcing the number of days we go in each pay period, so it we miss one week one, we have to do extra days the next week. So maybe that’s why people are worried about it? I know non-covid coughs are a thing…

[Velar Fricative]

Nancy Pelosi tested positive. This is on top of Merrick Garland, Gina Raimondo and other high-profile leaders and elected officials in DC.

It's crazy that Biden has been able to avoid the virus for so long and now I'm fearing he might catch it. At least he's double-boosted.

[TR]

Velar Fricative - I do not want Biden to get sick, obviously. But. I feel fairly calm knowing that Kamala is the backup.

[breezy8407]

Add me to the list of people irritated when people come to work sick. We're 100% set up for work from home. Been doing it for 2 years. People stay home if there is any chance of precipitation, but will come in sick. No.

[Bad Dingo]

CT governor just reported he has asymptomatic Covid. He got his 2nd booster last Thursday.

[wildrice]

Apr 5, 2022 11:12:56 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Apr 5, 2022 10:50:47 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

We now have a higher hospital admission rate than the earlier Omicron (Dec/Jan) rate. And my area is now at a much higher rate of Covid, in general, than ever before and that's with LESS testing. Ugh. At least my MIL has had her second booster so, if either my H or I get it, if we pass it on, she'll hopefully be okay.

My parents are on a tour in the UK right now and I'm hoping they are able to finish it out and get home without any problems. It ends Friday, so crossing my fingers. They said a couple of people came down with COVID on the tour already, but I think that was more than a week ago at this point so hopefully that means it didn't spread. The people who got it had to leave, of course, which would be such a bummer.

My parents have both already have COVID and have boosters (my mom even got a 4th shot a month ago) so I am not particularly worried about their health, just about the logistics of it. 

I'm quoting myself, but my parents are heading home tomorrow. They had a COVID test today and were negative. Yay! BUT - apparently 14 of the 31 people on their tour were POSITIVE. So my parents got really lucky. That's a terrible percentage!

This is the first time I've had second thoughts about our Croatia trip at the end of May. We are not doing a tour, but the idea of being unable to come home at the end of a trip is not appealing. Plus we haven't had COVID yet so I assume we'd be more susceptible than my parents are (they had it around Christmas so it wasn't that long ago).

[Velar Fricative]

I keep getting confirmation about more and more cases locally, but I don’t have the same feeling of dread I had when cases were going up here in December. I don’t know if I’m just numb to all of this happening again so soon, or maybe willing myself to believe that even with an increase, it won’t be a crazy surge like a few months ago. I hate this.

[SusanBAnthony]

We've dropped mask mandates most places and people here seem to be doing all the things (travel, restaurants, plays/concerts) and our cases are still low. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Spring break peaked 3 weeks ago and cases didn't go up.


I am thrilled to be taking a at least temporary mask break.

I know it'll probably all go to hell soon but I'll take what I can get.

[taratru]

We are still masking indoors in the UAE, and haven't had a covid death in a month. Far fewer people here, but vax numbers are still nearly 100% in adults, and I'd say about 90 percent of people are still following the mask mandate indoors. Close contacts need not isolate if asymptomatic.

I'm going to the UK for work in May and not feeling great about it. Thankfully no testing needed to return.

[rubytue]

Apr 7, 2022 15:37:49 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Apr 5, 2022 11:12:56 GMT -5 wildrice said:

My parents are on a tour in the UK right now and I'm hoping they are able to finish it out and get home without any problems. It ends Friday, so crossing my fingers. They said a couple of people came down with COVID on the tour already, but I think that was more than a week ago at this point so hopefully that means it didn't spread. The people who got it had to leave, of course, which would be such a bummer.

My parents have both already have COVID and have boosters (my mom even got a 4th shot a month ago) so I am not particularly worried about their health, just about the logistics of it. 

I'm quoting myself, but my parents are heading home tomorrow. They had a COVID test today and were negative. Yay! BUT - apparently 14 of the 31 people on their tour were POSITIVE. So my parents got really lucky. That's a terrible percentage!

This is the first time I've had second thoughts about our Croatia trip at the end of May. We are not doing a tour, but the idea of being unable to come home at the end of a trip is not appealing. Plus we haven't had COVID yet so I assume we'd be more susceptible than my parents are (they had it around Christmas so it wasn't that long ago).

I was driving around last night, and NPR was talking about there might be something more to the “if you haven’t had covid yet” crowd. Perhaps you have had more other coronaviruses and are able to fight it off before it sets it. I looked for the article, and the only one I found is very @ focused. So I don’t want to post it here. But maybe I’ll Google around and find a second source. (Edit, dropped it in the @ thread if you want to find it).

Honestly, I’ve done a few things lately (hello, Florida) that probably have me overconfident. I feel I have most likely been in the wild with the sars-cov-2 virus circulating. I just can’t imagine I have never rolled across it by this point. But something inside has worked - vaccine, Tye MAB prep I was lucky enough to get. 🤷‍♀️

[neverfstop]

Also, FYI if you are traveling overseas and worried about testing to re-enter, the US...I saw a ton of chatter about various place/doctors/nurses/resorts offering expensive tests, giving fake or pre-printed results, wanting an extra "TIP" to give you the negative result, and the incoming customs agents aren't even checking for them. There are some reliable, proctor monitored tests that you can get (I saw 6 for $150) that are US approved, even if the US isn't even checking results. Basically people were complaining it was a waste of money and lots of people were grifting the system...

[fernweh]

Apr 8, 2022 7:19:12 GMT -5 neverfstop said:

Also, FYI if you are traveling overseas and worried about testing to re-enter, the US...I saw a ton of chatter about various place/doctors/nurses/resorts offering expensive tests, giving fake or pre-printed results, wanting an extra "TIP" to give you the negative result, and the incoming customs agents aren't even checking for them. There are some reliable, proctor monitored tests that you can get (I saw 6 for $150) that are US approved, even if the US isn't even checking results. Basically people were complaining it was a waste of money and lots of people were grifting the system...

How do I know which ones are proctored? I have a bunch of tests at home that are ihealth brand (the ones I got from usps) I just want to take those but I don’t know if they will be accepted

[wanderingback]

Apr 8, 2022 7:30:42 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Apr 8, 2022 7:19:12 GMT -5 neverfstop said:

Also, FYI if you are traveling overseas and worried about testing to re-enter, the US...I saw a ton of chatter about various place/doctors/nurses/resorts offering expensive tests, giving fake or pre-printed results, wanting an extra "TIP" to give you the negative result, and the incoming customs agents aren't even checking for them. There are some reliable, proctor monitored tests that you can get (I saw 6 for $150) that are US approved, even if the US isn't even checking results. Basically people were complaining it was a waste of money and lots of people were grifting the system...

How do I know which ones are proctored? I have a bunch of tests at home that are ihealth brand (the ones I got from usps) I just want to take those but I don’t know if they will be accepted

If you Google you’ll find some options.
It’s not just the ones you buy at the store with no option for a telehealth visit.

[okla]

Re: proctored tests, also make sure you use one your airline recognizes. IME, American and United use different brands.