2 and a half years clean, my wife tested positive for Covid today. The chances she has given it to me is about 99%. So far she has very light symptoms. Hopefully we can both get out light.

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Hope everything is good on your side, GD.

Here, the antibody treatment was friday morning (thankfully here in MA, it's all covered, didn't have to give insurance or anything).

Feeling, well, not great (if I felt great, I wouldn't be you know, sick!), but the major problem right now is fatigue. I have two stages, one where I have to sleep no matter what else I want to do, and the other stage where I can't sleep, no matter how much I really want to. Other than that, the typical covid congestion, lack of voice 3etcetera.

I hope you start feeling better still soon, Foz.

Glad, to hear, Foz. The wife went from cold like symptoms to flu like symptoms yesterday. Still no real fever, though. Just congested and achy. I am always congested, so it is hard to tell. Home test was negative for me yesterday.

No rush but can you share what the antibody treatment was?

We talk so much about vaccines but not so much the therapeutics nowadays.

FWIW, a local doctor who has been the media go-to since COVID began said the other day that we're seeing more negatives on first test for positive people than any other variant. He said many of those same people test again 3-4 days later and come back positive.

If that's the case, it seems like testing could do more harm than good in helping the spread because if I'm negative, I'm more likely to chalk it up to allergies or another illness.

The virus has figured out how to beat the tests to propagate faster!

It's ALIVE!

bebtelovimab.

Just to go into the procedure... the company (a florida based company, CDR Maguire) contracted with Massachusetts to provide the treatment

Monoclonal Antibody Therapy to Treat COVID-19 - CDR Health and Medical

It took about 2 hours from arrival to departure. They sent three folks to do the treatment (the people are based out of Florida). One of the hardest parts was finding a vein, like most infusions, they need a really good vein that can withstand the infusion, so there was a lot of tapping, asking me to open and close my hands rapidly to make the veins stick out (my veins are not really robust, so it took two attempts and the clean up of a little blood from the 2nd attempt before the infusion started).

From the term infusion, I was expecting something like an IV stand with drip, etcetera, but no, it was one needle plunger full, and then it was monitoring time. I felt bad for them during that part, they had to sit and watch me for an hour, taking blood pressure and temperature readings every fifteen minutes or so to make sure I didn't have a negative reaction to the infusion.

They were nice about the whole thing, and allowed me to get up and move around if I needed.

As for the results, 36 hours or so later, the congestion has dropped. Fatigue is still a major issue (as I said, I have two major modes, one where I sleep all the time no matter what I want to do, and the 2nd where I can't sleep, no matter how much I want to). So, a lot of it is just dealing with the current status

One of the keys to dealing with it is to stay hydrated, and understand that fatigue is going to be with you for several days even when you feel generally "better"

Due to my immunocompromising medicine, one of the problems is that traces of COVID will last a LOT longer, so things that require a negative test, like travel, would be out for a while for me. Instead of waiting for the negative test to be allowed to break quarantine, I am to wait 36-48 hours after the last symptoms fade.

I see they have a list price for the treatment of $450 in their Tallahassee FL locations. I don't know if that's pre-insurance (listed for folks who don't have insurance), but it's really comforting to know it's covered, no questions asked, here in MA. Basically, you have to be an adult, and over 88 pounds, and mild-moderate symptoms (not already hospitalized)(

Hey, thanks for the info. Didn't know about what happens so thanks for sharing your story.

Glad you seem to be doing well.

Article from The Atlantic. Essentially predicting there will be lack of vaccines and confusion this Fall when it's time for the updated booster shots.

From The Atlantic (link is messing up the post).
There really is no excuse if it's a mess again.

Article said Biden hasn't gotten his $ yet but that's really no excuse. I'm sure the can move funny money around and get whatever funding he needs (and Congress won't say crap).

Plenty of time to come up with a "risk/issues log" and the mitigation/contingency plans. Put the right people in charge to get this done.

So Biden, I'm rooting for you but if it's a mess this Fall, it's all on you.

"Wuhan Coronavirus (a non-political thread, see pg. 36 #1778)" - lol


SI

Yeah, pointed that out probably a hundred pages ago.

Which part?

The part where it's still called the "Wuhan" thread despite no one calling it that for years and the inherently political nature of that?

The part where the OP comically declared "non-political" despite the fact that so many aspects of the pandemic are inherently political?

The part where the OP who declared it non-political is often who likes to stir the political pot in the thread?

I wonder if we're going to get some new rules declared (and probably ignored) in this thread about how only certain people can respond or how it has to use Robert's Rules of Internet Order - the Sealioning, Goalpost Moving, and Concern Trolling Edition?

"Yes, yes, it's all a rich tapestry."

SI

Any and all of that, yes.

I've long maintained that the OP's only reason for being on this board is to stir the political pot, and I'm still not sure why he picked FOFC (I don't believe he ever played FOF). Why that isn't more broadly acknowledged, I don't know.

(I have the OP on mute; I have been tempted to tell Flasch that it's a no-win situation -- argue and you go mad, don't argue and you basically don't push back against the crap -- but I largely have opted for mental health. I know others have opted out altogether, to quote another forumite: "I was curious about the state of FOFC after roe v wade and some of the other recent shit, logged in and saw edward spamming a thread trying to rationally "both sides" florida's don't say gay bill and logged off.")

Two years to the day, pretty much: COVID-19 - Wuhan Coronavirus (a non-political thread, see pg. 36 #1778) - Page 118 - Front Office Football Central

(But only 93 pages, so apologies on that front. And I guess Lathum and ISiddiqui beat me to it upthread, really.)

Ow, that really hurts. But whatever.

On Wuhan, I guess you guys really didn't care that much to follow-up.


On the political aspect of the post, I'll consider it political and also informational about forthcoming vaccination campaign.

But tell you what, here's a happy compromise for you.

COVID-19 - (a political thread for SI and Cuervo whine) - Front Office Football Central

I think we need a group hug.

I'm game.

Or fight it out in a game of Civ 6.

+1

COVID-19 - Wuhan Coronavirus (a non-political thread, see pg. 36 #1778)
 

Deleted

+Infinity. I’m almost at the point of leaving FOFC tbh when most of the time I come here and every single thread is last commented on by an obvious troll whose clear goal is to stir as much shit as humanly possible.

I don't know how effective nasal/oral vaccines are vs injections but think they are much less effective. If Covid or other vaccines can be delivered this way effectively, it'll be great and probably increase our vaccination rates.

We're used to doing the home tests now, why not take the vaccine at home (assuming like no refrigeration requirements).

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/18/healt...-19/index.html

Update: Wife is starting to feel better. I feel like a truck hit me.

Glad to see her strength is improving.

Yup, glad she (and you) are doing better.

In the past couple months, my daughter and SIL have caught it (no close relatives had reported catching Covid past 2 years) so I can easily believe this is a more contagious strain.

Wife and I were talking about family Thanksgiving/Christmas plans to see her mom & dad in Dallas. There's also a wedding trip in Sept.

If this does blow up and there are significantly more hospitalizations, may have to rethink this. Not really for us personally but more so less chance for her parents catching it.

But it will be 3 years since grandparents have seen the kids live.

At this point, between work and home, I feel like I'm a finalist on survivor. I suppose it's possible I've already had it, but no positives and no symptoms despite my wife and two kids having it and everyone in my office getting it except one other person, I think. It's just a matter of time, I suppose.

Glad one of you is starting to feel better at least. Now let me get this truck out of here for you...

They stopped using nasal for flu shots years ago because it wasn’t as effective.

My wife currently has it, caught it in Ireland most likely. We had to cancel our soccer game last night because half the dudes have Covid. At the hospital, we have several folks out and lots of people pulling extra shifts. Just gives the anti-science crowd more to crow about.

So, a bit of a setback here, running a low grade fever (100.3), which officially has my doctor "concerned". It's still tylenol, fluids and rest, but if it doesn't get better with treatment or worsens, it's off to the ED for me. (not a certainty, not even a probability, but just a reminder that this thing SUCKS!)

Tell me about it

The tale of two workplaces: I am in the middle of the busiest time of the year. My work has so much going on along with several people taking time off for vacations. I have been ready to go back to work by Thursday or Friday at the latest regardless of how I felt. My boss called to check on me tonight and made it clear I was not to come back till next week. He said "we will cover it. Get better."
Meanwhile, my wife's office is at the slowest point in the year, with her "doctor" on vacation so there are no patiences. They are riding her to get back to work. The front desk worker tested positive with no symptoms, and she is still working. There is next to zero reason for them to even be open, but they are forcing them to continue to work.

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In GA, there's that sign that says (paraphrasing) I can't sue an establishment when I enter the premises and catch Covid. I agree with that sentiment (otherwise a bunch of small businesses would be sued out of existence, or spending resources fighting threats of lawsuit).

But does that cover negligence and knowingly exposing a customer (e.g. by a front desk worker) to Covid? Or does the GA law assume the customer accepts the risk that anyone inside the establishment has Covid.

I'm thinking the latter but never really thought of "knowingly exposing".

How pro-business laws in Georgia are written, my guess is they would face no liability. Of course, if she totally refused to go to work, I think she is federally protected. There is really zero chance she would lose this job if she stayed out, but she loves her co-workers and doesn't want to pay the emotional price that would be tolled if she stayed out.

I asked a prior question why the 2nd booster hasn't yet been approved for < 50 regular folks. It doesn't have to do with further testing or data, just a disagreement internally, see below article.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/21/healt...ess/index.html

Such a damn waste ...

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...-rates/670591/

The data has been pretty clear that even the pre-Alpha vaccine provides a couple of months of sterilizing immunity against BA.4 and BA.5. And if you think that even 20% of people will take it, I would say that's 1 in 5 people that aren't passing it along or are passing it along at a much lower rate during a peak. It would make a good bridge until the Omicron vaccines in late Fall (I keep hearing October or November) and it might even dampen some of the increase that happens at the start of the school year.

But that costs money and time and resources. If the goal was just to keep people out of the hospital and you only look in isolation, maybe you can justify keeping your powder dry on this one and just hold your breath and wait 3 months. I think, at this point, anyone worried about vaccine confusion or pandemic fatigue is mostly just pissing in the wind - we're already there. Giving another option isn't going to significantly affect it - those paying attention will do what they think is best, no one is creating mandates off of this policy, and people who won't get a shot aren't suddenly going to swayed one way or another.

I think the silo'd mentality of "hey, we're just looking at the pandemic from an individual atomic point of view" has been foolish from the start. The average 40yo office worker or 25yo grocery store has a very low rate of hospitalization or death from COVID, if vaccinated, but they do interact with older, more vulnerable populations so if you can reduce their spread, you can indirectly save lives, even if we can't put it to a spreadsheet because we never created any sort of contact tracing apparatus in this country. And that's before taking into account the long term effects and reduction in long COVID.

SI

Started feeling sick last night. Ordered Covid tests today, but I also found out that a few people that were at the wedding I attended last weekend tested positive for Covid today so chances are good that's what I got.

Bring it back, Bring it back!

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/21/healt...lio/index.html

Dola: Yes I know. No need to overreact. We are going to need to wait for at least one million cases and at least a 20 year study to make sure it really is a thing.

god has given our bodies the ability to heal itself and fight diseases on it's own. Don't fear polio. It's just a construct to keep you owned by the man and corporate America!

They haven't said it, but I wonder if the polio case is in one of the orthodox Jewish communities. There's a lot of anti-vax sentiment in those communities and a lot of international travel.

Funny how when the right is talking about how 'foreigners' can't assimilate and they don't fit in, that when you ask them about orthodox Jews and the Amish they just stare at you dumbfounded.

We still have plenty of hand sanitizers and regular masks. May stock up on N95 masks (they're pretty cheap now on Amazon).

One of the points in the article kindof grinds my gears. It says case rates are down because of at home testing. Case rates have always been unreliable. From the start, we didn't have adequate testing and we've never been able to get a handle on the number of cases, especially in surges. But as long as you have a large enough sample size, case positivity has been a pretty reliable metric (in the way that polling won't catch all the cases but the numbers are pretty close even with a small sample). And case positivity is about as high as it's been during the pandemic for Harris County, running about the same as last winter (we lost our best dataset here but the CDC still maintains running tallies)

SI

Same (minus the wedding part). Haven't had Covid yet, but by late yesterday, checked off all the symptoms. Off for testing this morning.

(And like a dumbass, I'm just working from home in the meantime, because apparently even being sick doesn't stop me from checking my e-mail.)

Kentucky peaked at over 30% in mid-January and we're right now about 17%. But it feels like more people I know are getting it now than before.

A new variant causing concern, but also, random dude named it and it caught on.

It is wild to me that some random guy on Twitter decided that the BA.2.75 variant was going to be known as "Centaurus" and it completely worked. pic.twitter.com/ZLfwAVxp6g

— Ed Yong (@edyong209) July 12, 2022

At home test was negative (but the people I know who got covid from the wedding also tested negative the first time). Am going to test a few more times over the weekend to be sure, but my temp is still normal and the pulse oximeter keeps telling me 99% SpO2, so if it is Covid that vaccine and booster I took because I'm a sheep not a lion is doing its job.

Thanks for the reminder. Ordered my free 8 test kits tonight.

Haven't used the first batch yet but figured if I really need to use one, I may have to do multiple tests.

The thing about COVID is that some symptoms go away (like the congestion and runny nose for me), but others take forever to go away (the cough, fatigue and general shortness of breath, today I went to the front door, picked up a package, brought it in, and had to sit quietly for a minute till I could breathe properly again)

More info on what Biden is on.

That's a lot of pills daily. Wonder what the out-of-pocket costs are for a regular person.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/22/healt...-19/index.html

I have a friend who is a scientist who works for Pfizer. He says that there is a huge difference between the vaccine and Paxlovid in terms of production. The vaccines are not difficult/expensive to produce--they can pretty much crank them out assembly line style (Note: this isn't about how difficult/expensive they were to develop, test, etc. He's just talking about the physical act of creating doses once you have the product, which is the part of the business he is in). But Paxlovid is a very complex molecule and it is difficult to make, requires more specialized equipment, etc.

So his take was that he does not think that it will be anytime soon that Paxlovid is cheap* or just something anyone will be able to get from the local CVS without special needs.

*Cheap meaning cheap to produce. I could see various changes in the law making it cheaper for the public based in insurance mandates, govt. subsidy, etc.

Thanks. Appreciate you sharing your friend's insight.

Three covid tests done, three negatives. I managed to avoid getting covid at that wedding just to pick up the flu there or right after.

Oof, that sucks.

And finally, I went to the doctor and it's not Covid or the flu. Bronchitis (with a side of Conjunctivitis) is the final verdict. What a fun week for me.

Looks like the epidemic started in the market.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/healt...-19/index.html
I know it's not politically expedient to say it occurred naturally (and not a lab leak) so let's see what Fauci/CDC says.

The same people who understand this and still want to buy the lab leak theory, are the same ones who say gravity and evolution are still only 'theories'.

It's possible it could have been a lab leak in the same way that it's possible the Detroit Lions could win the Super Bowl this upcoming season.

Or the Cubs finally winning a World Series

Wait a minute ...

September.

I'll probably get it right away but because the prior booster saw significant decline in efficacy after 2-3 months, wonder if it'll be better to get the shot in late Oct/early Nov to better prepare for Thanksgiving & Christmas get togethers.

U.S. to begin offering updated booster shots in September

That's sooner than I thought. I'll get one as soon as I'm eligible.

If you've already gotten the 2nd booster, I guess you should have waited?

Don't think so. I've read that second booster will not preclude you from getting this 3rd one in Sept.

I might be able to get it, but I wonder if insurance will refuse to pay for it.

My guess is yes. The backlash would be significant

US and EU are getting 2 different Fall boosters based on the different BA variants. Scientists don't seem to agree here. To me, it makes more sense to go with the more recent mutation (US) vs a "largely extinct" one (EU).

third booster??? OMFG I need to collect them all!

You should be ahead of all of us on this-just imagine they are Steam badges :)

This article made we wonder if we'll see a statistically higher drop out/failure rate in colleges in the next 2-4 years. Also made me wonder about other countries too.

Big cities in China being locked down also means their kids didn't attend school and probably didn't have access to as much remote learning?

Different & non-physical impact of Long Covid.

https://apnews.com/article/covid-sci...9b854355770a1a

Meet a new board member of the Idaho Public Health Department:

Dr. Ryan Cole’s journey from Boise to Nashville to France. His new focus? Monkeypox. - Idaho Capital Sun

CDC's new COVID guidelines, basically the "we've given up" shrug emoji: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/11/healt...ate/index.html


I'm sure the folks who were disregarding the CDC's recommendations for the last 2+ years, avoiding masking and ingesting horse paste, will definitely come around and agree with them now!

SI

My favorite summary of the new guidelines "The CDC says: Spit in our mouths."

Insurance isn't picking up the tab on the boosters. The nsurance is only covering the admin fee that the pharmacy receives, and that is being reimbursed by the government.

Now some payers put restrictions in place for age and maybe for the number of doses within a given period of time. My educated guess is that most are not placing limits on obtaining a booster "too soon".

Okay, good point. Insurance isn't paying for it but the government is.

Coming to a theatre near you soon.

Unless there is a major outbreak, I think I'm going to wait till Dec to get this 3rd booster. I'm planning on overseas trip Jan/Feb so figure it'll be best to wait to 2-4 weeks before.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/18/ever...cial-says.html

Kenneth Branagh stars as Boris Johnson in the new trailer for ‘THIS ENGLAND’.

The series releases on September 21 on Sky. pic.twitter.com/OWjJbdH7H4

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) August 18, 2022

What in the World ? (No, it is not a spoof. Nice extra touch: England, huh ?).

Still possible the trailer is just weirdly done and it's more critical than "ah shucks, everybody tried hard, didn't they ? That poor Johnson fella sure had it rough", given the people involved ...

A thrift store in Indiana received these lovely horse pastes after he passed away. FOr sale cheap! And oooooo those mildewed flip flops! GIMME!

Well, we made it 2 years, 5 months without a positive test in the house (or even COVID-like symptoms, though I can't rule out anyone -- especially the kids -- having it and being asymptomatic at some point).

Wife starts feeling bad late yesterday, takes a test, is positive. Younger son & I test negative (though I definitely have some sort of cold - aches, congestion, etc...). Older son (who started high school on the 17th) tests positive.

So, I'm pretty sure it came from high school via the older son. Which doesn't really bode well for reinfections.

Oh well, we did what we could for as long as we could.

Sorry to hear that Flere. :( Hope you all have a quick recovery!

My wife and daughter are positive, but I'm not. Almost certainly they got it at the Harry Styles concert in MSG.

Well, after two and a half years it finally got me too. Not my most favorite of experiences, but haven’t had the cough so far so hoping it stays that way. Just a lot of aches, pains and fatigue.

I finally got it this summer as well. I have some issues such as severe asthma, so I was a bit worried. In the end, and probably thanks to the vaccine and booster, it was almost nothing for me - sore throat for a day or so, slightly run-down for a couple.

So my wife has had it once, my oldest daughter twice and me now once. Always weird, though, is that none of us caught it from another, despite being around each other in close contact for several days. In fact, for mine, we all rode in a car together for 8 hours during what was supposed to be my most contagious time. Nobody else got it.

Also weird, my youngest has yet to get it. She's superhuman.

Positive test for me on Saturday. It's not pleasant, but I've had cases of bronchitis and strep that were worse. The sore throat is probably the worst part.

Of course, the bigger issue is that I'm meant to fly across country to take care of my folks for a couple of weeks after my Mom's knee replacement surgery (my Dad has Alzheimer's, so can't really operate as a primary caregiver). The operation is on Wednesday, and one of my sisters can stay a few days, but she's a social worker with a special needs kid, so that's about the max she can do.

I, on the other hand, can work remotely, so was planning to take over from her and stay there two weeks. Probably have to push that out if I can't get a negative test by late Friday. Ugh.

I kept throwing positive tests long after I was over it. I think it was a good 10-12 days before I got a negative.

No more free test kits. Checked Amazon and it's $45 for 5.

Guess that's not too bad. Still have about 6 unused government ones.

I mentioned in the Kids Leaving Home Support Group thread that my daughter got it at college. She's been home since Saturday morning, went and got tested today because one professor insisted on a note, and she's still positive. But since she started symptoms on Thursday, she's good to go back to school with a mask on Wednesday. She's been isolating upstairs so I hope my "unconquered" streak continues.

That said, I saw something recently that estimated that upwards of 50%+ of people who have never had symptoms likely have had Covid, just didn't know it. So I guess I could be one of those.

I noticed all of our government ones are expired. Not sure how long they're still good after that, but, I'll try to burn through them.

It is hard to remember now, but there was a period of about three weeks or so when humanity was united against this virus. And it felt like something I’ve certainly never experienced in my lifetime. Then our media overlords told us, “Make this about red versus blue bullshit like everything else.“ And we listened and did that. But I feel there was a real missed opportunity there.

I vividly remember how friendly everybody was, in the first week when we were given the go ahead to walk around outside after that first couple weeks where everyone took the call to quarantine deathly serious. Everywhere was Mayberry for like a week.

My recollection was more of isolated cases of "Mad Max". The *majority* of people did the right thing but the loudest and most obnoxious still bellowed about having their rights infringed and did whatever they could to push the boundaries of a civil society.

Was it the second closest to peace on earth in most of our lifetimes? The first, of course, was the first couple of weeks of Pokemon Go.

SI

Yeah it was the media that did that.

Thanks, I didn't think about that. I looked and my first batch expired in July and my second batch will be expiring in Sept. Looks like they're good for 6 months only.

You must not have had to search for toilet paper.

A man can have no peace if he doesn't have a supply of toilet paper.

I still have a stash in the basement as backup.

Tested positive today with a home test. I went home early from school. 20 kids went home sick as well. We are now in yellow status.

:( take care