Fortunately, both full vaccination and prior infection give decent protection against serious illness. (She says, feeling a scratchy throat and knowing it’s likely psychosomatic…)
2 Likes
I just started a thread for sharing when and where you find home test kits available online. Right now Walmart has the Binax Now kits ready to ship.
1 Like
I’m curious how many tests BinaxNOW destroyed. If they hadn’t done that, would we have already depleted the tests and be exactly where we are now, with a few more tests having been available in December?
Or would we not have a shortage now?
I am in line for a “rapid PCR” test. We’ll see how rapid. Gal on Nextdoor said 15 hours. Hoping that’s accurate.
I went in for a test (not rapid, though I was notified about two hours after that someone with a computer has my sample) yesterday.
It was Local School District Employee Day (wife works for it) at this site, so far more non-appointment folks than usual. This site had run out of test kits earlier in the day, but got more before we got there. It was over an hour wait but worth it.
Should get the result tomorrow, as our weekend getaway is back on for now, pending our results.
Who does not need to quarantine
If you came into close contact with someone with COVID-19 and you are in one of the following groups, you do not need to quarantine.
- You are ages 18 or older and have received all recommended vaccine doses, including boosters and additional primary shots for some immunocompromised people.
- You are ages 5-17 years and completed the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines.
- You had confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days (you tested positive using a viral test).
You should wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days from the date of your last close contact with someone with COVID-19 (the date of last close contact is considered day 0). Get tested at least 5 days after you last had close contact with someone with COVID-19.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html
Or, how about if they had neither destroyed their stock nor laid off half their staff?
1 Like
Saw this in the WSJ:
Source (if you have a subscription): https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-omicron-cases-surge-mild-11641424050
1 Like
Update:
Relative who tested “positive” on the sample collected 8 days in the future with with wrong DOB attached to the results has now retested. PCR because after a maybe-positive result the accuracy seemed particularly important. Awaiting results.
Another close contact of that relative (shared a meal Monday, unmasked in the same room for an hour or so on Tuesday afternoon) opted for two antigen tests and both came back negative.
I opted for the more-accurate PCR test.
Relative and I are now waiting. Other close contact is believing the negative results and carrying on as usual, while wearing a mask.
I’m not sure I’d say “more accurate.” PCR tests have higher sensitivity but lower specificity, because they have very few false negatives (unlike at-home antigen tests) but can continue to come back positive long after someone was actually sick and recovered.
1 Like
This really isn’t true, and people should stop thinking this way.
PCR is a diagnostic test. It’s good to tell you that you had COVID virus in your body a couple of days ago. It’s primary purpose is to document that you had COVID for recordkeeping or treatment purposes.
The RA tests are an operational test. They tell you if you are capable of spreading COVID right now. If you have a small viral load that isn’t contagious but will be in 12 hours, you are going to test negative right now. RA test results are very temporary — they tell you NOW if you are capable of infecting others.
Both tests have very few false negatives for their stated goals.
1 Like
If you haven’t gotten sick yet, and wonder if you might have been exposed, PCR will pick up the virus before you have a large viral load. So that’s potentially useful.
If you have a normal immune system that’s seen the virus before, and you have access to ample rapid tests, the sensitivity may be overkill for your needs, of course.
Yes, for immunocompromised people with known exposure, PCR is probably preferable to get treatment early. But for the majority of people, it’s just not worth doing to check if you have it. It’s basically there to get it on the record in case it goes badly and you need to file a disability claim from long COVID or you need proof to be out of work.
Especially during a wave, an otherwise healthy asymptomatic person isn’t getting treatment anyway,
1 Like
Yeah, I learned on this site earlier that they can stay positive for a long time after having recovered from Covid. But since neither of us have reason to believe that we’ve had Covid previously it seems reasonable enough to assume that a positive result is from the recent past.
Yes, this was my thinking. If PCR is negative then I can be pretty sure that I don’t have Covid. If Relative’s is negative then earlier positive test was probably a lab screwup.
As opposed to being pretty sure that we’re not contagious right now but easily might be tomorrow. That seems less useful at the moment.
I have used antigen tests in the past and will probably use them again.
Yes, I almost added this to my post: if you have no reason to believe you had the virus in the last 90 days, then the PCR test’s sensitivity is not a problem for you.
1 Like
Yeah, I had a negative antigen test before Christmas. Not sure about Relative.
And I tested negative right before Thanksgiving too, as did Relative.
At-home RA tests can have false negatives, but a lot of them are due to user error. Most of the people reading this thread wouldn’t have to worry about that.
I’ve heard RA tests, even the at-home ones, have very few false positives. I think the rate of true false positives for PCR is also quite low, but the “functional false positives” (detects SARS-Cov2 but it’s not actually infectious) that we’ve been discussing are more common.
1 Like
I’m more worried about a false negative where I’m not contagious today but will be tomorrow or the next day. Seemed like the PCR test was the one to be sure of avoiding that outcome.
Yeah, I think PCR test can pick that up sooner if you’re in the early stages. It all sort of depends on when you need to know you’re not contagious and how long you have to wait for the test results.
I like how Ms Hawk summed up the purposes of the tests (post #811), but I thought, like you, that PCR could detect small amounts of virus also in the initial stages of viral replication.