SARS CoV-2 coronavirus / Covid-19 (No tin foil hat silliness please)

GDaly95 said:
Could this be over soon?

Is there a chance that omicron will ultimately be the final obstacle / notable variant and that we would really move on from all of this after the next few weeks?

Really at my wits end
Click to expand...

Could be, or at least this could be the last variant where we decide restrictions are necessary. Beyond this point the virus could weaken sufficiently whilst population immunity reaches a level that means its not worthwhile closing things down anymore.

Already countries like England are practically at this point, and some like Italy are suggesting Covid may no longer require isolation if positive.

I've thought for a while this will do a Spanish flu and disappear/fade away next year.
 
just took a test and only one line (meaning negative) showing after 10 minutes, i think you need to wait 30 minutes to be sure though

i think its been 7 days since i first tested positive so mildly optimistic it stays negative

edit: ah feck it
 
Tarrou said:
just took a test and only one line (meaning negative) showing after 10 minutes, i think you need to wait 30 minutes to be sure though

i think its been 7 days since i first tested positive so mildly optimistic it stays negative

edit: ah feck it
Click to expand...
Oh dear. Still another day closer to the end though, shouldn't be long now.
 
I can see close contact isolation for fully vaccinated being scrapped entirely by spring
 
Woke up yesterday morning with a headache so done a lateral flow positive.

Just come back from doing a pcr test I feel like I have a bad cold,I'm double jabbed and boosted so hopefully it doesn't get much worse.

Cannot get lateral flows anywhere my daughter who doesn't live with us went on the government website got a code to collect some from the chemist they've got none.
 
stw2022 said:
I can see close contact isolation for fully vaccinated being scrapped entirely by spring
Click to expand...
For England, they already have. If you have no symptoms and you're fully vaccinated they just recommend you do LFTs and avoid close contact with other people.

There was a temporary rule in place when Omicron first appeared to try and limit spread but that's gone now. There may still be some rules around contacts returning from abroad that test and trace are using, but those aren't generally applicable.

I think some apps/sites still quote the old advice. This was the 23 Dec update:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coron...reatment/when-to-self-isolate-and-what-to-do/
 
Tarrou said:
just took a test and only one line (meaning negative) showing after 10 minutes, i think you need to wait 30 minutes to be sure though

i think its been 7 days since i first tested positive so mildly optimistic it stays negative

edit: ah feck it
Click to expand...


Do you still have to isolate the ten days even if it is negative?
 
Tarrou said:
just took a test and only one line (meaning negative) showing after 10 minutes, i think you need to wait 30 minutes to be sure though

i think its been 7 days since i first tested positive so mildly optimistic it stays negative

edit: ah feck it
Click to expand...
Antigens it’s 15 mins and no longer than 30 mins or it spoils

hang in there I’m sure it won’t be long
 
Fts 74 said:
Woke up yesterday morning with a headache so done a lateral flow positive.

Just come back from doing a pcr test I feel like I have a bad cold,I'm double jabbed and boosted so hopefully it doesn't get much worse.

Cannot get lateral flows anywhere my daughter who doesn't live with us went on the government website got a code to collect some from the chemist they've got none.
Click to expand...
Dunno if it’s the same where you are but the likes of Aldi sell boxes of 5 at the till if you’re stuck
 
Fts 74 said:
Woke up yesterday morning with a headache so done a lateral flow positive.

Just come back from doing a pcr test I feel like I have a bad cold,I'm double jabbed and boosted so hopefully it doesn't get much worse.

Cannot get lateral flows anywhere my daughter who doesn't live with us went on the government website got a code to collect some from the chemist they've got none.
Click to expand...

If you're in the UK the gov website is now allowing you order some for delivery. Earlier it was saying none available but is accepting orders.
 
Currently in Belgium, and I have to say that I'm very impressed at the rate in which they get your PCR results back to you. I don't know if it's very common this way across the country or even the continent, but for my arrival PCR and Day 7 test, I had both results back within 5 hours. In the UK, we were talking anywhere from 24-48, and in some cases longer. I had a friend who tested positive in October - test on Monday and result on Thursday.
 
Superunknown said:
Currently in Belgium, and I have to say that I'm very impressed at the rate in which they get your PCR results back to you. I don't know if it's very common this way across the country or even the continent, but for my arrival PCR and Day 7 test, I had both results back within 5 hours. In the UK, we were talking anywhere from 24-48, and in some cases longer. I had a friend who tested positive in October - test on Monday and result on Thursday.
Click to expand...

Id imagine it's down to the volume of testing, on the 24th Belgium tested 66k whereas the UK performed just over 500k. Volume will dictate how quick processing is.
 
I really feel like we are at the end game now. If we can quell this surge without any strict measures, and hospitals can cope through their busiest months of the year anyway, with such a transmissible variant, we surely must be in good shape. I would say 3 key questions or risks:

1. Can we actually see this wave out without measures? It’s looking positive. But of course not yet confirmed. It seems the biggest issue may no longer be NHS capacity, but rather workforce sickness overall across the board.
2. What will future variants look like? Will they significantly shift community immunity or not.
3. What long term protection do 2x doses + booster give? What will our ongoing vaccination programme look like, and how critical will vaccinations be going forward?
 
F-Red said:
Id imagine it's down to the volume of testing, on the 24th Belgium tested 66k whereas the UK performed just over 500k. Volume will dictate how quick processing is.
Click to expand...

I think a large part of it is due to them being able to analyse the samples onsite due to the labs being in the same location as the testing area. Again, I'm not sure how true this is over the wider country, but certainly in the city we're currently in. (Hasselt) So, there's no time "wasted" by transporting the samples or having to get them posted off. It's very efficient.
 
Tarrou said:
just took a test and only one line (meaning negative) showing after 10 minutes, i think you need to wait 30 minutes to be sure though

i think its been 7 days since i first tested positive so mildly optimistic it stays negative

edit: ah feck it
Click to expand...
My colleague has had back to back negatives for 2 days now after testing positive sat sun mon
 
Just reading about one of Ireland’s larger hospitals having to divert all emergency referrals to another hospital because this omicron wave has them completely slammed. That’s something that gets lost in all the good news about “milder” illness. Easy to forget that mild just means you don’t need to be admitted to hospital for oxygen. You can still feel like boiled shite. And the average punter is not good at judging severity of any illness, never mind one as scary as covid.

So even if an ED ends up only admitting 2 out of every 100 covid walk-ins, as compared to 10 out of every 100 delta patients (i.e. omicron is 80% less severe, according to my crap maths) each of those 100 patients takes exactly the same amount of time and resources to assess. And with cases numbers so crazy high at the moment it’s going to mean a ridiculous number of unwell and frightened people turning up to hospital for assessment. Which diverts resources away from all the usual, non-covid emergencies.

I’m about as positive now as I ever have been about this nightmare ending soon but I think we all need to do our bit to take the edge off this wave as much as possible and do our level best to make sure that none of us end up presenting to hospital for any reason at all over the next few weeks.
 
arnie_ni said:
Talk us through it.
Click to expand...
It was like my bed cover was a living organism but biomechanic. A blend of human organs and Hospital equipment.
It was like something from Otomo's AKIRA or Tsukamoto's Tetsuo The Iron Man.

Not going to forget that dream for a while.
 
Symptoms went downhill fast last night. Woke up with fever, aches, chills, and a killer headache. Took LFT and it's positive. Just as I was doing that my son logged into the test site and got his positive PCR result. They don't state what variant it is but most likely it's Omicron. He's feeling much better. I took some Tylenol and my headache is going away for now at least. Just waiting for the other 3 in my house to have symptoms.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Just reading about one of Ireland’s larger hospitals having to divert all emergency referrals to another hospital because this omicron wave has them completely slammed. That’s something that gets lost in all the good news about “milder” illness. Easy to forget that mild just means you don’t need to be admitted to hospital for oxygen. You can still feel like boiled shite. And the average punter is not good at judging severity of any illness, never mind one as scary as covid.

So even if an ED ends up only admitting 2 out of every 100 covid walk-ins, as compared to 10 out of every 100 delta patients (i.e. omicron is 80% less severe, according to my crap maths) each of those 100 patients takes exactly the same amount of time and resources to assess. And with cases numbers so crazy high at the moment it’s going to mean a ridiculous number of unwell and frightened people turning up to hospital for assessment. Which diverts resources away from all the usual, non-covid emergencies.

I’m about as positive now as I ever have been about this nightmare ending soon but I think we all need to do our bit to take the edge off this wave as much as possible and do our level best to make sure that none of us end up presenting to hospital for any reason at all over the next few weeks.
Click to expand...

NHS England planning for army-helped makeshift hospital tents as well in anticipation of January surge here
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/n...n-for-wave-of-omicron-covid-cases-1365680/amp
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...ingale-hospitals-battle-omicron-b1980845.html
 
Wishing anybody who's tested positive here well. Remember DO NOT ignore shortness of breath, being unable to form full sentences without getting breathless or chest pain with this thing. Seek help if so.

Also for those in UK asking about anti-virals, you are likely to be contacted if PCR positive you are coded on your GP's records as having one of the vulnerable conditions. There are dedicated regional services for monoclonal antibody or antiviral drug after a positive PCR test.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/treatments-for-coronavirus/

If you are clinically vulnerable and test positive PCR this is the letter you can expect to get after positive PCR
https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavi...tter-to-patients-new-covid-19-treatments.docx

But for others there is also the chance to enrol on the PANORAMIC trial - open to all aged over fifty and all over eighteen with certain medical conditions making them vulnerable. Its testing out molnupiravir versus placebo in the community setting. There is however a 50/50 chance of getting placebo.
https://www.panoramictrial.org/participant-information
 
oneniltothearsenal said:
A lot of companies in the US are erring on the side of wanton carelessness. Some businesses I know of are forcing people to come into work unless they are symptomatic with a fever which seems insane to me when their jobs could be 100% done working from home. What I'm hearing from one workplace, even if people are positive and symptomatic, the boss expects them to come into work which is truly fecking insane. Even here in California, the state and city officials aren't issuing the safer from home mandates they did a year ago despite skyrocketing new cases.
Click to expand...
I'm sure if we see hospitals getting full we'll see more restrictions, but there's definitely little political will in this country to save lives by closing down parts of society.

During the first wave I heard about a local restaurant that was telling staff to keep working sick, I hope they got in trouble but I don't actually know. My town still has a mask mandate indoors, though it was removed for about 2 weeks in the summer.
 
FrankDrebin said:
It was like my bed cover was a living organism but biomechanic. A blend of human organs and Hospital equipment.
It was like something from Otomo's AKIRA or Tsukamoto's Tetsuo The Iron Man.

Not going to forget that dream for a while.
Click to expand...
So less A Nightmare on Elm Street and more Pretentious Dream at the Anime Festival?
 
Wolverine said:
Wishing anybody who's tested positive here well. Remember DO NOT ignore shortness of breath, being unable to form full sentences without getting breathless or chest pain with this thing. Seek help if so.

Also for those in UK asking about anti-virals, you are likely to be contacted if PCR positive you are coded on your GP's records as having one of the vulnerable conditions. There are dedicated regional services for monoclonal antibody or antiviral drug after a positive PCR test.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/treatments-for-coronavirus/

If you are clinically vulnerable and test positive PCR this is the letter you can expect to get after positive PCR
https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavi...tter-to-patients-new-covid-19-treatments.docx

But for others there is also the chance to enrol on the PANORAMIC trial - open to all aged over fifty and all over eighteen with certain medical conditions making them vulnerable. Its testing out molnupiravir versus placebo in the community setting. There is however a 50/50 chance of getting placebo.
https://www.panoramictrial.org/participant-information
Click to expand...

Some places are anticipating it, my old man has been contacted already with a number to call if he ever does test positive and they will send the antivirals out to him in the post. He's about 2 years post discharge for NHL.
 
stw2022 said:
I can see close contact isolation for fully vaccinated being scrapped entirely by spring
Click to expand...

It will go down to 5 days soon enough so yeah after that no point really just saying 2-3 days as further isolation. A week will be minimum/maximum all in one.
 
berbatrick said:
Click to expand...




I'm quite mad about this. I'm going to be teaching in-person starting in 2 weeks, and my university has updated its quarantine guidelines to match the CDC's.

I also have to defend my thesis this semester. If I don't, I won't be allowed to continue, 7 years of work will be for nothing. I will be ready by early March probably, and the defence (to be scheduled with 5 professors in mind) has to be before April 1.

I can very easily imagine getting covid from a student, fingers crossed it's a mild case, I miss my planned date in the middle of March, and then maybe I recover quickly, maybe I can reschedule, maybe not, who knows, and April 1 is flying up all the time.
 
berbatrick said:


I'm quite mad about this. I'm going to be teaching in-person starting in 2 weeks, and my university has updated its quarantine guidelines to match the CDC's.

I also have to defend my thesis this semester. If I don't, I won't be allowed to continue, 7 years of work will be for nothing. I will be ready by early March probably, and the defence (to be scheduled with 5 professors in mind) has to be before April 1.

I can very easily imagine getting covid from a student, fingers crossed it's a mild case, I miss my planned date in the middle of March, and then maybe I recover quickly, maybe I can reschedule, maybe not, who knows, and April 1 is flying up all the time.
Click to expand...


Sounds like those 5 fewer days self isolating could potentially be a big help to you if you catch covid within a week or two of an important deadline. I would focus on that rather than whatever small difference they make to your chances of being exposed to omicron (which will be extremely high regardless)
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Sounds like those 5 fewer days self isolating could potentially be a big help to you if you catch covid within a week or two of an important deadline. I would focus on that rather than whatever small difference they make to your chances of being exposed to omicron (which will be extremely high regardless)
Click to expand...

I'm probably going to defend online, it won't make that much difference in that regard.

We've been a low-covid campus for 2 years, and I'm not happy that the CDC and omicron are teaming up to make sure the dam breaks right when I *really* need things to not get messed up. Canceled my travel last week on the same basis- no taking chances - all for nought now.
 
A visiting DJ here for our summer music festivals has ignored the required quarantine rules thinking he was negative and spent a few days going all over the place and has subsequently tested positive for the new variant. So its here a little earlier than expected, the shame is we are close to eliminating Delta. Lots of health workers are pretty angry with this guy as well as a decent chunk of the population. Our opposition parties have pushed very hard for home quarantine options, they got them and now its failed because humans arent perfect and mess up sometimes. Fingers crossed it turns out to be less llife threatening than the others and somehow we get lucky and dodge another bullet. Our luck here must be running out soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.