Neverending Covid-19 Coronavirus

Indymisanthrope said:
Local news just published a story estimating that between 10-12% of all Indiana residents (roughly 675k-800k) has an active COVID infection right now.

That number is staggering. I'm struggling to wrap my head around it.

www.wfyi.org

COVID-19 hospitalizations rise as an estimated 1 in 10 Hoosiers has active infection

Indiana's COVID-19 hospital census surpassed 3,000 for the first time in 2021. And hospitals are stretched ahead of the holidays.
www.wfyi.org
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That fun, considering I just visited Valparaiso, Indiana for 5 days last week.
 
Indymisanthrope said:
Only five days? But how did you fit all of Valpo's sights and activities into a single week?!
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I don't know, I quite like Valparaiso now. Downtown is pretty nice, full of great restaurants and such. They built an ice skating rink, have a lot of live music outside (not in 35 degree weather, obviously) and inside. It's a pretty thriving small city now, since they have the university and a lot of money moving there. I believe the south shore is going to connect soon.
 
We had dodged it but COVID finally hit home. My GFs coworker got it, confirmed this morning, grabbed rapid tests and she is positive and not having a good time with it. I’m negative for now and on the couch. Luckily she is vaccinated but both our boosters were scheduled for tomorrow so it’s a down point, it’s scary stuff.

As an entirely unrelated aside, the corporate desire to force everyone back into closed office environments can go yeet itself.
 
I don't have Covid, but I'm going to be traveling to see my parents for Christmas and think I should probably take a test before doing so just to be extra safe. There seems to be several different take home tests that you can buy from various drug stores and it's not clear which one is the best/most reliable. Does anyone have some advice on which is the best? which that they have used successfully in the past? I am fearful of things in my nose and I've never been tested for Covid at all over the past 2 years so if it's less invasive that would be a bonus.
 
wokeupnew said:
I don't have Covid, but I'm going to be traveling to see my parents for Christmas and think I should probably take a test before doing so just to be extra safe. There seems to be several different take home tests that you can buy from various drug stores and it's not clear which one is the best/most reliable. Does anyone have some advice on which is the best? which that they have used successfully in the past? I am fearful of things in my nose and I've never been tested for Covid at all over the past 2 years so if it's less invasive that would be a bonus.
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I use the Abbot BinaxNOW. It's super easy. I know our pediatrician uses Abbot tests (not sure if it's exactly the same one) so it must be a somewhat reputable brand in the medical field. They're also the cheapest ones (usually $14 for 2 tests). You also don't have to go very deep.
 
BazookaTooth said:
There are tests that you can use in your mouth.
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Interesting! I will check out some options.
dbarila said:
I use the Abbot BinaxNOW. It's super easy. I know our pediatrician uses Abbot tests (not sure if it's exactly the same one) so it must be a somewhat reputable brand in the medical field. They're also the cheapest ones (usually $14 for 2 tests). You also don't have to go very deep.
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thanks!
 
Indymisanthrope said:
I’m teasing, it’s a perfectly nice town. A college roommate of mine was from there, and there used to be a girl who would’ve been trouble if she’d lived any closer…

…anyway, what brings you that way?
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My brother moved to Valpo recently after a divorce, so I stayed with him for a few days. I was actually born there, and my parents live in the area (thankfully they moved out of Portage). Lots of friends up that way, since that's where I lived for most of my life.

Wish I would've had time for Chicago on this trip, lots of friends in the city I haven't seen in a while.
 
My wife has COVID. She flew to DC for a company holiday part on Tuesday. Everyone who attended had to be vaccinated and take an antigen prior to the party. She came home on Thursday and Friday night developed flu-like symptoms (headache, sore throat, sinus pressure). She tested negative via antigen on Friday night and again on Saturday morning, but took a PCR on Saturday to be safe.

I, stupidly, thought she was being paranoid (we're both fully vaccinated and boosted), but it came back positive. So, she has to isolate for 10-days, and my daughters (who will be considered fully vaccinated tomorrow) are required to quarantine for 5 before they can test out. And I'm sitting here carefully overthinking every scratch in my throat or runny nose!

We were supposed to travel to my in-laws for Christmas, and had most of the presents sent there for Christmas. My kids are handling it surprisingly well... but what a mess.

Mask up and be careful out there. Assuming this is omicron, it's not joke (Contagion-wise, anyway. She's already feeling much better than Friday/Saturday).
 
Back to relatively serious restrictions to limit contacts over here. Omicron is beating daily records, so it was to be expected.
 
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3 weeks ago: 1st Omicron case identified in my province.

Today: 5000+ cases (a record), of which 80% are confirmed as Omicron by screening.

I never imagined it would take hold so fast. Crazy.
 
nolalady said:
The r on this thing…

They are saying it is as contagious as measles.
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I've heard as high 10 going around (which would be on par with Measles). The official word here is 6-ish (but that's in a population with greater than 80% vaccination and although it's not great, there is some efficacy remaining with a double dose of vaccine).
 
Turbo said:
I've heard as high 10 going around (which would be on par with Measles). The official word here is 6-ish (but that's in a population with greater than 80% vaccination and although it's not great, there is some efficacy remaining with a double dose of vaccine).
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So I looked up our government sites and with all the restrictions and vaccination, the Rt in Quebec and Ontario sits above 3 for Omicron. It's at 0.8 for Delta so Delta should be getting out-competed in no time. I don't think OG, Alpha or Delta ever went above 1.5 since the first weeks of the pandemic when OG was over 2 before any measures were put in place.

Hopefully, the new restrictions put in place late last week and the school closures as of today start making a difference soon.

Looks like another cocooning Christmas over here. Stocked up for a little home party. We got a tiny tree that we should decorate whenever my wife can take a break (her clinic is still busy as hell and she joined the vaccination booster push). I need to talk to my sister and our folks to see if they want to play online Codenames over Zoom like last year. Feels weird doing this all over again. It's last minute, but it's like I already know what to do.
 
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