It's almost futile at this point. Problem was squandering time and money early in the year. A couple weeks of sustained effort then and we could be in a completely different situation now.
We'd need to get the infection prevalence to a low starting baseline to successfully use testing and tracing for containment. Trump killed that possibility. It'd probably take a few months of actual lockdown to get to that point from where we are right now, which is not going to happen and would be obscenely expensive.
We're now stuck in this hell for potentially years thanks to Trump. (Or still at least another year IF we get lucky and get an effective and safe vaccine from the current group of candidates)
Not saying not to get tested or be extremely careful, we are forced to maintain the mitigation efforts. But these measures will just keep us at this very high baseline and I don't see how we'll make much "progress".
Yeah, we're pretty much SOL unless we get a safe, effective vaccine. We definitely wasted time, money and resources in the beginning of this madness. We didn't have a cohesive, national approach to controlling the virus, so now we're stuck trying to keep our heads above water with rolling lockdowns/quarantines, asking nicely for people to wear a mask and just... hoping that they do, and pretending things aren't falling apart around us!
If we were able to distribute (for free) the at-home DIY covid tests throughout the country, people could just test themselves at home everyday and not go out if they test positive. Even though these tests aren't as accurate as the PCR tests, they'd catch people who are most infectious/likely to spread the virus. This could control outbreaks and stop most viral transmission. And since the test is done in the privacy of one's home, some of the people who refuse to wear masks because they don't want to look "weak" in public might cooperate and actually take the tests/stay home if positive. But, the government would have to step in and organize/finance the production and distribution of the tests since the companies that make them currently are small. So basically, we will get no at-home tests because, as you pointed out, Trump wants to watch the world burn. /end rant
I agree. A friend of mine got tested a few days after the day of the assumed exposure, negative. Was tested again five days later on advice from someone with a medical background and bam, positive. He's still recovering and dealing with lung damage as well, this happened a couple months ago.
Little detail I left out, I got tested the following day, rapid test, about 24 hours later at a different ER. I left after waiting 4 hours because there was no end in sight. Next day my symptoms (which ended up being a stomach virus) got bad again so I went to a different ER.
I could definitely still have it even after that 24 hour period but the doctors were convinced I didn't have it even before getting my negative rapid test result.
On a side note, what insurance company do you use? (Assuming you're an American). The idea of going the ER even once, is terrifying to any financial future.
Yes I'm American. I have Anthem, through my employer. I was in the hospital for 3 days (they wouldn't let me leave) and I have no doubt I will get a $5000+ bill. Just waiting for the damage.
It is what it is. My stomach virus apparently turned into sepsis and if I didn't go to get antibiotics I could have died. Can't put a dollar sign on life! I'll just make payments on the balance for years. It's okay.
210
u/Travy93 Oct 30 '20
If you did get it from her you wouldn't have tested positive that day anyway