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

Solius

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I feel like I’m having the best naps with Covid. I usually can’t nap in the day time.
 

hmchan

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Among the 1486 vaccinated COVID deaths in Hong Kong, 87% of them took CoronaVac, 12% of them took Pfizer. An effective vaccine matters.
 

2cents

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My wife is still testing positive on an antigen test eight days after her first positive result. She hasn’t had any symptoms for about four days now. I’m trying to find the correct guidelines in Ireland - HSE says only seven days isolation is required after a positive test but doesn’t state what to do if you’re still testing positive after those seven days. Anyone here know what the procedure should be?
 

crappycraperson

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Among the 1486 vaccinated COVID deaths in Hong Kong, 87% of them took CoronaVac, 12% of them took Pfizer. An effective vaccine matters.
Stats need context of proportion of the population that took respective vaccines. For example, if ~ 80% in HK took CoronaVac only then effectiveness of both vaccine is similar.
 

golden_blunder

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My wife is still testing positive on an antigen test eight days after her first positive result. She hasn’t had any symptoms for about four days now. I’m trying to find the correct guidelines in Ireland - HSE says only seven days isolation is required after a positive test but doesn’t state what to do if you’re still testing positive after those seven days. Anyone here know what the procedure should be?
Not 100% sure but I think I read that you should still isolate until you return 4(?) negative tests on different days
 

Pogue Mahone

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My wife is still testing positive on an antigen test eight days after her first positive result. She hasn’t had any symptoms for about four days now. I’m trying to find the correct guidelines in Ireland - HSE says only seven days isolation is required after a positive test but doesn’t state what to do if you’re still testing positive after those seven days. Anyone here know what the procedure should be?
Official guidance is don’t test! 7 days isolation and you’re done. No test before or after (unless >55 or vulnerable)
 

Skills

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Official guidance is don’t test! 7 days isolation and you’re done. No test before or after (unless >55 or vulnerable)
If you're still testing positive on a LFT are you still infectious though?

I stopped testing positive on my LFT after 5 days
 

mitChley

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I feel like I’m having the best naps with Covid. I usually can’t nap in the day time.
I'm having some wild dreams, one where I turned into a dinosaur and one where my partner painted the front of my mountain bike blue.
 

jojojo

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Among the 1486 vaccinated COVID deaths in Hong Kong, 87% of them took CoronaVac, 12% of them took Pfizer. An effective vaccine matters.
It will be a factor, but overwhelmingly for HK it's failure to vaccinate enough of the highest risk groups that is making omicron hit so hard. In particular it's the low vaccination rates amongst the over 80s that are disturbing. I see that takeup in the higher age groups is starting to rise now - obviously that has come too late for thousands of people in HK but maybe it will have an impact in China.

The figures coming out of HK do seem to confirm that for the unvaxxed over 80s, Omicron severity is similar to what was seen in the rest of the world in the first wave, with the original Wuhan virus. The vaxxed are safer, even if the vax was CoronaVac (Sinovac) though Pfizer is more protective again.

 
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hmchan

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It will be a factor, but overwhelmingly for HK it's failure to vaccinate enough of the highest risk groups that is making omicron hit so hard. In particular it's the low vaccination rates amongst the over 80s that are disturbing. I see that takeup in the higher age groups is starting to rise now - obviously that has come too late for thousands of people in HK but maybe it will have an impact in China.

The figures coming out of HK do seem to confirm that for the unvaxxed over 80s, Omicron severity is similar to what was seen in the rest of the world in the first wave, with the original Wuhan virus. The vaxxed are safer, even if the vax was CoronaVac (Sinovac) though Pfizer is more protective again.

Like I've said before, the local uneducated elderly is very resistant to vaccination. There's nothing much the government could do to raise vaccination rates other than mandatory vaccination, which is unethical in my opinion. What it could do, however, is to ensure every vaccinated person has been given the maximum protection. This seems a greater failure to me.

Yes the 5th wave has hit Hong Kong hard, but many citizens would rather be hit once and for all than the endless, strict "dynamic zero-COVID strategy". It is estimated that half of the population has been infected and hopefully the social distancing measures can be loosened soon.
 

Solius

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I feel mostly fine except being a bit heady with a dry cough, but every time I go upstairs I feel absolutely knackered. I start breathing like I've just done a light jog.
 

Wolverine

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Like I've said before, the local uneducated elderly is very resistant to vaccination. There's nothing much the government could do to raise vaccination rates other than mandatory vaccination, which is unethical in my opinion. What it could do, however, is to ensure every vaccinated person has been given the maximum protection. This seems a greater failure to me.

Yes the 5th wave has hit Hong Kong hard, but many citizens would rather be hit once and for all than the endless, strict "dynamic zero-COVID strategy". It is estimated that half of the population has been infected and hopefully the social distancing measures can be loosened soon.
I lived in Hong Kong during SARS.
I'm not surprised given population density sadly of what's happening. I remember compliance to masks being very high and I can't wrap my head around population being vaccine hesitant unless there is anti-china sentiment/suspicion in the mix. Really sad though what's happening given the political turmoil there too. I think population immunity will help for a bit but it wears off soon. Whether breakthrough/re-infections will be less severe remains to be seen.
 

hmchan

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I lived in Hong Kong during SARS.
I'm not surprised given population density sadly of what's happening. I remember compliance to masks being very high and I can't wrap my head around population being vaccine hesitant unless there is anti-china sentiment/suspicion in the mix. Really sad though what's happening given the political turmoil there too. I think population immunity will help for a bit but it wears off soon. Whether breakthrough/re-infections will be less severe remains to be seen.
I have explained the situation a year ago. The vaccine hesitancy indeed originates from anti-US sentiment from the pro-China campaign.

The political sitiation here has been very tense over the past two years, and Pfizer and CoronaVac somehow represent the US and China respectively.

When Pfizer was approved in the west, the pro-China campaign (the government included) kept defaming its safety and exaggerating its side effects (e.g. the Norway incident). This was because CoronaVac lacked data and showed poor efficacy, and this was their way to lure people to take the CoronaVac.

Unfortunately, this made people become overly worried about the adverse effects and things didn't go as they planned. Instead of taking the CoronaVac, people decide not to take any vaccine. As a healthcare professional I really hate to see this, but there's nothing I can do and this is the reality.
 

antsmithmk

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Absolutely shattered here. Just woken up and feel like I could sleep all day though not sure that I should.

7 days of this yeah?
I'm the same today. Left the house once for a short walk round our garden and been horizontal the rest of the day.
 

Traub

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How are the case numbers looking in London, are they completely out of control? I may need to be in London for work at the beginning of April, so I'm getting stressed. Shoutout to @Pogue Mahone who told me to get my booster ASAP, looks like I may need it.
 

Solius

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Purely anecdotal but I know more people that are getting it now than in any stage of the pandemic so far. Nobody seriously sick though thankfully.
I told work I had Covid and both my managers were like "yeah we've got it too".
 

jojojo

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How are the case numbers looking in London, are they completely out of control? I may need to be in London for work at the beginning of April, so I'm getting stressed. Shoutout to @Pogue Mahone who told me to get my booster ASAP, looks like I may need it.
Currently about 1:20 people in London would test positive for covid using a PCR test, maybe half of those are currently infectious. Of course, many of them will realise that they've got it and will be staying home and away from other people. That's still a lot of infectious people wandering around though.

Out of control? I don't know how to answer that. The UK is more or less only looking at hospitalisations and deaths right now, and while neither of those are great, they're not outside the "prepared for/expected" range.

The boosters are doing their jobs. If you're under 70 and don't have a serious underlying condition then your chances of being hospitalised are very low once vaccinated, and extremely low after a booster. If you're worried about it interfering with your work and meaning you get stuck in a hotel room, sleeping yourself better - yep, it could, and the same will be true of the people you're working with.

You can protect yourself further by wearing a N95/FFP2 mask, they do work. But you will need to wear it consistently - which will mean wearing it at work, avoiding eating out in crowded indoor spaces etc. Omicron is hard to dodge if it's in the office or at the dining table with you.
 

Andy_Cole

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Whole family has had it over the last week. I’ve not tested as we’ve ran out of tests and feel fine. Wife tested positive and my son negative. Spent the whole time holding the fort and taking care of my wife and kids. It’s hard but I’m managing. My son was bad one night last week but fine otherwise. Wife was bed ridden for a few days. To be honest they’ve all just been poorly with a covid stamp. No big deal.

We all just need to live with it now.
 

mitChley

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Gah, want this bloody faint line to disappear now! I'm on day 7, not had any symptoms since about day 4/5 but each morning do the test then a faint line appears after 2 or 3 minutes. I want out of my covid jail! The weather is nice!
 

Traub

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Currently about 1:20 people in London would test positive for covid using a PCR test, maybe half of them are currently infectious. Of course, many of them will realise that they've got it and will be staying home and away from other people. That's still a lot of infectious people wandering around though.

Out of control? I don't know how to answer that. The UK is more or less only looking at hospitalisations and deaths right now, and while neither of those are great, they're not outside the "prepared for/expected" range.

The boosters are doing their jobs. If you're under 70 and don't have a serious underlying condition then your chances of being hospitalised are very low once vaccinated, and extremely low after a booster. If you're worried about it interfering with your work and meaning you get stuck in a hotel room, sleeping yourself better - yep, it could, and the same will be true of the people you're working with.

You can protect yourself further by wearing a N95/FFP2 mask, they do work. But you will need to wear it consistently - which will mean wearing it at work, avoiding eating out in crowded indoor spaces etc. Omicron is hard to dodge if it's in the office or at the dining table with you.
Thanks this helps a lot. I just got my Pfizer booster (had 2 x J&J before), and I generally wear a KN95 when I go out. Do you think a 3-layer surgical mask at my office desk would be fine?
 

Pogue Mahone

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Gah, want this bloody faint line to disappear now! I'm on day 7, not had any symptoms since about day 4/5 but each morning do the test then a faint line appears after 2 or 3 minutes. I want out of my covid jail! The weather is nice!
Get out and go for a walk. Wear an FFP2 mask and the chance of infecting anyone else is basically zero. The fresh air, sunshine and (light) exercise will probably help you get better quicker.

Probably shouldn’t spend an evening in the pub…
 

Solius

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Gah, want this bloody faint line to disappear now! I'm on day 7, not had any symptoms since about day 4/5 but each morning do the test then a faint line appears after 2 or 3 minutes. I want out of my covid jail! The weather is nice!
Feels like March 2020 all over again. Just when the weather turns nice we can't go anywhere.
 

jojojo

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Thanks this helps a lot. I just got my Pfizer booster (had 2 x J&J before), and I generally wear a KN95 when I go out. Do you think a 3-layer surgical mask at my office desk would be fine?
The surgical mask is unlikely to do much. They only have a significant impact in "everyone wearing" spaces and most London offices won't be. It's hard to answer though - your mask might encourage others to wear one and it might encourage others to maintain social distancing.

So, hmmm, dunno. Personally I think with Omicron anything other than a KN95 is pretty irrelevant in terms of avoiding infection - in London and most Western European cities. Other people may read the research differently.
 

F-Red

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Out of control? I don't know how to answer that. The UK is more or less only looking at hospitalisations and deaths right now, and while neither of those are great, they're not outside the "prepared for/expected" range.
Have you seen any current data on the hospitalisations in terms of the incidental covid and admitted for covid? I imagine general hospital admissions for covid vs icu admissions for covid would show a stark difference at the moment. Javid yesterday was commenting some numbers but I don't trust the man as far as I could throw him.
 

Traub

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The surgical mask is unlikely to do much. They only have a significant impact in "everyone wearing" spaces and most London offices won't be. It's hard to answer though - your mask might encourage others to wear one and it might encourage others to maintain social distancing.

So, hmmm, dunno. Personally I think with Omicron anything other than a KN95 is pretty irrelevant in terms of avoiding infection - in London and most Western European cities. Other people may read the research differently.
That makes sense. I will probably just wear the KN95 in the office - I'll just have to make an excuse due to the inevitable peer pressure :lol:
What are the isolation rules in the UK if you do test positive?
 

jojojo

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Have you seen any current data on the hospitalisations in terms of the incidental covid and admitted for covid? I imagine general hospital admissions for covid vs icu admissions for covid would show a stark difference at the moment. Javid yesterday was commenting some numbers but I don't trust the man as far as I could throw him.
Around 50% of the covid admissions/covid beds are not being treated "primarily" for covid. That can be a bit misleading, some are admitted with strokes for example that were triggered by covid infection, or a fractured hip because a cough or lightheadedness caused a fall, others are admitted with conditions that become more dangerous because of covid. Even so, the general picture is that there are a lot of people who "just happen to have" covid and that ICU covid numbers are staying low.

The other change is that we're seeing lots of "hospital acquired" covid. About 25% of covid admissions are people who are already in hospital being transferred from standard wards to covid positive areas. Basically they count anyone who starts testing positive after 7 days in hospital as hospital acquired - so if anything that number could be even higher, 2/3 days infected to positive is common with omicron. That hospital acquired stat was running at about 5% pre-omicron, but it's not just omicron's impact doing that - from what I've seen, hospital visiting is returning to something more like normal now, so I suspect there's a fair bit of "visitor introduced" infection in there rather than people catching it from staff or other patients.


 

CassiusClaymore

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I told work I had Covid and both my managers were like "yeah we've got it too".
Same. My boss came down with it the day before me. We both work online.

Headaches not so bad now, it's just the fatigue. Really have to drag myself out of bed and feel like I could sleep in all day but not sure I should.
 

Solius

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Same. My boss came down with it the day before me. We both work online.

Headaches not so bad now, it's just the fatigue. Really have to drag myself out of bed and feel like I could sleep in all day but not sure I should.
Worst bit for me has been my sinuses. You know when your nose feels so clear that it almost hurts? Feels like that all up around my eyes and head so I've struggled to really work or play games when I want to relax. I can't really do anything at the moment :lol:
 

CassiusClaymore

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Worst bit for me has been my sinuses. You know when your nose feels so clear that it almost hurts? Feels like that all up around my eyes and head so I've struggled to really work or play games when I want to relax. I can't really do anything at the moment :lol:
Yeah I had that for a couple of days but nothing now. Same days I had a cough and my nose would start randomly running. I would still describe it as a mild version of the flu, which I've had twice in my life but no night sweats and fever with this. You can definitely tell it's different though because the breathing thing like you said is totally new. I keep getting chest pain intermittently and constantly feel the need to take really deep breaths. Head is constantly foggy.
 

Solius

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Yeah I had that for a couple of days but nothing now. Same days I had a cough and my nose would start randomly running. I would still describe it as a mild version of the flu, which I've had twice in my life but no night sweats and fever with this. You can definitely tell it's different though because the breathing thing like you said is totally new. I keep getting chest pain intermittently and constantly feel the need to take really deep breaths. Head is constantly foggy.
Yeah it's definitely a weird one. I have had symptoms come and go in a matter of hours.

Got a sudden sharp burst of pain down the right side of my stomach earlier but at this point I can't tell what is Covid and what isn't.
 

jojojo

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Same. My boss came down with it the day before me. We both work online.

Headaches not so bad now, it's just the fatigue. Really have to drag myself out of bed and feel like I could sleep in all day but not sure I should.
Simple answer is "you should" - there's no advantage to pushing yourself at this stage. That said, bed may not be the best place if you've got a comfy sofa near the kitchen. It's important to keep your fluid intake up and to eat something when you can - dehydration is one of the things that puts people in hospital.
 
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Solius

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Tested again today and the line is incredibly faint. Hopefully gone by tomorrow.