Agreed. However, I was speculating that in particular it might be possible for a person with a case so mild (from being vaccinated or otherwise) that by the time they got tested they’d test negative, to still at some point be able to spread to a vulnerable person.
On a related note: It was at least for me and my daughter today, far more difficult to get tested for COVID than it was last fall. (The backdrop is that she’s brought home from school (almost certainly) some sort of cold-like illness with a strong fatigue component, mild fever, nasal congestion, and some chest congestion / coughing. I started showing similar but weaker symptoms ~3 days days later. My wife’s symptoms are weakest of all, except she seems to have the biggest fatigue “whack”.)
Starting with trying to find a testing site that didn’t require a referral (as from a PCP) and ending with me never getting tested, due to some glitch on the computer no one could explain or correct, PLUS no one at the pharmacy involved knew where the nearest FedEx drop was (as we had to send in the sample ourselves)... At least the shipping label was preprinted. But, the whole experience was a great testimonial on how the bean counters and bureaucrats (private employees tho’ they may be) can gum things up. It was way too time consuming, irritating, frustrating, and ultimately in my case, ineffective. Even the appointment webpages bogged down my computer far more than any other website I’ve been on for some time. (It was barely useable, and that was after I’d exited all browsing, cleared all browsing history, killed all other apps, and went back to the signup page... As soon as I completed (I thought!) the signups and got off that God-forsaken website and re-cleared my browsing history, the computer was back to it’s normal self.
If this crud is anywhere near typical, I could easily see it reducing testing by 50%, even as actual infections look like UK’s.
Another problem is that need for a referral from a PCP. Do these test sites’ management not know how hard it is to get a quick reply from a PCP sometimes, in the midst of all this?
Also, this site has one self-test. I’ll bet a LOT of people screw that up.
I’m thinking of driving to an alternate site about 45 minutes away, tomorrow. They do the saliva test and get results to the “patient” back in 36-48 hours. But, they are the only such site (of many COVID-19 testing locations) within an hour of me.
:-(
How are you and the family feeling today?
Even without a test confirmation, it is wise to start immediately throwing the kitchen sink at any potential COVID infection, to minimize the risks.
Vitamin D and Zinc, etc. I saw a good study that aspirin moderated the negative outcomes from COVID. Personally, I keep a half dozen liters of tonic water in stock, in case I feel symptoms. A liter has about the equivalent zinc ionophore activity as a Hydroxychloroquine tablet. Others prefer the over the counter supplement Quercetin to shuttle the zinc into the cells.
Getting good sleep is powerful for recovery, so doctors gave President Trump a large 10 mg. dose of melatonin (he is a big man) just before bed, when he was infected. They also gave him the over the counter drug famotidine (Pepcid), which moderates some of the symptoms of COVID.
The worse the case is, the more likely people are to suffer damages short of death, like lung scarring or long term fatigue. So do everything you can to keep the infection as much at bay as possible, until the immune system can shake it off.