Why are people still testing for COVID

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid is lethal for some people, that's why. Even if it's not you, it could be a loved one or a stranger out there you'd infect.

But it would be Ok to infect them with something other than covid?

With a cold or the flu, years of epidemiology has shown that once you are 24 hours fever free and symptoms are improving, you are not contagious.

With covid, we know that is not exactly true (despite what the CDC states). So I prefer to test, know what we have, and if it's covid, I will avoid infecting others (even if I am feeling better, if I still test positive I know I'm contagious)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The flu, food poisoning, and countless other ailments that are usually mild can be fatal for some people, but we don't test for them or require masks or isolation or other extreme measures. Covid still has the boogeyman effect for many people even though it's no more or less dangerous now than many other illnesses.

We encourage the elderly and vulnerable to get their yearly flu shot and to get vaxed for pneumonia. Also, covid is more dangerous than the flu or a cold. And food poisoning---well I try to avoid eating at places with terrible food ratings, if they recently had an incident or more importantly, if I notice food is undercooked, I don't eat it and I leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The flu, food poisoning, and countless other ailments that are usually mild can be fatal for some people, but we don't test for them or require masks or isolation or other extreme measures. Covid still has the boogeyman effect for many people even though it's no more or less dangerous now than many other illnesses.

If I could test for norovirus vs. food poisoning if my kids have messy stomach issues, I definitely would, because that would impact how we manage treatment and isolation. If it's not contagious I'm not going to worry about spread. If it's highly contagious I'm going to be very careful about keeping the sick kid away from the others. Not sure why this is hard to understand.

+1

We use Lucria to test, if the RATs are negative. It has told us twice that a household member has the flu (not covid) and means we can call doctor and get tamiflu, all without needing to go in and possibly infect others. Flu A knocked spouse out for 5 days this winter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The flu, food poisoning, and countless other ailments that are usually mild can be fatal for some people, but we don't test for them or require masks or isolation or other extreme measures. Covid still has the boogeyman effect for many people even though it's no more or less dangerous now than many other illnesses.

Yeah, staying home when you're sick is a good policy all around, but instead of that being The Way here, we have "it's just a cold" mentality as the norm.

Respect for others isn't 'murican, I guess.

Also? Masks aren't an "extreme measure". Other cultures used them pre-pandemic for colds/flu, etc. when they needed to be out. It's only challenging for social-responsibility-challenged people/places.

Yup, masking is not an "extreme measure". We typically mask when out, if possible. I've been to many indoor sporting events, indoor concerts and many international vacations. Still "living life", just without getting sick. I take risks and dine indoors, but figure it's easy to mask for other things and stay healthy.

I also avoid going out when I'm sick, and if I must, I wear a quality mask. At this point, I figure majority are not masking so if I need to pick up something at the pharmacy, I'm masking and doing it while ill if needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Social responsibility- consideration for others
2. Option of paxlovid
3. Accurate medical records

At-home tests don't create medical records.

Not that there's any benefit to keeping a formal record of infections. That's just weird.

So you message your doctor in the portal and tell them you have covid. Or you call. Quite simple. As someone with autoimmune issues, I prefer to keep my medical records up to date. Not that difficult to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand about contagious diseases but it is also a major impact to isolate yourself from your life for 5-10 days. This can ruin a vacation, a big event like a wedding, a school or work event, etc. If we go crazy with this and then have everyone who may have possibly come in contact with that person also isolate for 5-10 days it shuts down society again. I feel that those impacts are far greater than having a respiratory infection for a couple of days.

The way to avoid having society shutdown again is to know whether you have a highly communicable respiratory disease spread via aerosols and stay home/isolate. The way you know that is by testing.

Shocking, that those who complained about "shut downs" don't seem to understand simple science and try to not infect others. It's basic empathy as well. I don't want to give others a simple, basic cold let alone covid or the flu or RSV or anything else contagious
So we stay home when sick. We isolate within the house, so we can avoid spreading it to others. Nothing worse than the entire house having covid, including the kids, which means you must care for others while you are really sick. If we must go out, we try to do curbside pickup, but wear a high quality mask if entering a store.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Social responsibility- consideration for others
2. Option of paxlovid
3. Accurate medical records

At-home tests don't create medical records.

Not that there's any benefit to keeping a formal record of infections. That's just weird.

So you message your doctor in the portal and tell them you have covid. Or you call. Quite simple. As someone with autoimmune issues, I prefer to keep my medical records up to date. Not that difficult to do.

What do you think they'd ever do with that? Particularly beyond what would be done compared to them just asking you verbally in the future?

Some people seem to want to try make a case for disability, but that's not going to be a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I probably won't go visit my elderly parents if I have Covid. I had it in the past and it presents like a really mild cold for me, so it's not obvious that it's COVID.

Is that a good enough reason for you, OP?

I could easily think of at least 10 different reasons why someone would want to test. Why can't you?

You might want to work on you post- pandemic anxiety and lack of empathy.

I agree. You seem to lack empathy and any ability to come up with reasons why people would want to test.

I’m not even sure how that is possible. I also don’t understand how you can’t fathom that COVID is a serious life-threatening issue for some people.

So are the flu and RSV.

It your covid test comes back negative, do you get a full workup for other potential infections?

I'm the original PP. I've never had a case of flu that I would mistake for a mild cold. I know I'm sick when I have the flu.

That's not the case for me with Covid. I’ve
only had a really mild, mild case. What is so hard for you to understand?

How would you know? You presumably weren't running to the doctor and demanding a flu test every time you had mild cold-like symptoms. The vast majority of influenza cases are not identified/confirmed.

What's it to you?

Do you really care about my parents? They're old. I get that you think the old and ill messed up your life and public policy should no longer consider their well being.

I've not yet given them the flu. I don't want to start with covid. That's me living my life and not feeling like I need to explain to you since you're so dense about how someone could think differently than you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just had it and tested. I wanted to take paxlovid if positive. I was quite ill and had strange, worrying symptoms (not cold symptoms). Knowing it was Covid I thought, ok--Covid is weird. But if I had been negative I would have wanted to seek medical care in case they were symptoms of Lyme disease or something like that.

As someone who is literally in bed right now knocked out with this variant of Covid, this. I tested to get paxlovid, and should be on my feet sooner back to working even if isolating. I get tested for strep or UTIs to determine if I need antibiotics—mentally, I see them the same way.

I don’t test unless I have an exposure or feel terrible.

This variant is awful. We got it in the west coast after travel. I hope you feel better.

I’m off paxolovid and doing better but full recovery has taken longer than I expected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The same reason they get flu tests. To know what they are dealing with and how best to treat it.

The vast majority of people don't seek medical attention for suspected flu cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pre Vax I was very adament about social distancing, masking, testing etc. But in our current era, COVID is just an annoyance for most like a flu or cold or similar random viral infections.

Why do people still test if they are not an extreme risk population -- work and schools no longer require, new variants are so contagious that masking at home is theater.

Using up old tests? More people aiming for paxlovid?

I'm all about people staying home when sick, are we keeping people home even when well but testing pos

Because some of us understand science and recognize that getting covid 4, 5, and even more times is not healthy for us. Your risk of long covid greatly increases each time you get covid.

We also care about others, even those we might casually cross paths with. So if we are sick or contagious, we protect others

No, there aren't high-quality studies demonstrating a causal linkage between number of infections and long covid risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The same reason they get flu tests. To know what they are dealing with and how best to treat it.

The vast majority of people don't seek medical attention for suspected flu cases.

Yes they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Covid is lethal for some people, that's why. Even if it's not you, it could be a loved one or a stranger out there you'd infect.

But it would be Ok to infect them with something other than covid?

With a cold or the flu, years of epidemiology has shown that once you are 24 hours fever free and symptoms are improving, you are not contagious.

With covid, we know that is not exactly true (despite what the CDC states). So I prefer to test, know what we have, and if it's covid, I will avoid infecting others (even if I am feeling better, if I still test positive I know I'm contagious)

Your statement regarding colds and flu isn't accurate. For example, just like covid, many cases of cold and flu infections do not result in a fever, particularly in adults. The "24 hour" guideline recognizes that it is sensible to accept some risk that an individual may still be contagious on the basis that it is impractical to maintain long isolation periods for common illnesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Social responsibility- consideration for others
2. Option of paxlovid
3. Accurate medical records

At-home tests don't create medical records.

Not that there's any benefit to keeping a formal record of infections. That's just weird.

I self report to my physician so that it is recorded. It’s important to note from a medical perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The same reason they get flu tests. To know what they are dealing with and how best to treat it.

The vast majority of people don't seek medical attention for suspected flu cases.

Yes they do.

Wow. You're out-of-touch. I can't even get my kids in to the pediatrician for basic cold/flu symptoms unless they go on longer than 5 days.

No, most people don't go to the doctor for basic URI symptoms.