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.

Anonymous wrote:I have been reading something about how your immune system can sustain damage from multiple cumulative COVID infections. I think I have had it four or five times. Ifeel like at some point in the future it might be useful to be able to answer the question “how many times have you had Covid” if doctors start asking.

The way to know how many times you've had covid is to test.

If someone in my household has a highly contagious respiratory infection I will do my best to isolate them so that it doesn't spread. Why would I want something disruptive going through my house for 3 weeks? I can't afford and don't want to lose that kind of time. So that's why I test. If it's a regular cold that mostly spreads via large droplets, I'm less concerned about spread.

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.

I have been reading something about how your immune system can sustain damage from multiple cumulative COVID infections. I think I have had it four or five times. Ifeel like at some point in the future it might be useful to be able to answer the question “how many times have you had Covid” if doctors start asking.

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.

Omicron is a milder variant for all. Which is why covid deaths are at their lowest level ever, with only 300 US covid deaths in the latest week. They're not even bothering to vaccinate the majority of nursing home patients. The risk is that covid could progress to pneumonia in the elderly or bed-ridden; this is the same risk posed by other respiratory viruses. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/?ref=quillette.com#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00

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?

When I had COVID it was like a bad flu. Out of commission for 5-6 days, weight loss, chills, etc. It’s disruptive and I felt horrible. To the extent I can avoid the rest of the family getting sick by hanging out in the guest bedroom I will. I would do the same thing for the flu.

I’ve tested out of curiosity because I still have some free tests. Once those run out, I’ll stop.

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.

We just got back from out of town and my adult kids both have covid. My spouse and I did not get it somehow. My spouse is adamant about always testing if anyone gets symptoms, honestly I agree with you I don't know why but she does. Our daughter was feeling a bit short of breath so we went to the urgent care doc just to be sure. The doc said she will be fine but that she should wear a mask and isolate for 5 days. She was already on day 6 after first symptoms, so she will be isolating through day 11, which seems completely absurd to me but that is what the doc said.

Curiosity. I had a weird cold and wondered if it Covid, it was. Also, our kid’s daycare asked us to test after their staff had it.

My understanding is Covid is still more contagious than a regular cold. So the likelihood of getting someone else sick is higher. For me it would also be a question of how many people do I want to get sick? Even if not life threatening, I don’t think most people like being sick.

We recently tested when my son was sick so I knew if it was worth taking him to the doctor or not. He was negative but very sick so I was hoping it may be something he could get antibiotics for. Had he been positive I wouldn’t have bothered.

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.

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