These threads are so transparent. “Why are other people doing a relatively simple thing that I don’t want to do because it causes me slight inconvenience? No one is making me do this thing, but I don’t like that other people are doing it, because it makes me question myself a little, which I don’t like to do.”

You don’t want to test? Don’t test. No one is making you. But your need to challenge other peoples’ decision to test and start a debate about it with internet strangers is pathetic.

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.

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.

You may have read it, but it doesn't make it true. The problem with those studies is that they basically only count cases where the individual sought treatment. So not only are you looking at the set of people unhealthy enough already to have moderate to severe covid, you're looking at increasingly niche sets of individuals that have had moderate-to-severe covid multiple times.

The vast majority of people, including old and immunocompromised people, don't need to seek treatment for infection. Much less do they need to do for multiple infections.

honestly it’s because the test is so easy and they’re already in the cabinet. With small kids we’re always going places with lingering infections, so being able to tell people we’re covid negative seems like the least I can do.

I make calls like this all the time:
“We’re so excited for the bbq! Larla has been coughing for four days. Covid negative, and is getting better. No fever for 72 hours. Does that sound okay to you?”

I would probably give a strep test too if I had one, but I think they’re a lot more expensive? Idk, we’ve only ever done strep tests at urgent care.

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?

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.

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

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.

For me Covid has longer lingering effects than a cold so I would do more to avoid it.

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.

Repeated covid vaccinations are also leading to immune changes (IgG4 class switching). It may be useful to keep track of the number of covid vaccinations and dates of receipt as well.

Only because I have a family member who has advanced cancer and is more vulnerable than regular population, so it is an easy precaution to help manage risk

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.

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.

I test for the flu and quarantine when someone in our family has it.

I do everything possible to not get/give food poisoning … don’t u?

There is a summer cold going around and sick staff are asked to work from home.

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.

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.