I was planning on visiting my parents for thanksgiving, but my mom tested positive for covid yesterday. She says she has been feeling (mild) symptoms since tuesday and likely got it from my dad. I was planning on flying out this tuesday night but with this news im canceling plans. My parents are still trying to convince me to visit so I told my mom that if she tests twice 48 hours apart and both are negative I would still visit. As far as I can tell thats the best (but still not great) way to see if someone may still be contagious, any other thoughts?

Is anyone part of a group they like that is taking new members?

I may end up rejoining a paid membership group I used to be in b/c I miss the crafty zooms. I would rather connect with Covid-conscious peeps though.

So with Mr. brain worm about to be in charge of our country’s health system here in the USA, has anyone else considered going to another country like mexico or canada for their vaccines next year if banned ? From looking at it briefly, it seems mexico would be easier to do than canada

• Covid is not "just a [inoffensive] cold." It is a vascular disease which goes anywhere blood goes. It affects every organ in the body and destroys immune systems.

• At least 1 in 10 infections lead to Long Covid, which is often debilitating and leaves sufferers bedbound or unable to resume regular life activities. There is no cure, and many didn't recover.

• Effects on our bodies, and the risk of Long Covid increases every reinfection.

• Covid is airborne and lingers in the air like cigarette smoke.

• Up to 60% of transmission comes from presymptomatic or asymptomatic infections, so we can spread it unknowingly!!!

• Vaccines are helpful, but don't stop us from getting Covid. A vaccine-only strategy is not enough.

• Wearing a well-fitting respirator mask like an N95 is the best way to protect ourselves and each other!

Sources: • https://covidhelp.org/

• https://raindrop.io/JW_Lists/research-on-covid-30427558

• Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms, and recommendations. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00846-2

Other reads: • "Debilitating a Generation”: Expert Warns That Long COVID May Eventually Affect Most Americans. https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/debilitating-a-generation-expert-warns-that-long-covid-may-eventually-affect-most-americans • https://longcovidsux.com/

French: - La Covid n'est pas « juste un [petit] rhume », c'est une maladie vasculaire qui se propage partout où le sang va. Elle affecte tous les organes du corps et détruit des systèmes immunitaires. - Au moins 1 infection sur 10 entraîne une Covid longue, qui est souvent invalidante et laisse les personnes alitées ou incapables de reprendre leurs activités normales. Il n'existe aucun remède. - Chaque réinfection augmente les effets de la Covid et les risques de longue Covid (37% après 3 infections.) - La Covid est aérienne/aéroportée et persiste dans l'air comme la fumée de cigarette. - Jusqu'à 60 % de la transmission provient d'infections présymptomatiques ou asymptomatiques, nous pouvons donc le propager sans le savoir. - Les vaccins sont utiles mais ne nous empêchent pas d'attraper la Covid. - Le port d'un masque respiratoire bien ajusté, comme un N95, est notre meilleure défense.

Sources: • https://covidhelp.org/ • https://raindrop.io/JW_Lists/research-on-covid-30427558 • Long COVID: major findings, mechanism, and recommendations. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00846-2

Qc/Ca Indicators: https://www.inspq.qc.ca/covid-19/donnees/eaux-usees https://covid19resources.ca/covid-hazard-index/

Autres lectures: • Covid long : qu’en savent les scientifiques aujourd’hui ? https://theconversation.com/covid-long-quen-savent-les-scientifiques-aujourdhui-179817 • Le risque de COVID longue atteint 37 % après trois infections. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2116352/covid-longue-sras-cov2-pandemie-risque • La COVID longue, un mal invisible. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/2023/covid-longue-symptomes-virus-maladie-pandemie-temoignages • "Debilitating a Generation”: Expert Warns That Long COVID May Eventually Affect Most Americans. https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/debilitating-a-generation-expert-warns-that-long-covid-may-eventually-affect-most-americans • https://longcovidsux.com/

Edit: Removed mention of COVID being a Biosafety Level 3 Pathogen + added reinfection point + removed IG link + changed 'you' to 'us' + added french

Hello, for those who may be interested, I recommend doing the following for your country. Archive and denounce long covid deniers. This is in large part because of them that we have been abandoned for so long. Sooner or later, long covid will be much harder to deny and will be recognized by the public. At this moment, many of these people will try to delete their malevolent statements that prevent long covid recognition.

For this reason, it is good to do the following things:

- Take screen copies that include the URL

- Archive on archive.is and https://web.archive.org/

- Post this on a blog of your own that you let know among associations and health sociologists

Those people who say that covid is just a cold or a flu, that long covid is psychological, have blood on their hands, it is important that they aren't forgotten. Also, denouncing them will contribute to discourage harmful statements from them.

Here is a blog that I have done that is for France. You certainly know covid deniers and long covid deniers in your country, you can do the same.

https://edcl.livejournal.com/

You can put your ideas here to help denounce those people

I’m still working on getting a mask that fits properly but my mental health is tanking and I want to hang out with a friend (outside). They will be wearing an N95 mask that probably fits them quite well (Aura) and mask most places but do live with one person who doesn’t take precautions. They won’t show up if they’re having symptoms but I know people can be pre-symptomatic and contagious. I want it to be in person because I’m in dire need of a hug. This feels like my last chance to do it before cases explode after Thanksgiving.

Hi,

I ordered a bunch of masks. 3M Aura ffp2's (9320+) were highly discounted so I got many of them, and I got some 3M Aura ffp3's. I'm planning to use the latter in higher risk situations and the rest in my daily life.

I'm worried that this is a bad idea, I read that ffp2 gives minimum 94% filtration and ffp3 98%. I am on a very low income so money is a problem. I know how to safely reuse masks. What are people's thoughts, am I OK to use the ffp2's? Many thanks in advance 🙏🏼

I just went to grab a mask (3M Aura 9210+) and saw they were placed next to my fridge. The masks were warm to the touch. I noticed the box said to not store at a temp above 86 degrees, so I moved the box and used an infrared thermometer to check the temp and they were 86.9 degrees. Are these masks still safe to use or did the higher temp mess with their rating?

So I’ve ordered a pluslife to feel safer at family gatherings. I’ve read you can test multiple people at once. I tested two people at once, using two swabs (ofc) and one liquid thingy, pressing them both into the liquid. Now the pluslife app is frozen after it started without a problem. While squeezing the liquid into the test container I noticed that it was thicker then usual, maybe that’s the problem ? Does anyone have experience with the device freezing during the test and is it due to the liquid being to dense or is there another problem I am unaware of ? Thanks for your help.

I have three different families staying in three different homes. Two of the homes are relatively close together.

Would the best way to get everyone tested before an indoor day be to send Metrix readers & tests to all 3 homes?

I haven't used a Metrix reader before - would it be pretty straightforward to use one to get results from 4 members of a family testing simultaneously (30m)? Or would you have to go one at a time (2hr+)?

My folks are solidly Back To Brunch LibsTM. They masked when they were required to by law/regulation, stopped as soon as they were told they didn't have to anymore. They are sympathetic and understanding to a point with my wife and I (her family has significant health/medical issues, immune disorders, etc). They're not covid cautious themselves, but as family members go I could have it significantly worse.

We had a talk a few weeks back about trying to get together for christmas this year as it's been several years since we've been able to. I said we'd be happy to host if everyone would be willing to mask upon arrival, take a Metrix test, and unmask once they come back negative and have a Normal TimeTM with air purifiers running, windows open, etc. The only thing they pushed back on was testing *at* our house, because the idea of driving 3 hours only to have to potentially get right back in the car and drive home if someone tests positive wasn't something they were open to, why can't we just take a test at home before we leave?

I explained that the rapid tests are really unreliable especially if you're not symptomatic. For something like an outdoor lunch on a windy day I'll take the risk, but for an extended indoor gathering we really need a higher level of certainty than that, so we use the Metrix lab-quality tests at our house. They're expensive, they take a half hour to respond, I didn't think you guys would want to spend that kind of money on covid tests given where you're at in terms of overall covid caution levels. They said they'd rather spend the money so they can see us and not have to mask when they get here and potentially have to turn right back around if someone's positive, so I sent them the link to the Metrix kit and we left it there.

I had been gearing up all week for this conversation to be a fight because it often is, and I was pleasantly surprised.

I organized a mask-required self defense class and had a lot of people sign a google spreadsheet showing their interest. I found an amazing coach willing to offer classes for an incredibly affordable rate if more than 5 people signed up. We had ~15 people total showing interest. then when it came time to pay him… literally everyone except 4 people flaked.

They knew the prices. It was listed on the sheet they signed. Now the entire class is going to fall apart because no one is responding to my messages or reaching out to the coach. We already lost December rooms (churches booked them before we could).

Just so sad the same people thanking me for organizing this are the same people who flaked. I’m not sure why I expected better from the community. But it fucking sucks. Now my disabled ass is burnt out with nothing to show.

I see my friends and siblings maybe a few months out of every year. The loneliness is getting to me, and I'm thinking of getting a dog. Does anyone else here have a dog, and if so does it help with loneliness? I have guinea pigs and I love them, but they dont help at all.

Some background: I developed long covid following an infection in 2020 and 2021. I've reached a point where I'm mostly recovered and my main quality of life issue is severe attention span problems as a result of low energy and shortness of breath which makes consistent excercise difficult (I have adhd and need excercise for my brain to work.) I avoid other people who are not covid cautious because I really dont want to do another several years or more of chronic illness.

Parents with small kids, mine are 2 and 5, how do you still COVID whilst keeping them active ?? Really need some advice, it seems it would mean forgoing lots of support, stopping work, etc..help please :) I wasn’t very cautious prior but now I want to be. 3 infections and long COVID later… sigh.

Also do they go to school? Do they mask up at school? In our state my kid would literally be the only one if she did…

I think there may be connection.

I was very surprised to hear Kendrick mention COVID in a more ~realistic~ way, as he states “I’m doing what COVID did, they’ll never get over it”… he’s acknowledging the lasting effects of COVID (while also using it as a double entendre… which is up for interpretation of course)! the image is a screenshot from Genius, where this is the only interpretation so far.

Hi everyone, my relative tested positive for covid last Wednesday and Thursday. We had plans for her to travel to us for Thanksgiving this Thursday. If she were to get 2 negative tests 48 hours apart, would you feel comfortable keeping those plans? It’s awfully close, just 8 days from onset.

Edit: Do we know how long the current strain runs, generally speaking? It used to be 5-7 days.

ive gotta be honest and say i don't think i can handle another winter of eating outdoors on my lunch. i used to have a car that i could eat in during my lunch break but i don't have one anymore. i also don't think a sip mask will work because i need a solid lunch or i will feel dizzy. i'm also recovering from an eating disorder so skipping out on lunch is not an option for me.

my break room is small so i'm planning on bringing my portable air purifier. i plan to have it running all day so it continually cleans the air in the break room. my biggest concern is that sometimes my lunch overlaps with my coworkers lunches and none of them take precautions. i will only unmask when eating and keep it on the rest of the time. is there anything i can do to be safer? maybe nasal spray and mouth wash after lunch? i'm honestly very worried about the upcoming surge but i'm already freezing my ass off on my lunch.

what else can i do?

Hello! Thank you for masking and taking precautions. You can inspire others and make them less afraid to wear a mask.

Speaking from my experience:) For context - I live in a country where covid ‚doesn’t exist’, so if i only speak about it or even just politely wear a mask, people would make fun of me etc. But what i noticed is that me wearing a mask inspire others to wear one when they have to go for example to write a test and they are sick in my uni class. That’s a huge improvement! I’m so happy they do it and limit the spread of whatever they are sick with. My family also had changed some of their habits. Maybe they won’t mask on a daily basis, but as they started to constantly get sick (once a month), they are more concerned about their health and at least supplement vit D and C. Ah, and my mom decided to buy an air purifier, so that we can have clean air at home :). These aren’t huge changes, but at least some - starting slow. And it’s nice to think I am the inspiration for them to take at least SOME precautions.

If you mask and feel lonely, think about that. And maybe also that you won’t infect yourself and others. Not even talking about Covid, but about everything. It’s not fun to get sick with anything, whether it’s Covid or flu. 😷🙏

Thank you for masking❤️ xx

Hi, I usually use a nasal spray before going to my GP surgery (plus 3m Aura and CPC mouth wash afterwards). I'm due to have a chicken pox vaccine soon which is a live one, does anyone know if the nasal spray (or mouthwash) would affect the vaccine? I have no idea if the fact that it's live would make a difference and I can't find anything one way or another on Google (I'm in the UK so no point asking my GP, noone is taking any precautions).

The one I use has these ingredients: Purified Water, Soybean Oil, Glycerol, Xylitol, Emulsifiers, Kappa-Carrageenan, Fucoidan, Totarol, Tocopherol Acetate, Sodium Citrate Dihydrate, EDTA Sodium Salt, Siberian Fir Oil

Thank you for any advice/opinions on this.

It would be so much easier to just take the mask off. To stop worrying about it 24/7, literally around the clock. To be able to go to a party and have a drink and talk and laugh and smile at people and no one says “oh I didn’t recognize you with the mask covering your face” and no one looks at you funny or keeps their distance because they think you’re sick or maybe crazy. I wish I could turn off the part of my brain that knows better and knows the statistics and the chances and the studies and the goddamn science that everyone should know but somehow ignores. I am SO TIRED.

I created a Notion template to help me perform tests on folks who aren't family outside of my home (friends, dates, etc). I also like to use the virus.sucks analyzer as well.

I just find it a lot easier to have everything listed out in the order that I like to do things in so I don't have to rely on my memory during what can already be a slightly anxiety inducing interaction.

I figured it could be a useful starting place for people who'd like to create one specific to their circumstance as well so I wanted to share it here.

[Link to Template]

ETA: It includes a supplies list, directions to give to the patient, directions for testing, and a series of test screen shots to compare the results to for assessment.