Hawk Tests Positive, I Test Negative

[canyonwalker]

This week I was planning to use my Tier Tuesday writing slot to discuss an article I saw yesterday, "If you still have not had COVID after the latest surge, what are the odds you never will?" (SF Chronicle, updated 21 June 2022). It notes a CDC figure that 60% of Americans have had Covid already and poses the question to a handful of doctors and public health experts— basically, Is it inevitable that the other 40% of us will get Covid? The experts explain that while we can and should try to keep from getting infected, the numbers— and the lack of public will— make it more a matter of when, not if, anyone will get Covid.

Well, what an irony. As I was drafting a lengthier blog about the question of inevitability, we joined the when-not-if category. Hawk took an at-home test for Covid last night and tested positive.

Hawk took the test last night because she'd been experiencing cold-like symptoms for a couple days: sinus congestion, a dry cough, minor back pain. OTC medicines and simple home remedies like hot showers (to clear nasal congestion) provided only partial relief. Aware that cold-like symptoms can no longer be written off as "It's just a cold",  she took a Covid test. We've done this drill several times in the past 6 months or so that home tests have been widely available. This time hers came up positive.

I took an at-home test this morning. I delayed mine 12 hours from hers to see if I developed significant symptoms. This weekend I did have some chest congestion, difficulty breathing, and aches— but they could easily have been due to the dry air and exercise at high altitudes. Those symptoms are typical for me in those conditions. Of course, just like "I'm sure it's just a cold" doesn't fly anymore, "I'm sure it's just allergies/dry air/altitude" doesn't fly either. So I took the test. My test result was negative. I'll remain vigilant for other symptoms and test myself at least once more even if no symptoms appear.

Update: What's next? 5 Things.

Update 2: When & Where Did Infection Occur?

Comments

[sorcyress]

Aw, that absolutely sucks. Good luck to both of you.

I am horrified to hear that the CDC thinks 60% of Americans have had covid. We have fucked this up so badly.

~Sor

[canyonwalker]

I'm curious about that 60% figure. The SF Chronicle article attributes it to the CDC but doesn't include a citation. In web searches on the topic I've found a far lower figure published in such places as the NY Times and Our World In Data. Those sites give a figure of 86 million cases in the US. That's 26% of our 330 million population. I surmise that the 60% figure is an estimate based on the fact that an increasing number of Covid cases go unreported nowadays.

[some_other_dave]

Welcome to the club. I came down with it shortly after returning to HI. Fortunately it was very like a bad cold, without apparent lasting long-term symptoms.

[canyonwalker]

I'm curious, did you get a PCR test or just a rapid antigen test? Did your doctor prescribe Paxlovid?

[some_other_dave]

Just the rapid antigen test. My symptoms never got bad enough (I felt) to go to the doctor, so no Paxlovid. I mostly slept a lot and took some OTC cold/flu meds to manage symptoms.