Coronavirus

[kaysixteen]

As Trump is wont to say, "(many) people are saying".  And this propaganda entree does often suck in and sway his beloved "poorly educated".   We gotta be better than this around here.

[mamselle]

Sarcasm alert: I do not mean this, or wish it:

The only likely pogrom is that all the stupid people, who find their senses of self and of virtue to be enacted only in the pursuit of being stupid, will stupid themselves (as well as innocent others) into a free, maskless, sectarian-driven death by Covid.

Leaving the intelligent people to run the world....if they survive the actions of the stupid ones.

/sarcasm]

M.

[Anselm]

My father just went to the doctor today for feeling lethargic and having a low level of blood oxygen saturation.  He was told to get a Covid-19 test.  He called five testing sites and each one told him he is not sick enough to qualify for an appointment.  This is in Cook County, Illinois.  He finally found one but he has to drive into downtown Chicago, 30 miles away.   I am currently staying with my parents this summer but so far I have not felt any symptoms.

[Caracal]

My father just went to the doctor today for feeling lethargic and having a low level of blood oxygen saturation.  He was told to get a Covid-19 test.  He called five testing sites and each one told him he is not sick enough to qualify for an appointment.  This is in Cook County, Illinois.  He finally found one but he has to drive into downtown Chicago, 30 miles away.   I am currently staying with my parents this summer but so far I have not felt any symptoms.

Ugh. I'm sorry. The whole thing with testing is still such a mess. Hoping for the best. You have to remember that lots of people are still getting all kinds of garden variety illnesses. Those are the sort of symptoms that could be Covid, but could be nothing at all. I know quite a few people now who were sick, got tests and they were negative.

[sprout]

I have a family member who's running a fever.  They were told they can't see the doctor until either a) the fever is gone or b) after a two-week quarantine.   When asked what if it's something other than covid causing the fever, that needs treatment, the scheduler/nurse/asistant's response was....um....I'll get back to you on that.  Oh, and they've been told they can't get tested until they're showing two symptoms.

[Economizer]

Ok, but I'm gonna make a  note in my datebook app to revisit the subject in 3 weeks.

[pigou]

My father just went to the doctor today for feeling lethargic and having a low level of blood oxygen saturation.  He was told to get a Covid-19 test.  He called five testing sites and each one told him he is not sick enough to qualify for an appointment.  This is in Cook County, Illinois.  He finally found one but he has to drive into downtown Chicago, 30 miles away.   I am currently staying with my parents this summer but so far I have not felt any symptoms.

If you want to get a COVID test and local public health infrastructure isn't up to standards, you can now also get good home test kits that should be processed fairly quickly: https://www.pixel.labcorp.com/at-home-test-kits/covid-19-test

They're fully paid for by insurance and, if you select that you don't have insurance, are available free of charge (the federal government pays). If the questionnaire tells you that you aren't eligible, maybe think carefully about whether you might have felt some of those symptoms after all... if you have a reason for thinking you should get tested, you're doing everyone a favor by misreporting symptoms in order to get tested. The only reason testing kits are limited to people with certain symptoms is because that's when the federal government has decided it'll pick up the tab.

[nebo113]

Ok, but I'm gonna make a  note in my datebook app to revisit the subject in 3 weeks.

Well aren't we lucky.

[spork]

Look at the charts: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/us/united-states-failure-coronavirus.html. The USA is probably going to have at least 200,000 Covid-19 deaths by the end of the calendar year.

[Economizer]

Ok, but I'm gonna make a  note in my datebook app to revisit the subject in 3 weeks.

Well aren't we lucky.

Ah..nuevosnark!

[AmLitHist]

^ Anselm, meanwhile, here in downstate (metro StL) IL, they're having free testing once a week at our county fairgrounds, and in surrounding counties even more frequently.  Drive up, no symptoms required, free tests.  Of course, we're part of an outbreak/rise in cases in recent weeks (largely because the local inbred mouthbreathers are of the "God, guts, guns, and you can't make me wear a damned mask" persuasion, and because lake party beer bashes and get-togethers have been going on since mid-April, unabated and more numerous than past summers.  Of course--nobody's working around here, so they might as well get together all day every day and fish, ski, and drink).  Life in Trump country.

And yes, my county is one of several suing the state because the governor overstepped his authority by shutting things down back in March.  Irony is not a concept the locals understand. 

I hope your father and all of your family are OK. Stay well.

[pgher]

^ Anselm, meanwhile, here in downstate (metro StL) IL, they're having free testing once a week at our county fairgrounds, and in surrounding counties even more frequently.  Drive up, no symptoms required, free tests.

Tests are plentiful where hardly anybody needs them. Supply and demand gone haywire (supply not shifting to keep up with local demand).

[spork]

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2769235

[the_geneticist]

I have a family member who's running a fever.  They were told they can't see the doctor until either a) the fever is gone or b) after a two-week quarantine.   When asked what if it's something other than covid causing the fever, that needs treatment, the scheduler/nurse/asistant's response was....um....I'll get back to you on that.  Oh, and they've been told they can't get tested until they're showing two symptoms.

That's ridiculous!  What if they have an bacterial infection or something else that will not go away on it's own without treatment?  Makes you understand why folks who can't get treatment for something because it's "not an emergency" end up the the ER.
Might be time to look the list of all possible symptoms and see if they have had any of them in the past week or so.  A headache seems pretty damn easy to get now days . . . (hint, hint).

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea
Rash
Blue toes

[science.expat]

Here in Oz I'm in 14 days self isolation simply because I was in the same pub at the same time as someone who was Covid positive. I've been tested - free and negative - and the health department follows up daily by text.

Not complaining.