Covid testing

[Venturous Randy]

My GF, Linda, who is 67, has had a lot of symptoms that are listed for covid. I have felt pretty good, but this last Tuesday we did the test at the local Health Dept and we finally got our results and she is negative and I am positive. I called the local VA and they suggested I come in Monday and be tested again and they can have the results back in 45 minutes.
I am 70, over weight and have been diabetic for over 40 years, so I am prime for this being serious. So far, I don't feel any major symptoms other than I have had a couple of headaches and it is rare for me to have a headachE.  I have been feeling pretty tired, but I suspected that may have been due to me laying around and not getting out and getting some exercise.
With her having symptoms for at least three weeks or more, I am wondering if she could be past it and have some anti bodies as she is feeling much better.

Randy

[BlueSky]

Try to get some meds that cure you.  It seems they usually just send you back home and tell you to take Tylenol for the fever.  

[KayBur]

The main thing is to calm down and do not panic. If you feel well, you can get sick even in a mild form, despite the fact that you are at risk.

[saddlebum]

This covid has shown it does not play fair and does not always stick to the rules. My Dr calls it the sneakiest virus we ever had. Just because your in the  high risk group though the odds are against you does not guarantee a death sentence and just because your in the low risk group does not guarantee immunity or Symptoms and whether or not you are a contagious carrier. Symptoms are also all over the board from a single symptom to several symptoms to no symptoms at all. All of this is what makes it so difficult to deal with including convincing people who feeling very healthy that they may still be a health risk to others.

[cowpuc]

Praying for you and Linda brother!!!

[KayBur]

16 hours ago, saddlebum said:

This covid has shown it does not play fair and does not always stick to the rules. My Dr calls it the sneakiest virus we ever had. Just because your in the  high risk group though the odds are against you does not guarantee a death sentence and just because your in the low risk group does not guarantee immunity or Symptoms and whether or not you are a contagious carrier. Symptoms are also all over the board from a single symptom to several symptoms to no symptoms at all. All of this is what makes it so difficult to deal with including convincing people who feeling very healthy that they may still be a health risk to others.

Here you have correctly noticed. That is why it is very important for everyone, without exception, to wear masks and keep their distance. Even if a person is not at risk, he can infect those in that group. In general, there must be personal and social responsibility.

[bpate4home]

Simple question: Whose science are you going to follow?

[circa1968]

Before anyone rushes out to get the vaccine shot, I suggest reading this:  https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-vaccine-questions-a-summary/

I'm not an expert in much of anything other than my own opinion and my opinion is that the truth was lost long ago in this whole thing.  Corporate profits, political power and desire for control over the masses are ruling the day.  Yes, the virus is real, yes some people are sadly  losing their lives to it.  This also happens every year from the flu, which is also highly contagious and the flu shot is not always effective as it is a best guess, made months in advance.  The big difference, IMHO, between flu shots & this new vaccine is an actual flu virus is used to create an antibody AND we have decades of experience with this.  This new vaccine is a lab rat's dream of using DNA sequencing to build something from scratch, has been minimally tested and long-term effects are completely unknown. 

Trust science?  maybe, maybe not

 

Possible effects on female fertility

Dr Michael Yeadon, a former head of Pfizer’s respiratory research, and Dr Wolfgang Wodarg, a health policy adviser, raised the possibility that, since the vaccine (by design) causes the body to produce antibodies against the ‘spike proteins’ in the virus, it might also cause the production of antibodies against similar proteins which are required for formation of the placenta in pregnancy.

If this were the case, itwould result in vaccinated women essentially becoming infertile, an effect which might be permanent. No research studies have been undertaken on this issue, so it is this writer’s view that the vaccine has been rolled out much too early and with no knowledge of whether the hypothesis of Drs Yeadon and Wodarg is correct or incorrect.

The Moderna vaccine is also an RNA vaccine, so the same applies to that. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is designed to create the same result – the formation of antibodies against the Covid-19 virus – so they all have the inherent potential risk of causing infertility.

PCR testing and its use in the Pfizer trials

A positive PCR test result does not indicate infection, simply the presence of viral RNA, which might indeed indicate a current infection, but is more likely to indicate exposure to the virus some time ago, possibly many months. Every magnification cycle doubles the viral RNA so, after ten cycles it has been increased by 1024 times, after 20 cycles by over a million and after 40 cycles by over a trillion.

Therefore, the greater the number of cycles, the more likely one is to find what was originally only a tiny amount of viral RNA, and vice-versa. We do not know what PCR cycle counts Pfizer used in their trials, so we have no idea whether they might have manipulated the cycle counts to create their desired result and ‘prove’ that the vaccine was extraordinarily effective.

[KayBur]

23 hours ago, bpate4home said:

Simple question: Whose science are you going to follow?

Well, for example, WHO. There people are more competent in infectious diseases than every ordinary citizen who is his own doctor and scientist, everyone decides for himself how to wear a mask, how to sneeze on others, etc.

[BlueSky]

I saw in the news yesterday that a couple guys who were shot to death tested positive for covid so the cause of death was listed as covid on their death certificate.  I think it was in Colorado.  There seems to be so much contradictory information coming from everywhere that you can't fully believe anything. 

[bpate4home]

46 minutes ago, KayBur said:

Well, for example, WHO. There people are more competent in infectious diseases than every ordinary citizen who is his own doctor and scientist, everyone decides for himself how to wear a mask, how to sneeze on others, etc.

So do you follow the Science from ~April-May timeline where they said the public should not be wearing masks?

[bpate4home]

21 minutes ago, BlueSky said:

I saw in the news yesterday that a couple guys who were shot to death tested positive for covid so the cause of death was listed as covid on their death certificate.  I think it was in Colorado.  There seems to be so much contradictory information coming from everywhere that you can't fully believe anything. 

Contradictory is 100% correct on all of it. The Chicago area medical person said in an interview that COVID deaths are very loosely applied.  Used the scenario of testing positive and then getting hit by a car you would be put on the COVID Death list. The CDC even adjusted their numbers to only 6% of all COVID deaths were actually caused by COVID. This was wildly contested (and now lost to the annals of the public short term memory) by the Media because Trump mentioned it. But who are the Media - They are the purveyors of misinformation. 

[circa1968]

First. Randy, I hope you and your GF are doing ok.  Prayers for both of you!

The virus itself is ~ 1/700th the diameter of a human hair, so unless you're walking around in a fully contained space suit with sub-micron filtration, don't count on that mask doing anything for ya.  CDC recently said 70% of people contracting the virus regularly wore masks.   The people's republic of CA has had a mask mandate, social distancing, economic lockdowns, etc in place for months on end and the cases are rising.  Perhaps its because our wannabe emperor himself is the super-spreader who doesn't wear a mask, social distance and dines indoors with others.

Stanford University, the prestigious Stanford University, did a study in April that randomly tested 3,000 people for the antibody and found that 5-6% already had it and didn't even know.  Well, that did not fit the narrative and Stanford was blasted as incompetent for such a flawed study.  Oh my! 

If a hospital checks a box on a form that says 'covid', they get extra money from the federal gov't.  Simple as that.  No checks & balances, just more money.

Simple math is on the virus' side.  Each person who contracts it can easily spread it to 10 more. 

Since its an upper-respiratory infection, why are we not seeing any correlating information about how it affects smokers vs non-smokers.  Certainly, there has to be some connection between the two, in my humble opinion.

No science, just my opinions and we know what they say about opinions...

[saddlebum]

Regarding people  caught it even though they wore masks. It has never been stated that a mask will protect you from getting it. We all know that only works if the mask has a perfect seal around the face. What it does do is help prevent or reduce the mask wearer from spreading those nasty little guys to others should that person unknowingly or knowingly be a carrier. Then there are those who cry it infringes on my rights. Well we do not have the right to shoot, knife, or bludgeon  someone to death without just cause so what gives a person the right to infect someone with a deadly virus. Individual rights only count as long as they do not infringe on the rights of others such as the right to remain healthy. Hence the mask.

It would be the same as saying I can't be charged with speeding because it is my personal right to drive however I feel like it. DUI? can't charge me that either your stepping on my personal right to drive as intoxicated as I want to.

Of course medical authorities may not have all the perfect answers and I too am concerned about some of the results produce by science. but does that mean I should take the word of some nobody on twitter, face book or any other medium used by self appointed experts over those with a scientific degree. Yes they can make mistakes, they are human but are dealing the best they can with what they learn each and every day. We would still be a lot worse off with out them.

Some disease's that were pretty much eradicated  over the last couple decades are starting to make a comeback because we have those who in their own expert opinion or based on the opinion of some feather brain have decided that inoculations are deadlier than the disease. As far as I am concerned better to be a live sucker than a dead skeptic.

Oh and regarding the funding angle what the exact details are I have no idea hospitals in Canada do not get the additional funding so that rules that argument out at least on this side of the border and funding or not a lot of front line workers are isolating themselves from their spouses children and other loved ones. Would they really be doing this if the whole thing was a farce? I think not. So if they are taking it seriously then who are we to say otherwise.

Edited December 30, 2020 by saddlebum

[circa1968]

Hi Saddlebum,  no the virus is not a farce.  It is real.  Is it as deadly as we're made to believe?   Any virus can be deadly under the right circumstances for the individual who contracts it, this one is no different.  But myself and many others are skeptical of the nature of the reporting, for good reasons.

If the vaccine is truly effective AND safe, sure go for it.  But I will wait until we know more about its longer term effect on a larger swath of people who are willing to be guinea pigs.  I am not one of those.  I would rather catch the virus and develop antibodies to it naturally, as I occasionally do with the flu.  I'm in otherwise good health and if I wasn't, perhaps I would feel differently.   As of right now, the FDA has not fully licensed the vaccines, they are only authorized for emergency use.   In other words, they are not fully tested.

As I see it, we know as little about the vaccines right now, as we knew about the virus in the spring. 

Let's say the masks are at least somewhat effective in slowing the spread, I can accept that premise, even if it can't be quantified, which it hasn't been.   So, let's all wear masks, re-open small businesses (i.e. enjoy the same economic freedom that the politically correct Hollywood crowd has) and practice some personal responsibility.

 

[saddlebum]

I do tend to agree with skepticism as to the worry re: possible side effects of the vaccine. Do you take it or do you take your chances? A hard call as far as I see it. But which is the lessor of two evils. It gets a little scary either why you look at. Are you going to look back and say I wish I had not taken it or are you going to look back and say I wish I had taken it. Guess we will not really know until that time comes. On the other hand we have been given so many drugs and needles in our life time and never question it. I certainly do not have the answer but despite the occasional setbacks which is all we ever really hear about, seldom the good they do,  I do believe for the most part our health care people have a pretty good track record.

Mask wearing and distancing are at least a safe preventative but it still depends on everyone doing it. Take India, they have 0ne billion more people than the US. More crowding and poverty, yet their infection and death numbers are half of that in the US. Why? For one, Mask wearing and distancing are strictly enforced by the police. That has to say something.

Don't get me wrong Canada has its share of people who refuse to follow the guide lines as well. They complain Lock-downs are harming them and yet the lock downs are a result of high covid numbers that maybe could be less if everyone tried to do their part and maybe we would not have these lock downs.

Edited December 30, 2020 by saddlebum

[BlueSky]

I'm not sure you can believe the reporting from many countries.  The USA is over reporting the covid cases and many countries are underreporting.  If India loses a few million old people, they might be happy about it.  Same with China.  China has a big problem in that their one child policy has resulted in relatively few workers to support the old people in retirement.  If they lost a few million old people I'm sure the communist leaders would be happy about it.  

[RDawson]

I’m not an anti-vaxer by any means. My kids had all their shots when they were scheduled. However I just can’t bring myself to trust this one with so little testing. I’ve been called unpatriotic and told I don’t respect my department or the city I signed on to protect for these views. I declined the shot. My biggest worry though is for my daughters, neither married yet. There is no information about child bearing women or the effects on their future children. 
 

[circa1968]

As somewhat of an aside to this discussion, it was briefly mentioned early on that one could have the flu and covid at the same time.  I have not seen or heard any mention of that, probably since ~March though.  Just logically thinking, that would seem like a potentially deadly combination.  I've had cases of the flu that I thought was the beginning of the end for me.  Add another virus to that and Yikes!  Perhaps that's a good reason to get the flu shot this year....

 

[saddlebum]

I can't say as I have either. They are recommending the flu shots, more so this year than any other, to try and help avoid false warning signs of covid, since both the flu and covid have many similar symptoms which can't be ignored and yet false alarms would drastically overburden the health care system, even more than it already is. I have never yet had the flu shot but for the above reasons, I will probably get one for the 1st time in my life.

Ironically I have a permanent mild cough which  I have had for the last thirty years which the Dr thinks is possibly the result of getting work related walking pneumonia  3 times over my 50 yr career as a truck Mech working outside in extreme conditions or possibly due to acid re-flux. I have been tested for asbestos-is due to working with brakes and clutches that in the early days had lots of asbestos in them. also worked a lot with asbestos siding when I was young Dad being a contractor, but was clear of that. The coughing often occurs when I start laughing. Anyway I try to control it when in public, because were before no one paid attention or even noticed, I sure get the looks now if I cough. Another reason for me to wear the mask, it gives others peace of mind should I start to cough.

Edited December 31, 2020 by saddlebum

[PastorCurt]

Here’s my story, I received a call from Public health nursing saying I had a positive Covid test. Problem with that is that I hadn’t been tested! I had donated blood a week before and their (blood bank) random testing turned up antibodies in my sample. Blood bank contacted public health nursing. So I had to quarantine because I had it sometime in the past. They can’t seem to allow facts to get in the way of their “protocol “!

[circa1968]

@saddlebum yeah, I have the perma-cough too, but from allergies.  Constant congestion, post-nasal drip, etc and throw in a health rash of sneezes as well.  I'm not saying I'm an anti-masker.  If that's what gives people comfort, go for it.  I just personally don't believe they do anything based on my interpretation of the science.  My son just started college in the midwest & they've had a rash of cases on campus, as to be expected.  It just so happens that my 82 YO mother lives 10 minutes from his campus and she keeps wanting to go visit him.  I say absolutely not!  She says, "but I'll be wearing a mask and staying 6' away"....  BTW, 6' was just a best guess early on.  No real science behind that.

@PastorCurt My local blood bank was testing for covid antibodies early on, but they announced in the fall that they stopped.  But you got me wondering now, are the 'new cases' reported also including anyone who has tested positive for the antibodies????  If so, talk about false advertising! 

[larrydr]

I live in Morden , Manitoba ..Have had cancer , 2 surgeries ..Have a cyst on my left lung with difficulty breathing when wearing a mask ....I called to make a appointment to have a Covid test .. It is near impossible to have one done ...They have moved the appointment schedule to the Regional Health Authority ...This makes it near impossible to a Covid test done ...I called today again , because we are a small city the people at the answering don't even know where Winkler and Morden is ...This may be a case of the wrong people answering the phone ...They have a few numbers to call which go no where...There are people out who have Covid or like affects , who have recovered and are doing well ...Their story is the same as mine unable get testing done   .

 

[luvmy40]

27 minutes ago, larrydr said:

I live in Morden , Manitoba ..Have had cancer , 2 surgeries ..Have a cyst on my left lung with difficulty breathing when wearing a mask ....I called to make a appointment to have a Covid test .. It is near impossible to have one done ...They have moved the appointment schedule to the Regional Health Authority ...This makes it near impossible to a Covid test done ...I called today again , because we are a small city the people at the answering don't even know where Winkler and Morden is ...This may be a case of the wrong people answering the phone ...They have a few numbers to call which go no where...There are people out who have Covid or like affects , who have recovered and are doing well ...Their story is the same as mine unable get testing done   .

 

And people wonder why I am against single payer(socialized) health care!

[saddlebum]

21 hours ago, luvmy40 said:

And people wonder why I am against single payer(socialized) health care!

Not sure what you mean by single payer(socialized). Much to the American  misconception that Canada is a socialist country, we are not. We do however have universal health care each province having a slight different version of it. And in IMHO it is a good thing. You would be surprised how many Canadians move to the US for jobs that pay better in their field many of them Doctors but come running back with the tails between their legs when they need major medical treatment or long term health care.

I still remember when I was a kid and my father was seriously injured before we had OHIP we almost lost the house and everything we own to pay the medical bills. Sure we had private insurance but they came up with every excuse under the sun as to why  My father did not qualify for coverage. With OHIP everyone was better off medically speaking even today despite the fact that every time the conservatives are elected to power, they tend to slip in more cuts. But then the conservatives have never cared about the working class, only the wealthy. I know their are advocates that claim Private insurance would be better but they speak only for those who could afford it. the world is filled by low income people who just cannot afford private health care. and a two tier system would  simply see those who can afford private health care be placed ahead of those who cannot.

Edited January 1, 2021 by saddlebum