Non controversial question about Omicron

[HeatherC]

As always you can look up this information yourself. By the way that's not really what was said. This thread will likely get shut down here soon given the conversation that's going on but you can look up the information.

I hope they don’t shut a thread down just because people have differing opinions. This is consuming all our lives on a daily basis. We should hopefully be able to discuss it like adults. I just hope we can all be adults about it.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This right here^^

My wife said her hospital is once again turning into a Covid unit. She's an RN and has been working Covid units for the last 2 years.

She did say the have not been over run as quickly as with the Delta variant, but it's building. One of the big issues is nurses themselves getting Covid. While there are not as many people being admitted, they are having a massive shortage of health care workers.


I had to wait 4.5 hours last week to get a test down here in South Florida.

I took a home test last Sunday, negative. Last Tuesday, positive. Later that day as I didn't have any symptoms, negative. So I went to Urgent care, waiting 4.5 hours, and got both the rapid and PCR. Rapid, positive. PCR results 72 hours later, negative. Everyone else in my house took 2 home tests and were negative, so I ended up in my home office working from home all week and spent all day in there alone on Christmas. Yay. But better safe then sorry. I have 2 kids under 5. Don't want to infect them and my wife is type 1 diabetic.

I don't know what is going on with me, but I am completely asymptomatic. So my guess is negative and just fluke tests. I'm going to take 1 more this evening and if it's negative, I'm negative.

What did the Urgent Care practitioner advise?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I hope they don’t shut a thread down just because people have differing opinions. This is consuming all our lives on a daily basis. We should hopefully be able to discuss it like adults. I just hope we can all be adults about it.

It's not the differing opinions nor about discussing like adults. It's what the topic has shifted too (see the sticky and the 2 other recent shut down threads.)

The OP was asking about their sore throat symptom and now the conversation shifted to opinions about the pandemic in general so it's headed towards that direction. That's all. Hopefully the OP's throat at least feels different than what it was before and it was just a fluke for them.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

This right here^^

My wife said her hospital is once again turning into a Covid unit. She's an RN and has been working Covid units for the last 2 years.

She did say the have not been over run as quickly as with the Delta variant, but it's building. One of the big issues is nurses themselves getting Covid. While there are not as many people being admitted, they are having a massive shortage of health care workers.


I had to wait 4.5 hours last week to get a test down here in South Florida.

I took a home test last Sunday, negative. Last Tuesday, positive. Later that day as I didn't have any symptoms, negative. So I went to Urgent care, waiting 4.5 hours, and got both the rapid and PCR. Rapid, positive. PCR results 72 hours later, negative. Everyone else in my house took 2 home tests and were negative, so I ended up in my home office working from home all week and spent all day in there alone on Christmas. Yay. But better safe then sorry. I have 2 kids under 5. Don't want to infect them and my wife is type 1 diabetic.

I don't know what is going on with me, but I am completely asymptomatic. So my guess is negative and just fluke tests. I'm going to take 1 more this evening and if it's negative, I'm negative.

One of the things I've been reading is that nasal swabs aren't very good at detecting omicron in particular and especially not early. Research is showing that throat swabs and saliva samples are actually better for detection of this variant. Of course, we aren't in a position to change the testing standard at this point - we have the research but severely lack the ability to pivot with new information. And the CDC is unlikely to change messaging as needed despite research backup due to extreme criticism.

 

[HeatherC]

It's not the differing opinions nor about discussing like adults. It's what the topic has shifted too (see the sticky and the 2 other recent shut down threads.)

The OP was asking about their sore throat symptom and now the conversation shifted to opinions about the pandemic in general so it's headed towards that direction. That's all. Hopefully the OP's throat at least feels different than what it was before and it was just a fluke for them.

Oh I know. I’m just hoping we get a little leeway because it is literally affecting all our lives daily.

 

[robinb]

Here I sit, positive for Covid as of yesterday- Merry Christmas, right? On Friday evening I had trouble falling asleep. I had post nasal drip and a very runny nose. It didn't worry me much, as I have sinus issues anyhow. However, by yesterday morning I had a super scratchy throat- and also scratchy chest, along with a dry little cough. I found an at-home test kit and it lit up as positive in about 20 seconds. Since then I've also developed a "productive"cough, headache, and body/joint aches. I feel like crap. DH, who was in all the same places as I was, feels fine and tested negative. He has an appointment for a re-test on the 29th, to make sure he's OK. He is fully vaccinated and boosted. I am fully vaccinated but was waiting to get the Pfizer booster. My bad, I guess.

I hope you feel better soon! I had Covid right before Thanksgiving.

 

[Kellykins1218]

To me when I read that it made me think like when you get that feeling when you're about to cry, that lumpy feeling in your throat. But for the OP it also had soreness with it.

The OP clarified a few days back it was "I meant a sore throat that feels like swollen tonsils or lymph nodes."

Ah I haven't had those since I was 5 so I have no idea what that feels like

 

[OhDannyBoy]

What did the Urgent Care practitioner advise?

To treat it like a positive and take another test today.

 

[prairie_girl]

Too early to tell, but I'm feeling the same way about it that you do. I've been scouring international news sites for reports on Omicron hospitalizations and fatalities in countries where hundreds of thousands of cases have been diagnosed (millions worldwide). The pattern that's been reported is pretty consistent; cases through the stratosphere but severe outcomes falling. Many epidemiologists have predicted viral mutations that will be far more contagious but also less virulent. I'm no scientist but "they" say the whole goal of a virus is reproduction, not the destruction of the host.

With many restrictions re-imposed here in Canada (and many other countries besides the US) due to Omicron, I'm beginning to despair that we will ever get back to normal.

It seems that the wisdom is that it’s way more spreadable (brain not working so I can’t think of the right word), but not as serious. There should be an asterisk with that, though, because they haven’t said anything for us immunocompromised people. It could still be deadly for us.

Ummm what the heck is a lumpy sore throat?

I did clarify that I was comparing it to tonsillitis or swollen lymph nodes.

It's not the differing opinions nor about discussing like adults. It's what the topic has shifted too (see the sticky and the 2 other recent shut down threads.)

The OP was asking about their sore throat symptom and now the conversation shifted to opinions about the pandemic in general so it's headed towards that direction. That's all. Hopefully the OP's throat at least feels different than what it was before and it was just a fluke for them.

I really hope that this doesn’t get shut down, but it’s pretty much run it’s course.

Having said that, for the past two days I have had swollen lymph nodes behind my left ear (where that little hollow is). I spoke to a nursing line our province has had for decades and they were pretty confident in saying that wasn’t a covid symptom. That was at 430 am (and I still waited an hour to speak to someone). Since then, I have started sneezing a bit and feel like I got hit by a bus. I’m in no shape to go to a testing facility and wait in line for four hours so I’ll just hibernate as best I can, and if I really rapidly decline, I’ll head to the closest ER, which is about 10 minutes from me.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

*I don’t have access to a rapid test because they still require you to go to a testing facility to pick one up..so still a lengthy wait that I’m not up to yet.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Having said that, for the past two days I have had swollen lymph nodes behind my left ear (where that little hollow is). I spoke to a nursing line our province has had for decades and they were pretty confident in saying that wasn’t a covid symptom. That was at 430 am (and I still waited an hour to speak to someone). Since then, I have started sneezing a bit and feel like I got hit by a bus. I’m in no shape to go to a testing facility and wait in line for four hours so I’ll just hibernate as best I can, and if I really rapidly decline, I’ll head to the closest ER, which is about 10 minutes from me.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

*I don’t have access to a rapid test because they still require you to go to a testing facility to pick one up..so still a lengthy wait that I’m not up to yet.

Aww geez that sounds awful

I really hope it passes you quickly whatever it is

 

[lisaviolet]

Prairie_girl, hope it is not Covid and passes soon - especially given your condition.

Since it has been brought up on this thread:

We are back to a frustrating part of human nature, for some -

If it does not touch you personally oh well. You can not relate. You can not think beyond yourself. Life needs to carry on yes - an absolute given, but exactly the same? I am all for and am living life as fully as possible.

But here is one reason why transmission matters -

One group of our hospitals here has cancelled all elective surgeries because the in hospital cases are rising.

The word elective comes to people's heads as no big deal.

But elective surgery has cascading stories.

I just had one cancelled.

And we never want to get to the point where critical issues - heart attacks, accidents, degrees of cancer - are not treated to the best of our ability. These situations can hit any of us. And our loved ones.

So many dominoes beyond people losing loved ones directly to Covid. Which is already horrible in isolation.

 

[DLgal]

Huh. The packs of two are all I’ve seen. All the directions I’ve read/seen say to test a second time 48-72 hours if you get a negative.

There is a brand being sold widely in drugstores and Walmart called Flowflex. One per box for $9.99. They are considered to be more reliable than the Binax Now, which is sold as a "serial test" to be done twice within 36-48 hours.

 

[ronandannette]

This doesn’t need 50 pages of replies. It’s not political and doesn’t have any kind of agenda.

Our health minister and head dr for the province said that a major sign of Omicron is a sore throat. I’ve looked on a bunch of reputable sites but can’t find out if that means a scratchy throat, or a lumpy throat. Does anyone know if it’s one or the other or if it’s both that count?

Signed, someone who woke up with a lumpy sore throat.

* I don’t have tonsils so I know it’s not that. I also don’t have a fever, or congestion, or anything else. Just a sore throat.

Oh oh...Global just ran a piece on the supper-hour news about how Omicron symptoms are consistently starting with a sore and/or scratchy throat and then progress into more cold/flu like symptoms. Test swab samples should be taken from the throat, not the nose, for early detection of this strain. I'll post the link to the video as soon as it's up on the Global website.