Coronavirus prep

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
    For those in the U.S., have you ordered your free test kits from the government yet?
    We'll see how long they take to arrive...it is through the U.S. Postal Service, after all...

    We ordered ours on Tuesday. Said 7-10 days to ship. I wouldn't imagine it will take long to get here once shipped though.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
    33gail33 wrote: »
    SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
    I'm going to a wake tomorrow, and find myself pretty anxious about it. I'm going to double-mask and not stay very long, but funerals/wakes tend to be super-spreader events.

    My husband and I are vaxxed/boosted, but we still do not want even a mild case.

    If I test positive, I'm out of work for a minimum of 5 days. This is an extremely busy time at my job, and what I can do from home is limited. It would be a burden on my co-workers if I were not there.

    My husband is a freelancer/contractor. If he tests positive, he is also out of work, but he would not get paid for his lost time, so it's a financial burden for us if he doesn't work.

    Honestly at this point given how obiquitous it is I would just not test and keep on doing what I needed to do.

    I have required testing twice a week at work, and my husband is required to test on certain job sites, so we can't hide it.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,953 Member
    SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
    For those in the U.S., have you ordered your free test kits from the government yet?
    We'll see how long they take to arrive...it is through the U.S. Postal Service, after all...

    No. Some of my friends have.

    When the news came that the website was open (early, soft open), I looked at an online-order source where I'd found a good price previously on the Abbot Labs BinaxNow 2-packs, but that had been out of stock for a while. They were back in stock, though now at $20 per 2-pack rather than $14 as previously. I ordered some, they'll be here tomorrow. I still had one two-pack from a previous order.

    My thought process was that - based on what I've heard/read - my health insurance provider will reimburse me (though possibly at an out-of-network rate maxed at $12) albeit with a little hassle to send stuff in; and I can afford this even if they don't (not rich, but this isn't big bucks in context). I'm also retired, don't need lots of tests, unlike some folks in more challenging situations.

    I'm waiting to see how the supply through the government channel holds out, thinking that letting lower income, underinsured, and front line workers go first would be a good thing for someone like me. (I'm not suggesting anyone else should do likewise, just sharing my thought process).

    The friends who've ordered reported that the process was easy, but I wouldn't expect any of them to have received the tests yet, given published timelines. It's likely they'll post about it (in a private FB group where we're members and it's relevant), so I can report back if they do, given that theirs were quite early orders.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,646 Member
    My aunt sent me the site to order the tests. I ordered mine yesterday and they give you a max of 4 tests per household.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    edited January 2022
    33gail33 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    oocdc2 wrote: »
    After almost three years of being *so* gods-damn careful, I've got Omnicron. I'm vaxxed and boosted; I have mild symptoms and just tired all the time. My workplace mandates isolation for five days, complete masking for five when reporting to work; no negative test required. I hope my kids (also vaxxed, one boosted) can manage to avoid this.

    Nobody is going to avoid Omicron unless they literally do absolutely nothing and have no contact with anyone. My whole family had it earlier this month and I'm still in quarantine for work due to their very strict protocols. We're all vaxed and my wife and I are boosted. We have indoor mask mandates here and always comply and we all still got it.

    I thought that too but somehow managed to avoid getting it when my family had it. I wish I did test positive, at this point I just want to get it over with. Given my extensive exposures I am assuming that I am immune due to either previous exposure or vaccine response. I just wish I had that confirmation of being post infection so I can get on with normal life and go on a freaking vacation without worrying about getting stuck there with a positive test.

    I know others who have avoided it also. My best friend's kids had it and he didn't come down with it at the time (Christmas), but he just popped positive yesterday. I'm not sure about his ex-wife. I think ultimately it's going to be very difficult to avoid and those people who don't get it at some point will be few and far between just looking at the numbers. In my state alone we had a weekend positive test number of 21,000 and that's only the people who actually went to a testing site that reports to the DOH...our previous 3 day high was in the neighborhood of 6,000 which was around this same time last year before the vaccine came out.

    ETA: when I say everyone, I mean everyone who hasn't yet come down with some variant of COVID. I think Omicron is the wide net...
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    edited January 2022
    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    @cwolfman13 Your assessment of it all is interesting to read. Thanks for sharing it. Sorry again you were all exposed, but the NYE thing does sound fun. Hope its all better where you are.

    @SuzySunshine99 I ordered Tuesday. Also curious about turn around time. Do you have to go to the wake? Can you send a really, really nice heartfelt letter? And maybe some food or something?

    @33gail33 Having contracted covid once does not mean you will not get it again nor that the pandemic inconvenience is all over for you. I have a daughter who has had it twice: once pre-vaccine and once post-vaccine/pre-boost. She felt truly awful both times.

    It means that you can travel internationally with your positive test results for 180 days, and not have to worry about a PCR test coming up as an asymptomatic positive, which would delay getting back into my country (Canada).
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,884 Member
    SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
    For those in the U.S., have you ordered your free test kits from the government yet?
    We'll see how long they take to arrive...it is through the U.S. Postal Service, after all...

    Ordered 1/20.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,365 Member
    33gail33 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    oocdc2 wrote: »
    After almost three years of being *so* gods-damn careful, I've got Omnicron. I'm vaxxed and boosted; I have mild symptoms and just tired all the time. My workplace mandates isolation for five days, complete masking for five when reporting to work; no negative test required. I hope my kids (also vaxxed, one boosted) can manage to avoid this.

    Nobody is going to avoid Omicron unless they literally do absolutely nothing and have no contact with anyone. My whole family had it earlier this month and I'm still in quarantine for work due to their very strict protocols. We're all vaxed and my wife and I are boosted. We have indoor mask mandates here and always comply and we all still got it.

    I thought that too but somehow managed to avoid getting it when my family had it. I wish I did test positive, at this point I just want to get it over with. Given my extensive exposures I am assuming that I am immune due to either previous exposure or vaccine response. I just wish I had that confirmation of being post infection so I can get on with normal life and go on a freaking vacation without worrying about getting stuck there with a positive test.

    That's the same feeling I have quite often. If it's inevitable, just come and get me now. Five days' hibernation wouldn't be entirely unwelcome with our current cold snap.
  • LazyBlondeChef
    LazyBlondeChef Posts: 2,809 Member
    edited January 2022
    My partner tried to order our "free" test kits but because we use a UPS Store for our mail he got caught up in the "somebody already ordered from that address" mess. I hope they fix it soon. I read somewhere that if you put your Suite/Apt/Box number on the first line it will help though probably as soon as someone else does it with the same number it'll fail again. :D

    I've already resigned myself to the fact that I'm probably going to get Covid though I'm still hoping to avoid it with reasonable (but not excessive) precautions.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
    For those in the U.S., have you ordered your free test kits from the government yet?
    We'll see how long they take to arrive...it is through the U.S. Postal Service, after all...

    No, I guess I will have to navigate how to do that. I've been so busy that I hadn't even thought about this.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
    edited January 2022
    T1DCarnivoreRunner wrote: »
    SuzySunshine99 wrote: »
    For those in the U.S., have you ordered your free test kits from the government yet?
    We'll see how long they take to arrive...it is through the U.S. Postal Service, after all...

    No, I guess I will have to navigate how to do that. I've been so busy that I hadn't even thought about this.

    Not much to navigate…just go here and put in your name and address:
    https://www.covidtests.gov/
  • SModa61
    SModa61 Posts: 2,851 Member
    So few more conversations since I first learned of my MIL.

    Though she tested positive today, she was starting to feel sick Monday night. My reading just now says contagious 1 - 2 days prior to symptoms and DH left saturday morning, 2.5 days before her symptoms. From internet, omicron is supposed to show about 3 days after exposure. My other SIL (not the one with 2nd round covid) says that in her experience as director of a school, they are seeing symptoms show right on schedule 5 days after a known exposure. This evening my husband is at 5.5 from leaving his mother and slightly more than 5 days from his flight home. While he could be asymptomatic, I'll continue to monitor me as I am around people needing protecting. I have done tests two days ago (due to seeing my parents) and then again this evening as I have to drive my mother in the morning. So far, both tests were negative.

    As for the free tests, when I logged on (Jan 18) it stated that shipping begins at the end of January. But I am curious how long will it take to distribute that number of shipments? Will people be still receiving theirs in April or longer? While the free tests are nice, I think they would have been a greater value to the community if distributed in December or before. But of course, hindsight is 20/20. Lastly, I wonder about receiving mine. I leave my current address on Feb 4. Will they forward shipped kits, or not?
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,675 Member
    They said on TV that you could get at-home tests at your local pharmacy and insurance would reimburse you. The next day I got an email from my insurance company saying that that didn't apply to Medicare people. They won't reimburse us. I'm not sure what happens if we try to get the tests from the government website.

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