Coronavirus prep

Paperpudding, I hope your husband recovers well, hope you continue to stay clear too.

You could look into zinc supplements because his taste is affected, even before covid zinc was associated with taste and smell. I expect were this appropriate to your husband you will be across it.
Take care, Keep safe

paperpudding wrote: »

thats not the rule here Gail.

Close contacts have to test for 5 days out of 7 including on their last day. They are not in isolation though, but have some restrictions - wear masks in public areas, don't attend health settings (so time off work if you are employed in one)

if you actually get Covid - either as a close contact like I did , or just randomly, you have to home isolate for 7 days. You do not leave your home unless emergency

But you do not have to test again - at the end of the 7 days, if you have no symptoms, your isolation is over. If you have acute symptoms you stay isolated until they clear

You are also exempt from RATS tests in any situation in which they might be required - eg occupational, visiting nursing homes travel etc - for 3 months

Because people can have antibodies which show up as positive for a period of time but they are not infectious, it is just evidence of recent infection

That’s the policy here in the US as well, except isolation is 10 days. In Colorado at least. I was very specifically told not to test again and to contact public health if I needed documentation to exempt me from any testing at all, even for medical procedures, for 90 days.

It was 10 days here too till a month or so ago COgypsy - but now only 7.
Although the day of positive test is day 0, so really 8 days.

if your acute symptoms are not gone, you stay in isolation.
Ongoing symptoms like post viral cough, some people have fatigue for a while afterward - they are ok to go out.
I will be wearing a mask when I am back at work - as masks are still required in health settings anyway.

No I dont agree that positive RATS would mean you are still positive - I dont think SA Health (or other authorities) would exempt people who have had Covid for doing RATS for 3 months if that were so.
They specifically say you do not need to do a clearance RATS test - if your symptoms have cleared you can end your isolation.
And SA Health have been conservative compared to other places and I do not think swayed by business influences.

Thanks @fuzzipeg i appreciate all the advice!

@paperpudding I am very curious. I did reach out to my PCP to get our COVID illnesses into our medical record. All I was told is to take OTC meds and reach out if we got worse. Seemed to be no interest in noting the illness, but they could just not have told me that they were registering the reports.

There do not seem to be any requirements to test. The free tests were withdrawn when the Prime Minister decided covid was no longer an issue and we all should get back to normal. I've not heard anything subsequently about local or national covid numbers in the media. Its as if its totally gone away.

I have tests in my draw to use when visiting my mother but have not had symptoms or contacts which indicate to me I need to test so I've not tried the need to report a covid case. Even the care home my mother needs to be in does not require me to test pre visit now thought someone giving personal care should test once a week. Probably there is still somewhere to report one's status, but its all on trust. Thinking about it, the Local Area Testing Centre has closed and the walk in one in town has been take away. There's no requirement to isolate a positive care either though a social worker in my wider family did isolate.

Paperpudding, where you are sounds to be much more enlightened. I'd be more than happy to still be testing and everything, its just too casual for my liking,

I am in Australia - South Australia to be exact, as different states may have slightly different requirements

There are situations in which one is required to do a PCR test - if symptomatic and RATS is negative, as there is possibility of false negative RATS. Thats why my husband did a PCR
PCR result then gets electronically sent to your GP ( just like any other lab result for anything else) , who is required to notify SA Health.
Just like other notifiable diseases- eg influenza, shingles etc
Or more likely somebody on his/her behalf does, like one of the staff
The GP is not required to contact you but most probably give you a phone call to see how you are going

There are other situations in which one is required to do a RATS - often for travel, occupational requirements, visiting Aged Care facilities, close contact requirements, or having any symptoms (if RATS is positive, no need for PCR confirmation)
If a RATS is positive you are required to report it to SA Health - you fill in a form online to do so.

SA Health then sends you a text message telling you about home isolation and what to do if you get worse.
They also send you another one advising you of mental health hotline and another one on day before your isolation finishes, telling you it finishes at midnight that night, unless you are still symptomatic in which case stay isolated until acute symptoms clear.
and they send one to anyone you advised was a close contact, telling them of close contact requirements.

I'm sure there is the possibility some people have symptoms and do not get tested but work places etc wouldnt let you come to work with symptoms unless you were proven Covid negative and there is the possibility some people get a positive RATS and do not report it or self isolate - but generally speaking, I think the population is being compliant with this - and certainly one would be a social pariah, as well as behaving illegally, if one was known to not report or isolate if positive.

RATS are readily available now and not expensive - however, relevant work places supply them for employees, Aged Care facilities supply them for visitors, people on Health Care cards (ie low incomes) get them free, close contacts get them free.
You would only buy them if you were testing for travel purposes or you had symptoms and didnt want to get a PCR (PCR's are free for everybody)

SModa61 wrote: »

@paperpudding I am very curious. I did reach out to my PCP to get our COVID illnesses into our medical record. All I was told is to take OTC meds and reach out if we got worse. Seemed to be no interest in noting the illness, but they could just not have told me that they were registering the reports.

We don't have to report it here as far as I am aware (Canada). We can't even get a PCR test if we wanted one, and how would they ever enforce reporting a home test?

Back when my husband had it in December they were still doing PCR tests so his case is in the official numbers I guess. Mine in April was just at at home test so no one "officially" knows that I had it, it's not reported anywhere and I didn't call my doctor. I believe that only thing they are tracking here now is hospitalizations, and that has been steadily decreasing.