The government is still screaming "French kiss every stranger you meet then spit directly in to their mouths", which is not helpful.

The wastewater numbers and test positivity in my area are both higher than previous troughs and trending up. Does that mean Covid is spreading more aggressively? Does it mean anything? The only data I have, and that as far as I know anyone has, is test positivity and wastewater numbers. I feel like I'm going fucking nuts because EVERYONE, including the fucking contagion dispersal cult, says Covid is over but the actual available data says it's trucking right along and nothing has changed.

I want to screm-a aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

  • PolPotPie [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    i had a sore throat this week (tested neg twice) but felt like i would be judged for choosing to work from home and not risk contagion to others. the vibes, they're fucked

    • sovietknuckles [they/them]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Did you swab your throat for the rapid test (30 minutes without eating or drinking)? Rapid tests in your nose don't really count, you have to be mega-positive for the test to notice

      • bigmonkey [they/them]
        ·
        1 year ago

        Source for that? Every rapid test I've taken says to swab in your nose.

        • sovietknuckles [they/them]
          ·
          1 year ago

          Those instructions were written for pre-omicron variants that collected in your lungs, so nose worked. Those instructions are outdated, omicron and onwards collects in your throat.

          Like this:

          Show throat swab

          Article about the difference: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-throat-swab-for-omicron-at-home-experts-2022-1

          The FDA has authorized just one method of taking a COVID-19 rapid test: swabbing the inside of your nose.

          But ever since Omicron came into force in the US in mid-December, some people have noted on social media that their rapid tests only come back positive after adding saliva to the mix.

          Medical journal article: Saliva swabs are the preferred sample for Omicron detection

          Rapid tests in other countries call them nose and throat kits now, because they're not behind like the FDA is.

          • TheModerateTankie [any]
            ·
            1 year ago

            It's almost like we don't want people to know if they have covid for some reason. thinkin-lenin

            • sovietknuckles [they/them]
              ·
              1 year ago

              Some PCR tests let you do a saliva sample instead. But since most PCR tests are still nose-only, that might artificially lower PCR test positivity rates, as well.

          • Quaxamilliom [comrade/them]
            ·
            1 year ago

            my parents removed my tonsils in the 90s when i was a kid because they got sick of my snoring since we had to live in a one bedroom crack den.

            • sovietknuckles [they/them]
              ·
              1 year ago

              Swabbing the sides of your throat is fine. meow-hug From the UK's DHSC's instructions:

              If you have no tonsils rub the swab on the sides of your throat.