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Society (and the authorities/governments) were completely inconsistent with it. I still see people who freak out over COVID but don't care about any other conta

Society (and the authorities/governments) were completely inconsistent with it. I still see people who freak out over COVID but don't care about any other contagion. People still talk about COVID testing as if it is a "Are You Contagious?" testing. Even medical facilities keep pushing COVID testing even though it doesn't change the diagnosis, treatment, or outcome; even if you test negative for COVID, you could (1) still have COVID, or (2) still have another contagious disease. If you test positive, you could (1) have COVID, (2) have something else similar enough to COVID, or (3) be a false positive. It's entirely inconsistent and useless. If your sick and you might be contagious, stay home. If your not sick (or sick but not contagious), then you do you.

DanBC 4y ago
> It's entirely inconsistent and useless. For some people their infection with covid is going to be mild, and their infection with a cough or cold is going to feel to them similar to covid. But for other people covid is very much more severe than a cough cold. I have cancer, I'm going through chemo. I must not catch a cold, because it could be really serious. But I really must not catch covid, because it could kill me. I'm not expecting society to live in lock down to accommodate me, but if an event asks people to do lateral flow testing before attendance, and someone tests and is positive, I'd like them to not attend, or attend with masking and social distancing. I don't want them to attend, not mask, not socially distance, and then near the end of the event say "oh, by the way, I tested positive for covid this morning". I don't attend events because this is a thing that people do.
lesuorac 4y ago
> Even medical facilities keep pushing COVID testing even though it doesn't change the diagnosis, treatment, or outcome (X) Doubt If you're not very sick then sure the treatment isn't going to change much (just fight it off with OTC drugs). But if you actually need any sort of intervention (rare) they'll give you different drugs than say an Ebola infection. > If your not sick (or sick but not contagious), then you do you. Unclear how you know if you're not contagious if you don't actually know what you're sick with.
- staringback 4y ago
  When I was in NYC a few weeks ago I noticed a plethora of "COVID testing" tents around Manhattan, never did I see anyone actually getting a test there. I can't help but think the employees sitting around and the operators of the testing huts are leeching off government funds in the name of "public health and safety"
  - chiefalchemist 4y ago
    It's all for show. Uncle Sam committed monies to the states and the states to the local municipalities. No politician wants to say "We don't need this" and then have people laid off. No politician wants to say "Give us that money back." This isn't unique to Covid and Covid testing. It's simply much easier to see.
- Throwawayaerlei 4y ago
  You are correct. COVID is different from other respiratory illness I'm aware of (not a doctor) in that when it gets serious that way it interferes with oxygen intake but not getting rid of CO2. Which drives the breathing reflex so you can get "happy hypoxia," where oxygen blood levels get dangerously, perhaps lethally low and the patient doesn't realize it, especially since hypoxia is insidious. Another difference perhaps is that the SOP treatment, US, U.K., don't know where else is to give anyone bad off enough to require supplemental oxygen a steroid to suppress the innate immune system.
- ThunderSizzle 4y ago
  > If you're not very sick then sure the treatment isn't going to change much. But if you actually need any sort of intervention (rare) they'll give you different drugs than say an Ebola infection. That's literally what I just said - medical facilities keep pushing COVID testing even though in 99% of cases, it's not going to be used to modify the diagnosis or treatment. As you said, the other ~1% or less of cases that might make a assist or alter a decision based on information provided by the test is rare, and nor did I say that in that scenario that it shouldn't be done. > Unclear how you know if you're not contagious if you don't actually know what you're sick with. There's more than just COVID testing, and some tests can reveal an infection that isn't contagious. For example, many bacterial infections are no longer considered contagious after ~24 hours of antibiotic use [1]. A positive on a bacterial infection can give enough confidence on the risk of being contagious. However, with a negative COVID test, you could (1) still have COVID, or (2) have another infection that is contagious. Doctors can't assume you have strep throat or a sinus infection from a negative COVID test, but doctors can make a diagnosis based on a positive strep test that you don't have something else based on your symptoms. [1] https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/infections/how-long-will-i-be-infectious-after-starting-antibiotics/ https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/infections/how-lo...

DanBC 4y ago

> It's entirely inconsistent and useless. For some people their infection with covid is going to be mild, and their infection with a cough or cold is going to feel to them similar to covid. But for other people covid is very much more severe than a cough cold. I have cancer, I'm going through chemo. I must not catch a cold, because it could be really serious. But I really must not catch covid, because it could kill me. I'm not expecting society to live in lock down to accommodate me, but if an event asks people to do lateral flow testing before attendance, and someone tests and is positive, I'd like them to not attend, or attend with masking and social distancing. I don't want them to attend, not mask, not socially distance, and then near the end of the event say "oh, by the way, I tested positive for covid this morning". I don't attend events because this is a thing that people do.

lesuorac 4y ago

> Even medical facilities keep pushing COVID testing even though it doesn't change the diagnosis, treatment, or outcome (X) Doubt If you're not very sick then sure the treatment isn't going to change much (just fight it off with OTC drugs). But if you actually need any sort of intervention (rare) they'll give you different drugs than say an Ebola infection. > If your not sick (or sick but not contagious), then you do you. Unclear how you know if you're not contagious if you don't actually know what you're sick with.

staringback 4y ago
When I was in NYC a few weeks ago I noticed a plethora of "COVID testing" tents around Manhattan, never did I see anyone actually getting a test there. I can't help but think the employees sitting around and the operators of the testing huts are leeching off government funds in the name of "public health and safety"
- chiefalchemist 4y ago
  It's all for show. Uncle Sam committed monies to the states and the states to the local municipalities. No politician wants to say "We don't need this" and then have people laid off. No politician wants to say "Give us that money back." This isn't unique to Covid and Covid testing. It's simply much easier to see.
Throwawayaerlei 4y ago
You are correct. COVID is different from other respiratory illness I'm aware of (not a doctor) in that when it gets serious that way it interferes with oxygen intake but not getting rid of CO2. Which drives the breathing reflex so you can get "happy hypoxia," where oxygen blood levels get dangerously, perhaps lethally low and the patient doesn't realize it, especially since hypoxia is insidious. Another difference perhaps is that the SOP treatment, US, U.K., don't know where else is to give anyone bad off enough to require supplemental oxygen a steroid to suppress the innate immune system.
ThunderSizzle 4y ago
> If you're not very sick then sure the treatment isn't going to change much. But if you actually need any sort of intervention (rare) they'll give you different drugs than say an Ebola infection. That's literally what I just said - medical facilities keep pushing COVID testing even though in 99% of cases, it's not going to be used to modify the diagnosis or treatment. As you said, the other ~1% or less of cases that might make a assist or alter a decision based on information provided by the test is rare, and nor did I say that in that scenario that it shouldn't be done. > Unclear how you know if you're not contagious if you don't actually know what you're sick with. There's more than just COVID testing, and some tests can reveal an infection that isn't contagious. For example, many bacterial infections are no longer considered contagious after ~24 hours of antibiotic use [1]. A positive on a bacterial infection can give enough confidence on the risk of being contagious. However, with a negative COVID test, you could (1) still have COVID, or (2) have another infection that is contagious. Doctors can't assume you have strep throat or a sinus infection from a negative COVID test, but doctors can make a diagnosis based on a positive strep test that you don't have something else based on your symptoms. [1] https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/infections/how-long-will-i-be-infectious-after-starting-antibiotics/ https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/infections/how-lo...