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Coronavirus

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@Rico
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A testing story.

Yesterday I was schedule to go visit my mother. It's about a 90dirve and I got about 30 down the road and started to feel poorly. Stomach cramps. No gory details but I stopped the car twice and the second time threw up. I turned around and cancelled the visit. No one else was sick at home and we could not identify anything that I eat that would have been a good candidate for this.

Since vomiting is a symptom (rare as the first one I think) of Covid19 infection I took my self to get tested. There is an ice arena converted to a testing site - this is Canada eh . They have a well oiled machine going there. There is a big tent in part of the parking lot so the line can stand in the shade. They have painted circles to stand in and snaked the line four times under the tent the full length of the arena. When I got there only the first lane was occupied so I got to walk right past the signs for "at this point it is 3 hours to getting a test" and the "at this point it is 2 hours to getting a test" - yay.

Once in side you have a little more line between the boards and the blue line. Then at centre ice you get registered where you sit with a nurse and give them your health card (again Canada eh :) and contact info. Only screening question was if you were showing any symptoms and if you had travelled anywhere. If your test comes back positive you then get a call from a contact tracer who will get into more details. Once that's done you have a seat before going to a second stage of registration where a different person verifies with you that all the info you just game was entered correctly. You get to sit down for this wait and after you get up they ask you to turn your chair around. They make sure that you got the email with the test results website.

Once you are registered you get handed a number and again get to wait in chairs. Testing is done on the other goal line and then you are free to go picking up information on your way out. They also remind you and your family to isolate at home while the results come.

Bloody awesome. There are cleaners that clean up each registration station between people and clean and turn chairs back forwards. The staff rotates around the jobs so no one gets bored and thy even had people cleaning the stadium walls behind the bleachers (family waiting area). Also families with little kids have an expedited line - no mass of bored kids running around :)

I was told to expect results in 24 to 48 hours. The nurse that verified my registration said her last test was closer to 48hours. I was home in time for dinner which I eat just a small amount of sitting in front of the second season of the Umbrella academy. By 6am today my results have shown up. less than 20hours.
 
Now a bit of my story as a "front line healthcare worker" (medical imaging in a busy hospital) in the USA:

I have performed computed tomography exams on numerous patients who have been confirmed with and/or are being tested for COVID.

Couple of examples of my typical work week:

Patient came into the ER last week c/o abdominal pain. I did a CT abdomen/pelvis on him wearing nothing more than my usual surgical mask & gloves. Same patient came back two days later c/o shortness of breath. COVID test ordered, and a CT Chest. I garbed up (N95 mask, plastic gown, face shield, gloves, etc.), did his scan, test results come back positive for COVID. So, I was exposed to COVID a few days earlier without wearing the full protective suit.

Monday of this week, a patient came into the ER c/o abdominal pain. I did a CT abdomen/pelvis on her wearing nothing more than my usual surgical mask & gloves. Noticed while I was doing the scan that she seemed confused. Couple hours later, the provider ordered a COVID test and a CT Head. I garb up in full protective gear, go get her again and scan her head. Didn't even bother to see if her COVID test came back positive or not.

I have been exposed so many times now that it no longer matters. I have never felt ill, or had any symptoms. Would like to have the test to see if I have the antibodies.
 
Meat Grinder said:
Now a bit of my story as a "front line healthcare worker" (medical imaging in a busy hospital) in the USA:

I have performed computed tomography exams on numerous patients who have been confirmed with and/or are being tested for COVID.

Couple of examples of my typical work week:

Patient came into the ER last week c/o abdominal pain. I did a CT abdomen/pelvis on him wearing nothing more than my usual surgical mask & gloves. Same patient came back two days later c/o shortness of breath. COVID test ordered, and a CT Chest. I garbed up (N95 mask, plastic gown, face shield, gloves, etc.), did his scan, test results come back positive for COVID. So, I was exposed to COVID a few days earlier without wearing the full protective suit.

Monday of this week, a patient came into the ER c/o abdominal pain. I did a CT abdomen/pelvis on her wearing nothing more than my usual surgical mask & gloves. Noticed while I was doing the scan that she seemed confused. Couple hours later, the provider ordered a COVID test and a CT Head. I garb up in full protective gear, go get her again and scan her head. Didn't even bother to see if her COVID test came back positive or not.

I have been exposed so many times now that it no longer matters. I have never felt ill, or had any symptoms. Would like to have the test to see if I have the antibodies.
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While I (think) I understand how you feel (no longer matters), I'd say that logic dictates you might still be not infected, due to luck/not being that close/whatever. So, I'd still prefer any protection over none. A test / proof of antibodies would indeed be interesting, but afaik no guarantees. While most people in good health seem to be doing fine, there are cases of young and or healthy people becoming very ill. I know someone 38 from UK who died (backin April), but he had something else (blood condition) as well from what I hear.

Here in NL numbers are going up again, although not sure if it is a real second phase. Numbers aren't yet as high as the first phase, while there is much more testing. Still I try to err on the side of safety vs risk with regards to this virus.
 
Lethaface said:
While I (think) I understand how you feel (no longer matters), I'd say that logic dictates you might still be not infected, due to luck/not being that close/whatever. So, I'd still prefer any protection over none. A test / proof of antibodies would indeed be interesting, but afaik no guarantees. While most people in good health seem to be doing fine, there are cases of young and or healthy people becoming very ill. I know someone 38 from UK who died (backin April), but he had something else (blood condition) as well from what I hear.
Click to expand...

While what you say is perfectly logical, I really no longer care. If I get it, I get it. In fact, I welcome it. Let my immune system fight it off, or not. I guess my point is, given my profession, there is no longer any point in protecting myself from COVID. I am, inevitably, going to be exposed to it enough that "protective measures" no longer matter to my own health. If I wear protective gear, which I do, it is to prevent the spread.
 
Meat Grinder said:
While what you say is perfectly logical, I really no longer care. If I get it, I get it. In fact, I welcome it. Let my immune system fight it off, or not. I guess my point is, given my profession, there is no longer any point in protecting myself from COVID. I am, inevitably, going to be exposed to it enough that "protective measures" no longer matter to my own health. If I wear protective gear, which I do, it is to prevent the spread.
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I've started to feel the same actually.

Not sure we're doing anybody any favours trying to suppress the spread of this virus as much as possible. It will just postpone the time when enough people have had it that it starts to fizzle out. Here in Denmark, we now only have a total of three people in intensive care, and still the government just announced that everybody has to wear face masks in public transport. I think we should balance the efforts to fight the outbreak with how serious the outbreak actually is.
 
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