COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[It’s so Joever]

I was talking with one of my online gaming friends. I think he is in Orlando and he is a Junior.

He says that there were practically ne teachers at school on Friday and he basically was allowed to do whatever. He was excited about it and telling it to me like it was a good thing, but yeah some schools are facing issues.

On the other hand, my little brother is at school in suburban Denver, his school is still operating well and while there are a higher number of absences than usual, it’s not some crisis there. Clearly the picture may be very different School by school.

Us “alarmists” said this would be a problem and I wonder what the posters who were spamming “NO MORE LOCKDOWNS” would do to fix these issues which seem to be growing.
The best I have heard is to just end all isolation quarantines, meaning even if you were exposed you wouldn’t need to isolate at all test or no test. While obviously this would end all quarantine absences short term, it definitely would increase cases to levels unprecedented, and while omicron does appear milder, the sheer volume still will likely kill a few more hundred thousand over the next few months if this were the policy action taken. I am not some Nebraskassippi swindler, so I will just say the blatant, this would be a mass murder. It may be out best option at this point, but let’s not beat around the bush. A lotta people will die because of this action. The people who argued for this course of action are personally responsible for each death. However, it may come at the benefit of keeping our economy afloat and preventing further degradation of the education of the next generation of Americans. If you advocate for shutting down schools, you are personally responsible for the destruction of the future of millions of lower income Americans and millions of students.

I have yet to hear of any other potential ways to fix this issue. If we stick with the status quo completely, I’m guessing several schools will simply shut down or basically be so empty that it would be worse than virtual education. I expect the DullTaco, DullCooper, Manic Montanan, and Sadverroes to throw hissy b**ch fits about their own “solutions” having unforeseen consequences, and they likely will blame the “alarmists” who simply are bringing reason and nuance to the discourse at this point.

Here are the options I have seen:
End all isolation measures completely=Hundreds of thousands of new deaths=Schools stay reopen and kids get a proper education/lower income families aren’t f**ked (unless the breadwinner of the family died, but nobody needs to know about that )

Status quo=Decent number of people die=Some schools do eventually shutdown=Very uneven developments with some places being barely impacted and others getting both many deaths and worse education outcomes/screwed over working class families

Hospital number based policy action=Some people die (but not as many)=Some schools do shut down=Deaths are reduced compared to status quo but education outcomes are worse and more working class families are f**ked

Case number based policy action=Few people die=Many schools shut down and education outcomes are screwed this year and onwards for at least a decade=Millions of lower income students robbed of a proper education (so the GOP should like this one) and working class families screwed


Now let’s see one of the four horsemen of the Covid virus come in to tell me that “nooo, reopening everything is a magic solution that will save everyone and get me laid!”

[riceowl]

btw I had a very questionable at home test right after I took a PCR (that later resulted negative) and then took another at home the day after that was quite positive. Make of it what you will! I'm assuming positive.

[Inmate Trump]

btw I had a very questionable at home test right after I took a PCR (that later resulted negative) and then took another at home the day after that was quite positive. Make of it what you will! I'm assuming positive.

I’ve taken two home tests and a PCR, all negative.

The headache is pretty unbearable tbh and the other symptoms point to omicron.  Even my doctor said it probably was omicron before he tested me.

But the 3 tests showing negative say otherwise.  I guess it’s just a cold.

[Hollywood]

I got a negative test.

Last Saturday it started with a little throat tickle that lasted until Wednesday when I started having a slight cough.  Thursday was lots of congestion, less cough, no more sore throat.  Friday added a headache and even more congestion.

But negative test, so I guess it's a sinus infection?

Word on the street is that people in homes with family members infected with Covid-19 are also seeing the same symptoms despite not testing positive.  This keeps happening, but I have no explanation for it. Now that I think of it, the tests might not be able to pick up omicron, because another version of it might be too distinctive for a PCR Test to identify it.  I think it's pretty settled argument that Covid-19 is evolving rapidly, and maybe taking characteristics of other viruses (Rhinovirus, HIV).        

I had Covid three weeks ago.  As soon as my throat started to bother me and the aches came along, I had my sister in-law buy a whole pot of chicken soup that I drank it and inhaled the steam throughout the day while sitting in a hot bath.  Then I rinsed off with a hot shower and slept.  Rinse and Repeat.  Barely lasted two days.  It never got worse than moderate throat soreness. I'm almost glad that I got Omicron, because at least now I've built immunity.  

I have no idea what Covid-19 looks like next winter, because I have zero confidence in the work being done by the NIH, CDC, and WHO.  Even the medical journals need to be watched carefully due to their censorship of research that is accepted in countries like Japan, South Africa, India and South Korea, but counters American and European infectious disease agencies.  The medical official in South Africa told the world not to panic over Omicron cause it wasn't that dangerous, and the Western World banned flights.  I don't get it.  

I also don't understand why someone like Fauci is still F-ing breathing after he secretly resumed Coronavirus gain-of-function (Frankenstein) research after the Obama Administration left, and lied in Congress about his role in what I can only describe as a crime against humanity.  That guy needs to F-ing go already.  What kind of POS still wants Fauci dictating medical policy?  I don't even know a Democrat that trusts Anthony Fauci.  Just from a political POV, it's a very bad look for the Democrats to put all their faith in a man everyone knows can't be trusted.  

The recent Gallup poll showed that a majority of Americans (52%) still approve of Dr. Fauci. Nevertheless, as this figure indicates, approval of him is polarized along partisan lines at this point, and closely matches Biden's performance against Trump in 2020. 85% of Democrats continue to approve of Fauci, along with 52% of independents, while 81% of Republicans disapprove.  So, I don't think it's true that "everyone" distrusts him. Moreover, the media continues to rely upon Fauci as an authoritative source of information and expertise. I certainly don't think Fauci is right about everything, and I'd wish the media would challenge him more. But that's not going to happen.

I'll give praise to one Democrat - Obama - cause his administration tried to shut Fauci down.  They tried to stop his dangerous research before it could kill anyone.  Other virologists saw the risk, and they tried their best to end gain-of-function research.  I feel like the Obama Administration had people with some humanity as opposed to just appointing amoral or immoral establishment politicians.  I give Obama credit for at least being both a politicians and a human being.  But I hate Fauci will all my moral fiber cause I think that guy might be evil.  

I'm not saying Fauci is wrong about everything, but his illegal and immoral behaviors are extremely shocking to anyone that's followed the scientific research, FOIA E-Mails, Administrative Actions, and Congressional Testimony.  His coverup of the Wuhan Lab Leak was absolutely disgusting when you take into account the January 2020 e-mails from concerned associates that thought the virus was engineered.  Fauci's suggestion that the virus could not be spread from human-to-human was inexcusable in light of all the video evidence and testimony from Doctors in China.  He said "Covid was not a major threat" while I was out buying all the toilet paper lol.  He said Covid-19 is "Not a Major Threat".  He told Americans that masks were unnecessary days before Covid-19 became a major pandemic.  Against well-established scientific research, he said Covid-19 could not spread from the vaccinated, and the vaccinated would become a "Dead End".  During his reversal of that statement, he mislead the public by suggesting that a new study out of India was the basis of his decision even though it was earlier research evaluating data out of the UK and Israel that demonstrated the ridiculous nature of his statements.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/fauci-email-bolsters-the-lab-leak-theory-11622830092

I still remember when Fauci was praising Murderer Cuomo while killing all those people in nursing homes, and then other states started legalizing negligent homicide at nursing homes around the country.  Almost 200,000 people died cause Fauci, Cuomo and leftist media played politics instead of reporting on the issue and discussing the scientific data that would have easily saved tens of thousands  during the first few months.  Fauci will eventually be another irritant and embarrassment for the Democrats, and then they'll have to trump up sexual assault charges against him too. lol.      https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2020/07/fauci-cuomo-did-great-job-killing-6400-nursing-daniel-greenfield/

Fauci also disagreed with the China and European travel ban, and then flip-flopped.  He said travel bans would be "ineffective".  He advocated for a full and longer economic shutdown cause he had no idea how to manage the situation, provide any type of guidelines so people could get back to work.   https://gizmodo.com/white-house-advisor-dr-fauci-flip-flops-on-whether-tra-1842308441  

Then the man has F-ing panics over every little unknown bump int he road.  He wanted to shut down the entire economy again over Omicron, and told people not to travel on Christmas and Thanksgiving.  The Ds blasted me when I suggested an initial travel ban to give us time to evaluate the situation.  That's how it's done.  I was for travel bans when Obama was facing the whole Ebola scare, but Fauci is like a mentally ill neurotic.        

Honestly, I will find no common ground on Fauci.  The man is F-ing Joke, and he was a Lemming for CCP.  I thought he would be gone after Trump, but Democrats are just too far off the ledge mentally, and they have no desire to amputate the rot.   If he actually did a good job, I'd have a different opinion, but every one of his instincts is either wrong, immoral or surreptitious.  Based on his actions and lies in front of Congress about publicly available research, I have no doubt that he his connected to the experiments that led to the origination of Covid-19, and then tried to cover his tracks like Cuomo. I think it's all a matter of whether or not he is investigated.  

Like I don't know the laws for Crimes Against Humanity, but if I'm correct, he would be a perfect candidate for such a proceeding.  If you make a Frankenstein virus that kills millions of people, or aid and abet, you should be tried for crimes against humanity.  Cause this is going to happen again if we don't set an example.  These guys are working on bioweapons (according to one of the Fauci E-Mails), so the margin of error is nil.  Even a violation of a tiny security protocol should be grounds for termination and investigation.  

[emailking]

He wanted to shut down the entire economy again over Omicron, and told people not to travel on Christmas and Thanksgiving.  

Well that's not true. He said it was safe to gather with family if everyone was vaccinated. And he supported the decrease in the quarantine time so that society could keep functioning.

[Hammy]

btw I had a very questionable at home test right after I took a PCR (that later resulted negative) and then took another at home the day after that was quite positive. Make of it what you will! I'm assuming positive.

I’ve taken two home tests and a PCR, all negative.

The headache is pretty unbearable tbh and the other symptoms point to omicron.  Even my doctor said it probably was omicron before he tested me.

But the 3 tests showing negative say otherwise.  I guess it’s just a cold.

Could also be allergies if you're negative, given how much warmer the weather in Georgia has been during most of December and the start of this month.

[Hollywood]

btw I had a very questionable at home test right after I took a PCR (that later resulted negative) and then took another at home the day after that was quite positive. Make of it what you will! I'm assuming positive.

I’ve taken two home tests and a PCR, all negative.

The headache is pretty unbearable tbh and the other symptoms point to omicron.  Even my doctor said it probably was omicron before he tested me.

But the 3 tests showing negative say otherwise.  I guess it’s just a cold.

Yo... I think 3 tests is a little excessive.  Stop wasting time and money.  I just read up on it in a virology forum.  Apparently, many tests are not picking up Omicron, because it has too many distinct characteristics.  I don't know the science behind it, but it seems like the rapid tests are useless, and even the laboratory testing methods need improvement.  

In fact, the inaccuracy of Home Tests is actually breaking news, and the idiot in charge (Fauci) will likely backtrack again when it becomes evident that the Nose Swab and Antigen Tests aren't picking up Covid-19.  https://news.yahoo.com/fauci-warns-home-tests-may-004019614.html

Check out the references to the study I'm posting.  I am told there are a lot of news studies that were initially censored.  One of them actually talks about how medical professionals in Africa were concerned that the tests were picking up on Covid-19.  Many countries are no longer requiring tests for people that have been vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19.  
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2015897#article_citing_articles

"RT-PCR continues to remain as the gold standard for SARS-CoV-2 identification due to its high sensitivity and specificity. However, challenges remain and there are still a sufficient number of cases with highly suggestive clinical and radiological signs of COVID-19 pneumonia, as well as epidemiological exposure, who persistently present negative RT-PCRs. Delay in microbiological confirmation of disease in a hospital environment can negatively impact diagnosis, isolation of patients and therapy, as well as access to available clinical trials."

Effectively managing an emerging infectious disease requires logistically feasible, fast, and accurate community-level monitoring to inform real-time decisions about community mitigation actions [2, 6]. A primary hurdle to achieving accurate community-level monitoring is the tradeoff between speed and accuracy inherent in disease tests; rapid tests (e.g., antigen tests developed by Abbott [7]) are more error prone and therefore have a lower sensitivity for disease detection [8,9,10].
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-10609-y

Again... This is just another scientific story that some Republicans have been discussing along with the studies that were indicating a lot of false positives.  I don't know.  

If I were a pharmaceutical company like Roche, I'd want you to take 10 tests just to be sure you don't have it.  I don't think you need to worry about Omicron.  I trust the medical official in South Africa, because he actually provided accurate information telling the world community that Omicron was not dangerous. 

[Inmate Trump]

Aight

[Hollywood]

He wanted to shut down the entire economy again over Omicron, and told people not to travel on Christmas and Thanksgiving.  

Well that's not true. He said it was safe to gather with family if everyone was vaccinated. And he supported the decrease in the quarantine time so that society could keep functioning.

Oh did he changed his mind again?  I understand.  He can only push people too far before they start showing up to his home with Fauci effigies.  Three days before Christmas, he said the vaccinated should not go to large parties with 30, 40, or 50 people.  Essentially, poor people should have Thanksgiving Dinner with each other.  He also said the unvaccinated should come to Thanksgiving Dinner.  Get your five year old vaccinated or they can't go see their unvaccinated cousins. I'm so glad my sister no longer values this A-Hole's opinion.  
https://www.westernjournal.com/fauci-calls-holiday-party-shutdown-three-days-christmas-stay-away/

"All the new chaos got the CDC last week to roll back its 10-day isolation requirement to just five days, but Fauci is now questioning that decision and suggesting a negative test result as another condition for ending isolation."  And as I wrote above, the tests are accurate.  There's even inconsistencies with laboratory results.  There's literally hundreds of studies referenced in my citation that are examining the issue.  https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/fauci-gets-it-right-on-measuring-covid-then-undermines-new-cdc-quarantine-advice/

Why?  I wouldn't even avoid Omicron.  There's no point.  It's super contagious so you're going to get it no matter how hard you try not to get it, and it's not that deadly for the unvaccinated people that aren't already in terminally vulnerable situations.  

[emailking]

He wanted to shut down the entire economy again over Omicron, and told people not to travel on Christmas and Thanksgiving.  

Well that's not true. He said it was safe to gather with family if everyone was vaccinated. And he supported the decrease in the quarantine time so that society could keep functioning.

Oh did he changed his mind again?  I understand.

No he didn't change his mind. You just had the facts wrong.

[Mr. Illini]

He wanted to shut down the entire economy again over Omicron, and told people not to travel on Christmas and Thanksgiving.  

Well that's not true. He said it was safe to gather with family if everyone was vaccinated. And he supported the decrease in the quarantine time so that society could keep functioning.

Oh did he changed his mind again?  I understand.  He can only push people too far before they start showing up to his home with Fauci effigies.  Three days before Christmas, he said the vaccinated should not go to large parties with 30, 40, or 50 people.  Essentially, poor people should have Thanksgiving Dinner with each other.  He also said the unvaccinated should come to Thanksgiving Dinner.  Get your five year old vaccinated or they can't go see their unvaccinated cousins. I'm so glad my sister no longer values this A-Hole's opinion.  
https://www.westernjournal.com/fauci-calls-holiday-party-shutdown-three-days-christmas-stay-away/

The only thing you got correct here is that he recommended (not required) folks not go to gatherings of 30+ people. You call that "shutting down the economy?"

Everything else you've claimed is factually incorrect. He actually endorsed holiday travel for vaxxed/boosted people.

[Middle-aged Europe]

He wanted to shut down the entire economy again over Omicron, and told people not to travel on Christmas and Thanksgiving.  

Well that's not true. He said it was safe to gather with family if everyone was vaccinated. And he supported the decrease in the quarantine time so that society could keep functioning.

Oh did he changed his mind again?  I understand.  He can only push people too far before they start showing up to his home with Fauci effigies.  Three days before Christmas, he said the vaccinated should not go to large parties with 30, 40, or 50 people.  Essentially, poor people should have Thanksgiving Dinner with each other.  He also said the unvaccinated should come to Thanksgiving Dinner.  Get your five year old vaccinated or they can't go see their unvaccinated cousins. I'm so glad my sister no longer values this A-Hole's opinion.  
https://www.westernjournal.com/fauci-calls-holiday-party-shutdown-three-days-christmas-stay-away/

The only thing you got correct here is that he recommended (not required) folks not go to gatherings of 30+ people. You call that "shutting down the economy?"

Everything else you've claimed is factually incorrect. He actually endorsed holiday travel for vaxxed/boosted people.

Well, at the very least Hollywood has got an enemy to hate. I guess that must count for something.

[Hammy]

I trust the medical official in South Africa, because he actually provided accurate information telling the world community that Omicron was not dangerous. 

"Less dangerous" does not mean "not dangerous". It's still 2-3 times deadlier than the flu at this stage. It's a positive sign as it will likely continue evolving quickly to the point we can live with, and is significantly less of a risk than prior variants, but to claim that South Africa called it "not dangerous" is an outright lie.

[Anti-Trump Truth Socialite JD Vance Enjoying Juror]

Can we stop posting the equivalent of chain email screeds in this thread? It’s bad enough already without them.

[Horus]

This woman's son tested positive for COVID...

...so she decided to put him in the trunk of her car.

And she is, of course, a teacher.

https://m.worldstarhiphop.com/web/video.php?v=wshhv3mDO4TV6VpQE1v0

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

This woman's son tested positive for COVID...

...so she decided to put him in the trunk of her car.

And she is, of course, a teacher.

https://m.worldstarhiphop.com/web/video.php?v=wshhv3mDO4TV6VpQE1v0

Reminds me of this thing much earlier in the pandemic, where a woman talked about how her five-year-old daughter was exposed at school and had to be quarantined in her room for two weeks. She talked about how she could hear the girl crying and begging to be let out, and it was so hard on her. She posted on Twitter seeking sympathy. She did not get it.

[GeneralMacArthur]

So I've now personally discovered how bad the tests are.

Friend and I wanted to take a trip to Portland for the weekend to see some folks.  Before the trip he got the notification that he was exposed to COVID, and got PCR and rapid (antigen) tested.  Rapid test came back negative.  The day we were going to go, before we head out, he gets another rapid test.  Still negative.  So we think we're good to go and fly down to Portland.

Once we get there, he gets the positive PCR result.  For those who don't know, PCR takes several days to return while rapid/antigen only take an hour or two.  We've been together for an entire day at this point but immediately separate and cancel all our plans, and I decide to get tested as well.

Problem is, it's impossible to get a test.  I go to one walk-in testing site and the line is four blocks long.  I waited for about 45 minutes in line, in the freezing rain, and it only moved half a block.  So I decide to go try another testing location way out in the suburbs.  Drive 25 minutes there only to find a sign that says "closed, out of tests."  I go back to downtown to try the other "walk-up" location, but when I get there the sign says appointment only.

The backup plan was this place that I had seen taking appointments, but it had a bunch of 1-star reviews on Google with people saying they never got their test results back.  It's the only option available though so I go take it.  Despite making an appointment for 3:30 I ended up not being able to get tested until 5:00 and again had to stand out in the freezing rain for 90 minutes shivering and waiting for my ten-second nose swab, surrounded by a crowd of other people who are also thinking they might have COVID.

So eventually I submit my swab for both rapid and PCR.  Later that evening, the rapid comes back negative.  But of course I start getting notifications that I've been exposed to COVID because some of the other people I waited in line with were positive.  And I don't feel confident at all because my friend had two rapid tests that were both negative but then a positive PCR test.

So at this point I'm just sitting in my hotel room waiting for the PCR results to come back -- hopefully the testing place doesn't lose mine like they lost a bunch of other folks'.  Do I have COVID?  IDK.  My (asymptomatic) friend is pretty sure he has COVID since the PCR results are the gold standard.  But I don't see why the government is even bothering with these rapid tests when they're so inaccurate, and this system of standing out in the freezing cold for hours with a bunch of other potentially contagious people seems like some third-world s--t.  Really unbelievably bad experience all around.

Regardless of either I'm not sure how the federal government expects me to get home.  Every mode of transportation requires me to sign a waiver stating that I have not been in contact with anyone known to have COVID in the last 10-14 days.  I'm pretty sure everyone in the country is getting bombarded with COVID proximity alerts these days, am I really expected to just sit in my hotel for two weeks?  Cause that's not gonna happen.

[Inmate Trump]

So I've now personally discovered how bad the tests are.

Friend and I wanted to take a trip to Portland for the weekend to see some folks.  Before the trip he got the notification that he was exposed to COVID, and got PCR and rapid (antigen) tested.  Rapid test came back negative.  The day we were going to go, before we head out, he gets another rapid test.  Still negative.  So we think we're good to go and fly down to Portland.

Once we get there, he gets the positive PCR result.  For those who don't know, PCR takes several days to return while rapid/antigen only take an hour or two.  We've been together for an entire day at this point but immediately separate and cancel all our plans, and I decide to get tested as well.

Problem is, it's impossible to get a test.  I go to one walk-in testing site and the line is four blocks long.  I waited for about 45 minutes in line, in the freezing rain, and it only moved half a block.  So I decide to go try another testing location way out in the suburbs.  Drive 25 minutes there only to find a sign that says "closed, out of tests."  I go back to downtown to try the other "walk-up" location, but when I get there the sign says appointment only.

The backup plan was this place that I had seen taking appointments, but it had a bunch of 1-star reviews on Google with people saying they never got their test results back.  It's the only option available though so I go take it.  Despite making an appointment for 3:30 I ended up not being able to get tested until 5:00 and again had to stand out in the freezing rain for 90 minutes shivering and waiting for my ten-second nose swab, surrounded by a crowd of other people who are also thinking they might have COVID.

So eventually I submit my swab for both rapid and PCR.  Later that evening, the rapid comes back negative.  But of course I start getting notifications that I've been exposed to COVID because some of the other people I waited in line with were positive.  And I don't feel confident at all because my friend had two rapid tests that were both negative but then a positive PCR test.

So at this point I'm just sitting in my hotel room waiting for the PCR results to come back -- hopefully the testing place doesn't lose mine like they lost a bunch of other folks'.  Do I have COVID?  IDK.  My (asymptomatic) friend is pretty sure he has COVID since the PCR results are the gold standard.  But I don't see why the government is even bothering with these rapid tests when they're so inaccurate, and this system of standing out in the freezing cold for hours with a bunch of other potentially contagious people seems like some third-world s--t.  Really unbelievably bad experience all around.

Regardless of either I'm not sure how the federal government expects me to get home.  Every mode of transportation requires me to sign a waiver stating that I have not been in contact with anyone known to have COVID in the last 10-14 days.  I'm pretty sure everyone in the country is getting bombarded with COVID proximity alerts these days, am I really expected to just sit in my hotel for two weeks?  Cause that's not gonna happen.

I wonder if there’s something with the vaccine that causes some people to test negative when they’ve actually got it? I’ve heard multiple first hand accounts of similar situations as this.

(This is not an anti vax post)

[GeneralMacArthur]

The only antigen/omicron research I can find says that the antigen tests have a 40-60% false negative rate if you're asymptomatic.  So if you have COVID it's basically a coin flip what the test is gonna tell you.  I spent all day driving around Portland and waiting in the freezing rain with a bunch of contagious people for this crap.

[Former President tack50]

.
The best I have heard is to just end all isolation quarantines, meaning even if you were exposed you wouldn’t need to isolate at all test or no test. While obviously this would end all quarantine absences short term, it definitely would increase cases to levels unprecedented, and while omicron does appear milder, the sheer volume still will likely kill a few more hundred thousand over the next few months if this were the policy action taken.

So uh, out of curiosity, do the US still require close contacts to self-isolate? Even if vaccinated? Because for what is worth we repealed that policy a long time ago here in Spain. Indeed it was repealed as early as late June of 2021! Yes it is for the vaccinated only but I would expect most kids and teachers to be vaxxed. And yes currently we are having a very bad wave but hospital/deaths here look very promising compared to the US I think (of course it really comes down to having more vaxxed people)

People should not quarantine merely for being a close contact of someone with covid (positive cases ofc should quarantine). Just use common sense, wear a mask for a few days and don't meet your elderly and frail grandma that week.

Either way, my own solution would just be status quo (plus mask mandates). As an outside observer it seems to me the apetite for further restrictions in the US is close to zero and that even if strict restrictions were put into place, they would not be enforced. And even where enforcable, they would be super unpopular.

[Inmate Trump]

The only antigen/omicron research I can find says that the antigen tests have a 40-60% false negative rate if you're asymptomatic.  So if you have COVID it's basically a coin flip what the test is gonna tell you.  I spent all day driving around Portland and waiting in the freezing rain with a bunch of contagious people for this crap.

I’m sorry
Hopefully you’ll get the PCR results soon.

Mine took a little bit over 24 hours to come back.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

Looking at the data, Omicron is not killing off Delta, just taking over by its sheer spread, I do wonder if most of the hospitalizations are still because of Delta and not Omicron

[Former President tack50]

The only antigen/omicron research I can find says that the antigen tests have a 40-60% false negative rate if you're asymptomatic.  So if you have COVID it's basically a coin flip what the test is gonna tell you.  I spent all day driving around Portland and waiting in the freezing rain with a bunch of contagious people for this crap.

For what is worth the recommendation I've seen suggests that:

A) You should preferrably only do antigen tests if you are feeling symptoms

B) If you do it without symptoms regardless for peace of mind, do it as late as possible

C) You should only do a PCR test if you have tested positive on the antigen test (they are super expensive anyways so why would you test?)

Idk if these recommendations are too lenient or what, but it is what I have seen recommended out there

[GeneralMacArthur]

C) You should only do a PCR test if you have tested positive on the antigen test (they are super expensive anyways so why would you test?)

Because I have a life and want to spend the next two weeks living it instead of hiding inside waiting to find out whether or not I have COVID.  But I also don't want to spread COVID to dozens of other people, especially people I care about, if I do have it.

[Mr. Illini]

C) You should only do a PCR test if you have tested positive on the antigen test (they are super expensive anyways so why would you test?)

I’ve seen this before, but I don’t really understand it. The PCR test is far more sensitive than an antigen test. I would think that if you test positive on the antigen, you presume positive, whereas if you test negative on antigen, you confirm with a PCR.

Also, PCR tests don’t cost the patient in the United States. Do they charge you in Spain?