One of the reasons many people struggle to deal with the COVID-19 surge this winter is more like a tsunami than a surge, but the “being there and doing it” syndrome.
Think about when to wear the mask, worry about the crowd, and try to schedule shots. We have experienced it all. Would you like to move on?
Unfortunately, this is not the case, as the horrifying number of hospitalizations and deaths in New Hampshire show.
Personally, the pandemic habit I hate to repeat is testing. Do you remember the pre-vaccination days when you didn’t know how far or how fast COVID-19 was spreading? We were enthusiastically lined up with National Guard medical workers piercing our nostrils with a cotton swab.
When the vaccines and boosters arrived, I thought it was over, but I’m very wrong. Frequent testing is important to prevent yourself, your friends and family, and your community from succumbing to this harmful virus, as Delta and Omicron variants confuse our plans. It is a part.
As a reminder (I needed it!), Some test details:
The PCR test for genetic material associated with the actual virus is a gold standard, but the results need to be read in the lab and take several days.
Most hospitals, many emergency medical centers, and many clinics and pharmacies offer PCR tests, at least in theory. Now that everyone is overwhelmed by cases and lacks the tests available and the staff to manage them, you shouldn’t expect to take the tests quickly or easily. Please plan in advance.
New Hampshire has set up four new walk insights for PCR testing, closest to Claremont and Plymouth.Please check for details https://www.covid19.nh.gov..
There are PCR tests at home, some using saliva instead of nasal swabs, but they are expensive and not as reliable as the tests in the clinic. Some may require you to mail a sample and wait for the results.
Antigen tests that look for the immune system’s response to an infection are much less accurate, but the results can be read in minutes. These are probably the home tests you are familiar with.
The problem with antigen testing is that the immune system’s response to the infection takes a long time. The SARS-CoV2 virus may be present in the body, but there is not enough immune response to appear in the nasal mucus obtained at the end of the swab. (Again – hmm.)
This is why antigen testing tends to give “false negatives”. This indicates that you are not infected when you are actually infected. As a result, doctors say that the symptoms show that the immune system has responded enough to detect it, so you should only rely on antigen testing if you have symptoms.
To summarize:
■ I feel sick and don’t know if it’s influenza or COVID? Buy an antigen test at a pharmacy.
■ Want to fly to see your Christmas grandma and do a test to make sure you’re not infected? Don’t rely on antigen testing – plan ahead and get a PCR test.
And, of course, get full vaccination and boost immunization as soon as possible, wear a mask in a crowd of strangers, and don’t despair.
For more information about the coronavirus and the latest weekly information, please visit: concordmonitor.com/coronavirus..
What are the trends in disease epidemics and effects? Worse than ever.
In New Hampshire, a record number of people have been seen in hospitals infected with COVID-19, with changes such as the cancellation of elective surgery.
I have to live a painful life for another 6 months, but I’m sorry if there is no room or staff to perform a planned hip arthroplasty. They mainly take care of unvaccinated people.
New cases are at record levels and deaths are rising sharply, but still less than in January last year, probably because vulnerable people in nursing homes are well vaccinated.
In addition, the positive rate of PCR tests is over 12%, which means that more than one-eighth of these semi-randomly applied tests have found infection. This is well above the 5% positive rate, which indicates that the virus is spreading out of control.
(You can contact David Brooks at 369-3313, [email protected], or Twitter @GraniteGeek.)
