[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 20 January 2022 - 08:41 PM, said:

One of my partner's co-workers was hospitalized last week with COVID related breathing issues. He has diabetes and had beaten a bout of cancer in the last ten years.

He died last night. My partner is really sad about this. I met him once and very much liked him.

Gods, I’m so very sorry to hear this. Please pass on condolences.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

amphibian, on 20 January 2022 - 08:41 PM, said:

One of my partner's co-workers was hospitalized last week with COVID related breathing issues. He has diabetes and had beaten a bout of cancer in the last ten years.

He died last night. My partner is really sad about this. I met him once and very much liked him.

I'm sorry! My condolences, it must be hard for your partner. Do you know if he had Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes? And how old he was? I ask because my girlfriend has T1, and it makes me worried.

[amphibian]

I don't know if he had Type 1 or 2. I have a friend who has Type 1 and a friend who has Type 2. The friend with Type 1 does not take care of himself relating to his condition well (forgets to eat regularly, doesn't test regularly, smokes ciggies, and has an erratic sleep schedule) and it's scary as to what could happen with COVID. I'm sorry I can't give you more answers.

Thanks for the good wishes, all. My partner is figuring out if we or she will go to the funeral in Maryland and she's real down about it.

[Cause]

In America I am very happy with my four free covid tests. Glad to see it happen. However the government is now going to distribute 400 million free n95 masks. That’s literally one mask per person in the country? Isn’t that too few?

[Aptorian]

What does it cost to get various Covid tests done in the US? In Denmark it's free but it's costing the state billions of Danish crowns.

[Tiste Simeon]

Four free? If I want a Covid test I fill out a form on the government website and they send me a pack of 7. Then I do the same for my wife and son. Boom, 21 delivered a day or two later. I can basically get as many as I want and if I want a PCR I call up and book it if I have sufficient need.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Aptorian, on 23 January 2022 - 05:25 PM, said:

What does it cost to get various Covid tests done in the US? In Denmark it's free but it's costing the state billions of Danish crowns.

One day last week I tried to buy a PCR test (collect at home, ship to lab for results). Cheapest on Amazon was $100 / test, but I could have sworn I'd seen them on Amazon for much less. Checked back the next day and found one for $40. Definitely want to take a PCR test before getting my fourth shot (to avoid the possibility of overstimulating my immune system from getting a shot too soon after having an asymptomatic or extremely mild case).

Tried to sign up for the four free antigen tests. Wasn't sure at first if it had gone through---no confirmation---then looked more carefully on the page and saw a tiny bit of text saying there was an error with my address, to look at a list of similar addresses. The only one that matched mine included a wide range of different apartment numbers. Wondered if I was supposed to put that in the box marked 'Apartment or Suite' and hope my name was enough for my apartment's new temporary workers not to mess up. Tried putting in full zip code, capitalizing street address... didn't work. Tried including 'APT' in the 'apartment or suite' box with my apartment number and it worked.

Insurers are also now being forced to pay for eight antigen tests per person... from the 'preferred pharmacies' they designate.

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 23 January 2022 - 06:51 PM

[Aptorian]

Denmark only recently started investing in home kits. I suspect we might be entering a future where that's the norm rather than test centers.

There's been a heavy emphasis on free public testing in test centers so that the government could track the spread. We're by far one of the countries that test the most.

I get tested once or twice a week.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 23 January 2022 - 06:55 PM

[Cause]

Tiste Simeon, on 23 January 2022 - 06:28 PM, said:

Four free? If I want a Covid test I fill out a form on the government website and they send me a pack of 7. Then I do the same for my wife and son. Boom, 21 delivered a day or two later. I can basically get as many as I want and if I want a PCR I call up and book it if I have sufficient need.

Better dead than red!!

In other news, want to send me some tests?

As said above insurance providers now have to pay for up to 8 tests per person, per month. In practice I think the price they have to pay is capped at 12 dollars, which is often less than the test.

If you go to urgent care (an American intermediate below the ER), they will basically out right wink and you and tell you that if you claim your asking for a pcr test because of a high risk exposure. Your insurance will have to pay for it. This is in contrast to saying you need the test for a flight for example.

This post has been edited by Cause: 24 January 2022 - 01:06 AM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Half of first-wave Covid cases may have lasting harm to sense of smell

[...] "Given the amount of time since [the] initial insult to the olfactory system, it is likely that these olfactory problems are permanent," [...]

[...] UK Health Security Agency suggests that a loss of smell or taste is less than half as common with Omicron than the Delta variant, but Dr Johan Lundström, who led the research at the Karolinska Institute, said there was no reliable data demonstrating that Omicron was less dangerous to the olfactory system.

[...] loss of smell could lead to depression and to people changing their diets, often for the worse, causing them to put on weight.

[...] "[...] people start to add more sugar and fat, or have an increased urge for fried food for the texture, all to get some enjoyment out of eating."'

https://www.theguard...-sense-of-smell

[Obdigore]

Aptorian, on 23 January 2022 - 05:25 PM, said:

What does it cost to get various Covid tests done in the US? In Denmark it's free but it's costing the state billions of Danish crowns.

Its free at one of the state/fed funded testing sites. If you go to an 'urgent care' or ER to get a test, I think you have to pay but your insurance is required to cover it, so far.

I know that the tests we've done, at free sites, ended up being billed to the Insurance, and so did all the vaccines we've had so far.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

'Bolsonaro has declared a national day of mourning after his COVID-denying mentor died of the virus. [...] a longtime right-wing crusader [...] crucial in Bolsonaro’s shock rise to power in the 2018 presidential election. [...] He had spent the pandemic playing down the severity of the virus, dismissing it as the “moronavirus” and writing [...] in May 2020: “The fear of a supposedly deadly virus is nothing more than a little horror story designed to scare the population and make them accept slavery as they would a present from Father Christmas.” [...] Bolsonaro described his mentor as “one of the greatest thinkers in our country’s history.”'

https://www.thedaily...-covid?ref=home

[Slow Ben]

Finally got an opportunity to get the kiddos their first shot. Didn’t bother them at all.

And with all 4 of us in the house vaxed my 5G is amazing!!!!

Wonder if I can vax the cats…..

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Slow Ben, on 26 January 2022 - 11:40 PM, said:

Finally got an opportunity to get the kiddos their first shot. Didn't bother them at all.

And with all 4 of us in the house vaxed my 5G is amazing!!!!

Wonder if I can vax the cats…..

'Australia could soon be vaccinating pets against Covid as hundreds of cats and dogs catch virus from their owners while they seek comfort in isolation

[...] Dr Sam Kovac is doggedly pursu[ing] Australian regulatory approval for the world's only Covid vaccine for pets, developed in Russia, and is optimistic recent developments mean it will soon be on the market [...]

The Russian pet vaccine has also been approved in Japan, Brazil and other South American countries.'

https://www.dailymai...inst-Covid.html

[Puck]

Looks like my mom has Covid now. Doing okay so far, definitely feeling sick, and staying home and in bed with her unvaccinated ass. That's something. Not gonna lie, I'm glad I have my own place these days, but she dropped by on Tuesday shortly before developing symptoms.

This post has been edited by Puck: 06 February 2022 - 12:36 PM

[QuickTidal]

Lost my younger cousin (she's probably about 34) to the Convoy support and she LASHED out at me for a FB post where I simply asked aloud "When do Ottawa residents just start throwing hands after 8 straight days of auditory torture by these domestic terrorists"...she claimed they were peaceful. I hit that with a laugh emoji because I assumed (incorrectly) that she was being sarcastic and joking. She was not, then she goes on a 4 separate reply screed about how EVERYONE wants these mandates to end and for life to be back to normal, and how she can't believe I laughed at her initial reply, and that she guesses that this pandemics has brought out everyone's "true nature"....and I'm sitting there stunned at not only the support of the convoy (which at that point had been revealed as the petulant racism convention and toddler tantrum it is) but by the fact that she felt to dive right into a personal attack....because I hit her reply with a laugh emoji and assumed she was kidding? Seems extreme...

Worse, she knows the following things:

- My wife is a healthcare worker who has been working throughout the pandemic.
- My best friends wife (who she met at my wedding) is a respiratory therapist who has been warring 16 hr shifts sometimes on the front lines of this pandemic in full PPE in a covid ward for over 2 years.
- my mom (who she briefly lived with!) is dealing with stage 3 cancer and chemo and is therefore highly immunocompromised
- My stepdad is the same with his condition.
- I have a child under 5 who can't get vaccinated.
- Her mother, my aunt, was in a house fire that nearly killed her just before COVID hit, and no one in our family went to see her (both daughters were out of the country at the time)....so I went to see her. I made sure she was okay, and my wife made sure she was taken care of in the healthcare system and the social services system that got her into new housing...AND she's immune compromised too.

All of these things are my personal reasons for being okay with mandates until we can SAFELY drop them, beyond which I am part of a community and I want to protect all my neighbours by doing my part...do I want the mandates to end? Sure, but only when it can no longer overwhelm our health care system. Until then I will live with what we are doing.

Now, I wondered why she's got this attitude. She's had TEN jobs in 2021, and another TEN the year before that. She quit post-secondary education and has seemingly worked odd jobs since then....her current job? Bartender. So there you have one possible bone of contention with mandates? She would have been out of work for January, so maybe that's it?

Anyways, I didn't reply to her. I deleted the post (as it seems like it was just going to foster bad feelings from those on my FB friend list who disagreed I guess? She was super TRIGGERED) and blocked her. I don't have time for that shit.

So that's two family members lost to the alt-crazies; sister and cousin. I expect her sister (who is arguably more lost in life with even more sporadic jobs and aimlessness, and is an unmedicated bipolar) likely hates me now too...

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 07 February 2022 - 01:31 PM

[Tiste Simeon]

Puck, on 06 February 2022 - 12:36 PM, said:

Looks like my mom has Covid now. Doing okay so far, definitely feeling sick, and staying home and in bed with her unvaccinated ass. That's something. Not gonna lie, I'm glad I have my own place these days, but she dropped by on Tuesday shortly before developing symptoms.

Dang I hope she's ok and that she stays put while she has it.

QT I dunno what to say, you have some odd ones in your family, yikes!

[QuickTidal]

Tiste Simeon, on 07 February 2022 - 04:23 PM, said:

QT I dunno what to say, you have some odd ones in your family, yikes!

Honestly, considering her mother has some pretty serious mental health issues, and her sister is unmedicated bipolar, this should come as less of a surprise to me. If anyone was going to pop off like this aside from my sister, this would be the part of the family it makes the most sense.

Still.

[Aptorian]

They got me!

Got a text from the test center an hour ago that I was positive. I've got mild symptoms. A light cough, some cold symptoms, nothing really bad.

Here's hoping my taste and smell doesn't get fucked up.

[Cyphon]

Had it for the past week and a bit. Like a bad cold for me, Guess I'm lucky I had shots and Booster. Has been a long drag though.