Update on my partner, he's still positive (day 9 of positive tests, day 10 since symptoms, and 12 days since exposure). He's starting to feel a little better, cold-like symptoms remain and immense fatigue. He'll continue isolating until he's had two negative tests 48 hours apart.

In other news, today was an exciting day for me. All booked for my #Novavax COVID shot! I had to wait 90 days from my previous positive test in August, per epidemiological recommendations, and I have to drive 45 minutes to the nearest location that carries it, but I'm looking forward to the protection it'll offer before the next surge.

#covidisnotover #fuckcovid #fuckthenewnormal #fuckminimizers #keepmasksinhealthcare #maskup #indoorairquality #covidco2 #cleanair #cleanairnow #airquality #longcovid #aranet4 #aranet #covid19 #ventilation #davossafe #davossafeforall

Stay #COVIDSMART:
🛌 Isolate when showing symptoms or testing [+]
😷 Wear N95s indoors
🫧 Disinfect frequently-touched surfaces
👐 Clean hands regularly
🪟 Open windows
🔲 Air purifiers & HEPA filters
🧪 Test (swabbing throat and nose on RAT) & report +C19 cases to @makemytestcount

I posted the Department of Homeland Security report on COVID from July to my Instagram the other day... my SIL apparently took it as an attack on her commenting that it was "easy for me to say" since I "haven't had to wear a mask for full work days for the last 3 years" (she works in a hospital pharmacy). It would seem she skipped over the content of the post and honed in on my hashtag #keepmasksinhealthcare - the issue with her outburst is we're basically speaking two different languages. She's speaking about what she feels and wants. I'm speaking about what the data indicates is the right thing to do.

Original post:

Interesting read - this is the Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology division's biannual report on COVID-19.

Of note, the document references the decreased number of virus copies needed to form an infectious dose with the later Omicron variants. Infections occur from 500 copies of wild-type, 300 copies of Delta and only 100 copies of recent Omicron variants. In a small study, aerosol emission rates of 70, 110, and 80 copies per minute were found in breathing, talking and singing respectively (with variation of course depending on where the individuals were in their infection/symptom onset).

Additionally, this document notes that children are estimated to shed virus for 15 days on average, and that covid-19 also causes pneumonia, cardiac injury, kidney damage, pancreatitis, arrhythmia, sepsis, stroke, respiratory complications and shock, weakens blood vessels in the lungs and is associated with hyperactive platelets and clotting affecting multiple organs.

The document also discusses #longcovid risk factors that potentially include obesity, age, being female, type 2 diabetes, Epstein-Barr virus reactivation, certain autoantibodies, connective tissue disorders, #ADHD, chronic urticaria and allergic rhinitis. They note that this is not a complete list.

https://www.dhs.gov/publication/st-master-question-list-covid-19

COVID is a national security issue.

#covidisnotover #fuckcovid #fuckthenewnormal #fuckminimizers #keepmasksinhealthcare #maskup #indoorairquality #covidco2 #cleanair #cleanairnow #airquality #longcovid #aranet4 #aranet #covid19 #ventilation #davossafe #davossafeforall

Negative again on today's rapid test, though the headache and fatigue are still going strong. If I'm negative tomorrow, I should be able to spring myself from isolation without worrying too much about infecting others. Several weeks of low activity/rest planned to give my body time to fully recover from the last almost 3 weeks of fighting COVID. This isn't a cold, the flu, or mild. 3 years of research all leading to the same conclusion - do everything you can to limit how many times you get this. One in ten infections leads to long COVID/ potentially life-changing issues (and not in a good way). #covidisnotover #covid #covidisavasculardisease #covi̇d19 #fuckcovid19 #fuckminimizers #fuckthenewnormal