Our friends who are testing positive for Covid are being relegated to the basement or a room by their loved ones until they test negative. In the face of the Omicron explosion, we've decided not to get into a tizzy about testing. If we are sick this season, we will assume it is the "basement illness" and won't run around getting tested unless absolutely needed.
This week our friends have waited anywhere from 90 minutes to six hours for PCR testing. The system is completely overwhelmed by this firestorm!
When the sore throat started, Tarun and I naturally went to opposite ends of the house.
I certainly didn't want to infect him but I had already exposed him even before onset of the symptoms. The confusion on is-it-or-isn't-it Covid was present even though plenty of garden variety allergens and germs still do exist in the world!
My friends are resorting to home-made remedies to keep their infections in check. Chief in this scheme are potions involving turmeric, ginger, and black pepper - all anti-inflammatory agents. Add to that gargle and hydration to round off the care.
In the meantime, the statistics on Covid are simply staggering!
Worldwide 293M have had Covid and 5.4M have perished. The US share is 56M and 826K. The case count in the US has gone from 80K per day in mid December to 1M yesterday and we haven't even reached the peak yet!
The good news is that none of our fully vaccinated and boosted friends who have tested positive, has required hospital care. All of them have recovered within 3-10 days, many on the lower end of the spectrum. No doubt the infection has knocked folks off their feet for several days.
I had to go to our bank last week and that was likely the source of my bug. The branch did not regulate the number of people in the lobby, not all customers wore masks, and the bank agents were kind of casual about their own masks. That lobby was a cesspool of germs, for sure!
The bottom line is we try not to go out except for walks. If we do, we are prepared to get Omicron or the flu or catch a range of bugs that float around when the weather whiplashes between 18 and 60, as it did recently.
When my symptoms started, it made sense to cope at home with our stash of sinus rinse, Flonase, Listerine, and pain meds. I hunkered down, stayed away from others and watched Netflix. When the symptoms subsided I ran a rapid test to be sure I didn't need to isolate any longer. The test was negative and I am going to assume it wasn't Covid and move on. Even it was, I am sure I didn't pass it on to anybody outside the family. That’s all we can hope to do now.
Please stay safe and well! Virtual hugs to all.
Image Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/12/14/covid-variant-omicron-worries-experts/8898798002/
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