[MarkJerling]

Have these athletes been tested for Covid-19 antibodies? Easy enough way to determine if they were exposed.

Antibodies for Covid-19 only show up in the blood for 2-3 months. So, chances are, no and it won't do any good to test them. See You May Have Antibodies After Coronavirus Infection. But Not for Long. - The New York Times

[swanlefitte]

Texas Medical Center is at 100% ICU capacity. 1325 of 1330 spots.
https://www.tmc.edu/coronavirus-updates/tmc-icu-bed-capacity-modeling/

Just watched the BBC showing full beaches and no masks in the UK.

[gaweidert]

Antibodies for Covid-19 only show up in the blood for 2-3 months. So, chances are, no and it won't do any good to test them. See You May Have Antibodies After Coronavirus Infection. But Not for Long. - The New York Times

This is based upon a sample size of 37. More data needed. Since flu vaccines do not last all that long, I figure that Covid-19 vaccines probably last about as long. I am more interested in how fast the virus mutates into a less harmful entity. A virus that kills it's host is not following a sound long term survival strategy.


Some data from Italy seems to be showing that the virus there has mutated into a less deadly from. This is, of course, controversial, but the doctor does have a pretty impressive resume. I tend to agree with him, but the speed it will happen seems optimistic to me. The drop in cases in China my be reflecting this too. Who knows?


Italian Doctor Claims Coronavirus Is Getting Weaker And Could Die Off Without Vaccine

[Wheatfield]

Unfortunately the virus is very young and escalates the tantrum until you do pay attention

On unrelated news, my mother got some fever and headache so she's self-isolating in the room and waiting for the test results. Probably nothing but let's see...

I got tested yesterday. I came up with a mild fever on Monday. It turns out that one of the side effects of a mild concussion can be a mild fever, and I whacked my head a week ago falling off a ladder, but in these times, one takes no chances.
The test alone is sufficient reason to avoid this thing like the plague. Apparently during the throat swab I sounded like someone was trying to strangle a weasel, which was winning the battle..
The result came back negative, as I expected, so to all of you who were hoping to interrupt my funeral to grab a couple of lenses, sorry.

[swanlefitte]

The test alone is sufficient reason to avoid this thing like the plague

The pun made me laugh. (Think that qualifies as a pun)
Glad you are surviving. Can you describe what the test feels like?

Oh and what lenses do you have.😁

[Wheatfield]

The pun made me laugh. (Think that qualifies as a pun)
Glad you are surviving. Can you describe what the test feels like?

Oh and what lenses do you have.😁

They make you stick out your tongue, then they squish it away from the back of your throat with a slab of wood so that they can scrape your throat with a swab. Thats the part that causes you to sound like a strangling weasel that is putting up a good fight.
After that they take the swab and stick it rather deeply into each nostril. In my case it caused quite a nosebleed, though I expect people who have had a less adventurous childhood wouldn’t have a problem.

As for the lenses, the really nice ones are the *50/1.4, *85/1.4 (both soon), * 200/4 macro, and *300/4.5. And about 50 others. Seriously though, the ones I’ll be cremated with are the 85s and the 200. Maybe the 50,

[timb64]

The pun made me laugh. (Think that qualifies as a pun)
Glad you are surviving. Can you describe what the test feels like?

Oh and what lenses do you have.��

With my grammar-police hat on I think it's a simile rather than a pun,but I knew what you meant

My father has had the test and he described it as "like being "mated" up the nose and down the throat with a pointy stick" (he used a rather more earthy word than "mated"!!)

---

Last edited by timb64; 06-25-2020 at 09:38 PM.

[mroeder75]

I got tested yesterday. I came up with a mild fever on Monday. It turns out that one of the side effects of a mild concussion can be a mild fever, and I whacked my head a week ago falling off a ladder, but in these times, one takes no chances.
The test alone is sufficient reason to avoid this thing like the plague. Apparently during the throat swab I sounded like someone was trying to strangle a weasel, which was winning the battle..
The result came back negative, as I expected, so to all of you who were hoping to interrupt my funeral to grab a couple of lenses, sorry.

I am 63. I was climbing a ladder a few weeks ago. I feel agile, but my knees do not want my legs to go where I instruct them always. One of my 64 year-old buddies told me when you are 50 years old you don't climb ladders anymore.

With a concussion, you treat with very few screens, subdued lighting, sleep, and someone to wake you during your sleep to check on you which is the antithesis of good sleep.

---------- Post added 06-25-20 at 11:24 PM ----------

They make you stick out your tongue, then they squish it away from the back of your throat with a slab of wood so that they can scrape your throat with a swab. Thats the part that causes you to sound like a strangling weasel that is putting up a good fight.
After that they take the swab and stick it rather deeply into each nostril. In my case it caused quite a nosebleed, though I expect people who have had a less adventurous childhood wouldn’t have a problem.

As for the lenses, the really nice ones are the *50/1.4, *85/1.4 (both soon), * 200/4 macro, and *300/4.5. And about 50 others. Seriously though, the ones I’ll be cremated with are the 85s and the 200. Maybe the 50,

Draft a last will and testament. Gift the nice lenses to me. Don't cremate good glass.

I have never heard a weasel strangle or fight. Seems that you are more worldly than most. And you make me fear the swab. My daughter temporarily works next to a COVID outdoor test site. She had a flat tire in the parking lot, and I had to go over there to help her. She points out the orange cones and says, that's where they pick your brain; and that nearby door is where I walk into the clinic (she is doing a physical therapist internship).

---------- Post added 06-25-20 at 11:24 PM ----------

They make you stick out your tongue, then they squish it away from the back of your throat with a slab of wood so that they can scrape your throat with a swab. Thats the part that causes you to sound like a strangling weasel that is putting up a good fight.
After that they take the swab and stick it rather deeply into each nostril. In my case it caused quite a nosebleed, though I expect people who have had a less adventurous childhood wouldn’t have a problem.

As for the lenses, the really nice ones are the *50/1.4, *85/1.4 (both soon), * 200/4 macro, and *300/4.5. And about 50 others. Seriously though, the ones I’ll be cremated with are the 85s and the 200. Maybe the 50,

Draft a last will and testament. Gift the nice lenses to me. Don't cremate good glass.

I have never heard a weasel strangle or fight. Seems that you are more worldly than most. And you make me fear the swab. My daughter temporarily works next to a COVID outdoor test site. She had a flat tire in the parking lot, and I had to go over there to help her. She points out the orange cones and says, that's where they pick your brain; and that nearby door is where I walk into the clinic (she is doing a physical therapist internship).

[Serkevan]

So about the swab, my mother didn't really feel anything while one of my best friends (about my age) felt the discomfort for a day and a half... seems pretty hit or miss but I don't want to take any chances

[Rondec]

Antibodies for Covid-19 only show up in the blood for 2-3 months. So, chances are, no and it won't do any good to test them. See You May Have Antibodies After Coronavirus Infection. But Not for Long. - The New York Times

I don't think it is clear. Certainly asymptomatic people seem to lose their antibodies pretty quickly (they never really had high levels to begin with), but symptomatic people who were pretty sick seem to have much higher levels and should keep them longer. Studies indicate that the highest levels of antibodies are in the people who die.

The impression I am getting is that COVID isn't the problem as much as some folk's over responding immune system to the virus. It seems as though some people's immune systems start launching nukes when they need a 10 man swat team. I speculate this is why dexamethasone, a steroid that suppress immune activity as well as acting as general anti inflammatory, seems to be effective in the sickest folks. People who aren't sick enough to be in the hospital aren't having this immune over drive and so won't benefit from such a medication in an outpatient setting.

Regardless, the Chinese study that has been referenced a couple of times in this thread basically looked at 40-ish symptomatic and40-ish asymptomatic people and found that a significant number of asymptomatic people had lost their antibodies compared to the symptomatic ones. It isn't a big enough study to really know how true it is, but certainly people jumped on it pretty quickly.

[beholder3]

Florida is reporting 8,942 new covid-19 cases on Friday, blowing past its single-day high of 5,511 set on Wednesday. It is the 19th day in a row the state has hit a new average high. Average cases are now up about 77 percent from a week ago, and 526 percent since Memorial Day.

Florida also announced Friday morning that bars must close immediately, a move echoed in Texas, a state also dealing with a surge in cases and nearing its capacity to care for those suffering.

“The trajectory that we’re on right now has our hospitals being overwhelmed, probably about mid-July,” Austin mayor Steve Adler (D) said during an appearance on CNN.

Coronavirus live updates: Florida reports nearly 9,000 new cases - The Washington Post

I hope people take this seriously. Isn't 120,000 corpses a solid hint?

Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count - The New York Times

[swanlefitte]

With my grammar-police hat on I think it's a simile rather than a pun,but I knew what you meant

Not sure its a simile either.
If Covid = thing like the plague then it reads:
Testing is reason to avoid covid.

If Covid = a plague, it reads:
Testing is reason to avoid the plague like the plague.

If Covid = pandemic and plague = another pandemic, it reads:
Testing is reason to avoid a pandemic like its another pandemic.

And yet the phrase "avoid like the plague" is held to = something very unpleasant. So it reads
Testing is very unplesasant.

[timb64]

Not sure its a simile either.
If Covid = thing like the plague then it reads:
Testing is reason to avoid covid.

If Covid = a plague, it reads:
Testing is reason to avoid the plague like the plague.

If Covid = pandemic and plague = another pandemic, it reads:
Testing is reason to avoid a pandemic like its another pandemic.

And yet the phrase "avoid like the plague" is held to = something very unpleasant. So it reads
Testing is very unplesasant.

You’re quite right, it’s an idiom apparently,my apologies

[Wheatfield]

You’re quite right, it’s an idiom apparently,my apologies

Coming from me, it would have been an idiot.......

[lesmore49]

I got tested yesterday. I came up with a mild fever on Monday. It turns out that one of the side effects of a mild concussion can be a mild fever, and I whacked my head a week ago falling off a ladder, but in these times, one takes no chances.
The test alone is sufficient reason to avoid this thing like the plague. Apparently during the throat swab I sounded like someone was trying to strangle a weasel, which was winning the battle..
The result came back negative, as I expected, so to all of you who were hoping to interrupt my funeral to grab a couple of lenses, sorry.

No apologies necessary. As we're both from the prairies.......I qualify for special consideration and would like to put dibs on the 85mm F 1.4.

All joking aside, my wife was tested about a month ago. All was ok.

They tested her in one of our M.P.I.C. (Mb. Public Insurance Corporation) buildings on a Sunday afternoon. She remained sitting in the shotgun seat and the nurse came to that side of the vehicle , she rolled the window down and the test proceeded.