If you get #COVID19, please stay home until you're recovered (and ignore the new CDC guidance), if you can. Here's why:
YOU need rest. It's vital for recovery. Exertion can raise risks of rebound or chronic symptoms.
THOSE AROUND YOU need to avoid infection. We know people with COVID are typically infectious for 5–8 days.
THE WORLD needs to diminish COVID's pace of mutation. More infections mean greater risk of new, risky, immune-evasive variants.
Staying home, if you can, is a win-win-win.
@augieray A friend of mine’s wife was positive for 55 days.
They masked and kept separate in the house, he slept on an air mattress in his home office, etc for 55 days, until she tested negative. He posted every day, showed the protocols they used for everything from handling food to taking RATs, and we all celebrated with them when she finally was clear and they cleaned the entire house before finally taking off masks.
He never caught it, and she won’t be weak to peer pressure at work functions again!
I hate that the guidelines have never been based on science. I hate that science has been gutted and faith in it utterly lost by the vast majority. Public health is dead and I cannot conceive of what it would take to earn ANY trust again.
@DaywalkingRedhead @augieray
I got COVID once and I did something similar, though thankfully it didn't last 55 days. I even give it I think maybe a week after I tested negative based on some guidelines I read.
Thankfully, we were very careful and she never caught it.
@augieray jesus_isnt_there_someone_you_forgot_to_ask.jpeg where Jesus is labelled "Your boss deciding how many days you are allowed to get sick every year".
@augieray (That's not something you ignored, you covered that under "if you can", it's just... yeah.)
@augieray I’ve only had it once, but I tested positive 10 days after first positive test. The following week I finally tested clear. On my 2nd positive test, I called my dr office to warn them I would miss my annual checkup in 5 days. Their response: “do you want to test again on the same day and come in if you’re negative?” And I was like, “umm, no, the reason I’m calling you right now is that the CDC says to isolate for 5 days after a positive test”. I mean, even my doctor’s office couldn’t understand the plainly stated guidance, WTF?
@augieray ...can't believe this needs to be said either. The day Americans have the healthcare all other democracies have they won't feel like they need to go to work when at death's doors.
So we're not there yet.
@augieray
I'm pretty far from a covid-alarmist (or whatever they're calling you these days), but by the gods stay home til the symptoms are gone and tests are negative, and establised contagious period is over? That really ought to just be baseline advice for all contagious diseases ought it not?
Does require paid sick leave and (near) free healthcare, of course. But that's a basic need anyway.
If you are sick at all, stay home.
It's not just #COVID. If you have the #flu, stay home. If you have a #CommonCold, stay home.
It's a #morality statement. If you are sick, do not transmit that illness to the community. If you are sick, you will recover faster if you stay home and rest. Staying home is a win-win-win.
Of course, from that #morality statement, we need to create social structures that allow you to stay home when sick. (Sick leave is a win-win, better for both the individual and the community.)
@augieray
Hell, if you get *any* illness stay home and don't spread it to others.
@augieray
When I caught #COVID I had to return to work after 10 days but even then I could barely crawl out of the house. I was still crippled by the illness, but I was no longer infectious so I had to work (or rather, couldn't afford not to). During the 10 days I couldn't even move.
Now they want us going to work during the time you're bedridden AND infectious? I can't even.
(Granted, I'm in Canada so we have our own health authority, but sadly what happens with the CDC tends to follow soon)
@augieray Absolutely right about this. I was still testing positive for COVID on day 12! @coffeetest
@Fragglemuppet @augieray 100% this! Covid is a major fight. The more rest, the better.