This really feels like the DIY wave

I had a mild sore throat on Wednesday. Wednesday night the soreness got worse. In normal times that would be no big deal. On Thursday I checked the list of COVID symptoms and sore throat is listed. Today I was able to get a quick test. Alas, it is positive. I am to remain isolated until next Wednesday when I go back for another test. I am vaxxed and boosted, so I hope this is a mild case. Getting that test wasn't as easy as it should be. A cousin lamented that our health care system is at the level of a third world country. My standard health center said they have tests only for regular patients. I am to contact my care team and they will submit a referral. So on Thursday I sent a message to my primary care physician. I haven't heard back yet. I checked my insurance website for care centers that accept their plan. I started visiting these places at about 2:00 on Thursday. I stopped at an urgent care center. There were few cars in the parking lot, no one in the waiting room. They said they had no more tests available. Come back at 8:00 am tomorrow. I went to another care center. A sign in front of the door: If you’re here for a COVID test don’t come in. Stay in your car and call us (number given). Since I don’t have a cell phone I went on. I stopped at my pharmacy and waited a while. Their answer: We do tests only by appointment. You can only make appointments online. The next available appointment is probably Saturday. That’s now two places that assume that everyone has adopted all the high-tech gizmos and I include in that a computer in the home with internet connection. I do have the computer in my home (I’m using it now to write this) and the internet connection is good enough for streaming movies. But I don’t have, nor do I want, a cell phone. I gave up and tried again today, this time working the phone before heading out. The place that didn't have tests yesterday is temporarily closed today. I called another urgent care center. The answer bot said leave a message. I called yet another. Next available test appointment is Sunday. I called the one that said to call from the parking lot. They agreed that I could drive there directly after I hung up and they would watch for my car. Much of the info was handled over the phone. One person came out with another form to sign (I has already given them much of it though the important part is the legalese, which I didn’t read, and signature). A while later another person came out with the oxy clamp for my finger and the swab. She disappeared for ten minutes, then came back with a sheet with my info and a check beside “positive.” She said isolate and to come back in five days for a retest. I went home. I think there are only two places where I may have gotten the virus. The first was last Sunday during or after the church service. The second was at a movie theater showing the movie West Side Story (which I raved about earlier). There were all of eight of us in the theater and I was well spaced from the rest of them. I sent out emails to a few people saying I may have exposed them and whatever is planned before next Thursday I’m not going to attend. I got a couple responses with offers of help, though both live at least an hour away. After pondering this a while I think the response from the clinic that did the test is woefully inadequate. They seemed to be saying come back in five days and get your test, likely negative, and get back into life. But what if I get worse? Yeah, I am vaxxed and boosted. The chances of a severe illness, hospitalization, time in the ICU, and death are low. But those chances are not zero. I would appreciate at least a sheet that says: You should go back so many days and tell all your contacts you’ve been exposed and they should be tested (yeah, I did that, but many getting a test wouldn’t consider it). You should get an oximeter (we can sell you one right here). You should contact your primary doctor if this or that develops. While symptoms are mild these over the counter medications might help. You should ask about these medications (no, not ivermectin, but paxlovid) if this or that develops. If your oximeter gets below this number do this. If you experience any of these symptoms go to the emergency room. Here are special concerns if you live alone (like I do)... Of course, I could go to my doctor and regular medical center for all that. I certainly should let them know. But this is a Friday afternoon. Nothing will be done until Monday. Also, of course, there are several online documents explaining what to do. One of them is here. I would have been happy with being handed a sheet with a website (and others with a QRCode), though (as I said above) that would not help those with no internet access. This isn’t an upbeat post to follow my news: Kos of Daily Kos quoted the story of a nurse who works in a COVID ward who had to deal with one unvaccinated patient referred to as dead man walking. His symptoms included difficulty breathing, but otherwise he felt fine. This gives the nurse a chance to explain to all of us what goes on in our lungs when COVID strikes. To reproduce the virus kills off lung cells. There is less oxygen for the blood to carry through the body to keep it alive. Even if the virus has been eliminated (and maybe it hasn’t) the lung damage has already happened. Can his body be kept alive with supplemental oxygen until his lungs recover? Will his lungs recover? The nurse noted the moment of terror when the man realized his lungs were too damaged and his body wasn’t getting enough oxygen. He was a dead man walking. Kos quoted another person who takes calls for a major clinic. This person is tired of hearing anti-vaxxers and their four stages: (1) They’ve got the flu, but they’re getting a test to satisfy the boss or family. (2) They admit to being sick, just a bad cold, and want a prescription sent to their pharmacy. (3) They’re in a panic and demand a cure. (4) None of the prescriptions work and there are breathing problems, but they refuse to go to Emergency. Kos also posted that the nasty guy, in an interview with Bill O’Reilly, said he’s been vaxxed and boosted and suggested his followers do the same. Yeah, that didn’t go over well. Kos reported some of the conversations about that announcement. A paraphrase of some of the arguments: He always speaks in code, there’s a double meaning. He’s a genius! He said if you don’t want the vax, don’t get it. That’s the important part. This is the left’s reverse psychology to trick his supporters to NOT get the vaccine, the more dead the better, they say. Or maybe: Whatever he does the left will do the opposite. So by promoting the vaccine he is getting people to not get it (except we get the vaccine no matter what he says). We don’t always understand what he says, but this confusion must be the fault of the press or the Deep State. If you got the vaccine before 1/20/21 (when Biden was inaugurated) you’re good. After that they changed the formula and now it is poison. Yeah, each one of those is bunk. Kos wrote:

Must be nice to live in a world that always confirms your worldview, no matter what people say or do. They’ve spent years claiming Democrats say and believe things they never did, so it’s not much of a stretch for them to do the same thing, but in reverse, with their heroes.

I checked what Leah McElrath tweeted and retweeted today. Here’s the stuff that has to do with COVID. She quoted a virologist (which I won’t quote) and added:

The flu is a RESPIRATORY illness. COVID is not. Yes, COVID is most well known for its respiratory manifestations, but it is a MULTI-SYSTEMIC illness affecting every organ system and most organs, including the brain.

Dr. Don Dizon started a thread with:

The Omicron surge has been truly devastating... for cancer centers.

Dr. Leyla Asadi understands my frustration in getting a test.

This really feels like the DIY wave: -find your own booster -find your own rapid tests & PCR -do your own contact tracing -determine optimal isolation length -figure out which masks to buy & where -figure out whether child's school or daycare has any mitigations, etc.

And Dr. Lucky Tran added:

I’m a huge fan of DIY culture. But the one thing that shouldn’t be DIY is a pandemic.

Rachel responded by wondering whether it is better for a government to say it is a DIY pandemic or say “Trust us, we know what we’re doing,” while doing nothing. McElrath quoted Marshall Steinbaum, a professor economics at University of Utah, who also understands my frustration:

Of course they don't want free & abundant testing. That would enable people not to supply market labor, and more broadly, inform the public about how bad the pandemic is.

McElrath added:

Exactly. The lack of an easily accessible supply of home tests is a policy decision. The administration has only made planned changers on this because of public pressure.

Mark Sumner of Kos reported several GOP governors are demanding that schools stay open. Then he reported the various news stories about schools that are short of staff – of teachers, substitutes, and bus drivers. Sumner wrote:

Schools are closing because they have no choice. Too many teachers are already sick. Too many substitute teachers are already sick. Too many bus drivers are already sick. Too many students are already sick. And forcing schools to stay open, even for one more day, will only make things worse. ... The best thing that can be done is to close the schools. Close them definitively. Close them until the levels of COVID-19 return to a level where schools have sufficient staff to conduct in-person instruction. Make it clear that level is not going to come in the next two weeks. By doing so, plans for remote learning can be executed without worrying about whether tomorrow will be an in-school, or an out-of-school day. Parents can do their best to handle work and kids at home, rather than facing each morning as a surprise. Governments can take actions to provide assistance where possible.

Schools are going to close anyway. Better to be definitive about it. Maricopa County, Arizona, the site of last year’s fraudit. Aysha Qamar of Kos reported the Elections Department issued a 93 page report of the election and the fraudit that was commissioned by the GOP led state Senate and carried out by Cyber Ninjas. From the report:

After an in-depth analysis and review of the reports and presentations issued by the Senate’s contractors, we determined that nearly every finding included faulty analysis, inaccurate claims, misleading conclusions, and a lack of understanding of federal and state election laws.

The Cyber Ninja report had claimed 33,000 people may have voted illegally, though that would have made no difference because Biden won the county by 45,000. That claim was shown to be wrong. Also the voting machines used only certified software, malware was not installed, and there was no internet connectivity. All three were nasty guy claims. It looks like Cyber Ninjas will have to pay a fine. Also from the report:

The November 2020 General Election was administered with integrity and the results were accurate and reliable. This has been proven through statutorily required accuracy tests, court cases, hand counts performed by the political parties, and post-election audits. The Elections Department followed all federal and state election laws.

Sigh. The nasty guy is going to bleat about fraud anyway.