Covid Update
As best I understand it
January 2022
Masks: Don’t even think about not wearing one, any time you’re in a public place, with friends or relatives you don’t see regularly or who have delicate immune systems, or anytime you aren’t certain you’re in a safe place. Also on really cold winter days because they really keep your face a lot warmer.
Cloth non-masks: like a turtleneck pulled up around your face or a neck warmer or something. These aren’t masks and they’re barely better than not wearing one at all. Masks are easy to acquire nowadays, use a real mask.
Cloth masks: not terribly protective. Best use is on top of a paper surgical mask to help that mask fit better. Cloth masks should be washed after every wearing, so have a bunch of them if you use them. The reason they don’t work so well is because they’re woven, and woven materials allow small particles to pass through. Also, they’re usually only 2 layers thick. Thicker ones are slightly better, but they’re still woven, so not as protective as any of those listed below:
“Paper” surgical-style masks: these masks, and all the masks listed below, aren’t woven, they’re… melded is the best word I can think of. The process eliminates the tiny holes that are in woven material, so if the mask fits well, which often they don’t so wear a cloth mask on top if you’ve got a loose one, it keeps small particles from passing through. Also, these are 3 layers of material, so more protective.
KN95 masks: These are 4 layers of non-woven material and usually fit most people pretty well. The metal strip over the nose tends to be more bendable than most of the surgical-style masks, and for those of us who wear glasses, if you bend the strip well and let your glasses rest on the top edge of the mask, usually there is no glasses fogging. Also, there’s space inside the mask so your nose isn’t right up against it as it is in the surgical-style masks, which make them more comfortable to breathe in and for your skin, for most people. These are a good choice and should always be used in risky situations, including stores you go into where there are lots of people and you’re going to be there awhile.
N95 masks: These are the gold star of masks, especially if you happen to get one that’s fitted for your face, as people working in the hospitals get. These are harder to find, and they’re expensive, but they are the best protection. These have 5 layers of material and fit the face well, allowing the least amount of escape of your respiration out and outside air in, so also safest for the people you’re around (KN95s are also very good this way). There is a version called KN94 which is made in Korea and seems to be very well made, and is often adjustable; these are the Korean version of the N95s.
When to toss them: this kinda depends on circumstances – mainly, who you’ve been around and where you’ve been. Even more importantly, how are you handling your masks? Keep the inside clean – don’t touch it with anything that could be contaminated, including your hands. You are still using hand sanitizer regularly, right?
Toss them if they get wet, whether from you sneezing, or, god forbid, anyone else sneezing or coughing on you, or from rain. Once wet, they aren’t protective. No, don’t let them dry out and then use them again.
Vaccines and Boosters: If you aren’t vaccinated and don’t have a serious medical condition that makes it impossible to get this protection, please get over yourself and get vaccinated, or hole up in your house and don’t go out of it until this is all over. We don’t want you anywhere near us. And YOU are the cause of this pandemic remaining and morphing, so don’t fool yourself that you’re special, won’t catch it/spread it, and bear no moral responsibility for the deaths and illnesses in the people around you. How many people have you unknowingly made ill or killed because you’re unvaccinated? Mostly you won’t know.
If you’re vaccinated get the booster shot. Yes, it’s apt to make you feel crappy for a few days, but not nearly so crappy as catching Covid; and it makes it less likely that you’ll contract and infect other people with the Omicron variant. If you got the J&J vaccine, it appears to be the best idea to get one of the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer or Moderna) as your booster.
Yes, you can still catch Covid even if you’ve been vaccinated, so keep wearing masks and cleaning hands. You can still catch it if you’re boostered, just a less likely, but you still need to keep wearing masks and cleaning. You can still transmit Covid if you’re vaxed and if you’re also boostered, so keep wearing masks and cleaning. Tatoo that on the inside of your eyelids, or on your forehead if that helps better: WEAR MASKS CLEAN HANDS AVOID RISKY BEHAVIOR
And YES YOU CAN STILL CATCH COVID EVEN IF YOU’VE ALREADY HAD IT! The “natural immunity” we all hoped for when this started and we didn’t know much about it turns out to be very minimal – maybe for 2 weeks – and not for everyone. In fact, there has been some indication that people who have already had Covid are MORE likely to catch the Omicron variant that’s currently making so many people sick.
About the Tests:
There are 2 types of tests, the PCR and the rapid antigen tests.
The PCR test is the one where someone else swabs high into your nostril, and the swab is sent to a lab for processing. This test looks for genetic markers of the virus and takes a couple of days to get results – longer if the lab is overwhelmed with tests to process. This is a very accurate test, you’ll rarely get a false result. Not impossible, but rare. These tests can give a positive after you’re a week or longer past the symptomatic and contagious time of the infection, because the genetic markers will often still be there. Even so, this is the most accurate test.
Another test that goes to a lab for processing, and is also very accurate if the sample is taken correctly, is a saliva test. Again, it will take a couple of days to get the results. I’m familiar with one called the Vault test; this test needs to be done on a zoom call with a technician who directs you how to do the test and watches to make sure it’s done correctly. It may be done at home.
These tests can detect presence of the virus up to 3 days sooner than a rapid antigen test can.
Rapid Antigen tests are the rapid-result tests we hear so much about lately. These tests are done at home (or in a school, clinic, doctor’s office, etc) and are also a nasal swab, but the results are available in about 10 minutes. These tests are looking for a protein on the virus that appears as it’s replicating, and are not very accurate in many situations.
Rapid tests will give false negative results if:
You haven’t taken the test correctly. For example, if you don’t swab thoroughly, or you don’t follow other instructions accurately. As an example, the free antigen tests available through the state of NH require that the person taking the test hasn’t eaten or had anything to drink, including water, for at least 30 minutes prior to taking the test.
You have the virus but are asymptomatic. The antigens build and become detectable only when your immune system kicks in to fight the infection. Symptoms are a signal that the virus is replicating sufficiently that detectable antigens are present. Before you have symptoms, you are still contagious, even if your rapid test is negative. Also, people who are vaccinated and those who have also had a booster may not develop symptoms, or may have symptoms that are so mild they don’t notice them. These people are contagious even so, despite a negative test result.
You have the virus but not for long enough to produce detectable antigens. In this case, you can still be contagious, and you may have the beginnings of symptoms that are so mild you don’t recognize them as such, or you may not yet have developed symptoms. You will be contagious for about 3 days after contracting the virus but have not yet developed symptoms, as well as while you have symptoms, and for a number of days after you’re symptom-free.
You’ve had the virus and believe yourself to be recovered, and the antigen load has become undetectable. You will still be contagious for 3-5 days after your last symptom has cleared. A lingering cough, for example, is still an active symptom – please don’t fool yourself into thinking you can’t pass on the virus until you are really, truly, symptom-free.
When are the rapid tests worth using, since they produce so many false negatives?
In my opinion, in these cases:
· You believe you may have been exposed. In this case, wait for 3 days before taking the test, unless you develop symptoms sooner; prior to that, you will almost certainly get a false negative. In the meantime, practice strict risk management and wear a mask around other people. If you have mild symptoms but still test negative, or want to be absolutely certain, repeat the test in 2 days.
· You have symptoms, but aren’t sure if they mean you have Covid, a cold, the flu, allergies, or the result of woodstove dust and dry air in the cold New England winter. If you take a rapid test under these circumstances and get a negative result, it’s probably not Covid. To be sure, repeat the test in 2 or 3 days – still negative, you can feel pretty certain it’s not Covid. HOWEVER, if all you have is a cold or flu, you shouldn’t be running around in public spreading your germs to the rest of us, anyway: stay home until at least 24 hours after your fever is gone, and preferably until your symptoms are done. If you’re out in public coughing and snotting and sneezing and moaning you’re going to freak the rest of us out. Stay home, and if you absolutely need to go out, wear a KN95 mask, and throw it away after each use.
· You want to visit someone who is at risk of serious illness if they contract Covid. Take a rapid test; for the next 3 days practice strict Covid risk protocols (masks, clean hands, avoiding public places), then repeat the test. Alternatively, and to be more certain, take a PCR test about 3 days prior to your planned visit. In either case, do not relax your strict protocols after testing until after you’ve finished your visit with your special person.
Every week lately, sometimes daily, I hear stories about a relative or friend – sometimes vaccinated, sometimes unvaccinated - who took a rapid test, tested negative, then went to visit a group of friends or relatives they rarely see. Three days later, the whole group, including the visitor, is sick with Covid, vaccinated or not. Usually the vaxed, boostered people don’t catch it, but not always. And always, the false negative test result caused everyone to relax and think they didn’t need to wear masks during the visit.
They were wrong.
Please be careful, stay safe and healthy!
16 January 2022
Heron Dragon Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine
603-724-7807
