Finish it

Let's finish strong.

Vaccine are being given to HCWs and first responders throughout the land. I wasn't alive then, but this campaign seems far greater than that of the polio vaccine.

With vaccines, however, comes complacency.

Please don't get complacent.

The holidays are upon us, always forget which ones, but THE HOLIDAYS are here.

See your relatives next year, wait a couple of months. You only like a couple of them anyway.

Since folks are traveling, questions about testing are increasing. Obviously, I have no dog in this fight whether you go or not and whether you're morally correct. And I don't care about these morality discussions.

To each, his own (and then some) is what we say in Jersey.

Anyways (not a word, according to my mother), y'all know the skinny on the two tests now.

The Rapid is a rapid, but much less sensitive.

The RT-PCR or PCR is much more sensitive and the TAT (Turn Around Time) varies from 18-48 hours. Good labs are getting them back quickly, because they want to make money before this bubble bursts.

Time from exposure to positive PCR test is less than the time from exposure to the development of symptoms. The range to symptoms is 2-14 days with an average = 4-5 days.

A rapid test is only reliable if the person has symptoms. But for screening exposed, but asymptomatic people, it has a lot of false negatives, even 4-5 days after exposure. But airlines, I am told, will take a negative rapid test.

As you know, the PCR test can be positive before symptoms but also after you have recovered and are no longer contagious. The problem is we have no idea when that is. We know their some threshold of virus concentration in our throats (nasopharynx), below which spread of the virus, SARS-CoV-2, is very, very unlikely. We just don't know what that concentration is and we don't know how to measure the concentration in the back of our throats.

Most people probably spread the virus in the day or so before they become symptomatic. Sick people isolate themselves further for the most part and if you cough in public, you might be stoned by strangers. For Heaven's sake, please don't say "I wear a mask".

So have 99% of the Covid pts being admitted to hospitals in Jersey. And, according to these Covid pts, their co-workers also wear masks religiously, as it is a faith-based practice. Sick pts have no reason to lie about their coworkers compliance with mask use.

And if you're exposed, it's up to you. Don't ask me what to do, that's a moral question. And don't tell me the source person, meaning the person who "exposed" you to the virus, wore a mask and you too wore a mask.

But also remember, you know you were exposed because someone around you got tested and informed you of the result.

The converse is not true. It doesn't mean you haven't been exposed simply because no one you work or socialize with has told you that they tested positive.

There is a huge penalty to testing positive, so many sick or slightly sick or exposed people avoid it. The law of unintended consequences always rules and the result of the stigma and penalty for testing positive has resulted in many, many people simply not getting tested.

So, please let's finish this strong. Don't let you guard down just yet. PLEASE.

SMS