Best Posts in Thread: COVID tests for home delivery

Well, obviously not knowing you're infected while you are is the worst (because of the danger to others).
That can hardly be avoided though as long as you are free of symptoms.
If you do know you're infected, either through a RAT (rapid antigen test) or a PCR test then the obvious thing to do is quarantine (with your entire household), even if you are symptom free or feeling just a bit under the weather.
Whether that represents a change of behaviour depends on the individual and his circumstances.
At the very least one should arrange for groceries to be delivered rather than a household member getting them.
As far as hesitancy to get a PCR test and face possible quarantine in a public facility is concerned, I very much share that hesitancy, so would much prefer to quarantine at home instead if the situation would warrant that.

 

I know maybe over 20 people (family and friends) who have been sick in the past couple weeks. I was just sick myself last week. After dinner I was not feeling well, had a headache and body aches and slight fever. Took paracetamol and went to bed early. Next day couldn't get out of bed until almost noon. But, by the next day I was starting to feel better, and then it went away. My wife went through the same course, as did everybody else I know who was sick. Everybody says this is a mild 48 hour flu bug that is going around. But, I wonder, if you're fully vaccinated (everybody I know is), and are exposed to omicron, maybe this is how it goes. I didn't go get tested, nobody I know went to get tested. Like Rye is thinking now that he should get tested, by the time you start thinking that you should get tested, you start feeling better and so don't bother (I hope that's how it goes for you Rye!).

 

I ordered a set of 5 test kits from Lazada (the only ones I could find), but not yet delivered. Price is reasonable at 799 Php excluding shipping.

The description on Lazada isn't quite clear, but I found the exact same set (from same producer in China) on a German wholesale webshop with a better description and a list of approvals for the product.
In short, I think it is a legit product.
The RITM institute in the Philippines (part of DOH) has just finished a report on rapid antigen tests, but the FDA (Philippines) has yet to take any action on that, so don't expect stuff to be available in local pharmacies anytime soon.

 

The lateral flow test showed negative a few times before my wife, feeling really ill was given a PCR test which she was told was positive.
I picked her up from the local A&E unit and we both isolated for 10 days, expecting that I might get the virus too. She is now feeling much better and has been advised to abstain from returning to work for another week.
I have managed to avoid getting the virus so far and now able to go out and about again. Thankfully we had friends drop food and shopping off on the doorstep for which we were grateful.
I think Icould get use to this monastic life, with full control of the TV remote!!!!

 

This seems in part what my family of three had - starting with a 19 year old who brought it into the house (and we were a bit careless about masks because of previous 'ordinary' fevers she came here with). Two of the three with symptoms had 3 days of high fever (39oC) and I just can't tie it up with Omicron though (I hope it was as that will be my natural acquired immunity) and there are many possibilities of acute upper respiratory infections: e.g. Influenza (not strictly URI), RSV, parainfluenza, rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, adenoviruses.

My own fever/headache (the primary symptoms) went in 3 to 4 days and then overlapped with a chest infection which is about 95% cured but has taken 2 weeks - this could be an opportunistic secondary bacterial infection.

The intervals between the start of infections in your family were much shorter than in mine (about 1 day for you compared with 4 days for mine).

Everyone will have their own opinion on this and must do what they feel is correct - but I rarely use paracetamol or an NSAID (aspirin or ibuprofen) to reduce fever as fever is part of the body's immune response. I took 4 over a 4/5 day illness and only when my fever reached 39oC. I also rarely take any other medicines as my view is to allow my body to fight the infection and then accept that one of us wins. So far it is 1-0 to my body!

If anyone reads anything from sampling results which indicates what this was then I would be very interested to know. It seems to have died down (based on lack of further reports on this Forum) so was a very contagious self-limiting infection.

 

I am one-more such mystery-case. I hardly ever get sickened by any virus, but my wife & 11-yr son do a few times per year -- I'm a "heath-nut" and they're not :-/ Two weeks ago my son came down with a cold-like bug, acute upper-respiratory infection -- nose-snotting, sneezing, dry-coughing from irritated throat, low fever. Wife got it the next day, and then (to my surprise) I got it the next. We all suffered acutely from this for a full week, losing some sleep, took plenty of OTC RX to "control" it. Then recovery for the past week, tho still some lingering coughing sometimes. No tests taken. We have just assumed that this was Omicron -- but yeah it couldda been some other bug, Who Knows? Omicron just becomes just another of these pests. I actually do hope that it was Omicron, if that means that our general anti-Covid immunity is now stronger....

 

My wife was able to buy 4 cold and fever meds from Rodriguez Medical Clinic, Colon St, for my son and I.

 

Whatever this is has infected a lot of people. The pharmacies in Dumaguete are out of dry cough medicine. Some of the pharmacies are out of Bio-Flu and Biogesic.

Although not perfect, there is a lot of mask wearing and people tend to stay away from each other. Whatever this is, it is very contagious.

 

Same here, I have felt great since moving to a nearly single season warm climate bit like most others, something caught me this year that has been lingering. It must be easy to get because we don't leave the property often, maybe every 2 weeks at most just to get supplies.

Perhaps we dont hear about it in the media because people don't want to get tested, cant afford the test, and if it is not bad enough to go to the hospital, then they are trying to live and earn as they would have 3 years ago. The DOH is only giving info they can show on statistics.
No work - no pay is a big insentive. So to most, just take some OTC RX and keep going is their best option.