We had the dreaded call this morning. Someone we know has breakthrough Covid.
T has Covid.
T played golf with M Tuesday morning, same cart.
M played golf with my husband Tuesday night, same cart.
My husband and I played golf with M Thursday night. Different carts but ate with him afterwards.
T is our usual partner Thursday but wasn’t feeling well so M subbed.
M calls this morning, T tested positive for Covid. Everyone is vaccinated, T is in his 80’s, my husband is immunocompromised.
If you’ve followed all that, how many degrees of separation is there before you should be worried of being exposed? It starts getting complicated, doesn’t it?
No, I think the FDA just approved a 3rd shot yesterday.
I wonder why you think we should start testing? We haven’t been in contact with the person infected, we’ve been outside with a person who was with a person outside.
I’m just curious because where does it start and where does it end? Seems like the chicken and the egg.
The vaccine does not prevent transmission. It should prevent serious illness, but as an immunocompromised person, your husband may not have the full benefit of the vaccine, and early access to monoclonal treatment would be important in the event of a breakthrough infection. The earlier you learn about an infection, the better. It is easy and convenient to use home testing kits, and there is no downside to doing so. If he were not compromised, I would not bother, but he is.
I would also get that 3rd shot today.
I don’t believe one can just go get a booster. It has been suggested for transplant recipients, as well as cancer and HIV patients. I just had an appointment with one of my doctors yesterday as I have kidney disease; she said I would not be in the group approved at this time for a booster, but once I can get one, I will.
M is quarantining. And contacting the people he’s been in contact with. Not sure if he’s testing, I would assume not because of his personality. But he’s taking it seriously which is a plus.
T, the one with breakthrough Covid, took a “quick” test as he wasn’t feeling well, not sure if he’s going to get a PCR test or since he’s not feeling well, it doesn’t matter.
My husband is being stubborn. Says he doesn’t want to get a 3rd vaccine until he’s discussed it with his rheumatologist. Says that nagging will not change his mind.
Lol, just got an email from T. He and his wife got a PCR test, will not know the results until Tuesday. He is experiencing a slight fever and occasional cough.
A false positive would be nice. They are a nice couple in their 80’s who lost their son to cancer this year. It’s been rough so I’m hoping for the best.
At the point, M is the only one who should be vigilant. You or you hubby probably unknowingly come into this kind of contact all the time. I wouldn’t test in this situation at all. We’d spend all our free time testing otherwise.
My MD orders PCR tests and even the one that goes deep up into the nasopharynx comes back in a few hours. So maybe getting a test through an MD would be quicker.
I tend to go by the idea that there is no contagion for 2-3 days after another person has been exposed. My son just visited and we went by that. We were relaxed for two days and then he got a motel room and we saw each other outside.
There is no way to know when T was exposed so no way to know when T was contagious. So now way to know if M was contagious or not. if he was exposed.
Tuesday night with T was probably okay because M had just played with T, not enough time for M to become contagious.
Thursday glad there were different carts so it comes down to how close contact was, and it still might have been too early for M to be contagious.
The virus does not become weaker as it spreads from person to person so I don’t see how “degrees of separation” are relevant. I mean it is a matter of timing (and degree of contact).
M, you and your husband should all get tested more than once, at least 5-7 days after exposure.
I guess the reality is if people are out with others there is always going to be a chance of Covid exposure. That seems to be where we are at. Covid is out there and vaccinated can still catch it, especially delta. The good thing is the vaccine does provide greater protection. So, if people are going to be going out and interacting with others there’s going to be an increased possibility of exposure and perhaps sickness. Should they wait until there’s a possible exposure to worry or should those who would be more worried be taking more precautions in the first place? I don’t have the answers regarding degree of separation but if I were at increased risk I would probably be more cautious to begin with. Everyone has their own personal risk tolerance.
Thought it was about cousins dating, then discovered that it was asking to help solve an algebra problem, and now delighted to realize that it contains a wealth of information about Covid booster shots.
D1 was at a wedding on the east coast last week and flew home last Sunday. Her bf’s brother drove them to the airport and he has tested positive for Covid. Brother had a fever and cough and is fully vaccinated. D1 and bf did go get tested yesterday and they are both negative. H picked up D1 and bf from the airport and drove them home. At this point H and I don’t see a reason for him to be tested.
I think whether to test or not is a function of your psychological needs and the likelihood you would expose anyone else in the next few days.
Our situation is similar enough to your golf cart algebra, though, thought I’d share: T starts feeling sick on a Wednesday. He lives with P, my assistant/receptionist. Both are vaxed. He stays home from work on Thursday and gets tested. He is told by doc it didn’t seem like covid. P comes to work on Thursday and Friday. Sunday night she starts feeling sick. Monday morning he gets the positive test result. P gets tested same day. Positive.
We wear masks in the office and social distance, though not always perfectly. My husband and I are immune compromised. My son and I had a flight planned the following Tuesday (8 days later). We are all vaxed. Do we get tested? Quarantine? Go on the trip?
Did the best research I could. Delta appears to have a shorter incubation period, possibly as short as 24 hours because of the high viral load. It is possible P was contagious on that Friday at the office. So maybe I was exposed? The recommended quarantine period for exposed people is 10-14 days, depending upon your source. If P was contagious and I picked it up on that Friday, I likely already exposed my family (more likely DH than son) by the time T got his results. But my family probably wouldn’t be contagious yet if I had. But we would be cleared sorta by the Tuesday trip 11 days after my potential exposure. There is no point in getting tested until 3-5 days after exposure because of test sensitivity.
What we did: I stopped going into the office. We kept our son separated from DH and I, and kept him from going to his job with little kids. We did two tests, on Tuesday and Wednesday (day 4 and 5 post-exposure). Both came back negative. Kiddo got approval from work to come back and we had dinner together again. No one had symptoms. We moved back the trip one day. We went on the trip Wednesday, 12 days after my potential exposure, with no symptoms and two negative tests. I got a test that Friday while on the trip. Negative.
We played it day by day. I felt we were being conservative? I am not sure what exposure means - whether I was, or whether my family should have been presumptively considered to be. I don’t know if what we did bucked protocol or not, but it was in my comfort zone psychologically. I kept asking myself “what would I want someone else to do?”
Btw, If my assistant had a “mild case” - she was vaccinated - yikes. She didn’t feel well enough to work for two weeks. She was told that “mild” means you can still breathe.
If M got infected and got contagious in the very short time between morning and evening Tuesday (unlikely), then the risk to your husband in the golf cart would the same as above at ~5%, unless you assume that his immunocompromise makes him like an unvaccinated person, in which case the risk would be ~30%.
how many degrees of separation is there before you should be worried of being exposed? It starts getting complicated, doesn’t it?