My state will not accept antigen tests for reporting purposes.
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You should do what you are comfortable with.
For me it varies. For the most part, I’ve tried to avoid indoor, maskless events. But not always. For example, I skipped an after work outing with ~50 people invited Thursday night because I didn’t want to be with them crowded together in a bar (with however many others) but I went to a maskless ~100 person wedding Friday night. The difference was, the bride had 8 people at a table, and the tables were well spaced apart. Nobody was congregating at bars and they had a huge outdoor area as well. We went to two other weddings during covid that were similar. One we did wear masks at, except while eating. I also went to one bridal shower where I wore my mask indoors except while eating as well. We eat indoors at a restaurant most fridays, then hang out with our friends there afterwards. We wear our masks when we’re not eating. We’ve also ate indoors at maybe 5-6 other places during covid. Which isn’t very much over the course of 2 years.
Covid is absolutely rampant right now in the Northeast. So many people I know have it now, and these are people who are quite careful, masking indoors and avoiding large events. I know someone who caught it from socializing OUTDOORS with a friend. So if you haven’t had the second booster, consider it. And if you have the slightest throat pain, test. Swab your nostrils first, and then, using the same swab, swab the back of your throat, in the tonsil area, both sides, then use that swab to test. If you test positive, get Paxlovid, or if you have contraindications to Paxlovid, get the latest monoclonal antibody infusion. There is currently a single dose one that is deemed effective against Omicron, but the recommendations change frequently.
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A sore throat is the symptom I hear from everyone I know who has gotten COVID recently.
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My oldest had a pretty strong case of COVID and had to get a PCR test to prove it to Starbucks (works there), and asked about Paxlovid, but was denied. Got the PCR at CVS Minute Clinic which is where our state said to go for Paxlovid. Luckily, although it was a strong case of COVID it only lasted about a week and with no lingering symptoms. Felt crappy, though.
Where in the northeast are you talking about? Cases and hospitalizations are dropping in MA. When I look at the CDC website, it shows that most of the northeast, including the county I live in, are back to green low transmission levels.
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So many cases aren’t getting reported, though. Anecdotally I know a lot of people who have had it recently where I am in North Carolina. I don’t know about the NE.
BTW, my grown kids got it, but didn’t have much of a sore throat. I think being double boosted definitely kept my husband and I from getting it. My kids were boosted, but not double.
But hospitalizations are real numbers and those are also dropping.
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I am not at all worried about case numbers. It really means nothing at this point. Hospitalizations and available hospital beds is what is important. And if positive cases aren’t being reported and we are under counting, that just means we have a much lower percentage of serious infections and hospitalizations.
I do not wear masks anywhere except medical offices. Everybody here has resumed living a normal life both indoors and out.
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There are many articles about the underreporting of Covid cases.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/18/health/covid-at-home-testing-data/index.html
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My life is normal too even though I wear a mask as required at work and where I see fit when I’m out in public. 
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Not me. Had it two weeks ago. A slightly runny nose was only symptom. Throat felt fine.
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What is defined as normal is different for everyone and everyone’s locations. We have different “normals.”
I walk into the market or restaurants and many, not all, employees and customers continue to wear masks.
I walked my dog this AM and some people here even continue to wear masks outside walking.
Getting sick sucks, so I’ll happily wear my mask when I feel it’s necessary. I don’t like to miss a day of training.
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people are testing at home and not reporting it. Right now I personally know about a dozen people with it! Who bothers going to a testing center now?
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An organization I belong to had a conference this weekend in Oregon. Around 80 people were registered. During the week before hand 12 cancelled because of Covid – either their own or close family members. It’s nice to think about not doing anything to mitigate spread and believing that you won’t get sick, but it’s not realistic.
We had open doors and windows, fans, air purifiers, encouraged (but didn’t require – probably about 80% wore masks most of the time) masking (had KN95s available), large rooms, etc. Hope it was enough.
I found out the last day that one of the cancellations had been among several folks who got infected at a meeting in the same space a week before. Sigh.
They say 5% of infected people cause 80% of the spread, so it’s can look very sporadic and you can do a lot of “risky” things without getting infected. But it only takes one to get a lot of people sick.
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Yes, I will ask my daughter how many people the one bridesmaid infected. It was more than a couple.
Any indoor event where people will mingle in close proximity or even any outdoor event that does not mandate effective masking all the time will be a superspreader, sadly.
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Tomorrow is the Golden State Warriors victory parade in downtown SF. Talk about superspreader events. It’s likely that I’m not going, even though the event is outdoors, but if I did go, I’ll be at least single, maybe even double, masked.
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Tornado watch made us move a celebratory picnic after D’s dissertation defense indoors. All attendees vaxxed, but we did not ask people to test. Turns out one of the guests was positive but asymptomatic (may not have had enough viral load to test positive anyway). D and I started feeling yucky three days later and tested positive. Neither her fiancé nor my husband got it. Fortunately our symptoms were mild and lasted less than a week, but almost three weeks later my energy levels are just now coming back.
That is a pretty definitive statement.
Could be a superspreader….possibly
May be a superspreader…. Possibly
Will be a superspreader…… No
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