VDesai wrote:I'm on day 6 of self quarantining, probably with Omicron. I have 3 pfizer vaccines. I had some congestion, sneezing and fatigue at the outset, but now just residiual congestion. I have a bunch of the pre existing conditions (mostly well managed) that make me a bad candidate to get Covid, but I'm doing ok. Unfortunately I got this during a paternal leave, so instead of spending time with my baby son I'm stuck in a room myself. Fortunately feeling fairly healthy. Omicron is no joke - I barely went outside at this time given I was on leave
I took the subway once to Manhattan for a doctor's appointment. That had to be when I got it.

oh wow, good luck. You think it was the subway ride? I'm assuming you were masked. This is how quickly Omicron spreads.

VDesai wrote:

martin wrote:

VDesai wrote:I'm on day 6 of self quarantining, probably with Omicron. I have 3 pfizer vaccines. I had some congestion, sneezing and fatigue at the outset, but now just residiual congestion. I have a bunch of the pre existing conditions (mostly well managed) that make me a bad candidate to get Covid, but I'm doing ok. Unfortunately I got this during a paternal leave, so instead of spending time with my baby son I'm stuck in a room myself. Fortunately feeling fairly healthy. Omicron is no joke - I barely went outside at this time given I was on leave
I took the subway once to Manhattan for a doctor's appointment. That had to be when I got it.

oh wow, good luck. You think it was the subway ride? I'm assuming you were masked. This is how quickly Omicron spreads.

Double masked! If it wasn't the subway it was at the doctor's office or an outdoor dining for a burger and a beer for lunch on Monday. I've been at home for weeks. My wife is testing negative somehow - I has symptoms for 2 days before my positive test so not sure how. She is also boosted and very healthy so maybe her immune system just fought it off.

Clean wrote:Hey guys! I said this during the initial outbreak and I'll say it again. You guys need to stop with the surgical masks and get an n100 mask. Surgical masks require for everyone to wear masks for it to be effective. I don't trust any one else to care about my health. n100 masks block 99.97% of particles. During the height of the pandemic I had a job where I came into contact with 1000 people a day and did not catch COVID. With the omicron being even more tranmissible it is even more important to go beyond surgical masks. I saw n100's on sale on amazon a few months ago and picked up 5 more of them. Went on the train last week and I am totally fine. They even have an exhaust so you don't breathe in any CO2. I really recommend it.

where did you get yours?

martin wrote:

Clean wrote:Hey guys! I said this during the initial outbreak and I'll say it again. You guys need to stop with the surgical masks and get an n100 mask. Surgical masks require for everyone to wear masks for it to be effective. I don't trust any one else to care about my health. n100 masks block 99.97% of particles. During the height of the pandemic I had a job where I came into contact with 1000 people a day and did not catch COVID. With the omicron being even more tranmissible it is even more important to go beyond surgical masks. I saw n100's on sale on amazon a few months ago and picked up 5 more of them. Went on the train last week and I am totally fine. They even have an exhaust so you don't breathe in any CO2. I really recommend it.

where did you get yours?

This is the link where I bought my new ones. I had no problems with them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008MCV43K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Clean wrote:

martin wrote:

Clean wrote:Hey guys! I said this during the initial outbreak and I'll say it again. You guys need to stop with the surgical masks and get an n100 mask. Surgical masks require for everyone to wear masks for it to be effective. I don't trust any one else to care about my health. n100 masks block 99.97% of particles. During the height of the pandemic I had a job where I came into contact with 1000 people a day and did not catch COVID. With the omicron being even more tranmissible it is even more important to go beyond surgical masks. I saw n100's on sale on amazon a few months ago and picked up 5 more of them. Went on the train last week and I am totally fine. They even have an exhaust so you don't breathe in any CO2. I really recommend it.

where did you get yours?

This is the link where I bought my new ones. I had no problems with them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008MCV43K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I thought you didn't want the kind with valves.

franco12 wrote:

Clean wrote:

martin wrote:

Clean wrote:Hey guys! I said this during the initial outbreak and I'll say it again. You guys need to stop with the surgical masks and get an n100 mask. Surgical masks require for everyone to wear masks for it to be effective. I don't trust any one else to care about my health. n100 masks block 99.97% of particles. During the height of the pandemic I had a job where I came into contact with 1000 people a day and did not catch COVID. With the omicron being even more tranmissible it is even more important to go beyond surgical masks. I saw n100's on sale on amazon a few months ago and picked up 5 more of them. Went on the train last week and I am totally fine. They even have an exhaust so you don't breathe in any CO2. I really recommend it.

where did you get yours?

This is the link where I bought my new ones. I had no problems with them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008MCV43K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I thought you didn't want the kind with valves.

If you are using it for everyday use the valves are fine. The valves have a little flap that pushes the exhaust downwards. So unless a person is right in your face they are fine. Seeing as people should be social distancing anyway that is not even an issue.

If you are going to a place like a hospital or nursing home with vulnerable people in an enclosed space just put a surgical mask over the n100 and done.

The Omicron variant of coronavirus appears to be milder, with a 15% reduced chance of hospitalisation and a 40% lower risk of being admitted overnight, the first UK data of its kind has showed.

But as daily Covid cases topped 100,000 for the first time on Wednesday, experts warned that high transmissibility means the NHS is still at risk of being overwhelmed.

In what was described by scientists as a “qualified good news story”, two studies on Wednesday pointed to a lower risk of hospitalisation with Omicron.

An Imperial College outbreak modelling team led by Prof Neil Ferguson analysed hospitalisations and vaccine records among all PCR-confirmed Covid cases in England between 1 and 14 December. The dataset included 56,000 cases of Omicron and 269,000 cases of Delta.

Their report found that the risk of any attendance at hospital was a fifth to a quarter lower with Omicron versus Delta, and 40-45% lower when the visit resulted in being admitted for at least one night.

For the small percentage of people who have neither been infected with Covid nor vaccinated, the risk of hospitalisation was about 11% lower for Omicron versus Delta.

.....The Imperial study found that having had a previous Covid infection reduced the risk of hospitalisation from Omicron by about half compared with a first infection, the report adds.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/22/risk-of-hospital-stay-40-lower-with-omicron-than-delta-uk-data-suggests

Here's the report:

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-analysis/covid-19/report-50-severity-omicron/

smackeddog wrote:

Clean wrote:Hey guys! I said this during the initial outbreak and I'll say it again. You guys need to stop with the surgical masks and get an n100 mask. Surgical masks require for everyone to wear masks for it to be effective. I don't trust any one else to care about my health. n100 masks block 99.97% of particles. During the height of the pandemic I had a job where I came into contact with 1000 people a day and did not catch COVID. With the omicron being even more tranmissible it is even more important to go beyond surgical masks. I saw n100's on sale on amazon a few months ago and picked up 5 more of them. Went on the train last week and I am totally fine. They even have an exhaust so you don't breathe in any CO2. I really recommend it.

This might be a silly question, but can you get infected via your eyes- if someone coughs or breathes onto them? I've been assuming so (hence medical staff and my work advising we wear visors when we see clients/patients), but haven't seen the latest info- certainly seem to be a fair few articles saying you can indeed me infected via your eyes, which is why it's so important as many people wear masks as possible.

For whatever reason most of the articles I have read that talk to how people get infected talk about the virus attaching to nose/lungs. And I think each variant has different degrees for which they can attach themselves to those 2 different areas of the body. Doesn't mean eyes can't be infection point but I just don't read that as much or at all

smackeddog wrote:

Clean wrote:Hey guys! I said this during the initial outbreak and I'll say it again. You guys need to stop with the surgical masks and get an n100 mask. Surgical masks require for everyone to wear masks for it to be effective. I don't trust any one else to care about my health. n100 masks block 99.97% of particles. During the height of the pandemic I had a job where I came into contact with 1000 people a day and did not catch COVID. With the omicron being even more tranmissible it is even more important to go beyond surgical masks. I saw n100's on sale on amazon a few months ago and picked up 5 more of them. Went on the train last week and I am totally fine. They even have an exhaust so you don't breathe in any CO2. I really recommend it.

This might be a silly question, but can you get infected via your eyes- if someone coughs or breathes onto them? I've been assuming so (hence medical staff and my work advising we wear visors when we see clients/patients), but haven't seen the latest info- certainly seem to be a fair few articles saying you can indeed me infected via your eyes, which is why it's so important as many people wear masks as possible.

"COVID-19, a disease caused by coronavirus, spreads mostly from person-to-person contact through viral particles ejected through the mouth by coughing, sneezing, laughing, singing, talking or simply breathing. People within about 6 feet can be infected if these particles reach their mouth, nose or eye."

"Touching a viral droplet on a surface, then touching your face (mouth, nose or eyes), can also cause an infection. These are the only entry points for the virus, which explains why medical experts are urging people to practice social distancing, wash hands or use a hand sanitizer (at least 60 percent alcohol) frequently and regularly disinfect hard surfaces high-traffic areas in the home, like the kitchen."

Source: https://hartfordhealthcare.org/about-us/news-press/news-detail?articleid=24686&publicId=395

"When someone who has coronavirus coughs or
talks, virus particles can spray from their mouth
or nose into your face. You are likely to breathe
these tiny droplets in through your mouth or
nose. But the droplets can also enter your body
through your eyes.
People who have coronavirus can also spread the
disease through their tears. Touching tears or a
surface where tears have landed is another way
someone can become infected.
You can also become infected by touching your
eyes after touching something that has the
virus on it."

Source: https://www.med.umich.edu/kec/pdf/coronavirus-and-your-eyes-aao.pdf