smokinLobstah t1_jd758md wrote on March 22, 2023 at 9:43 AM

I think it's pretty difficcult to track any of these trends at this point.

The issue becomes very complex when you consider:

Covid, Flu, and RSV are all circulating
There's a significant overlap of symptoms
Testing is far less accurate than it needs to be to actually determine statistics

I do know that a much larger percentage of people I know are either currrently sick or have recently been sick. Yes, I know that's a very subjective statement, but think about the people you know and how many of them have been sick in the past 2 mos.

Everyone I mention it to agrees when they think about it, and those that are sick have no idea what they were sick WITH...they just know that they're sick.

International-Pen940 t1_jd7fjea wrote on March 22, 2023 at 11:45 AM

Probably the great majority of positive Covid tests are with home test kits and never reported, so they don’t make it into statistics. Many of these are mild or asymptomatic cases but it’s part of the spread of the virus.

smokinLobstah t1_jd7gr0y wrote on March 22, 2023 at 11:57 AM

My experience is that the at-home kits show false NEG results. This has happened with a few folks I know. When they went to their Dr, they tested POS. One had tested NEG twice daily at home for 4 days.

Many people I know don't even bother testing anymore. If they get sick, they believe it's either Covid, Flu, RSV, or a bad cold, and there's not much to be done about any of them, unless they develop severe symptoms.

International-Pen940 t1_jd7ijr8 wrote on March 22, 2023 at 12:14 PM

Even the medical office tests have false negatives. My guess is that at least 90 percent of people have had some kind of Covid infection since the pandemic started. There might be weaker strains that haven’t been isolated yet.

A_Common_Loon t1_jdcyf0s wrote on March 23, 2023 at 2:41 PM

I'm really curious about this. My family is all fully vaxxed and we have occasionally had mild cold-like symptoms and always test negative on the home tests. The symptoms go away in a day or two so it hasn't seemed worth going to the doctor. I really wonder if we have been infected and just don't know it.