In case this thread is helpful to anyone.
https://twitter.com/bob_wachter/status/1495165503106543618?s=21
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I think Iāve been pretty clear on my views on COVID, masking, vaccines, etc. With all that, I still come to this thread because of posts like this. Thanks for the information from someone who has a vastly different opinion than most on here.
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Meanwhile in the UK itās āNot āmust I isolate?ā but āshould I?āā 
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Yeah, the every-country for themselves / āself-select your own trial cohortā experiment continuesā¦
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I think Iām going to need to completely ignore all covid info for awhile and take a break. This feels a lot like a horror movie where the audience sees the murderer coming in the house and the victim is sitting there unaware. Meanwhile as the audience I donāt feel particularly in danger with nearly everyone I know being āup to dateā fully vaccinated and boosted by age (so just DS,3 isnāt and at this point I assume approval is not coming).
At this point I realize I have no one left to convince and following with more attention is turning more towards a morbid curiousity.
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I only jump on this thread to see how people are doing and to respond to any questions regarding what people are doing. I scroll through all the Covid and testing info, as I agree with you. Everyone has the information and will choose to do what they want.
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We went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore yesterday and it was very confusing. We got a member ship last summer and have gone twice before, the last time being in September 2021. Masks have been required in the aquarium and in January, vaccines or a negative PCR test for 12 and over are required. Tons of negative attention and comments were on the aquariumās social media. Well anyway, we went yesterday and it was a ā-show. For a nasty cold windy day in February, it was packed. They closed the member entrance, which is a perk of being a member, and made everyone wait in this long line to verify vaccine/testing status. I was confused why the line was so long when we got to that area, as it was quick. People were jammed into the front of the aquarium and when I saw why, I was ticked. They had 2 cameras set up for pictures you could purchase and it was holding up the entire line. The place was packed, more so than Iāve seen in a long time, causing me to wonder what the point of the Covid measures were. I was also shocked at the number of vaccinated people (I know some could have brought a negative test but I saw a lot of vaccine cards in line) that happened to show up at the aquarium that day. I realized that the percentage vaccinated is lower than desired, but it is still a lot of people.
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We have been members at the nat aquarium for a long time(we still are now) and itās apparent they are really hurting now and Iām not sure how itās going to pan out. We go so often the kids know the larger animals by nameā¦
The aquarium lost Calypso during covid (the large 3 finned turtle) so it was rough to belring the kids back in 2021 and had a crying explaining session about where she was. They are in the process of readying the dolphins for movement to a sanctuary in 2025ish so they will lose that section too.
Itās been hit and miss with people there since forever. My only tip is go first thing in the AM and be done by 11am to avoid the crowds. If you have little ones Sunday is great since port discovery(we have a membership there too) is open in the afternoon after lunch so it can all blend together for a great day.
This is where it feels like Iām watching the horror movie and the girl is running up the stairs instead of out the house.
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We have gone in the AM first thing, but this time we had to go in the afternoon due to schedules. But that crowd superseded crowds I had seen prepandemic. It was nuts and made worse by how they handled the entrance. Iāve also noticed the difference from when we went when I was a kid. We only wanted a one year membership so my ocean loving kid could see the aquarium and it was less expensive to buy the membership for our family of 5. My kids are 13, 13 and 10 so no littles here. We plan on incorporating a trip the Georgia Aquarium with our Universal/Kennedy Space Center/non Disney trip in a year or 2.
I was questioning their resolve to have all these Covid measures and then just jam everyone in. It seemed counterintuitive.
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I feel like at this point, Iām just gonna mind my own business. Iām no longer watching. People are going to do what they want to do.
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So up until now, Brits have been legally required to isolate? Are they still recommending you isolate, just that itās no longer illegal not to? Or are they not recommending it either?
Does anywhere in the US have isolation laws? I think itās mostly school/employer policies, if anything.
I think there might have been some early on, but I havenāt heard anything on this in the US for ages?
Thereās been no official announcement yet. I think itās due tomorrow evening. Iām sure they will still say that you should isolate but they also allegedly are scrapping free tests, so people wonāt know if they have it or not, and also the rule for employers to pay sick pay from day 1 for covid absences, so people wonāt be able to afford to stay off.
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Yes, I believe so.
Honestly I canāt answer this without being Judgy McJudgeface. Iāve deleted this paragraph several times.
Let me just summarise by saying that I havenāt seen anything in the press about this so far that would continue to promote isolation.
This is the bit thatās really going to make it interesting*
*Thatās the least rude description of the situation I can come up with.
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A few highlights from last weeks White House briefing:
They addressed plans to sustain the US testing capacity. They are communicating with test manufacturers to figure out how to deal with market volatility (there were excess at-home tests last summer and then a shortage during the Omicron surge).
All private health insurance plans should be covering at-home tests since Jan 15 (150M Americans). Also:āMedicaid covers these tests. Medicare will cover these tests by spring.ā
200 million of the free at-home kits have been sent out so far. 1 billion have been contracted. Lab capacity is now 2 million tests per day.
āSo weāre moving in the direction where these tests should be completely covered for Americans, and they are now for many Americans.ā
ā230 million masks have been delivered to pharmacies and community health centers as part of the administrationās effort to deliver high-quality masks around the country. And that process will continue. We are now in the process of planning for the distribution of masks for children. And weāll have more to say about that in the days ahead.ā
[We are definitely seeing these popping up in the Houston area. Just random displays with free masks at grocery store pharmacies and the like.]
400 million of 1.2 billion commitment of global vaccine doses have been shipped. Also providing support in administering and education.
Dr Walensky:
āWe are assessing the most important factors based on where we are in the pandemic, and weāll soon put guidance in place that is relevant and encourages prevention measures when they are most needed to protect public health and our hospitals. We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing, when these metrics are better, and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen.
If and when we update our guidance, we will communicate that clearly, and it will be based on the data and the science. However, itās also important to remember, regardless of the level of disease burden in your community, there are still very important times to continue to wear your mask.
- If you are symptomatic or feeling unwell, you should wear a mask.
- If you are in the 10 days after a COVID diagnosis, you should wear a mask.
- If you were exposed to someone with COVID-19 and are quarantining, you should wear a mask.ā
Dr Fauci:
āLong COVID is something that we take very seriously. We know weāre studying it really quite intensively now over the last year.
We know that you donāt necessarily have to be hospitalized to get long COVID, that it ranges from people who are mildly to moderately symptomatic to individuals who are actually requiring hospitalization.
There are a number of factors that seem to be associated in recent studies with long COVID, ranging from things like Type 2 diabetes to viral load to reactivation of EBV, as well as things like autoantibodies.
We donāt really understand very much, but weāre learning, literally, on a week-by-week, month-by-month basis. But in direct answer to your question, Meg, you certainly want to protect against all infection; weād like to do that. We certainly want to protect against symptomatic infection; weād like to do that. And we donāt take lightly long COVID.ā
FWIW, most American adults have the EBV risk factor (about 90% of adults be age 35):
One management group is advocating for covid measures while the other management group is trying to boost revenue - hey, letās offer photos!
At the worst location. Clearly not well thought out.
Thatās just my take. 
Something to ponder. South Africa Covid cases peaked around Dec 17. Deaths still increasing.
Many theories. I donāt know. Some of them are based on assumptions on how South Africa is reporting things, and I just donāt know.
Examples.
Theory 1
āIf youāve had a positive PCR in the past 90 days, a positive PCR does not count as a new caseā, meaning rapid reinfections would drastically undercount cases.
Theory 2
Omicron BA.2 (lavender, with Omicron BA.1 being purple)
Theory 3
Delayed Covid deaths.
Anecdotal:
There are many others.
Practical implications: If there are important-ish things youāve put off doing because case counts were high in your area (dentist visits, getting house repairs done, etc.), and if case counts have come down, it might be worth getting them done now.
It would be great if things kept improving in the US, but Iām not sure there is data to support that assumption so I wouldnāt rely on it.
Hereās the UK FWIW.
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My kidsā school (younger 2 kids) is going mask optional tomorrow. I saw the messages about this and thought it wouldnāt actually happen b/c our county still has an indoor mask mandate, but Iām now told that private schools are exempt from those mandates. I just donāt get this, b/c my kids had to go virtual just before Xmas and through mid Jan b/c cases were so high. Itās only a month since they went back to school after that, so Iām feeling some serious whiplash here. My kids will keep masking, but I suspect a lot of their peers wonāt.
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Does anyone know how quickly CVS gives you the results from a rapid antigen test? It says on their website a few hours but I was hoping for quicker. Weāve done lots of PCRs but never a rapid there.
Thanks for any info.
I havenāt had one done at CVS since last June when we were at WDW. It was within an hour, as were the several we did prior to that. They were usually around 30 min.
FWIW, if itās a rapid antigen test, itās the same reliability as a home test. The one advantage is that itās āproctoredā if you need an independent test (and they allow rapid antigens).