Something to think about when you order a test because you think maybe you might have symptoms.

There going somewhere.

Well, it's not like older people have a need for testing. /S

short answer-----ZERO

I had heard a while back that these tests are inconclusive. A close family member got tested twice---1st time was positive and 2nd was negative. NO symptoms!! I agree that unless you have symptoms or need one to travel (which I also think is ludicrous) then go for it. FEAR has been so prevelant these last couple of years it's palpable.

Politics
Public opinion polls
Media hype
Internet garbage

Anything but the real medical science

And where, pray tell, do you get your "accurate" news?

I read it is for private insurance only. NOT for those with Medicare. Please check your facts before spreading misinformation.

This does NOT apply to Medicare. Medicare does NOT cover at home tests. Go figure...

most don't understand how medicare really works . Once a year , medicare adjusts payments to doctors, hospitals, pharmacies etc and thus can jiggle all they want if the idea is to keep costs reasonable or not. rates went up this year on the basis that an alzeimers drug will cost $ 56,000 a year . Still not approved however, that means , medicare may have a SURPLUS for next year.

Working folks
 

It appears many of you have not talked to your still working children. When they report being exposed they can’t go to work without a negative test. If the had covid they can’t go back until they have a negative test. Tests take over a week to even get scheduled & PCR tests another day. All the time they are at home not getting paid or using all their leave time. Same for school children. Easy to sit in our retired status making comments.

Most of the "comments" are not addressed to those who need a test to return to work, or to travel, or to be around an immunocompromised host. The comments are addressed to those who flock like sheep to a testing site out of curiosity or paranoia, thus clogging the line for those that really need to get tested.

I don't pay Medicare premiums because I only have "A" which I paid my whole working life, but I think that part "B" went up almost thirty bucks from what I have been told by those that do pay for it.

The Villages' demographic is not who the eight tests are for. Families with children can easily go through eight a month. Some schools have very strict rules.

It's 8 PER PERSON in a family...

Paid for by using other people's money :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Bless your heart you really don't listen to anything but CNN, MSNBC and the 3 networks.

Ever wonder why Africa and other 3rd world countries are not completely over run by mass covid casualties since they cannot afford these extremely expensive vaccines? These 2 drugs have been used for decades and decades because they are cheap and effective antiviral drugs, used on and off label. I'm. Fascinated by the number of people and doctors that are terrified to actually treat covid. If you actually treat it early, rather than sit home and wait to see if you can't breathe the success rate is outstanding. My ENT Dr in Houston has turned her entire practice into treating covid positive patients (vaxed and unvaxed) early and aggressively. She's not loss one patient and less than .03% have entered the the hospital and not one in a ventilator. She openly shares her data, treatment and stats because she believes everyone should be treated and given the best chance.
Breathe MD Houston

8 tests
 

Please take into consideration health care workers. While I no longer work in the ER, many of my friends still do. The 8 tests is really for them, and pilots, and so on. If you're, let's say a retired person in the Villages, and on Medicare, then this rule really doesn't apply to you.

Don't watch any of those, and if you review any of my posts you'll find I'm probably one of the least liberal posters here. That being said, dream on. Those meds were used for "decades and decades" in Africa for malaria and parasitic infections, as they were intended to, NOT any viruses much less COVID. And I'm sorry your ENT physician has morphed into a quack.

In that case they should restrict distribution of these "free" tests to "health care workers, pilots, and so on". But, as you know, they will be available to the curious, the paranoid, and the "if it's free I want it" crowd as well.

Google Dr Tess Laurie who is one of the top MRO Dr’s in the UK. Her and her team did an extensive review of all of the 26 Ivermectin trials. Their findings: if administered early Ivermectin prevents hospitalization and severe illness at an 85% rate. She presented their findings to the Government of the UK and were completely ignored. Remember this was not a crackpot or drug company backed study but one done by a top highly respected Dr and her team. They found that Ivermectin has broad anti viral properties along with anti inflammatory efficacy also . In fact they believe it may have uses against other viral infections going forward.

Military bases are known to have on all their TVs, all the time, a certain channel that shall remain unnamed. This tends to seep into the subconscious slowly and unknowingly. Portugal is 90% vaccinated. Not so the US!

I'm not going to bother to do that, the posts says it all----- a "review" of 26 Ivermectin trials. One would have to go and look at each trial, it's design, it's goal (which is usually suspect), outcomes, the researchers and any bias they may have. And then it is a retrospective review and not a prospective study. I have no idea who Tess Laurie is, but I suspect if she so highly respected and her "research" was so invaluable, it would not have been "ignored", but rather the lead article in the New England Journal of Medicine

Interesting, for someone as educated as you are Doc I am surprised to hear that you are unwilling to review information that might contradict your opinion. I thought that the science and findings on this virus and it’s treatment were evolving on almost a daily basis. Also as a Dr you know who MRO Dr’s are, and how their job is to review findings of studies for accuracy and bias. So to dismiss her so quickly without review flies in the face of your background . As far as the UK ignoring her, well we all know the reason for that it doesn’t fit their agenda.

So any individual or group/organization/government that disagrees with her findings has "an agenda"?????

Ca. IS sending positive hospital workers back to work. But, it is NOT a GOOD situation. It is FAR from ideal - it is a reaction to a real-world crisis caused by a lack of hospital staff due to burnout. Like the 5-day back-to-work general CDC recommendation, hospitals MUST make many accommodations to the current surge that are not ideal.
.......Several eminent Doctors have stated that Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota hospitals will face SEVERE overcrowding soon in this surge. And that trend may flow south through the Midwest. One expert Doctor recently blamed the US's non-National Healthcare System for many of today's problems. That was the 1st that I have heard that spelled out - but, I understand it. Of course, a lot has been said about the inefficiency of the US's insurance-based system. Inefficiencies cost taxpayers money. One problem is that POOR, unvaxxed, and uninsured men and women are forced to go back to work ....untested and with symptoms. They MAY (?) survive this but they may take out an unvaccinated, older person with conditions.
........One glimmer of hope is that in a few weeks Omicron may burn itself out - hopefully! And we may have learned enough to do better IF and WHEN another variant comes along.

Maybe all those people are seeking some (any(?)kind of shelter from an H-BOMB CLOUD headed their way. Just a possibility.

hymmmm ????????

Principle over practicality. Now a RAPID SURGE has changed things. That is to say, "yesterday's answers are NOT today's answers".

Agreed....zero. It was painful to even read that.

Mass covid casualties in Africa?

They've only had about 230K deaths, in total...

Apparently, the rest of the world, NOT just the US is having trouble getting enough tests. I do NOT know the answer to why that is? Maybe someone here does? I vaguely remember something about most test-making factories being in the US?????

Bless your heart... You have no idea whom you're debating...

One of the reasons that Africa and 3rd world countries have fewer CV problems WITHOUT vaccines - is because they often as children played in the dirt and went barefoot. That exposed them to more virus varieties than the 1st world countries. So they developed more NATURAL immunity.
......There is another reason.....that I have less confidence in. But, some say that the 3rd world people have a protection brought about by HOOKWORMS, which MAY (?) have a symbiotic relationship with diseases and lessen their effect on the human host. I am just presenting that possibility - NOT making a yea or nay opinion on it. It is ABOVE my pay grade. Other TV Landers may know more?

Well, as to the first part I'm going to say yes and no. I'm not familiar with too many viruses that just hang out in the dirt waiting for a barefoot child to come along---most require some form of human to human contact to "be fruitful and multiply", or have animal reservoirs to hang out. But, I will say this, although I know of no formal study: It is the experience of most doctors that we spend most of our 3rd year of medical school ill with one kind of cold/flu/virus or another after coming into contact with real patients for the first time. Then, we seem to rarely get sick, so there may be something to the "strengthened immune system" theory (anecdotal observation only)

As to the second part, hookworms are ubiquitous---Ancylostoma duodenale in Europe and Necator americanus primarily in the warmer climates of the western hemisphere. So if true, I would expect to see the "hookworm effect" here as well as Europe (although to a lesser degree since our kids are more likely to have shoes). However, in the rural south of 50-150 years ago, hookworm was a significant cause of childhood anemia and even mental retardation

Before the govt "came to help" by "saying" we would get 8 tests a month; before they got involved I had no problem buying as many at home tests as I needed. Now that they are here to help, there are no tests to be found. I am scheduled for a M.A.B. treatment tomorrow, even though I am not 100% positive that I have it. Can not wait too long or the treatment will not work.

And yet I bet you money those fully vaxed are the very ones testing multiple times and keeping the test from being available for those that have REQUIREMENTS vs wants.
Again, no reason to test UNLESS symptomatic. Those that need them can't find them because of the "oh its free" attitude. Again, NOTHING is free.

They are willing to give a person monoclonal antibody without a test?????

:bigbow:

They believe they are catching about 1/3 of actual cases for count...so if they tell you 1 million new cases reported, you can be fairly certain there are 2 others that fall exactly into the situation you describe above. The other thing is that MOST of the patients "hospitalized" with it were actually reporting to the hospital for something OTHER than symptoms. Incidental findings.

Thank you!