Extremely short lived illness

[Omy]

An extended family member recently experienced symptoms similar to yours and tested positive for covid. One day of bad  "flu" symptoms and he was back to normal...other than having to quarantine for 2 weeks.

As to your constant low grade headache, I recommend looking at your fluid intake (and electrolytes).  With regular diarrhea you are likely dehydrated and out of balance. I had dehydration headaches for years because I didn't drink much at all. I quadrupled my water intake (divide your body weight in half and drink that many ounces daily) and I rarely get headaches now.

And don't eat green bananas. They cause me to double over in pain...a reaction to a protein found in green bananas. And if you are allergic to latex you may find that you are allergic to a number of other fruits as well (latex fruit allergy).

[Linea_Norway]

Another IBS person here.  I definitely found that certain foods are triggers for me, but onions are the worst, and I avoid them like a vampire avoids garlic (another trigger, but not quite as bad, the whole allium family is best avoided).  It was a relief to read that onions are known to be one of the worst offenders for IBS and that I'm not just a crazy person.  But they are everywhere! You really need to read the fine print on prepared foods, salad dressings, tomato sauces, etc. etc.
Wishing you the best with both the short term and longer term health issues.

I'm also IBS (not an official diagnosis).  Giving up coffee helped.  Many years ago I cut way back on carbs to control potential high blood sugar.  I've been using Sucralose for drinks instead, but am now on a 5 week trial without it.  Its a challenge, I've cut way back on tea and am substituting herbal teas instead.  When I was young I could eat anything.  I want my 20 year old body back.

If I have to give up onions and garlic I may just stop eating.  Life without them would be like life without chocolate.

I also have selfdiagnosed IBS with a sensitivity to onions, which cause me to have a blown up bellie and severe stomach cramps. Since I found out, I have been eating home made food without onions for about a decade now. Premade food like sauces almost always contain onions. But the green part of green onions is low fodmap, so I use that. If you put the white leftover part in a glass of water, the green part will grow back for a while. I still eat garlic. I don't tolerate sugar replacements like sorbitol or others sweeteners ending on -ol. It was such a relieve when I found out about FODMAPS and why I had that much pain four times a week for several years.

For the headache issues, get an eye test at an optician. Every time I need glasses, I get a headache.

[frugalnacho]

My test came back negative.

[Adventine]

That's good to know :) One less thing to worry about.

Was it the RT-PCR test, currently considered the gold standard for COVID tests?

Hope you feel better soon and get the long-term health issues resolved.

[ToTheMoon]

My test came back negative.

That is excellent - and must be quite the relief!

[PMG]

Shew!  Good news!

[norajean]

The only reliable COVID result is positive. False negatives are rampant. I think Musk complained he has two neg and two pos.  I would be careful with loved ones.

[HPstache]

The only reliable COVID result is positive. False negatives are rampant. I think Musk complained he has two neg and two pos.  I would be careful with loved ones.

It could also be that he had COVID (friday being the last day of symptoms) and already be testing negative.  The coworker in the lab who tested positive  not long after seems like a pretty big coincidence.

[frugalnacho]

The only reliable COVID result is positive. False negatives are rampant. I think Musk complained he has two neg and two pos.  I would be careful with loved ones.

It could also be that he had COVID (friday being the last day of symptoms) and already be testing negative.  The coworker in the lab who tested positive  not long after seems like a pretty big coincidence.

Or we could have both been infected from a third source at work.  Or part of a chain of infections that happened before thanksgiving but didn't manifest until several days later.  We all worked the day before thanksgiving. 

[HPstache]

The only reliable COVID result is positive. False negatives are rampant. I think Musk complained he has two neg and two pos.  I would be careful with loved ones.

It could also be that he had COVID (friday being the last day of symptoms) and already be testing negative.  The coworker in the lab who tested positive  not long after seems like a pretty big coincidence.

Or we could have both been infected from a third source at work.  Or part of a chain of infections that happened before thanksgiving but didn't manifest until several days later.  We all worked the day before thanksgiving.

That too.  Glad you're doing Ok and hope your family stays healthy

[Dicey]

This is totally anecdotal, so grab your grains of salt...

My friend's son is a cop. He started feeling crappy, so he got tested. Positive result, so he quarantined at home until he felt better. Negative test was required to go back to work. He was re-tested, found negative and so went back to work. A week or two later, a colleague was found to be positive, and everyone who crossed paths with that person was required to be tested, including my friend's son. The results were positive, so he's in quarantine again. Covid testing score card: Positive, negative, positive. WTF?

[Poundwise]

Point taken about going to work after having chills/aches.   I really didn't consider this could be covid because it doesn't seem to match covid symptoms and I had no respiratory problems, but covid is weird and perhaps I should have exercised more caution,   

I think a mistake people make is thinking this is just a respiratory disease. Beware, it seems to be a vascular disease. I know people who have suffered strokes, embolism, and heart attacks as a result of Covid.  https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/11/05/917317541/clots-strokes-and-rashes-is-covid-19-a-disease-of-the-blood-vessels

A friend of mine was outraged because they know somebody who wasn't feeling well, so she had a Covid test.  Before the results were in, she got together with family on the day before Thanksgiving, because they heard they weren't supposed to get together on Thanksgiving! Day after Thanksgiving, got positive covid results. Now we have to trust this genius to alert all her contacts.

[ChpBstrd]

This is totally anecdotal, so grab your grains of salt...

My friend's son is a cop. He started feeling crappy, so he got tested. Positive result, so he quarantined at home until he felt better. Negative test was required to go back to work. He was re-tested, found negative and so went back to work. A week or two later, a colleague was found to be positive, and everyone who crossed paths with that person was required to be tested, including my friend's son. The results were positive, so he's in quarantine again. Covid testing score card: Positive, negative, positive. WTF?

We've known for months that reinfection is possible.

[Dicey]

This is totally anecdotal, so grab your grains of salt...

My friend's son is a cop. He started feeling crappy, so he got tested. Positive result, so he quarantined at home until he felt better. Negative test was required to go back to work. He was re-tested, found negative and so went back to work. A week or two later, a colleague was found to be positive, and everyone who crossed paths with that person was required to be tested, including my friend's son. The results were positive, so he's in quarantine again. Covid testing score card: Positive, negative, positive. WTF?

We've known for months that reinfection is possible.

I've read that it's suspected that it's possible, but not seen any solid info to that effect. Any sources you can point me to?

Edited to fix wonky quotes.

[erutio]

This is totally anecdotal, so grab your grains of salt...

My friend's son is a cop. He started feeling crappy, so he got tested. Positive result, so he quarantined at home until he felt better. Negative test was required to go back to work. He was re-tested, found negative and so went back to work. A week or two later, a colleague was found to be positive, and everyone who crossed paths with that person was required to be tested, including my friend's son. The results were positive, so he's in quarantine again. Covid testing score card: Positive, negative, positive. WTF?

I've read that it's suspected that it's possible, but not seen any solid info to that effect. Any sources you can point me to?

We've known for months that reinfection is possible.

The second test was probably a false negative.  The viral PCR test can still be positive for many weeks to months after you are over your illness.  It is unknown whether this means you are still shedding the virus enough to be contagious though.

You cannot get reinfected with Covid in the same way people say you cannot get reinfected with flu in the same year.  Meaning, you CAN get reinfected with Covid, like out of the millions of people that get flu every year, there is always a small number of people who seem to get it again later in the same season.  So re-infection with Covid is an extremely rare, but not zero, possibility. 

These stories of people alternating positive and negative results are much more likely to be due to false negatives.

[Paper Chaser]

This is totally anecdotal, so grab your grains of salt...

My friend's son is a cop. He started feeling crappy, so he got tested. Positive result, so he quarantined at home until he felt better. Negative test was required to go back to work. He was re-tested, found negative and so went back to work. A week or two later, a colleague was found to be positive, and everyone who crossed paths with that person was required to be tested, including my friend's son. The results were positive, so he's in quarantine again. Covid testing score card: Positive, negative, positive. WTF?

I've read that it's suspected that it's possible, but not seen any solid info to that effect. Any sources you can point me to?

We've known for months that reinfection is possible.

There are certainly issues with testing accuracy that can make it seem like a person has been reinfected. False negatives are more common than false positives, so you can test negative and still have the virus.

However, there have been multiple confirmed cases of reinfection (different viral DNA between first and second positive test), but they're pretty rare with a few dozen confirmed instances across the globe:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/11/13/covid-19-reinfection-vaccines-herd-immunity-health/6136943002/

[frugalnacho]

I've been instructed to return to work as of this morning. 

Just found out another one of my coworkers is positive.  Never found out in any official capacity from the company, just via the grapevine because it's obvious who is missing work, and they all communicate on a personal level, so the information got relayed from employee to employee. 

The policy here is that if you have contact with someone that tested positive, but you don't have respiratory symptoms, you can continue working if you wear a mask.  They aren't even requiring they be tested, just wear a mask for 14 days following a positive result, unless you have symptoms then you have to go home.  So I'm finally seeing a lot of mask usage in the plant, but now I suspect it's because they have known contacts that have tested positive. 

Rona to me:




We briefly discussed me leaving my job in March when our state shutdown and my work did everything it could to remain essential and not take the virus seriously.  We could have lived for awhile with our more than 10X expenses stache.  We also had no idea what was in store for us, and the entire economy, financially, so we decided to just roll with it knowing it was likely exposing me to a much higher risk vs just sitting at home unemployed.  I just updated our net worth and we are up $255k compared with my update in March.   I know we would have captured a large portion of that increase with what was already invested, but keeping everything invested and piling on an additional $30k or so has definitely helped. 

[MudPuppy]

A coworker described it as “holding a number at the world’s worst deli”

[the_fixer]

I've been instructed to return to work as of this morning. 

Just found out another one of my coworkers is positive.  Never found out in any official capacity from the company, just via the grapevine because it's obvious who is missing work, and they all communicate on a personal level, so the information got relayed from employee to employee. 

The policy here is that if you have contact with someone that tested positive, but you don't have respiratory symptoms, you can continue working if you wear a mask.  They aren't even requiring they be tested, just wear a mask for 14 days following a positive result, unless you have symptoms then you have to go home.  So I'm finally seeing a lot of mask usage in the plant, but now I suspect it's because they have known contacts that have tested positive. 

Rona to me:




We briefly discussed me leaving my job in March when our state shutdown and my work did everything it could to remain essential and not take the virus seriously.  We could have lived for awhile with our more than 10X expenses stache.  We also had no idea what was in store for us, and the entire economy, financially, so we decided to just roll with it knowing it was likely exposing me to a much higher risk vs just sitting at home unemployed.  I just updated our net worth and we are up $255k compared with my update in March.   I know we would have captured a large portion of that increase with what was already invested, but keeping everything invested and piling on an additional $30k or so has definitely helped.

That is a tough situation I feel for you.

My wife and I had the same conversation multiple times this year due to my job so I feel your pain.

Stay safe


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Caoineag]

Just a reminder to anyone having to work through this, they are selling 5 layer masks that aren't medically certified so now might be a great time to upgrade your mask so it protects you as well as others. I had been looking at the kn95 masks for my husband when it looked like my state was crazy enough to call him in for jury service (jury trials are now canceled through Jan).

[frugalnacho]

Oh boy, sounds like we have 2 additional people confirmed positive.  It's a fucking rona party up in here. 

[HPstache]

Oh boy, sounds like we have 2 additional people confirmed positive.  It's a fucking rona party up in here. 

In retrospect, do you think you had it?

[frugalnacho]

Oh boy, sounds like we have 2 additional people confirmed positive.  It's a fucking rona party up in here. 

In retrospect, do you think you had it?

No?  Negative test, plus the symptoms that don't seem to match.   I know it can be a weird infection though.  I can't explain what it was.  If I had to bet I guess I'd say no, but without much confidence.  I could get an antibody test I supposed.

[Paper Chaser]

Oh boy, sounds like we have 2 additional people confirmed positive.  It's a fucking rona party up in here. 

In retrospect, do you think you had it?

Yeah, did you ever confirm which type of test you had? False negatives are pretty common depending on the type of test used, and the timing relative to contracting the virus:

https://www.clinicaloncology.com/COVID-19/Article/07-20/False-Negatives-Found-If-COVID-19-Testing-Done-Too-Soon/58781

"The researchers estimated that those tested with SARS-CoV-2 in the four days after infection were 67% more likely to test negative, even if they had the virus (CI, 27% to 94%). When the average patient began displaying symptoms of the virus, the false-negative rate was 38%. The test performed best eight days after infection (on average, three days after symptom onset), but even then had a false-negative rate of 20% (CI, 13% to 31%)."

[frugalnacho]

Yeah, did you ever confirm which type of test you had? False negatives are pretty common depending on the type of test used, and the timing relative to contracting the virus:

https://www.clinicaloncology.com/COVID-19/Article/07-20/False-Negatives-Found-If-COVID-19-Testing-Done-Too-Soon/58781

"The researchers estimated that those tested with SARS-CoV-2 in the four days after infection were 67% more likely to test negative, even if they had the virus (CI, 27% to 94%). When the average patient began displaying symptoms of the virus, the false-negative rate was 38%. The test performed best eight days after infection (on average, three days after symptom onset), but even then had a false-negative rate of 20% (CI, 13% to 31%)."

I don't know what type of test it was.  Both nasals swabbed, and put into a vile with solution in it.   Test result lists "SARS-COV-2 RNA, QL, RT PCR (COVID-19)"

ETA: It also lists this "Methodology:  Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) includes PCR or
TMA"

[frugalnacho]

Apparently they've had enough of the positive covid cases and have finally implemented a mandatory mask policy effective immediately.  Only about 9 months after I said we should have one, and my suggestion was dismissed. 

[RetiredAt63]

Apparently they've had enough of the positive covid cases and have finally implemented a mandatory mask policy effective immediately.  Only about 9 months after I said we should have one, and my suggestion was dismissed.

Well I guess your middle name isn t Cassandra after all.   /s

[Melisande]

I was just thinking that as terrible as this pandemic is, I haven't been sick since February.   Prior to that I was getting sick approximately every 2 weeks, mostly from my 2 year old son who was attending a preschool and getting sick constantly.   But since the original lockdown in March no one in our house has been sick at all.

Except on Friday I got sick.  I had the day off, so I took a nap after lunch when my son took his nap.  I woke up from nap feeling a bit off.  My muscles ached, and it was that special ache that you only feel from a cold/flu illness.  Then I started to feel nauseous.  I took some excedrin and ibuprofen.  Then within a half hour the aches cranked up to about a 10.  I got wicked chills.  Goosebumps all over, and I couldn't get warm.  I turned the furnace up about 5 degrees, put on a hoodie, and wrapped myself in an electric blanket on high, but still felt chilled to the bone and couldn't stop my teeth from chattering.   The aches were terrible and were about as intense a bad case of the flu - enough to bring tears to my eyes.  I loaded up on the maximum daily dose of excedrin and ibuprofen and skipped dinner, and just sat in my electric blanket on the couch for hours.  Then about 4-5 hours after they started, they just kind of faded away.  I thought maybe it was the ibuprofen kicking in, and was amazed because I know it works, but it's never worked that well for getting rid of pain for me.   After about 6 hours I was feeling much better, and made and ate almost an entire box of macaroni and drank a gatoraid.  And that was pretty much the end of it.  I took some tylenol PM to make sure I slept, and I've been feeling just fine ever since.  Super intense, but super short lived. 

My wife thinks I was just over exaggerating and being a baby.   I felt it though, and the pain was very real.  The goosebumps and teeth chattering were involuntary.  I never got a fever.  I checked it multiple times, including before ever taking any medication.  It never spiked into fever territory, but did get up to around 99.1 or so, but my normal reading with that thermometer is around 97.5-98.   So maybe slightly elevated, but not fever, and maybe the drugs tempered it and kept it from going any higher.

I don't think it was the food because my wife, son, FIL, and MIL ate the same food as me and didn't get sick.  I also ate the same food later and didn't get sick again.  I never ended up throwing up either, just felt gross and nauseous.

I've felt like that before, when I had the flu, or some illness very similar to the flu, but I've never had it be so short lived.

What in the world was that all about? A 5-hour flu?

I’ve had almost the same experience once in my life — when I was about 29. For me, the illness only lasted about 2-3 hours. I felt really ill, like I had the flu, muscle aches, etc. I also had a 102 fever. I went to bed and in a couple of hours I was fine. I still remember that all these years later because it was so so weird.

[jrhampt]

Back to IBS, I have it too and have alternated between diarrhea and constipation for decades - had dairy allergy ruled out along with a couple of other things, and this is what keeps my digestive system mostly happy:

Daily probiotic (I take digestive advantage)
peppermint pills as needed, usually when I've been eating out too much or gone heavy on the garlic (Heather's Tummy Tamers are easily found OTC on amazon and drugstores - contain peppermint, ginger, and fennel)
Going easy on garlic and onions - these two never used to bother me, and I love them.  But I won't eat a full head of roasted garlic at one sitting anymore without expecting consequences

Those are the big three, but I also find the following helpful:
Daily run and pre-pandemic, yoga (I'll go back to this after the vaccines are widespread hopefully next year)
A little wine (supposed to be good for the stomach because of the prebiotics)
A bit of yogurt and sauerkraut in the diet
Magnesium at night before bed (important to research this one though and not get a version that is a laxative - mg oxide was horrible, for example, but mg citrate was fine) to keep me regular in the morning, help ward off migraines, and relax in the evening for good sleep
Red light therapy is also supposed to help your gut health, along with some other benefits, so I have a body panel and give myself 10 minutes or so first thing in the morning.  This one is a bit more "fringe" than others but it seems to get my digestive system going right away if it's being sluggish.

[wenchsenior]

Back to IBS, I have it too and have alternated between diarrhea and constipation for decades - had dairy allergy ruled out along with a couple of other things, and this is what keeps my digestive system mostly happy:

Daily probiotic (I take digestive advantage)
peppermint pills as needed, usually when I've been eating out too much or gone heavy on the garlic (Heather's Tummy Tamers are easily found OTC on amazon and drugstores - contain peppermint, ginger, and fennel)
Going easy on garlic and onions - these two never used to bother me, and I love them.  But I won't eat a full head of roasted garlic at one sitting anymore without expecting consequences

Those are the big three, but I also find the following helpful:
Daily run and pre-pandemic, yoga (I'll go back to this after the vaccines are widespread hopefully next year)
A little wine (supposed to be good for the stomach because of the prebiotics)
A bit of yogurt and sauerkraut in the diet
Magnesium at night before bed (important to research this one though and not get a version that is a laxative - mg oxide was horrible, for example, but mg citrate was fine) to keep me regular in the morning, help ward off migraines, and relax in the evening for good sleep
Red light therapy is also supposed to help your gut health, along with some other benefits, so I have a body panel and give myself 10 minutes or so first thing in the morning.  This one is a bit more "fringe" than others but it seems to get my digestive system going right away if it's being sluggish.

I hesitate to call supplemental mag a wonder-drug, but sometimes it feels that way to me. Helps my IBS, helps me sleep, reduces my migraines, AND reduces my chronic fibro type pain.  It's crazy.

[SunnyDays]

If I were you, I would get an antibody test so that you can avoid having to get a vaccine and any possible side-effects from that.

[jrhampt]

Back to IBS, I have it too and have alternated between diarrhea and constipation for decades - had dairy allergy ruled out along with a couple of other things, and this is what keeps my digestive system mostly happy:

Daily probiotic (I take digestive advantage)
peppermint pills as needed, usually when I've been eating out too much or gone heavy on the garlic (Heather's Tummy Tamers are easily found OTC on amazon and drugstores - contain peppermint, ginger, and fennel)
Going easy on garlic and onions - these two never used to bother me, and I love them.  But I won't eat a full head of roasted garlic at one sitting anymore without expecting consequences

Those are the big three, but I also find the following helpful:
Daily run and pre-pandemic, yoga (I'll go back to this after the vaccines are widespread hopefully next year)
A little wine (supposed to be good for the stomach because of the prebiotics)
A bit of yogurt and sauerkraut in the diet
Magnesium at night before bed (important to research this one though and not get a version that is a laxative - mg oxide was horrible, for example, but mg citrate was fine) to keep me regular in the morning, help ward off migraines, and relax in the evening for good sleep
Red light therapy is also supposed to help your gut health, along with some other benefits, so I have a body panel and give myself 10 minutes or so first thing in the morning.  This one is a bit more "fringe" than others but it seems to get my digestive system going right away if it's being sluggish.

I hesitate to call supplemental mag a wonder-drug, but sometimes it feels that way to me. Helps my IBS, helps me sleep, reduces my migraines, AND reduces my chronic fibro type pain.  It's crazy.

Seconded.  Magnesium is pretty awesome.  My husband takes it for muscle cramps, too, AND it helps support the immune system which is also important particularly in a plague year.  Plus it's one of those things that you can get deficient in as you get older and not notice until things start going wrong.  I had started getting horrible headaches regularly a couple of times a month, when in my entire life I could only count on one hand the number of bad headaches I'd had, and the magnesium really helped.

[MudPuppy]

With the preface that I do drink “natural calm” which is more or less a magnesium powder supplement before bed I give an LOL to the idea of magnesium citrate not being a laxative. Because it is literally sold as a laxative. Sometimes my spouse or I will double the scoop of the natural cola to take take advantage of those affects!

[jrhampt]

With the preface that I do drink “natural calm” which is more or less a magnesium powder supplement before bed I give an LOL to the idea of magnesium citrate not being a laxative. Because it is literally sold as a laxative. Sometimes my spouse or I will double the scoop of the natural cola to take take advantage of those affects!

:-D  Ok, yes, it probably depends on your body, but mine does ok with citrate, immediately hits the bathroom with oxide, and I just checked the bottle in the bathroom and I am actually using mg glycinate right now.  Have also had success with mg l threonate but I think that one was more expensive.

[MudPuppy]

I’ve heard good things about the glycinate!

[frugalnacho]

My company has finally mandated mask usage, but many still aren't taking this seriously.

They have brought in a consultant (former employee) that is in his 60's, so he's been here every day since I've been back.  They also have a representative from a chemical supply company in for a meeting with the consultant, lab manager, and the owner of the company.  This is the same lab where an employee got a positive result one week ago.  We've had 3 additional positive cases since then (other departments, but they all commingle).  The owner did not wear a mask the entire meeting (everyone else did).  The meeting started off with handshakes all around. 

This all seems so reckless.  Why can't the owner just wear the damn mask? We have positive cases all over this place.  Why must they meet in person and all sit around a small table instead of just talking on the phone?  Why did they all have to shake hands? 

I am not feeling very motivated to hustle and get any work done.   I just want to hide in my office and avoid human contact as much as possible while I browse the internet and slack off. 

[frugalnacho]

And on my walk through the plant I noticed everyone is actually wearing masks, although about 75% of them have it under their noses.  Management made a big deal about masks being mandatory, and if anyone didn't have a mask they would provide disposal ones at the morning check in, and about 75% of the employees are using the provided disposable masks.

How does everyone not have multiple reusable masks at this point? It's been mandated on and off in the state since March! How is it December and you don't have a mask?! You haven't gone inside a grocery store or restaurant since early March?

[honeybbq]

Apparently they've had enough of the positive covid cases and have finally implemented a mandatory mask policy effective immediately.  Only about 9 months after I said we should have one, and my suggestion was dismissed.

Honestly this is unfucking believable to me. We have had a mask mandate in our state for 6+ months.

[ChpBstrd]

Here's what's going to happen next: Covid is about to ravage through your coworkers, possibly knocking out so many employees that production is shut down. When that happens, the financial strength of the company will be impacted. In the panic to come, you will be asked to do unsafe things.

How someone gets a job in leadership without the foresight to contingency plan is beyond me. If it's Dec. and they're just now using masks intermittently, the most likely explanation is they've all bit on misinformation hook line and sinker. Even now, leadership probably thinks of the masks as being for show.

Both of these issues - the inevitability of an outbreak and the lack of leadership - are reasons to seek out an employer that will be more successful in the near future. It beats getting covid, scrambling to do 3-4 people's jobs unsafely, and then getting laid off anyway.

[frugalnacho]

Is it really that unbelievable?  Look at the case numbers in the USA.  This is why.  This is exactly why it's running rampant through the country.  My employer is not an outlier, this is how half the population of our country acts.

They more than bit, they are full on chomping on misinformation.  I saw several Trump face masks being worn. 

I feel like we are already in an outbreak.  4 confirmed cases since thanksgiving.  We've had like 5+ cases prior to that.  This is nearly triple the rate of infection in the general population of my state, and there is probably more to come.

[Goldielocks]

I once had similar experience many years ago, it started few hours before bed time. I was weak, shivering and couldn't even get out of bed to take sip of water. I probably had some fever.

And it was gone next morning. Just soo weird. Never had it since.

I had something like that, but I did not take the drugs, just did my usual fever protocol, but the fever never got high.  This was in Jan 2020.
then it came back off and on for 10 days.   It was a very weird sickness, not the flu, but not a cold.  Something else.

Right now, I think it might have been Covid, as I teach post secondary and was close to my students, 40% of whom likely travelled home for christmas (normal here on the west coast, we have a lot of student visas at our school)  including a handful of Asian students. 

I also had a couple of other students get ill around the same time as I was or within a couple of weeks including a 28 yr old that ended up with pnemonia / bronchitis, which is a bit weird given her health and age, but she couldn't stop the coughing. All this in a class of 25 people.

So yep, maybe Covid.  All I can say is that the illness was weird for me. 

Get tested before you go back to work.

[the_fixer]

My employer is not an outlier

Agreed, my company is spread out over multiple states and we have had a mask mandate since maybe April yet it seems mostly a symbolic gesture by upper management.

We have 2 sites where almost everyone at the site tested positive over a 2 week period and other sites where 1/3 of the staff tested positive in a short period of time. We have 1/2 of the employees out with covid or in quarantine at another location currently.

Yet whenever I go into the office most people are not wearing masks. Some will pull up a thin gaiter if they see someone with a mask coming but if it is someone they know they are all standing around talking with no masks.

Or when I go out to remote locations and there will be an entire team of people working in a small confined space and they tell me none of us are sick you do not have to wear a mask in here. Ummmm not going to happen.

Just this morning I arranged to meet someone to do some work at a remote location instead of the office. He arrived with no mask on and did not even have one with him. So I ended up standing out in the cold trying to keep my distance but not 100% possible...

The entire time I was like WTF is wrong with people I am so done with this shit.


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[frugalnacho]

It's insanity.  Most of the crew goes home at 330, so I waited until about 345 to do my rounds and inspect fire extinguishers.  Apparently the masks come off at 330 sharp.  I saw about 6 people still working, none with masks on. 

[SunnyDays]

Aren’t you the safety guy for your company?  Does that role not include ALL aspects of safety?  Including infectious diseases?  If not, isn’t there a Workplace Health and Safety person who would deal with such things?  And doesn’t your state have mandatory public health orders about Covid?  And couldn’t a business be fined for not following such orders?  If the answers are “no” to most or all of these questions, then you are powerless.  You have my sympathies.  I can see why the US is in such a dire predicament.

[frugalnacho]

Yes I am, and yes you would think I'd have some say over it.  But I'm not the plant manager nor the owner and I don't actually have final say.  I've repeatedly suggested more strict measures regarding masks and quarantine protocols, but as demonstrated in this thread I'm not even notified of all covid cases at the plant.  I only get notified if they were in direct contact with me by their own self reporting.  I can't reprimand or fire anyone, so if I don't have Management's support on something I don't have any teeth. And I haven't had managements support on mask usage.  I'm pretty sure half of management are of the anti mask maga crowd. 

[jrhampt]

Yes I am, and yes you would think I'd have some say over it.  But I'm not the plant manager nor the owner and I don't actually have final say.  I've repeatedly suggested more strict measures regarding masks and quarantine protocols, but as demonstrated in this thread I'm not even notified of all covid cases at the plant.  I only get notified if they were in direct contact with me by their own self reporting.  I can't reprimand or fire anyone, so if I don't have Management's support on something I don't have any teeth. And I haven't had managements support on mask usage.  I'm pretty sure half of management are of the anti mask maga crowd.

My husband's plant was pulling this haphazard/no mask bs back in April, so I filed an OSHA complaint and sent emails/calls to anyone I could think of in the state legislature or who was related to labor and health anything.  Since his plant is a nuclear plant, if they have a bunch of staff out, it's a crisis situation.  They got serious about masks pretty quick when they had a couple of cases over the weekend right after I filed the complaint, and my complaint actually got added onto another complaint since apparently I wasn't the only one complaining about it. 

[Dicey]

Yes I am, and yes you would think I'd have some say over it.  But I'm not the plant manager nor the owner and I don't actually have final say.  I've repeatedly suggested more strict measures regarding masks and quarantine protocols, but as demonstrated in this thread I'm not even notified of all covid cases at the plant.  I only get notified if they were in direct contact with me by their own self reporting.  I can't reprimand or fire anyone, so if I don't have Management's support on something I don't have any teeth. And I haven't had managements support on mask usage.  I'm pretty sure half of management are of the anti mask maga crowd.

My husband's plant was pulling this haphazard/no mask bs back in April, so I filed an OSHA complaint and sent emails/calls to anyone I could think of in the state legislature or who was related to labor and health anything.  Since his plant is a nuclear plant, if they have a bunch of staff out, it's a crisis situation.  They got serious about masks pretty quick when they had a couple of cases over the weekend right after I filed the complaint, and my complaint actually got added onto another complaint since apparently I wasn't the only one complaining about it.

Good for you! @frugalnacho, I hope you have a paper trail a mile long. Could prove valuable in the future.

[the_fixer]

Yes I am, and yes you would think I'd have some say over it.  But I'm not the plant manager nor the owner and I don't actually have final say.  I've repeatedly suggested more strict measures regarding masks and quarantine protocols, but as demonstrated in this thread I'm not even notified of all covid cases at the plant.  I only get notified if they were in direct contact with me by their own self reporting.  I can't reprimand or fire anyone, so if I don't have Management's support on something I don't have any teeth. And I haven't had managements support on mask usage.  I'm pretty sure half of management are of the anti mask maga crowd.

What liability do you have in your roll?

My wife was the PSM coordinator for a large manufacturing facility and we carried extra insurance since if anything happened at the site such as an explosion or chemical spill she could have some liability as the PSM.

If SHTF and the company gets in trouble are the management / owners going to point to you and say well he is our Safety person?


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[frugalnacho]

I don't think I have any liability.  If someone tries it will be very easy to produce evidence showing that I wanted stricter mask usage, along with video evidence of me wearing a mask 100% of the time on the company's surveillance footage for the last 9 months.  Also multiple employee witnesses that were present in business meetings in March/April when some of the owners had a tantrum saying we were getting ahead of ourselves and this is no worse than the flu. 

I do have discretion over much of the safety, and just do whatever I think is right, but very early on in the pandemic they made their stance of "we will take this very seriously...but c'mon, don't be a pussy, it's just the flu bro" be known.   And they consulted with legal counsel to make sure they did what is legally required.  I believe the recent mask mandate is a response to a number of positive cases since thanksgiving, and their attempt to stem the bleed from productive workers getting sick.  I believe we have 4 people out with covid, and another 2 or 3 isolating awaiting results, so it's starting to have an effect on productivity.   

[RetiredAt63]

Given your company's casual attitude to safety ( I  am also thinking of your stories about your "helpful" staffer) I hope you will be job-hunting sooner rather than later.