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@histoftech So… this can't help but sound combative but please understand that my ire is about capitalism but:

Is there reason to believe that Metrix will be along lived company?

Context: I bought Detect and Cue. They both closed shop. I'm clearly willing to spend on tests but I actually want continued access to accurate tests.

I am only asking you in this thread because you, too, seem passionate about being covid cautious and—again—I *want* accurate tests

@Mar Hicks
in reply to tj usiyan

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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@griotspeak from what I can tell about where it’s being stocked, and how much it seems to be selling, I think that it will be around for at least a few more years. I don’t know how much longer beyond that. Cue always had some significant problems and was focusing on buy-in from Silicon Valley companies to test their employees and when that dried up it seemed they didn’t have any other good business model. My 2 cents.
@tj usiyan
in reply to Mar Hicks

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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@griotspeak I haven’t heard of Detect actually. I had been using Lucira tests but it was more expensive & often the tests errored out.
@tj usiyan

Not sure how many who follow me here are receptive to this message but: covid is surging rn across the US. If you haven’t been wearing a mask, please start. It’ll help break transmission chains & make it less likely your actions disable or kill someone. It’ll also protect you, of course. 3M Auras are an N95 you can get at most Home Depots. They’re very effective. If you prefer black they also sell BNX N95s in black. I’m not a fan of Home Depot but it’s ubiquitous so I’m using it as an example.

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in reply to Mar Hicks

Moshe
Moshe
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Shalom,

there is spread also the omicron version -
FLiRT, in Czechoslovakia 🇨🇿 (Europe).
But a lot of people do not wear the respirator, motherf*ckers ☹️

Wear the respirators, please !!!! 💡✌️

in reply to Mar Hicks

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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If you have legit questions about where to get masks or what kind to get I’ll do my best to answer. I’m also hearing a lot of folks saying they have all the symptoms but are testing negative on RATs. I highly recommend investing in a unit like Metrix (home test more like PCR) that is more accurate. But if you have symptoms tbh you almost certainly have it regardless of testing negative on RATs. Mask to heal yourself and protect others.
in reply to Mar Hicks

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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(That’s right, masking with an N95 or KN95 has been shown to reduce disease severity and length in infected persons. Can you guess why?)

Moshe reshared this.

in reply to Mar Hicks

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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And if anyone is encountering this & thinking “eh, it’s just a cold,” I understand that the US govt has done a good job of putting out that message, but most doctors and researchers that have been paying attention have shown again and again that covid worsens overall health long term, causes strokes, heart attacks, & diabetes to name just a few, & is even oncogenic. It also causes a variety of nonfatal chronic illnesses & disorders that can cause you to be unable to work, sometimes permanently.

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in reply to Mar Hicks

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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In other words, your body does not treated as just a cold, and it doesn’t clear it as though it’s just a minor cold. It really is much more serious than that. And a lot of people don’t find out until it’s too late and either they or someone they love is permanently disabled or dies. Please do what you can to limit the spread, we’re in a situation where cancer patients, babies, and immunocompromised people can’t even get healthcare safely due to all the spread.

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in reply to Mar Hicks

Mix
Mix
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I have coworkers who have experienced some really bad long term effects so I’m not doubting. But I do wonder what we would learn if we studied other viruses in this much detail and how that might change people’s perspective. I feel like we live in a giant Petri dish and barely even scratch the surface of all the ways we’re being affected by viruses.

For example the shingles virus sticks around in the body and there is a significant percentage of people (probably drastically underestimated) that experience all kinds of long term effects, from sleep apnea to chronic indigestion to nerve pain headaches because shingles attacks the nervous system whenever their immune system is even a little bit lowered. I have a family member who has a lowered immune system and Covid is frankly the least of their concerns. Recurrent Epstein Barr, shingles, and a constant low level flu/cold is much more impactful and frequent.

I guess you could say in some ways I’ve resigned myself to suffering the effects of disease because that’s always been the human condition and always will be but we’re only just starting to be able to observe it in detail. (1/2)

in reply to Mix

Mix
Mix
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It’s a jaded attitude but I don’t think that makes it untrue and I don’t really want to spend my entire life obsessively focused on something that I can only marginally control. Like yeah, I wear a mask in airports and train stations and hospitals obviously but I’m not going to live my life around preventing the spread of disease. (2/2)
in reply to Mix

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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@medley56 hi that’s an absolutely disgusting and eugenicist take on a thread asking people to care for others, particularly babies and disable people, in a surge in a pandemic that already killed at least a million people in the US alone. Blocking you now.
@Mix
in reply to Mar Hicks

sweet conceit
sweet conceit
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@medley56 is your position that unless you're wearing a mask 100% of the time when you're interacting with others, you're a eugenicist?
@Mix
in reply to Mix

Anthony
Anthony
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I’ve resigned myself to suffering the effects of disease because that’s always been the human condition

It’s a jaded attitude but I don’t think that makes it untrue


Besides being deeply nihilistic/fatalistic, as well as eugenicist, this is an instance of the is-ought fallacy. It's an irrational and indefensible way of thinking. If you value being reasonable and rational, you definitely need to re-think this position. On moral grounds you obviously should.

in reply to Mar Hicks

T.C. Harris
T.C. Harris
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Honestly probably the hardest part of all of this for me is that every cold, allergies, flu, sinus infection, stomach bug feels like it could be COVID and I can neither hold down my pre-schooler and force a swab in her nose every time she sneezes nor can I wear an N95 in my house all day every day.

So there's just a constant mid-level anxiety that I can't talk about because "COVID is over" and I "am overreacting."

in reply to T.C. Harris

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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@q_aurelius that’s really rough I’m sure. If it helps the metrix testing system can be done with spit, doesn’t require a swab, so perhaps good for a kid.
@T.C. Harris
in reply to Mar Hicks

Another concerned scientist
Another concerned scientist
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The entire medical literature shows that it is not a cold.

The "cold" is the part where your immune system responds to the infection.

It does the same with, for example HIV, which is also "mild" upon infection (SARS-2 can actually be not very "mild" upon infection).

in reply to Mar Hicks

Marion Donnelly
Marion Donnelly
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My recommendation to those concerned for themselves and others is to get vaccinated with the latest Covid booster and flu vaxx, mask up in public places like airports, hospitals, medical offices, concerts, etc. Observe social distancing wherever possible. Wash your hands often and use hand sanitizer in public places. Eat a healthy diet, exercise if you can. Stay hydrated. Be respectful of others who may be immunocompromised.
in reply to Mar Hicks

Paul Sochacki
Paul Sochacki
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mayhaps because the acute disease state is dependent on the exposure dose... Or at least that's what was documented among frontline HCW's back in 2020.
in reply to Paul Sochacki

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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@BioGeek23 it’s because people rebreathe their own exhalations to a great extent. But a mask traps viral particles on the way OUT of you, as well as on the way in. So you are actually cleaning the air you’re breathing and not rebreathing as much virus when you wear an N95 or KN95. A recent study discussed how this lessens disease length and severity. If I remember the link I’ll post it.
@Paul Sochacki
in reply to Mar Hicks

sabik
sabik
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Also, even if it isn't covid, it's best not to pass on the flu or RSV or other stuff, either

If it's allergies, an N95 mask will help with those too

This entry was edited (1 month ago)
in reply to Mar Hicks

OnePlanet 💖🇺🇸 🌎
OnePlanet 💖🇺🇸 🌎
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I know MORE people sick with Covid the past two weeks than during the initial surge in 2020.
Most have avoided Covid the past four years.
* one first-timer is a 6th grade school teacher on summer vacation. The only Place she went was a quick run into Home Depot to buy paint off the shelf for a project.
in reply to Mar Hicks

Mirijb
Mirijb
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Metrix isn’t available in Canada and doesn’t ship from the US. Only available tests are expired low-quality RATs. Where I live there is no Paxlovid access (not permitted under age 80 and then only for people in care); boosters are permitted only in fall, so-called “respiratory season,” unless aged over 60 (55 if Indigenous.) I live with a young adult whose customer service employment depends on working unmasked. She has had Covid 3 times.
in reply to Mar Hicks

Marlene Breitenstein Art
Marlene Breitenstein Art
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@seachanger Also, it can take a while to test positive. The only time I had Covid, my husband had it for a full week before I tested positive. IOW, I started feeling sick the same time he did, but he got hit harder, and he was immediately positive on both a RAT and PCR. (1/2)
@malena / bikes not bombs
in reply to Marlene Breitenstein Art

Marlene Breitenstein Art
Marlene Breitenstein Art
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Conversely, I spent a week feeling somewhat ill (sore throat, headache, lethargic, etc.), but tested negative on an RAT *every day,* for seven days. Just as my husband started to feel a little better, I suddenly got much worse, and tested positive 8 days in. (And then for 10 more days.)

IMO, testing once on an RAT is not trustworthy. Assume you have it, and keep testing. (2/2)

Mar Hicks reshared this.

in reply to Mar Hicks

Dana McFarland
Dana McFarland
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first RAT negative, tested positive the next day and three more since. Likely again today if I wanted to waste one, and this is day 11 or 12.
in reply to Mar Hicks

Zombie Pirate Gator 🐊
Zombie Pirate Gator 🐊
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I look at all the televised sporting events and I'm hellaciously pressed to see a single N95 or any mask in evidence in 80K-100K indoor crowds.
Unknown parent

Dave 🚀
Dave 🚀
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@seachanger sorry to hear this !
@malena / bikes not bombs
in reply to Mar Hicks

Ponygirl
Ponygirl
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My hubby brought it back to me from the disease riddled state of Florida. He's been barred from going back.
in reply to Mar Hicks

fnord99
fnord99
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curious. Here in Europe it is now considered like a normal flu. How come Covid is still a big deal in the US?
in reply to Mar Hicks

OddOpinions5
OddOpinions5
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Do you have any data (data) on # of people infected, number of hospitilizations and deaths ?

Also your assertions about 3M auras are wrong: FIT is one of th most importat things in making a mask effective; if it doesn't fit it is not anywheres near as good

in reply to OddOpinions5

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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@failedLyndonLaRouchite no they’re not wrong at all, and auras fit most people well. You can find your own data: use the time you spend trolling to do your own work rather than demanding other people do it for you.
@OddOpinions5
in reply to Mar Hicks

エラン履恵 • Elán Rie 💉x7
エラン履恵 • Elán Rie 💉x7
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Jumping in with a few NIOSH resources for folks who might want a few more options/not be near Home Depots!

How to tell if an N95 is NIOSH approved: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2021-124/pdfs/2021-124.pdf

Search feature by manufacturer or approval number for N95s: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/niosh-cel/

List of NIOSH-approved respirators:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/topics/respirators/disp_part/default.html

It's only too late to start masking/restart masking when you're dead! Stop the spread, protect yourself and your loved ones, and feel the freedom of making funny faces in public!

Masks = Community Care! :meow_love:

CDC-NIOSH-NPPTL: Certified Equipment List Search

describe page content - CDC
wwwn.cdc.gov

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Unknown parent

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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@max @Crell you don’t need to be on this thread then. Enjoy your passive eugenics.
@Larry Garfield
in reply to Mar Hicks

Norman Wilson
Norman Wilson
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There are online sources too. I buy my preferred N95s (3M Vflex) from Grainger. Via their Canadian site, but they have a US presence too. And there are other (non-Amazon) online sources, easily found.
in reply to Mar Hicks

Alex Ross
Alex Ross
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Don't know if it's useful to anyone, but I've been buying mine from Protectly for a couple of years. I liked the duckbill fit, and they have a mask on clearance for $8 that is technically expired, but still good for 2 years past expiration. Those are here: https://www.protectly.co/products/suzhou-benehal-ms8225
They also have other brands including the 3M Auras you mentioned.

Benehal MS8225 N95 NIOSH Mask - 5 or 20 Pack (Headband)

** The manufacturer has changed the expiration from 3 to 5 years on new production. The current inventory will function without issues for 2 years past expiration, but the change is not retroactive.
Protectly

Mar Hicks reshared this.

in reply to Mar Hicks

Heide Estes
Heide Estes
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aaaand…. It takes everyone masking. I went to a conference in February 2022, masked the whole time, came home with Covid. I haven’t worked since then — too disabled by fatigue and cognitive problems. I was an English professor. I’ve published two books and a dozen or so articles. Now I have trouble with words.

Mar Hicks reshared this.

in reply to Heide Estes

Mar Hicks
Mar Hicks
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@hestes I am so sorry to hear that. This is such a labor safety issue :(
@Heide Estes
in reply to Mar Hicks

MFennVT💯HarrisWalz2024
MFennVT💯HarrisWalz2024
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And if 95s don't give your face a good seal, try KF94s from places like BeHealthyUSA.net. They're a slightly different shape, better suited for rounder faces like mine. :)
in reply to Mar Hicks

Dana McFarland
Dana McFarland
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we just had to restock N95s all of a sudden recently when I went down with covid. In Canada Vitacore had them to us by regular shipping within a couple of days. Consistent good supplier for years now.
https://shop.vitacore.ca

Vitacore Industries - Medical supplies

Proud Canadian ingenuity, locally manufactured and sourced masks and respirators to help North Americans stay safe.
Vitacore Industries

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