Gathering in the time of Omicron

[Spryte]

Anyone else stressed?

What are your plans to manage risk?

What will you do as wrenches get thrown into those plans, as they invariably will, for some of us?

Here, our plan was to have adult kid and spouse preemptively PCR test today (spouse has been traveling with antimaskers), arrive on the 24th, and rapid test immediately. Our wrench: first, we hear they didn’t make appts for PCR testing and there are none available. Then spouse casually says, “but we’re not that sick, I think it’s just a cold, I’ve been googling symptoms and we just have congestion, cough, a little wheezing.” …ummmmmm…

So that’s the wrench here. DS is already sounding devastated at the idea of not coming, and my heart is breaking at the thought of saying, “if you’re sick, we need to postpone,” but with two immune  compromised people in this house … ugh. That’s where this is headed.

[TexasProud]

Yeah, we are going. I remember how stressed I was last year and I got everyone to agree to meet outside, but there were relatives flying in.  This time, it feels like a moot point. My SIL's, BIL, MIL all live 5 minutes from each other, all in education.  I mean they have it or they don't at this point. There will be no masking. I just don't know if I am up to being the only one masking there, so I probably will not.  I went looking for tests at Walmart and couldn't find any. I will keep looking as I would like to test on the 30th before I go to see my mom for the day. But even if I cannot find one, hubby and I will both mask the entire time. I have to take her to the doctor that day. 

[kristin0713]

My niece just got home from college with a cold. My sister tested her with a rapid test and she’s positive. So, we won’t be seeing them. It sucks. We’re planning to gather with family who are symptom-free and have negative rapid tests that day. My mom stocked up prior to this week fortunately. But if anyone is sick, sorry. Pass. 
ETA - we are all vaccinated, even niece. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by kristin0713

[JustEm]

We're hosting my family on Christmas. I'm fine with anyone coming if they have no illness symptoms, are vaccinated, or have a recent antigen test. After that, no stress for me. We won't postpone anything if it is one family that can't come but if multiple families can't come we'll just celebrate when is convenient.

But in your situation, I'd postpone. Mainly because I don't even want to get a simple cold right now. I want my immune system in top notch order in case I do come done with covid

Edited December 21, 2021 by hjffkj

[JustEm]

1 minute ago, hjffkj said:

We're hosting my family on Christmas. I'm fine with anyone coming if they have no illness symptoms, are vaccinated, or have a resent antigen test. After that, no stress for me. We won't postpone anything if it is one family that can't come but if multiple families can't come we'll just celebrate when is convenient.

But in your situation, I'd postpone. Mainly because I don't even want to get a simple cold right now. I want my immune system in top notch order in case I do come done with covid

 Recent antigen test if they aren't vaccinated, which a few arent

Edited December 21, 2021 by hjffkj

[Farrar]

My mom isn't here yet because of Omicron.

I think it's all going to happen in the end. I think for the first time, we're all just really mismatched about it. Everyone in our house is basically just DONE. We're all taking normal masking precautions indoors everywhere and we've all been boosted and the kids agreed not to see friends indoors in the lead up. But beyond that... I mean, dancer is still in Nut. He has to go dance. And Mushroom is genuinely hostile to doing anything more or being kind about people who are worried. And I think that's ungracious of him in the extreme, but he's a black and white thinking teenager. I'm also trying to show some grace that he's a kid.

Meanwhile, my mother is like don't go ANYWHERE, get tested every day, mask outdoors to go take the trash to the alley, etc. I'm like, with what rapid tests, Mom? And she was hella passive aggressive about not getting the kids boosted the moment they could. I mean, they're both fully boosted now and it's only been approved for like two weeks at this point. But she was pissy about it to me for WEEKS before it was approved. It was like she couldn't remember that they literally couldn't get the boosters yet. We had to have "they are not eligible yet" conversation like half a dozen times. So I get why she feels like we waited so long... it's because in her mind we all waited for months, which is just false, but I know she feels like that's true. Sigh.

All reports are suggesting this is going to be the most widespread, but also the mildest wave yet by far. We're all exhausted. We have curtailed a bunch of stuff, but we don't have the Covid energy to get worked up and dealing with my mother's passive aggressive worked up is already exhausting and she's not even here yet.

[freesia]

We are still on,but I feel like I’m on tenterhooks. We are planning to rapid test before we leave Christmas morning. I’m mentally preparing to stay home. We are trying to have us lie low bc we are near a hotspot, but with six of us, two of whom are college students who’ve just come home and want to see people and do stuff it’s hard. But I really really want the kids to see my elderly mom in person. 

[kbutton]

No one coming to our place will want to get sick. I think they'll stay home if they have symptoms. If they are already here, the ones that traveled far will either have to get a hotel or isolate in the master bedroom. The others should be able to avoid arriving sick as they are a much shorter drive. 

[Pam in CT]

I just posted this anecdata over on amira's thread.  My extended family is starting to test (some PCR, others antigen, depending on location availability) before gathering. And thus far *every branch of the family* that has tested has had a positive. So far, all kids 12-17 who've been in school, all vaxxed, all completely asymptomatic which means -- fuggedabout the Bad Guest who's cavalier about "just a cold" symptoms -- literally anyone any one of us comes in contact with could be spreading without realizing it.

Those of my family who were home and tested yesterday were all negative, but we nonethless called off a dinner at my (octo) aunt & uncle's we had planned, to see a set of my cousins who were joining them.

 

We're planning a several-days gathering in a VRBO with my (octo) mom, my brother and his family (with schoolaged kids). But we're re-assessing every day. Moving to advance in-home isolation and grocery delivery in the interim.  And I still don't think we can possibly expect that 12 people will all be negative. 

So we're trying to figure what the plan should be if there are a few of us who come up positive.  And for the first time, I don't know.  With the other variants, my goal really was to do *everything possible* to avoid infecting the octos.  But that just doesn't seem like a feasible goal anymore. So I can't figure what the new goal should be.

[1234]

We’re not changing anything. Like some others, we’re just kind of done. My mom is 70, works in a hospital, and quit masking except for work months ago. She goes out all the time but we will be seeing her tomorrow and then she will come here Christmas Day for a few hours. Oldest just finished in person classes and his fiancé is working crazy holiday hours at Target right now. I’ll honestly be a bit surprised if we don’t get it considering how contagious everyone is saying it is but we’re all boosted so hopefully it will be fine.

[happi duck]

Our family gathering is cancelled and I'm glad!  We'll gather at a later date.

From what I've read, with omicron whole households are getting sick as opposed to the past when often not everyone caught it.

I wish our culture didn't treat Christmas stuff as non-negotiable.  Until we know more about omicron this seems a terrible time for extra shopping and gathering in homes.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

It's tough! On one side of the family, everyone is pro-vax and boosted if possible. We're still planning to gather. My own immediate family is fully vaxed and the most high-risk child got his second vaccination a couple of weeks ago so hopefully his immune system will be in good shape. 

On the other side, two relatives are very anti-vax, anti-mask, etc and yet want US to test before visiting. I think that's probably a good idea but I'd also like them to test since they are not particularly careful. I am concerned about exposing them but at this point, they have made a very firm choice not to be vaxed and they very much want us to visit, so what can you do? 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Insertcreativenamehere

[MEmama]

We don’t do extended family holidays so it’s just the three of us as usual. But…this being DS's first time home from university, there’s some Brave New World challenges for us to navigate. He’s very covid cautious—excellent about masking, vaccinated, getting boosted today (yay!). But he’s also accustomed to being more social than DH and I have been, and of course he wants to see friends while everyone is here on break. It’s been tricky to find the balance between respecting his autonomy (and goodness knows we don't want him cooped up with us all day) and stressing the continuing need to be covid vigilant. 
 

After he leaves in mid January I’m going on full winter lockdown, but I can’t exactly do that with him here. I’m nervous, nervous nervous about him meeting up with friends who certainly won’t be as careful as he is, and probably all of whom who will spend the holidays extended family thus increasing exposure even more. 

[Mrs Tiggywinkle]

We moved our traditional get together with my sister to Zoom. Partly so all the far away cousins could participate and partly because my sister is a single Mom with no sick time and cannot afford quarantine.  I’m pretty sure neither she or her kids are vaccinated due to Crunchiness. But she’s also really liberal politically so maybe—but probably not.

my 88-year-old grandmother has let it be known again that Covid or not, her time is short and she wants to see her great grandkids.  She was an infectious disease nurse and from the beginning of the pandemic has said Covid would outlive her and she did not want to lose time with her family waiting for something that would never happen—Covid to go away.  So we will see her though I will test with Binax just in case.

We’re still going to Christmas Eve service and spending our normal Christmas morning  breakfast with both sets of grandparents.   I fully expect next year there will be another wave of Covid, and hopefully by then it will be just another cold for most of us. 

[Longtime Lurker]

My immediate family is all vaccinated and boosted. We will be gathering with some family that is also all vaccinated and boosted, except for the 5-year-old who is just now fully vaccinated and the 3-year-old who, of course, is not. All family members are cautious and mask regularly. My out of town siblings are testing before heading this way (driving). So the gathering should be quite safe.

My biggest fear is a positive test in our immediate family that would send us into isolation with DS23 with severe autism and cognitive delays. I almost can't handle the thought of having to cancel his respite caregivers (both of whom are fully vaxxed and cautious) over the break. DS was exposed at school on Dec. 1 and did not get it then (we tested him twice at the recommended intervals), but he was home with just us for about 10 days and we are so so exhausted. Then when he was about to go back to school (his whole small classroom had been shut down due to the staff positive and no adequate subs), the whole school went remote until after the break. A good move since that guarantees no further exposure, but we are just so tired. I am really starting to feel more discouraged with how long this has all gone on 😞

Edited December 21, 2021 by Longtime Lurker
typo

[Hilltopmom]

Ds 21 came home but not to our house since the youngest tested positive last week. Once that kid is out of isolation we will test everyone else again and if all negative we will get together with just my parents & college kid to exchange presents before he returns to his town (only staying this week). 
We backed out of attending the wedding we were supposed to go to on New Years.

Staying home other than that and some cross country skiing at our camp.

My little one caught it between dose one and two of Pfizer.

Edited December 21, 2021 by Hilltopmom

[Elizabeth86]

Yes! Stressed for my parents. They are opening up to visitors that aren’t careful. Vaccinated, but not careful for the most part. I’m not worried for me, just for them. I’m just going to bug my mom weeks after Christmas making sure they aren’t sick. If she has any symptoms I will insist they get a test and then insist they both get monoclonal antibody done. That’s the best I can do.

[mommyoffive]

Don't cancel those holiday plans, Fauci says; Biden to reveal plan to combat omicron: COVID-19 updates (msn.com)

[ScoutTN]

All our family is here, vaxed, and boosted. Lots of docs. Most masking only when required to. Christmas Eve gathering is still on. Everyone is exhausted and not willing to forgo being together. I am confident that anyone with symptoms will stay home and test.

My kids are supposed to go to winter camp the week after Christmas. I have warned them that that has a 95% chance if not happening.
 

[Katy]

Idk… we as a family are staying home but now one of my siblings has symptoms and is going to get tested today. So I’m not sure the whole extended family gathering won’t be canceled. Half of them have been together in the last 3 days. If it’s positive I can’t imagine they won’t all have it. OTOH, they all seem like they’re just done with precautions at all. 

[Elizabeth86]

15 minutes ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

We moved our traditional get together with my sister to Zoom. Partly so all the far away cousins could participate and partly because my sister is a single Mom with no sick time and cannot afford quarantine.  I’m pretty sure neither she or her kids are vaccinated due to Crunchiness. But she’s also really liberal politically so maybe—but probably not.

my 88-year-old grandmother has let it be known again that Covid or not, her time is short and she wants to see her great grandkids.  She was an infectious disease nurse and from the beginning of the pandemic has said Covid would outlive her and she did not want to lose time with her family waiting for something that would never happen—Covid to go away.  So we will see her though I will test with Binax just in case.

We’re still going to Christmas Eve service and spending our normal Christmas morning  breakfast with both sets of grandparents.   I fully expect next year there will be another wave of Covid, and hopefully by then it will be just another cold for most of us. 

My parents are feeling the same way as your grandmother. My parents want Christmas with the grandkids no matter what. They are vaccinated and that’s all we can do. My mom has been recently diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia and she is feeling thankful because her diagnosis could have been worse. She wants to make the most of everyday. Christmas is her thing and she was so disappointed doing Christmas on the front porch last year. My mom is 73 and my dad is 77. They would only have so much time anyway and it’s clear covid isn’t going away. The in laws are 81 and 83 and they are hiding from us until dh is vaccinated (forever). Their loss.

[wathe]

Proceeding with extreme caution.

I still think it's too early to know that this will be milder here.  I'm still very concerned about system overwhelm even if it is milder, just by volume alone.  Hospitalizations are ticking up in the province, and hyper-locally, hospitalizations have almost doubled in the last 3 days.  Heathcare systems here are already right on the edge.  Overwhelm remains a very real risk - perhaps even a certainty.

We are planning a small gathering of three grandparents plus our immediate household.

We've cut our "risk-budget" way back, with an eye to preserving our gathering. Kids have stopped all indoor extra-curriculars for a week now.  DH and I are in n95's for all necessary indoor things.

We'll all rapid test immediately before our gathering - as last-minute as possible.

Everyone who's eligible is triple-vaxed (all the adults).  Kids are all double-vaxed.

We'll do all the masking/ventilation, filtration things:  We'll mask when not eating or drinking, crack windows, run HRV, run Corsi-Rosenthal box, monitor CO2 to titrate ventilation.

If hospitalizations continue to rise, then we will cancel, I think.

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by wathe

[catz]

Well I am less stressed because I just called off our participating in indoor group family get togethers next week.

I have a college kid coming from a large big 10 campus that has done a great job and is 95%+ vaccinated but even so, they are seeing some numbers go up after thanksgiving.  He isn't coming until Thursday.  He is having a PCR test on Wednesday but he is taking a bus home (it's a campus bus so should be a well vaxxed and tested group).  I have a teenager who is in a regional holiday theater production with a 6 week run.  That group is fully vaxxed and has been doing excellent with covid protocols.  But they do need to eat lunch on site sometimes.  Well she woke up with cold symptoms yesterday.  Rapid was negative so I'm encouraged about that, taking her to a PCR drive through shortly.  There has been a cold making the rounds in her cast, no + covid tests since the run started but we will see.  

So even if she tests negative, if she has upper respiratory symptoms for the next 7-10 days, I would expect and want anyone else to stay home.  We've also gone to holidays on both sides where people come sick.  I could drone on and on about that.  So I don't trust extended family.  My SIL suggested rapid tests but I honestly don't know if that entire side has buy in on that from everyone and there are adult kids that are flakey and sometimes show up with a SO or not and since that is DH's family, I am not comfortable asking around nor do I want to be the enforcer.  They are doing a typical all day drawn out thing in FIL's small house with up to 15-20 people.   My mom and brother were assuming a get together but when I brought up rapid tests no one jumped on that as a great idea.  Well, again, I am not bringing the kid with the cold during covid either.  I'm the only one needing to bring up maybe doing something shorter/simpler with cracked windows.  Because even getting a cold and needing to run through testing is super disruptive.  And we've done it 3X this month.  

We will see my mom and probably my FIL at some point with the kids.  My college student will get boosted over break (he hits 6 months next week) but the rest of us are boosted.  My teen with the cold was boosted 8 days ago.  

[Storygirl]

Our plan has been to have Christmas dinner and a gift exchange with DH's side of the family, two hours away. We've all been vaccinated and boosted, but we know that not everyone in the extended family has been, which makes us nervous, because I am higher risk, if I get Covid. We made the decision that the six of us from our household will remain masked during that gathering, and we let them know that we won't be joining them for dinner, after all. Will just do the gift exchange and make it a shorter visit.

MIL died at the beginning of the year, and this is the first Christmas without her. DH has been adamant that he wants to see his dad on Christmas Day, or we would probably not go at all. We had difficult conversations, getting to the point of agreeing to back out of the dinner part, because it's so emotional.

Two of my four teenagers will complain about making and probably will let their masks slide off their noses, because that's how they've been behaving. It's frustrating.

 

[Storygirl]

Also, DD19 has a brand-new boyfriend from college, who got his very first Covid shot yesterday. Evidently, he was not anti-vaxx but was shot hesitant and from a part of our state where less than 50% of people have had the vaccine. When DD told him that I am very cautious and wouldn't be comfortable with an unvaccinated visitor, he did get the first shot, so I'm glad about that! But he won't be fully vaxxed for awhile.

DD told him that he could come to our house for New Year's Eve, only if he does a same-day test, and he agreed to that. We have some tests here, if he can't find one where he lives.

I think if he is negative, we won't wear masks, even though it will make me nervous, because we will have snacks, and he will be here long enough to share several meals with us. I think the risk will be very small, if he tests negative, since we've all been boosted. I'm not thrilled about the situation, but we're trying to handle it as best as we can, without telling DD that she can't see him.

[Kanin]

1 hour ago, Pam in CT said:

So far, all kids 12-17 who've been in school, all vaxxed, all completely asymptomatic which means -- fuggedabout the Bad Guest who's cavalier about "just a cold" symptoms -- literally anyone any one of us comes in contact with could be spreading without realizing it.

Yeah.... I'm wondering just how many asymptomatic kids are here at school. Eating lunch... breathing on each other...ugh!

We're doing rapid testing on the morning of Xmas with my mom. That's it. I'm worried b/c WalMart is out of tests, even online!

I saw a friend yesterday. I asked her to do a rapid test. She was very gracious but I'm sure she thought it was overkill. 

[Ali in OR]

I'm being kind of wishy-washy, hoping that our area keeps doing ok through the holidays (I fully expect more of a breakout in January when college kids return...and other travelers too). But we have no extended family here, so we're still not doing much. Dh and I did go to a holiday gathering of church leadership. We wore masks but removed them to eat. Our state has had an indoor mask mandate since August, so there's no pushback here if you wear one. We're all boostered now, but middle dd is just one week out from her shot. The one decision to be made is whether the whole family goes to Christmas Eve service. I'm thinking about staying home with disabled dd who can't mask--the service is online too (dh runs that).

I work in a school and January kind of scares me. 30% of our high school students are not vaccinated--I expect Omicron to rip through them. And even if I don't get very sick, I really don't want to be out of school for 10 days at the end of semester. Ugh. I may double mask or wear a KN95 for January.

[Kassia]

This is causing me an enormous amount of stress.  I'm the only one in my family who seems overly concerned about it and it is causing so much tension between me and the rest of the family. 

Ds1 is at his gf's house this week and is attending a huge indoor family party on Christmas Day and coming home the following day.  Her family is anti-vax/anti-mask and so is the area she lives in (same with my area).  

Ds2 is home and tested first but is going to visit his gf and her family this week then coming home, then going to an NBA game (I am praying this gets canceled) on Sunday and then coming home, and then going to a cabin with friends from all over the place for NYE and then coming home (we may tell him not to come home after that one if we haven't already been infected by then since he's going back to his apt. soon after that).  

Dd (19) has been double vaxxed but refuses the booster and it's been over six months since her last dose.  This causes me great distress and I can't convince her to get the booster.  She goes back to college OOS in two weeks and I am so worried about her getting infected from her brothers here.  Now I'm thinking she might be better off just getting infected here soon to get it over with.  😞  She wants to get a haircut while she's home and I don't feel comfortable with that either.

Even though ds1 and ds2 are careful, they still think I'm overreacting about the risks they are taking of getting us infected with their activities.  I HATE that I don't feel safe in my own home.  Hate hate hate.  All of us at home except dd have been boosted at least.  

Edited December 21, 2021 by Kassia

[kbutton]

1 hour ago, Pam in CT said:

I just posted this anecdata over on amira's thread.  My extended family is starting to test (some PCR, others antigen, depending on location availability) before gathering. And thus far *every branch of the family* that has tested has had a positive. So far, all kids 12-17 who've been in school, all vaxxed, all completely asymptomatic which means -- fuggedabout the Bad Guest who's cavalier about "just a cold" symptoms -- literally anyone any one of us comes in contact with could be spreading without realizing it.

Ugh.

I really can't afford lots of tests, and we can't really get them easily if we could. They keep selling out, and it's chasing all over a million stores to get some. The ones I have are from when we had a lull, and I was someplace that happened to have them on the day I happened to be there.

[MEmama]

32 minutes ago, Kanin said:

Yeah.... I'm wondering just how many asymptomatic kids are here at school. Eating lunch... breathing on each other...ugh!

We're doing rapid testing on the morning of Xmas with my mom. That's it. I'm worried b/c WalMart is out of tests, even online!

I saw a friend yesterday. I asked her to do a rapid test. She was very gracious but I'm sure she thought it was overkill. 

The friend I coffee/walk with once a week is jetsetting around the country this holiday break, so I've quietly decided to not together again for the duration of winter, at least. She used to be super cautious and she’s been kind to meet me outdoors even when it’s cold, but it’s clear she’s just given up and is done with taking precautions. 😞 

[Laura Corin]

We have gathered both adult kids already and we are staying home. I'm going grocery shopping in the late evening. They both did lateral flow tests the day they came home.

Our only outing will be to see my mum on Christmas day. We will all do lateral flow tests that morning and will stay masked in her presence. She is boostered as are three of the four of us.

Tests are free and available. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Laura Corin

[Loowit]

We are, at the moment, still planning to have my family over on Christmas day.  It will be my parents, brother and his family, sister and her family.  In total 14 people.  My brother suggested that we all test that morning before the gathering.  I ordered some free tests from our county, but I don't think they will arrive in time, so I also bought some to make sure we were prepared.  I am really hoping we can do the gathering because it will likely be the last time for my family to see DS before he heads off to boot camp in a few weeks.

Everyone will have been vaccinated, and those that can have gotten their boosters.  I think that with that plus testing the day of, it is within my comfort zone.  Although I will admit it still makes me uneasy.  I fear that my desire to spend time with my family may be overriding what I "should" do, but I am struggling.  My parents are both elderly and my mom is not doing well health-wise and I really want to have time with her.

[J-rap]

Our extended family gathering has been cancelled, although our immediate family (with young adult children coming from different places) are still gathering.  Two of them plus a girlfriend will be staying with us for three days.  We've all been cautious, no gathering in crowds, masked in stores and such, all vaccinated.  My father (94) will be joining us for a couple days as well.  He's actually the one who would be most apt to get Covid -- he runs errands every day, doesn't realize when his mask is slipping down, etc.  He's fully supportive of mandates, masking, vaccinations...  He does the best he can.  As of now, we're planning to attend a church service somewhere...  Trying to decide between our church's Christmas Eve  afternoon service, or the Basilica's midnight mass.  We've only been to church in-person once since the pandemic started.  

[sbgrace]

We're still gathering with (all vaxed, most vulnerable (+ others) boosted) my extended family over several days. All housed in same home. (So if the relatively recently vaccinated public schooled kids have already contracted, we're probably all getting COVID. I've accepted that.) We did the same over Thanksgiving, but I suspect the risk of COVID within the family group is probably higher now.  

The trickier part is my husband's family. His parents aren't boosted and his siblings aren't vaxed at all. None of them are COVID cautious (mask wearing etc). I don't want to hurt my in laws, so we're going for a day visit only. I know we are a greater risk to them than they are to us. We will wear well fitting KN95 masks throughout. The visit will be shorter because of that. I hate that it has to be like this. 

[Grace Hopper]

2 hours ago, Pam in CT said:

I just posted this anecdata over on amira's thread.  My extended family is starting to test (some PCR, others antigen, depending on location availability) before gathering. And thus far *every branch of the family* that has tested has had a positive. So far, all kids 12-17 who've been in school, all vaxxed, all completely asymptomatic which means -- fuggedabout the Bad Guest who's cavalier about "just a cold" symptoms -- literally anyone any one of us comes in contact with could be spreading without realizing it.

Those of my family who were home and tested yesterday were all negative, but we nonethless called off a dinner at my (octo) aunt & uncle's we had planned, to see a set of my cousins who were joining them.

 

We're planning a several-days gathering in a VRBO with my (octo) mom, my brother and his family (with schoolaged kids). But we're re-assessing every day. Moving to advance in-home isolation and grocery delivery in the interim.  And I still don't think we can possibly expect that 12 people will all be negative. 

So we're trying to figure what the plan should be if there are a few of us who come up positive.  And for the first time, I don't know.  With the other variants, my goal really was to do *everything possible* to avoid infecting the octos.  But that just doesn't seem like a feasible goal anymore. So I can't figure what the new goal should be.

This makes me think that rather than postpone everything, everyone that has been vaxxed and boostered and has no other risk factors should just get together. That is what we are doing. 
 

I am avoiding gatherings with groups above ten whose vaccine status I do not / cannot know. Masking when out and about. Taking all precautions seriously when around known unvaccinated relatives (which is rare but sometimes necessary). Aside from that, I don’t think another winter of isolation would be better. Not for my mental health, anyway. 

[mellifera33]

If we (vaxed, adults boosted) are negative on rapid tests on Christmas morning, my boosted parents will come for a day or two. I am kind of expecting us to test positive in the next few weeks. We’re careful, masking indoors, but if Omicron is as infectious as the experts are saying, at some point I’m sure we’ll slip up and be exposed. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by mellifera33

[Spryte]

Our adult son and DIL just canceled. They are too sick to come. Sigh. I knew it was headed that way, but it still stings. We will stay in our respective houses and FT.

Hoping all of you still aiming for a gathering can go on with your plans. May all the rapid tests be negative!

[Kanin]

2 hours ago, MEmama said:

The friend I coffee/walk with once a week is jetsetting around the country this holiday break, so I've quietly decided to not together again for the duration of winter, at least. She used to be super cautious and she’s been kind to meet me outdoors even when it’s cold, but it’s clear she’s just given up and is done with taking precautions. 😞 

Oh dear. That stinks! I'm hoping that easier/cheaper testing methods will come around sometime... or that this stupid virus will lessen enough that we don't have to be so cautious!

[Matryoshka]

2 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

Tests are free and available. 

Gosh, I wish that were true here.  We've ordered up a bunch of tests, but they're not cheap, and hard to come by.  I spent over $100 on the last batch, and that was from the place they were cheapest (Walmart) - I wanted to make sure we had enough to last for any people we want to see (and maybe to share since no one else seems to be being proactive!) Physical stores don't have them in stock, and local pharmacies are selling them for $10 more than the ones I got.

Christmas Eve (our family's big celebration) is now tentatively down to just dd21 and her boyfriend, both of whom were exposed to Covid last week.  IF they come, they will need a negative PCR (both testing tomorrow), and a negative rapid morning of.  And we'll all not eat, wear masks, and open windows.  IF they're negative.  SIGH.

We're hoping to get together with my parents (80s) on Christmas day, just me and dh.  Rapid tests, masks inside (mostly because we'll probably have been around dd21 and her boyfriend, and this Omicron is a sneaky bugger), and we're planning to eat outside, since it's going to be 40.  We'll bundle up.

We're hoping we can have a proper family "Christmas" get-together in January.  Or maybe February. 🙄

[Elizabeth86]

4 hours ago, Pam in CT said:

I just posted this anecdata over on amira's thread.  My extended family is starting to test (some PCR, others antigen, depending on location availability) before gathering. And thus far *every branch of the family* that has tested has had a positive. So far, all kids 12-17 who've been in school, all vaxxed, all completely asymptomatic which means -- fuggedabout the Bad Guest who's cavalier about "just a cold" symptoms -- literally anyone any one of us comes in contact with could be spreading without realizing it.

Those of my family who were home and tested yesterday were all negative, but we nonethless called off a dinner at my (octo) aunt & uncle's we had planned, to see a set of my cousins who were joining them.

 

We're planning a several-days gathering in a VRBO with my (octo) mom, my brother and his family (with schoolaged kids). But we're re-assessing every day. Moving to advance in-home isolation and grocery delivery in the interim.  And I still don't think we can possibly expect that 12 people will all be negative. 

So we're trying to figure what the plan should be if there are a few of us who come up positive.  And for the first time, I don't know.  With the other variants, my goal really was to do *everything possible* to avoid infecting the octos.  But that just doesn't seem like a feasible goal anymore. So I can't figure what the new goal should be.

Holy Cow! It's going to be a mess a at the end of this month.  

[KSera]

Our family gathering is off 😔. We had hoped to gather using rapid tests, but they don’t seem to be working well enough for that lately. This morning I saw this story which backs that up some. It sounds like people may be able to transmit as early as 6 hours after being exposed (!):

Belgian researchers warn against holiday reliance on COVID antigen tests

[TexasProud]

Ok, where in the heck are you guys finding these tests to do home tests???? I looked online at Walmart and I can get them middle of January.  Amazon has some of the ones Walmart has for 1,000 bucks.  ????

[KSera]

1 minute ago, TexasProud said:

Ok, where in the heck are you guys finding these tests to do home tests???? I looked online at Walmart and I can get them middle of January.  Amazon has some of the ones Walmart has for 1,000 bucks.  ????

I ordered mine in October and November. 

[Pam in CT]

1 minute ago, TexasProud said:

Ok, where in the heck are you guys finding these tests to do home tests???? I looked online at Walmart and I can get them middle of January.  Amazon has some of the ones Walmart has for 1,000 bucks.  ????

In NYC it's still easy to get tested at clinics and popup sites around the city, though the PCR result result turnaround times are starting to back up.  My eldest & boyfriend have long been accustomed to turnaround times of 4-6 hours; they just got back this morning results for tests they took Monday morning.  (She thinks they're prioritizing lab slots for people who have symptoms or a positive on an antigen, but I don't know if that's informed or just a reasonable speculation.)

Here, there are a fair number of sites where you can get free testing (though you have to go to the sites). My PCP will do antigen for travel purposes that is covered by our (not great, bronze level ACA) insurance.

We bought up a bunch of home tests a month ago to have on hand throughout the New Year season.  Yesterday my cousin drove over to take a slew of them because he couldn't track down any in the area.   

So it's definitely getting harder even here where site testing is fairly easily available compared to other regions.

[Matryoshka]

4 minutes ago, TexasProud said:

Ok, where in the heck are you guys finding these tests to do home tests???? I looked online at Walmart and I can get them middle of January.  Amazon has some of the ones Walmart has for 1,000 bucks.  ????

I ordered a bunch before Thanksgiving, and a bunch more a few days ago.  I just looked now and they're out of stock (which is exactly what I was worried would happen which is why I bought a bunch more a few days ago, when it became clear that dd21 and her boyfriend are going to be in and out here and they are not cautious enough for us to not test under current conditions...  I did get a notice that they've shipped).

[TexasProud]

Ok. Well then testing is a mute point for me then. 

[Laura Corin]

28 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:

Gosh, I wish that were true here.  We've ordered up a bunch of tests, but they're not cheap, and hard to come by.  I spent over $100 on the last batch, and that was from the place they were cheapest (Walmart) - I wanted to make sure we had enough to last for any people we want to see (and maybe to share since no one else seems to be being proactive!) Physical stores don't have them in stock, and local pharmacies are selling them for $10 more than the ones I got.

We can get a couple of boxes of seven tests each from the pharmacy or a testing centre. They don't take names - it's not rationed.

[Faith-manor]

We are boostered and hunkered down with our family in Alabama. They are super covid cautious, and of course our little 2 year old grandson can't be vaxed. Omicron is worrying since our almost six year old grandson has a heart condition that makes covid more dangerous for him than most children.

To get here, we packed food foe the trip, KN95 masks for rest areas or gas stations for potty breaks, and made it here without incident.Now use Kroger curbside pick up while absolutely shunning all the other humans, and tip super duper heavily because we are so thankful for curbside, and worry that the employers are not taking care of their people properly.

Mark believes that omicron will utterly break the system. The population of the U.S. is too selfish to give a crap. Healthcare workers are quitting in droves. Our two closest nursing programs have indicated they are experiencing a mass exodus of students quitting nursing and changing majors to non-health careers. They realize that in America, HCWs are considered expendable slaves to the masses, drones no one gives a sh!t about. Our friend in Doctors Without Borders has decided to leave medicine, my niece in law who is an EKG tech and lab tech is also changing careers. So Mark thinks that healthcare here will be gutted, and America is going to face some pretty damn dire consequences for its folly and refusal to make an effort to give the system a respite from the exhaustion.

I am adjusting to a radical change in life. Functioning happily with a very narrow circle of humans, camping and outdoor life, very little socializing, and the demise of any hope of continuing in music/fine arts. That is my 2022 goal, just making peace with it. I hope to one day see my sister who resides in France again. It has been three years. However, I also need to be realistic and steel myself for the fact that this may not be possible for many, many years to come.

I am glad we bought this house on the mountain with room for my immediate circle, this huge yard where we can have gardens, and a pool, the gorgeous view, places to hike and enjoy nature, boating within a few miles. It makes it easier to adjust to this. I think if I were hemmed in on all sides in the city or in a subdivision, I would be losing my mind. As it is, I am pretty content.

 

[73349]

We are not gathering.

The mall in my area looked mobbed yesterday. (I had to drive by there.) January is going to be a s***show and a half. I'm afraid DS's only outside class (which is not Zoom-friendly) is going to get canceled.

[Pawz4me]

I'm jealous of those of you who seem to have ample supply of rapid tests. From what I can gather from searching the internet there are none to be found within an hour's drive of me, and even when they show up on a store's inventory it looks like they only have a few. I have some on order from Walmart that are supposed to be here Thursday. Unless/until the home tests become much more widely available, my plan is to hoard these to use if any of us starts showing symptoms. Based on everything I've read, which all corresponds with what's in the article @KSeraposted, I don't see much benefit in testing "just in case" before an event.