Definitely agree with you on the topic of negative tests. I wouldn't even take a PCR test after a positive home test, but it's probably required for time off work, reporting, etc. Clinically though I'm pretty sure any single positive test is sufficient to isolate given the low false positive rate.
Hi. As seems to be characteristic, I have comments ....
I was actually thinking yesterday about all those nonhuman mammals getting infected. Lots of people, including you and me, have said that we need to vaccinate everyone on Earth to cut down on production of variants. If literally billions of rodents are potential reservoirs of the virus, human public health becomes a sideshow. The variants will come from rodents. (Side note: apparently in some places 80% of white-tailed deer test positive for SARS-CoV-2.)
OTOH, somebody should be researching why rodents and ungulates can be infected and show no symptoms. Maybe we can copy their technique.
As to the mask survey, one obvious confounder (that I'm sure you've thought about) is that people who go to the trouble of getting N95 or KN95 masks are probably also taking other health precautions, because that's our priority. This was even more true back when the survey was done, before the Feds started talking more positively about high-efficiency masks.
About antigen tests and false positives: two brands that I have used claimed a 1% false positive rate, which is comparable to PCR testing. It's false negatives that are a frequent issue.
Definitely agree with you on the topic of negative tests. I wouldn't even take a PCR test after a positive home test, but it's probably required for time off work, reporting, etc. Clinically though I'm pretty sure any single positive test is sufficient to isolate given the low false positive rate.
Hi. As seems to be characteristic, I have comments ....
I was actually thinking yesterday about all those nonhuman mammals getting infected. Lots of people, including you and me, have said that we need to vaccinate everyone on Earth to cut down on production of variants. If literally billions of rodents are potential reservoirs of the virus, human public health becomes a sideshow. The variants will come from rodents. (Side note: apparently in some places 80% of white-tailed deer test positive for SARS-CoV-2.)
OTOH, somebody should be researching why rodents and ungulates can be infected and show no symptoms. Maybe we can copy their technique.
As to the mask survey, one obvious confounder (that I'm sure you've thought about) is that people who go to the trouble of getting N95 or KN95 masks are probably also taking other health precautions, because that's our priority. This was even more true back when the survey was done, before the Feds started talking more positively about high-efficiency masks.
About antigen tests and false positives: two brands that I have used claimed a 1% false positive rate, which is comparable to PCR testing. It's false negatives that are a frequent issue.