CDC 5-day quarantine--too long or too short? Got covid after avoiding it for 3 years

vaccinated?

Sounds about right. Vaxxed or unvaxxed seems moot now as we all have been exposed to it by now.

Like you said, it's a cold. Clearly you're still in the 2020 headspace on this and even then, it wasn't nearly as lethal as the media and government made it out to be. If you're sick, stay home. If you're feeling better, get back to business as usual. Also, please, for the love of god, stop getting tested for COVID, you're playing into the new subculture of hypochondriacs that has come about.

Vaccinated. Will wear masks wherever required; just am mad at myself for getting it even though I tried to avoid it and took all precautions.

I did it because I live with my wife. If I was single I probably would not have tested unless it got much worse than a cold.

It's time to sit down with your wife and watch the below video. Living in fear is no way to live. The pandemic is over... COVID is now endemic and here to stay. For ~99.9999% of people moving forward, it will be a cold. Treat it like any other cold you've ever had.

Garbage. Trust what your doctor and equivalent medical professionals say, not some a-hole rando off the internet.

Geez!

Vinay Prasad isn't an a-hole random off the Internet. You COVID cultists are sick in the head.

This is so pathetic.

Nonsense. He's a working class hero.

Nobody cares.
Why would you test yourself?

quarantining yourself with a cold makes no difference. If anyone happens to not be exposed to it, they will be exposed to a cold eventually anyhow. The longer they go without being exposed to a cold, the greater their chance of getting a bad cold when it does happen.

Nearly everyone around you has a functioning immune system. The few who don't should be taking the appropriate steps to protect themselves, not the other way around.

Every poster ridiculing you is 100% spot on. We warned you this would happen 3 years ago when you lost your mind. Instead you tried to ridicule us. Now the tables are turned and you have to suck it up, admit you were wrong, learn from the experience.

It can also depend on your profession.

I tested positive for the first time in October as well. I also work in a children’s emergency department. So for me, following the guidelines was the best way to make sure I wasn’t spreading it to already sick/vulnerable patients.

Whether you follow the 5-day quarantine guideline or not is your call. If I were you, I'd use a nasal spray to kill the virus in your nasal passages so there would be less chance you would spread it to your wife. You should use it 2-4 times a day while you are symptomatic. There are several different kinds. Some like Xlear use Xylitol while others use other antivirals. At least one study showed that nasal sprays definitely reduce the amount of virus in your nose within 24 hours.

What's your work environment? That is, I'd be a lot more concerned about strict guidelines if you were routinely in close contact with vulnerable people than if you were in a more "distanced" setting.

If your employer requires that you take PTO for sickness, that's obviously a disincentive to taking extended time off. You'd be following the CDC guideline for the potential benefit of others, but if the employer isn't bought into this and the burden shifted to the employee there isn't going to be widespread compliance.

If i was single I would not, but had to do it because I was married.

I am hating the fear framework of covid but there isn't anything we can do about it.

I agree almost in totality, but there’s no reason not to finish out the five day quarantine at this point.

Fisky is also correct. Vicks first defense has always mitigated total viral load and knocked this thing back.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Drug-Free Nasal Spray as a Barrier against SARS-CoV-2 and Its Delta Variant: In Vitro Study of Safety and Efficacy in Human Nasal Airway Epithelia

The nasal epithelium is a key portal for infection by respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and represents an important target for prophylactic and therapeutic interventions. In the present study, we test the safety and effi...

Link:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8...

No more vaccines OP. For your probable age/risk profile, they were never necessary or even great. Masks don’t work very well, and you both need to be wearing N95s or better. But, Covid is well on its way to endemicity and we need to allow that to happen.

Thanks Fisky. Just ordered the Xlear nasal spray.

I had been using generic Claritin nasal spray for allergies and to keep the nasal passages clear regardless, but this sounds even better.

I am going thru the EXACT opposite of this right now.

My wife got sick a few days ago, she's pretty susceptible to colds etc. She was coughing and sniffling for a couple of days with a slight fever. I asked her if it could be covid. She didnt think so. A whole day later she tests and is positive. All the while I'm taking care of her of course, moving her plates, cups etc, unmasked and not washing hands often. Thankfully still not positive while shes still testing +. We shall see. We had friends over in the early days and had to inform them all.

So you're DEAD WRONG. When it doubt absolutely test for covid.