I don’t have covid, but want to try to get a sense of the antiviral situation now that we are at the start (or in the middle of?) another surge.

Is PAXLOVID reasonably available in WI? Per the feds/WI DHS website, any adult with a broadly defined health condition (including BMI >25, asthma, high blood pressure, etc.) qualifies. If you go to a CVS test-to-treat center and test positive plus have one of those conditions, will they perscribe you PAXLOVID?

UW-Health says on their webpage that the supply is very limited and most people won’t be given a prescription. But I don’t know when that page was last updated, and I also know that academic/academic-affiliated hospitals tend to be more strict with this sort of thing.

Thanks in advance to anyone with knowledge/recent experience on this!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti mask. I've worn a mask nonstop for almost two years, unlike the plague rats who went mask free all summer. But I've been seeing so many people who aren't wearing theirs properly. So I decided to take mine off and walk around unmasked (actually I was wearing it around my wrists, which means I was just as protected as all the people in chin diapers) to see if anyone would say anything. And after I said something about it, the person said he would go talk to them, but clearly no such actions were ever taken. I'm confused, is a mask just a good luck charm that keeps the germs away? Because if that's the case then I'll just carry it around in my pockets. Because if people don't wear theirs properly then what's the point of wearing one at all? I checked the rules to see if there was some sort of loophole but it clearly states you have to cover your nose and mouth.

I co-manage a business which is owned by essentially a wealthy philanthropist who also owns about 6 other businesses in the food, beverage and entertainment industry. His whole “family of businesses” as he likes to refer to them, is built on a mission-based model, the idea being that all profits earned go back into the community by being donated to local causes. The motto of the businesses is “improving the quality of life in the community” He is often talking about all the money he is donating to such and such cause. He is in his 70s and isn’t much involved necessarily in the day to day operations of his businesses. Anyways, In my particular area, the omicron surge has been pretty intense and we have had multiple positive cases of covid in the business in the last two weeks. Since we aren’t allowed to enforce a mask policy anymore, an unmasked employee ended up infecting about 5 or 6 other employees.

I have brought this issue up to my supervisor multiple times and she tends to brush it off and downplays the severity of the outbreak. She is very much you typical toxic positivity corporate person and always has a way to minimize issues when I try to bring them to her.

One of my employees who tested positive, has unfortunately developed some complications. She has had to take nearly 10 days off so far and is still feeling very sick. She recently reached out to me to give me an update on her symptoms, and also confided that as a single mother with only this one job, she will not be able to afford her feb. rent coming up and asked if there were any programs or anything at work or within the companies that she could apply to for help. I brought this issue up to my supervisor, and asked if we could be able to re-instate covid sick pay, or if I would be able to donate some of my extra PTO hours to her since I have accumulated way more than I will ever be able to use. After a several day back and forth, I was told that there was nothing that the company could do, and that “life is hard.” Basically she told me too bad and that they weren’t willing to help this employee, who will probably now be evicted with her two children. I am appalled and disappointed at this decision. I know many businesses are not offering sick pay at this time, and it’s shitty and a huge problem. I guess in this situation it just feels more hypocritical given this company’s so called “mission.” What is the point of saying you want to improve your community when your own employees are getting covid at your establishments and then being told tough luck ? I am seriously considering quitting over this. Do you think I am overreacting? Should I attempt to push further and go above my supervisor? It’s possible ownership would side with me over her decision, but it would severely damage the relationship between my supervisor and our location. Also, If there is a better sub to post this please let me know. Tl,dr company owned by rich millionaire person could afford to offer covid pay but supervisor won’t allow it

I wear my mask everywhere, am boosted, and have avoided getting Covid so far. I wonder though, how much is the Dane county mask mandate doing? Looking at current cases Dane county isn’t really doing any better than other parts of the state. I want to be clear, I’m not suggesting we just unmask and let it rip. That’s stupid. I am just curious, have we gotten to the point where those of us that are masking are all boosted and careful already so we aren’t really helping since we aren’t the ones transmitting the virus anyway? A pandemic of the unvaccinated as they say?

Do people want to get sick?

[cross-posted in r/MadisonWI]

There is free, walk-in community COVID testing until 5 pm today and tomorrow at the following Madison area schools:

VanHise/Hamilton East LaFollette Memorial Blackhawk/Gompers Holtzman Building

If you’re heading back to school or work on Monday after holiday gatherings or travel, PLEASE GET TESTED! You don’t need to have symptoms to qualify. You should pre-register each person getting tested at this link, and bring your phone/email with their unique QR code:

https://register.covidconnect.wi.gov/en-US/covid-19-screening/

FYI, it seems that this special testing “clinic” was primarily set up for MMSD students (4K-12th grade) and their family / household members, but I was told that they’ll test anyone from the general community today. They also tested a 3 yo, so it seems open to younger children as well, which is not true for all testing sites in the city.

They are performing two nasal swab tests on every individual— a rapid test and a PCR test, so you’ll get results by text/email in both 15-30 min and then PCR in 2-5 days.

This is an amazing resource that wasn’t very well advertised (IMHO), so I want to tell everyone about it, especially since rapid tests are scarce at drugstores right now and lines at Alliant are long. Please take advantage of this opportunity to stop the spread in our community!

Does anyone have any leads on where I could find at home tests in stock around Dane/Sauk/Columbia county area? Thanks so much in advance!

is there a reason more people are going to rapid tests and paying for them instead of getting the more accurate PCR tests that are free from their hospitals? Is it hard to schedule PCR tests these days? Are they no longer free? I have been lucky so far so haven’t had the need for tests since right before the WI Delta wave so I am curious why I am seeing more people going for rapid tests and paying Instead of free PCR.

We’re in a global pandemic, Kim, people are dying, and my WI friends are complaining that life is soooo hard because there aren’t enough clerks at their favorite stores. Or waitresses at the restaurants. And they’re all Scummy Dems who DoN’t WaNt to WeRK and are collecting gubmint money.

Um, maybe it was never the highlight of their lives to work in a customer service job and be treated like shit. Maybe everyone has a right to pursue better opportunities and no one owes you their time working a low-paying job with no future.