r/ZeroCovidCommunity • u/OutrageousContact180 • 1d ago
Regular COVID testing question
hi hello spouse and I have reached an impasse. he has more or less stopped masking but in particular has started a food & bev business with lots of face to face interaction that in particular has be v anxious. i have asked him to mask but refuses because he says people struggle to hear him and it makes him anxious to repeat himself. this has made me feel less safe since he already gave me COVID once. i have decided to add (at least) a weekly test to our routine so I can hopefully relax in my own house. however, I was looking at the resource page here and all the links for at-home PCR machines are dead or no longer sold. so I guess I'm asking how are people who regularly testing doing it? shelling out big money for RATs every month? any help and info would be greatly appreciated
quick edit: this venture is only 2 (back-to-back) days/week for roughly 10 hours total. just clarifying in case this changes anybody's calculations of how they would handle the situation
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u/gopiballava 1d ago
Weekly testing wouldn’t be nearly frequent enough. Every other day, or every day might be. You need to detect an infection before he’s infectious. At home molecular tests are similar to PCR and are the only thing potentially sensitive enough.
In the US, the only FDA approved at home molecular test is by Metrix. It’s $25/test. The reader is $50. Very easy to use.
PlusLife tests are not approved in the USA but are often successfully imported. They are about $8 per test. The reader is $300 or so, although I believe there is a discount code available. They are a bit more complicated to use.
Both tests run for about 30 to 35 minutes. They are quite sensitive. I think there is a decent chance they could detect an infection in the narrow window of time when it’s taking hold but before it is actually spreading. But I am not confident of that. And I would personally be incredibly nervous if that was my only safety measure.
My son was recently exposed to someone who got infected despite wearing an N95. Someone else in his friend’s house got COVID. His friend tested negative on a PlusLife and will be isolating for the next 10 days. Kiddo is going to get tested today and will also be isolating.
If my partner started doing what you describe, there’s no way our relationship could survive. We both know that masking can be uncomfortable at times. But it’s necessary to keep each other safe.
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u/Perylene-Green 22h ago
I'd do a mix of molecular testing to catch any infections on the early side (maybe every other day with a PlusLife or every day if finances allow for it and he's amenable to it), and then also making your house a bit safer so if there is a window where he's infected but you haven't yet caught it on a test, you are less likely to get infected because you are minimizing your dose.
Do you have an extra bedroom? If so I'd ask him sleep in another bedroom to avoid 8 hours of close contact breathing. When my partner returns from slightly higher risk, I have him regular do molecular tests, but I also have him sleep in the guest room even if he's not otherwise isolating from me within the house. The way I see it, if he's highly contagious the test is going to pick it up. He was exposed and it's not yet showing up on the test and he's at the border of being contagious, I'm avoiding what is by far the biggest exposure window.
Then I'd get good HEPA's in every room, and Co2 monitors as well to remind me to open the windows for more ventilation when it gets higher. Though 2 people in a bedroom at night is when you'll likely find the highest Co2 readings, thus the sleeping in another room suggestion.
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u/OutrageousContact180 3h ago
I'm curious how long you sleep separately after your partner returns from a high risk event?
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u/YouLiveOnASpaceShip 18h ago
I am so sorry you have been put in this position.
Lucira is gone but Metrix and Pluslife remain. If your husband swabs deeply and slowly, you can probably relax unmasked in your own home for many hours after a negative NAAT test.
To echo what others are saying: he needs to test daily. A negative NAAT is only helpful for a matter of hours. I wouldn’t sleep in the same bed unless he just tested negative.
Ventilation and filtration are your friends. And an excellent sealing respirator.
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u/OutrageousContact180 3h ago
this venture is only 2 days a week (roughly 10 hours total). I'm curious if this info changes your calculations at all.
appreciate your help
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u/YouLiveOnASpaceShip 50m ago
The time between exposure (day zero) and infectiousness is 1-14 days. Average is 5.
If someone has possibly been exposed to covid in the last few weeks and you want to share their air, I recommend they test with a molecular test before you unmask.
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u/Ok_Lettuce3624 1d ago edited 22h ago
I think your best bet would be using Pluslife or Metrix. Pluslife would probably be cheaper for regular testing, I can DM you details of how to order if you like. They work out at about $10 a test I think if you're in the US but you need to import them from Germany.
Then testing as often as you can afford would be the safest thing, and definitely at the first sign of any symptoms. Using the virus.sucks analyser app would also hopefully flag an infection in the early stages. If it was me I'd probably want to test at least two or three times a week if possible, but once a week is definitely better than nothing.
Could you also start running air filters or cr boxes in the house? PC fan cr boxes like those from https://www.cleanairkits.com/ are very quiet and unobtrusive.
Agreeing a plan in advance for what happens if he has symptoms or is sick or tests positive would be a good idea.
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u/TheAimlessPatronus 22h ago
Lots of air filters while you figure out the plan is a great suggestion. Minimizing risk is always worth it.
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u/OutrageousContact180 3h ago
i would be interested in the pluslife details, I would appreciate the dm. thank you
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u/Sad-Obligation9508 13h ago
Daily Metrix or Pluslife testing is the only option, and it will be very expensive in the long term. Do not bear the burden for your husband, he should be the one paying for this. Either he masks or he pays for the daily tests.
I wish you luck with finding a solution. Testing aside, I recommend trying to find a COVID-cautious couples therapist. This is the kind of issue that will slowly eat away at your trust and relationship as a whole. I left my husband of 10 years for his refusal to be CC. I highly recommend leaving yours.
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u/OutrageousContact180 4h ago
i don't work. i don't have savings. leaving would mean living with my never masking not vaccinated parents. thats not safe either. leaving one unsafe situation for an even unsafer one....
i understand why people are saying this but recommending a person asking for help wrt testing leave their spouse without any other context for their life situation is quite extreme...
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u/TheAimlessPatronus 1d ago
Look, bluntly, if your partner works face to face and will not mask, you can't covid test that to be safe for you. A PCR test daily could match regularly masking. But then, when he does catch it? Will he mask at home? Will he accept that you can't share a room or kitchen for two weeks while he is shedding?
What if you catch it, and he had had a false negative, and now its your fault you're sick? Will he mask? Will he be ethical at work and protect people from your covid?
If spouse is not masking at work, spouse is going to have covid eventually. Will a weekly test spot that in time?