Quote:
Originally Posted by Rose76
I am getting worried over the transmussability of this new COVID variety - omicron. I was supposed to go get my blood drawn today for some labs to check for anemia. I was afraud to go to the lab out of my fear of catching COVID. I've had all 3 shots, but I'm still afraid to go anywhere.
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I have OCD now and was also afraid, but I was able to wear a double mask (N95 with KN95 on top), goggles, head scarf covering my hair and ears, and double gloves (disposable under washable cloth gloves). I went to do both blood draw and a urine test. When I returned home, I stripped, washed my hands, washed my glasses, showered, blow dried my hair, wash my glasses again, washed my hands one final time, and rested in my bedroom for at least an hour with clean clothes on. I keep my bedroom the most sanitary of all rooms, and I make sure that there's enough airflow in my apartment. I did all this during "crisis standards of care," when our hospitals were filled with Covid-19 patients. I was safe.
I think if you take similar precautions, you should be fine. There's also special tape you can put around your mask(s) to ensure a tighter seal. N95s, N99s will really help, especially if you put another layer on top (such as a cloth mask or surgical mask over a N95 or N99). If you use a KN95, you will need at least one more layered mask over it, as it's easier to get a counterfeit one.
I still separate my "potentially contaminated clothing" from the rest of the laundry, and I keep it in the hamper for at least one day before I put it in my washing and drying machines on the highest heat setting. I make sure I only wear things that I can wash on the highest heat settings, which is why I donated most of my nice clothing at the beginning of this pandemic.
If I must clean potentially contaminated things right away, such as when I had 3 outings in one day and had too much potentially contaminated laundry piling up, I made sure I wore just any old surgical or cloth mask and gloves while handling the contaminated cloth items from the hamper to the washing machine. I always made sure my hands were washed and cleaned (bare, not gloved) once the items were washed and then placed into the dryer. But from the hamper to the washer, I make sure that I protect myself from fomite-to-aerosol contamination, which is possible. It's the aerosol that is most contagious than the fomite transmission, but it's possible for movement with clothing that the surface contaminants get into the air (aerosolized), which makes breathing that it more likely. That's why I sometimes wear masks and gloves to handle certain cleaning tasks. I still wash my hands after discarding the disposable gloves, but at least I know not much contaminants are under my fingernails, where germs can easily hide.