Weekly coronavirus-related chat, questions, and minor updates - week of April 4

Here's a Twitter thread from Michael Mina
about how the timeline of COVID changed with Omicron for vaccinated people. (Originally from December but I don't think the message was widely heard.)

The timeline seems to be as follows:

• You get symptoms early due to a quick immune system reaction. But tests are still negative because the virus didn't reach the nose yet.

• A few days later, tests turn positive.

• Symptoms stop early. But you're still infectious and tests are still positive.

• Eventually, the infection dies down and tests should turn negative.

He insists that tests work, because they are useful for confirming diagnosis (after a few days) and for deciding when to stop isolating. However, it seems that he implicitly admits that they aren't so good for screening? Which is what people wanted to use them for.

Instead, the recommendation is to take symptoms seriously because they might be COVID, but hold off a few days before testing.

From Monday: Senators cut global aid from $10B covid deal

Congressional negotiators announced a deal Monday for $10 billion in additional funding for the U.S. coronavirus response but were unable to agree on global aid, stirring warnings from health experts that they would rue the decision if another overseas variant sparked an outbreak in the United States.

The bipartisan package, unveiled by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), would enable U.S. officials to purchase more therapeutics, tests, vaccines and other supplies, after the White House repeatedly warned that it needed more funding for those priorities. The legislation also calls on federal officials to invest at least $5 billion to develop and procure therapeutics, and at least $750 million in efforts to fight future variants and to build vaccine manufacturing capacity.

But it includes no money for the global response [...]

Shanghai Covid lockdown extended to entire city (BBC)

Reported cases have risen to more than 13,000 a day, although the numbers are not high by some international standards.

Residents in some areas of the city said the strict policy meant no-one was allowed to leave their housing compounds, not even to collect essential provisions.

They reported difficulties in ordering food and water online, with restrictions on when customers are able to place their orders, because of a shortage of supplies and delivery staff.

[...]

[T]he lockdowns continue and it's not only Shanghai closed right now. Jilin City (3.6 million people), Changchun (nine million), Xuzhou (nine million), the steel city of Tangshan (7.7 million) and various other towns and villages are keeping their residents indoors.

Is there reliable information out there about how the under-60, relatively healthy, and vaccinated are faring post-infection? Are they losing taste/smell? Experiencing long COVID?
I could look for myself, of course, but I’m too afraid.