Anything COVID related
Almost on cue, there is a story about doctors/researchers in other nations who came out and said that the Wuhan lab is probably the source of the virus outbreak. This comes about a week after Fauci had to once again confront Senator Rand. I do recall that Fauci once said that all virus sources including the Wuhan lab needed to be examined. But Fauci repeatedly says the source is almost certainly a natural source. Fauci said the Wuhan lab virus that he was familiar with was impossible to mutate in the covid-2 virus. So, what is the real information on this? I hate that there is so much political rancor that the truth becomes secondary and total authoritarian secretive China seems to be acting as a real obstacle to the investigation. Will we ever get the truth?
RobertRoe said:
I hate that there is so much political rancor that the truth becomes secondary and total authoritarian secretive China seems to be acting as a real obstacle to the investigation. Will we ever get the truth?
It does make one think about China's reporting when you see such low numbers for the COVID infections compared to other nations. Fewer than 100,000 cases and 5,000 deaths? 100-fold fewer deaths than India's toll. Are they just so much better at controlling the pandemic - or are they lying?
China is engaged in a wholesale coverup. Many countries are not reporting accurate numbers.
I can believe that the virus:
1. Infected humans from wild animals or
2. Was a natural virus that escaped from a lab due to a mistake or
3. Was a slightly altered version of the virus that escaped from a lab due to a mistake.
The politics and obfuscation surrounding the origins of Covid-19 are a problem.
However, this should not distract from the fact that it is still the case that it was certain that a pandemic would happen at some point and were were not prepared for a pandemic. And we still aren't prepared for a pandemic.
And to think this virus was just a few ticks away in terms of lethality and transmissibility from causing a societal breakdown.
Here's some commentary from a mask site I follow.
While Omicron Covid-19 cases are now descending across most of the US, the huge surge of infections is leading to quite a death toll from the virus. Hospitals throughout the nation are under unprecedented pressure to treat the infected.
The weekly death rate from Covid-19 has been on the rise since mid-November and on Thursday recorded an exceptionally high weekly death average of 2,267. This new death toll is higher than September’s peak, of 2100 deaths, when the Delta variant was still dominant.
Though symptoms from the Omicron variant are relatively mild, its extremely high transmissibility has led to more infections and deaths. Health officials have been cautioning that Omicron can still be dangerous, particularly for those who remain unvaccinated.
If the numbers are so high now, what are we to expect in the near future?
White House chief medical advisor and infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said,
“As we get into February … it is very likely that most of the states in the country will have turned around with their peak and are starting to come down with regard to cases and then obviously hospitalizations.”
According to Johns Hopkins University data, more than 74 million Americans have tested Covid-19 positive and more than 883,000 have died from the virus. As per the CDC, nearly 64% of Americans are now vaccinated.
Some areas in the US are reporting overwhelming strain on hospitals and will be receiving help this month from military medical teams. Hospitals in Oklahoma City recorded unprecedented hospitalizations last week and are scheduled to be helped out by said military doctors.
The situation in Oklahoma City is so exceedingly dire, with hospitals experiencing staff shortages among other issues, that four prominent health care facilities have no more intensive care unit beds available.
PeterWick said:
It does make one think about China's reporting when you see such low numbers for the COVID infections compared to other nations. Fewer than 100,000 cases and 5,000 deaths? 100-fold fewer deaths than India's toll. Are they just so much better at controlling the pandemic - or are they lying?
If they lied it think it would have come out. They have their "Great Firewall" and many watching social media, but there's just too much social interaction to keep those kind of lies hidden.
An example is their failed suppression of Li Wenliang.
RTrent said:
If they lied it think it would have come out. They have their "Great Firewall" and many watching social media, but there's just too much social interaction to keep those kind of lies hidden.
An example is their failed suppression of Li Wenliang.
I don't doubt that China is controlling the pandemic pretty effectively at great cost. I also think China is not reporting the true numbers.
For COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in earlier January, California just started separating out by:
- Unvaccinated
- Vaccinated but not boosted
- Vaccinated and boosted
The results are stark, especially for hospitalizations and deaths: https://covid19.ca.gov/state-dashboard/#postvax-status
I can't find anything recent reported like this for NJ.
Perhaps the more scientifically-minded can help with this one.
sprout said:
For COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in earlier January, California just started separating out by:
- Unvaccinated
- Vaccinated but not boosted
- Vaccinated and boosted
The results are stark, especially for hospitalizations and deaths: https://covid19.ca.gov/state-dashboard/#postvax-status
I can't find anything recent reported like this for NJ.
Helpful and informative.
It shows almost all the stress on medical workers and taking of hospital resources is due to the unvaccinated. They are putting us all at risk.
We don't tolerate drunk drivers who put us at risk, but they are tolerated and even lauded by some.
Our political system has failed us by not dealing with them effectively. Simply decrying them on media or sites likes this doesn't cut it.
Do we need form a new group such as Mothers Against Unvaccinated Deplorables?
Medicare plans to provide free at home COVID - 19 test for Medicare recipients early this Spring.
From one of the doctors I follow on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1489479902441230336?s=20&t=McGAguziecb6XLme2zTXsA
A recent article with data in support of wearing a mask.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/04/covid-mask-effective-n95/
jamie said:
We're looking good!
Yes, and the daily deaths curve is also declining in NJ.
PeterWick said:
A recent article with data in support of wearing a mask.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/04/covid-mask-effective-n95/
The CDC's Latest Study on Masks is Purposeful Misinformation
terp said:
The CDC's Latest Study on Masks is Purposeful Misinformation
Inflammatory language aside, that article purposefully disregards that the surgical masks have a statistically significant effect (66% reduction in odds of a COVID+ test) and the N95/K95 have an even greater reduction in transmission at 83%. But you do you, terp. This public health practice summary is vague regarding the type of mask and that is a flaw but it ends with the ironclad statement that a commonly available respirator (N95/KN95) offers the best protection.
In addition to being up to date with recommended COVID-19 vaccinations, consistently wearing a comfortable, well-fitting face mask or respirator in indoor public settings protects against acquisition of SARS-CoV-2 infection; a respirator offers the best protection.
Self-reported data may be less reliable than in a controlled study but the study specifically reflected everyday life a year and a half into the pandemic with a more transmissible COVID variant - data from November, 2021 was the early phase of omicron's dominance. Voluntary reporting was the best source of data for preparing a responsible estimate of the efficacy of a public safety method. A column with an obvious agenda to tear down any effort to encourage using masks is simply not credible. A more sober appraisal of the data would be more appropriate. Just the first part showed that this article should not be taken seriously.
Mask mandates have been a lightning rod for the response of "**** that. I'm not going to wear a mask." by many people. They help keep people healthy and reduce transmission to people who cannot fight COVID as easily as others. It's too bad this issue has so clearly demonstrated the quality of some people's ethics and regard for others.
Why don't people mask up when they go to stores? It not a hardship and it shows a bit of respect for the employees. There are situations where wearing a mask is no fun, but shopping is not one of the situations.
Really sad when people act like there is some principle of freedom involved in the decision to not wear a mask.
But wait! They told us omicron isn't as serious...
Yeah, if you're smart enough to get vaccinated, ya jackass. If wearing a mask to limit the spread means anything to you, especially if you want to protect all your other vaccine-resistant associates.
Ugh: https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/17/health/ba-2-covid-severity/index.html
"As you may know, BA.2 is called 'stealth Omicron,' " Sato told CNN. That's because it doesn't show up on PCR tests as an S-gene target failure, the way Omicron does. Labs therefore have to take an extra step and sequence the virus to find this variant.
BA.2 is about 30% to 50% more contagious than Omicron. It has been detected in 74 countries and 47 US states.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 4% of Americans with Covid-19 now have infections caused by BA.2, but many other parts of the world have more experience with this variant. It has become dominant in at least 10 other countries: Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Denmark, Guam, India, Montenegro, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines, according to World Health Organization's weekly epidemiological report.
But, there's mixed evidence on the severity of BA.2 in the real world. Hospitalizations continue to decline in countries where BA.2 has gained a foothold, like South Africa and the UK. But in Denmark, where BA.2 has become the leading cause of infections, hospitalizations and deaths are rising, according to WHO.
The thread on health outcomes in diverse populations reminded me of this important finding, from earlier this week:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-17/abs-data-cald-communities-worse-affected-by-covid-outbreaks/100834104
In essence: where you were born affects your risk of dying of Covid-19, even if you’ve been living in Australia for many decades.
ETA: yes, there was an issue distributing information in community languages, and distributing resources to regional and even slightly remote areas with vulnerable First Nations and CALD communities. Still…
So much for the **** that #Omicron was mild. Once you factored in its transmissibility AND its clinical profile its impact was far from mild.
https://twitter.com/gregggonsalves/status/1495159125617041410?s=20&t=HyVwb7qVzQ1_n-3ttSJnXQ
Here's an account of how contracting COVID appears to have increased one's risk of developing mental health problems.
From the article:
The long-term effects of having Covid are still being discovered, and among them is an increased chance of being diagnosed with mental health disorders. They include depression, anxiety, stress and an increased risk of substance use disorders, cognitive decline, and sleep problems – a marked difference from others who also endured the stress of the pandemic but weren’t diagnosed with the virus.
---------------------
COVID has graced us with over 80 million cases and about 79 million survivors.
Further quotes from that article detailing some of the data and findings. Note the sharply higher incidence of cognitive decline in COVID survivors. They did not go into the cause in this study but it is well characterized that COVID causes vascular disruptions, namely microbleeds and blood clots, that can cause subtle to substantial changes in a person's brain.
The study followed more than 153,000 patients who tested positive for Covid in the Veterans Affairs health system between March 2020 and January 2021, and compared them with other health records: to 5.8 million people who did not test positive in that time, but lived through the same stresses of the pandemic, and with 5.6 million patients seen before the pandemic.
Among all patients who developed new mental health problems during the pandemic,
the Covid patients were significantly more likely to develop cognitive problems (80%),
sleep disorders (41%), depression (39%), stress (38%), anxiety (35%) and opioid use disorder (34%), compared with those who didn’t have Covid.
I haven’t kept up with all the covid studies that have been linked on MOL (not sure if you’ve read about our weather; our part of Queensland is flooding*), however this article on unexpected long-term effects in young people is worth reading.
Vision changes, sports injuries, and various ‘developmental’ concerns are highlighted:
*some of these floods are the worst since 1880s; so far my little nook is ok. Just. We’ve been warned not to leave home unless ordered to. Rubbish collections, school classes, trains & buses etc for this week are cancelled.
I posted the new case graph exactly on month ago today - looks like we're still on the same trend.
Just thought I'd revisit this thread with general updates. The US is still seeing 300-400 deaths a day. Any breakdown on how many weren't boosted or vaxxed?
Daily deaths in NJ are between 1-20 roughly. New cases were averaging somewhere around 2,000. The 29th had 3,927.
I got my second boost last week.
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Dr. Wen is on CNN a lot, and occasionally on twitter. I find myself disagreeing with her a lot.