Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #111

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Gemmie said:
This is a little old so will see if I can find my local Uni's covid page that I thought I had saved. It was updated daily, if necessary. But I did find this on their page:

Effective June 16, 2023, <my> will no longer require proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

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NEW: Starting April 3, 2023, employees, patients and visitors within campus health care settings will no longer be required to wear masks.
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The article is dated yesterday, Aug 21, 2023. Sorry, I assumed it was current and it is popping on my current-events feed.
 
Inthedetails said:
The article is dated yesterday, Aug 21, 2023. Sorry, I assumed it was current and it is popping on my current-events feed.
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I was talking about my uni having old info, not yours. :) I figured you had very current info if you were talking about it here. :)
 

Long Covid symptoms create a greater burden of disability than heart disease or cancer, new study shows​

long Covid creates a higher burden of disability than either heart disease or cancer, which cause about 52 and 50 DALYs for every 1,000 Americans, respectively, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease study.

“When I looked at that initially, I was really shocked,” said study author Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, who is director of the clinical epidemiology center at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System. “That’s actually a huge number.

“We did the analyses multiple times and, and then it just always can come back to be to be the same.”

After considering their findings, though, Al-Aly said it really shouldn’t be such a huge surprise that long Covid is so disabling, because it affects so many different parts of the body.

 
Did you see this tree a year and a half ago, @otto? I remember when I first saw it I found it pretty interesting.

1692754859641.png

But today, after going back and rereading that article, what's interesting to me is the old thought (from a year and a half ago) about how the covid variants would evolve slowly and minimally, since they are turning out not to be true:

It turns out the SARS-CoV-2 family had two black sheep that it kept hidden from the world. When those relatives appeared, seemingly out of the blue this autumn, they not only shocked the world, but they also made evolutionary biologists question their understanding of the pandemic's future.

Yes, I'm talking about omicron BA.1 and its sibling BA.2.

When SARS-CoV-2 first emerged, many virologists thought they knew how it would evolve: slowly and minimally.

They were skeptical that the coronavirus would change much at all, says virologist Ravi Gupta at the University of Cambridge.

"Everyone had been telling us that SARS coronavirus doesn't mutate very much and therefore we're not going to see mutations that evade our immunity," he says.

 
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If you’re at high risk of serious illness or death from Covid-19, it’s time to dust off those N95 masks and place them snugly over your nose and mouth to protect yourself from a recent uptick of the virus, according to a growing number of experts.

That advice should go all the way up to 80-year-old President Joe Biden, said Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist.

“Octogenarians comprise the highest-risk group for complications following Covid infection,” Reiner said.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/04/health/questions-about-covid-vaccines-quarantine-and-testing-are-back
“At least until the numbers start to drop again, it would be appropriate for President Biden to take some precautions and wear a mask in crowds.”

Other high-risk groups include people with diabetes, cancer, chronic liver, kidney or lung disease, organ or stem cell transplants, HIV or other immunocompromising conditions, a history of heart disease or stroke, dementia or mental health issues.

“If you’re a caregiver for somebody who is at increased risk of complication following infection, then I think you should also consider putting a mask on in public places,” said Reiner, a professor at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

“And since the masks that are most effective are N95 that are now readily available, that’s the kind of mask you should wear,” he added.

 
weepingangel said:
Hospitalizations up 30% in Massachusetts.
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I received a newsletter this morning with an article that says:

Across the county, COVID-19 hospitalization rates are rising in what has been called a “summer wave.” The national COVID-19 hospitalization rate rose about 17% between June and July, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Oregon, the increase was higher, at 28%.

So we're about the same as you. Keep in mind data lags and that was between June and July, we're almost through August now.
 
Inthedetails said:
I'm not sure how widespread this is among campuses in USA, but I just ran across this:

Atlanta college reinstates COVID-19 mask mandate as students return to city​


www.ajc.com

Atlanta college to require COVID-19 masks as students return to city

Morris Brown College in Atlanta instructed students and employees to wear masks for the next two weeks.
www.ajc.com www.ajc.com
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This college in Atlanta is requiring masks for now because several cases of Covid-19 are circulating among students as diagnosed at the campus' health center.

There are no plans to reinstate mask mandates or vaccine mandates at our university in Ohio, unless the CDC advises universities to do so, then we .pretty much have to fofllow their guidance. We also follow data and guidance from our county health department and are informed by their data and guidance as well. Although there is an uptick in positive cases, we are not seeing an uptick in severity of symptoms among this age group/demographic. Masks and vaccines/boosters are optional among our facultly, staff and students, as they have been for some time now.

Because covid-19 is now considered endemic, we no longer do contact tracing, etc.
 
Sundog said:
This college in Atlanta is requiring masks for now because several cases of Covid-19 are circulating among students as diagnosed at the campus' health center.

There are no plans to reinstate mask mandates or vaccine mandates at our university in Ohio, unless the CDC advises universities to do so, then we .pretty much have to fofllow their guidance. We also follow data and guidance from our county health department and are informed by their data and guidance as well. Although there is an uptick in positive cases, we are not seeing an uptick in severity of symptoms among this age group/demographic. Masks and vaccines/boosters are optional among our facultly, staff and students, as they have been for some time now.

Because covid-19 is now considered endemic, we no longer do contact tracing, etc.
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When COVID first started I took classes so I could become certified as a COVID Tracer. The health department provided names of people who had been diagnosed with COVID, so they could be interviewed. The interview included asking the names of anyone they had been in contact with for more than 15 minutes, counting back 7 days from the day they were diagnosed and/or developed symptoms.

We had to read them a long list of instructions, including how to isolate themselves from everyone else in the household.

But after the COVID numbers began increasing exponentially all the contact tracing was discontinued, at least in the state where I lived.
 

As the Bay Area experiences a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, one of its most prominent health care providers is requiring patients, staff and visitors to mask up again.
Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center has reinstated a temporary mask mandate for people within its facilities. The measure is a direct response to the increasing number of individuals testing positive for the coronavirus, according to an official statement made on Wednesday.
Sonoma County’s largest health care provider, which employs approximately 3,500 staff members at its medical center, said it is adhering to state and local directives for managing outbreaks. Kaiser Permanente has a dedicated team of experts in infection prevention and control who track transmission rates at its facilities.
A spokesperson for the hospital said the mask mandate also applies to visitors in all of Kaiser’s medical facilities in the Santa Rosa Service Area “in response to this latest increase in COVID-19 cases.”
The concentration of SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater samples taken from the Santa Rosa sewershed more than doubled in the month prior to Aug. 15, the latest available measurement date. The current level puts the Santa Rosa area into the medium tier for community spread.

More at link
 

Some new information of the variant B.A. 2.86- the sum and substance of the article is that this new variant appears to be able to escape vaccines and protection from prior infections. Dr. Topol suggests that we will have to see how strong our T-cell protection is

This is so freaking exhausting!
 
It's so disheartening to see that Covid is still lingering and now ramping up again. My husband and I have received all of the vivid vaccines/boosters. Thankfully, we’ve been Covid-free so far. We’re older and retired. Every member of our family has had one or two bouts of Covid. As time goes on, it looks like we’ll always have to take extra precautions to guard against Covid.
 
Teche said:
It's so disheartening to see that Covid is still lingering and now ramping up again. My husband and I have received all of the vivid vaccines/boosters. Thankfully, we’ve been Covid-free so far. We’re older and retired. Every member of our family has had one or two bouts of Covid. As time goes on, it looks like we’ll always have to take extra precautions to guard against Covid.
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I haven't had a booster in over a year-- Covid has been so low in the past year and I don't go to restaurants or places where there are lots of people in close places. Now we have to think about ramping up precautions again--I will most likely get the booster when it comes out but it is not tailored to this latest variant BA 286
 
The more I read about the new variant/s and an uptick in Covid cases, the happier I am that DH and I cancelled our pre-booked winter cruise (January 2024). Final payment wasn't due until the end of October, and our deposit was 100% refundable. We had not booked our flights to/from Fort Lauderdale because additional flights from DTW usually open up after Labor Day with more options that are currently available. Once we booked flights, the trip would have been a done deal. For some reason, we just didn't feel that traveling this winter was a good idea, so we cancelled the cruise. There were outbreaks of Covid on cruise ships all summer long, so it's obvious that passengers are still susceptible to the virus in close quarters and traveling with people from all over the world.

Thankfully, we're both pretty much homebodies and won't mind spending the winter in our cozy home. I told DH that I think he shouldn't do snow removal anymore, so we are hiring a snow removal contractor for the season. We'll venture out as needed for medical/dental appointments, grocery shopping, an occasional dinner out, and DH will continue his every-other-day swims. We both like to read and do word puzzles, and we enjoy cooking. We have a few favorite TV shows and are fans of classic films on TCM. We don't do much entertaining and will continue to maintain a Covid-free environment. We survived three years without a winter vacation during the pandemic, and I'm confident that we will be happy campers in our own home and not sharing living space with 3600 other people. JMO
 
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BetteDavisEyes said:
The more I read about the new variant/s and an uptick in Covid cases, the happier I am that DH and I cancelled our pre-booked winter cruise (January 2024). Final payment wasn't due until the end of October, and our deposit was 100% refundable. We had not booked our flights to/from Fort Lauderdale because additional flights from DTW usually open up after Labor Day with more options that are currently available. Once we booked flights, the trip would have been a done deal. For some reason, we just didn't feel that traveling this winter was a good idea, so we cancelled the cruise. There were outbreaks of Covid on cruise ships all summer long, so it's obvious that passengers are still susceptible to the virus in close quarters and traveling with people from all over the world.

Thankfully, we're both pretty much homebodies and won't mind spending the winter in our cozy home. I told DH that I think he shouldn't do snow removal anymore, so we are hiring a snow removal contractor for the season. We'll venture out as needed for medical/dental appointments, grocery shopping, an occasional dinner out, and DH will continue his every-other-day swims. We both like to read and do word puzzles, and we enjoy cooking. We have a few favorite TV shows and are fans of classic films on TCM. We don't do much entertaining and will continue to maintain a Covid-free environment. We survived three years without a winter vacation during the pandemic, and I'm confident that we will be happy campers in our own home and not sharing living space with 3600 other people. JMO
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Sounds likea great plan---good idea getting a snow removal company!!!!!!
 
BetteDavisEyes said:
The more I read about the new variant/s and an uptick in Covid cases, the happier I am that DH and I cancelled our pre-booked winter cruise (January 2024). Final payment wasn't due until the end of October, and our deposit was 100% refundable. We had not booked our flights to/from Fort Lauderdale because additional flights from DTW usually open up after Labor Day with more options that are currently available. Once we booked flights, the trip would have been a done deal. For some reason, we just didn't feel that traveling this winter was a good idea, so we cancelled the cruise. There were outbreaks of Covid on cruise ships all summer long, so it's obvious that passengers are still susceptible to the virus in close quarters and traveling with people from all over the world.

Thankfully, we're both pretty much homebodies and won't mind spending the winter in our cozy home. I told DH that I think he shouldn't do snow removal anymore, so we are hiring a snow removal contractor for the season. We'll venture out as needed for medical/dental appointments, grocery shopping, an occasional dinner out, and DH will continue his every-other-day swims. We both like to read and do word puzzles, and we enjoy cooking. We have a few favorite TV shows and are fans of classic films on TCM. We don't do much entertaining and will continue to maintain a Covid-free environment. We survived three years without a winter vacation during the pandemic, and I'm confident that we will be happy campers in our own home and not sharing living space with 3600 other people. JMO
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Great plan.
 
Just weeks into the new school year, districts in multiple states are canceling in-person classes for several weeks due to respiratory viruses, including COVID-19, among students and staff.

Two school districts in Kentucky -- Lee County School District and Magoffin County Schools -- said they were closing due to "widespread illness."

"We're seeing a lot of illness being reported consistent with COVID and influenza," Scott Lockard, public health director for the Kentucky River District -- which includes Lee County -- told ABC News. "Lee County had a surge of cases and attendance dropped below the threshold needed to stay open, so they closed."

 
I had a routine doctor appointments today and inquired about COVID cases. They said they have only seen one COVID patient in the past two or three weeks.

But they added that most people are testing at home, or coming in for treatment or even reporting their positive tests if the cases are fairly mild.
 
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