Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #79

[Tugela]

NSW and Victoria, being our two most hard hit states, are consciously making preparations for the coming summer, to try to make it a covid-safe summer.

There are considerations such as closing down certain laneways and streets in cities/towns to make them alfresco dining zones, so more people can sit outside, dine, and enjoy the weather without crowding. Of course, we have lots of outdoor dining in this country, but this would allow for greater capacity.

Another thought to keep people focussed on social distancing while at the beach is to make sure you are always one beach-towel-length away from other people.

'A summer like never before': Victoria and NSW prepare for Covid risk in the holiday season

They are doing that where I live, I don't think it is a good idea, having lunch inches from where dump trucks or whatever are thundering by is a recipe for an accident.

 

[musicaljoke]

"Long Covid" from the BMJ

Long covid: How to define it and how to manage it

“Profound fatigue” was a common symptom in most people with long covid, she said, but added that a wide range of other symptoms included cough, breathlessness, muscle and body aches, and chest heaviness or pressure, but also skin rashes, palpitations, fever, headache, diarrhoea, and pins and needles. “A very common feature is the relapsing, remitting nature of the illness, where you feel as though you’ve recovered, then it hits you back,” she said.

Nick Peters added to this definition by highlighting a “distinction between very sick people who have recovered to an extent and [and have been] left with some impact of their severe sickness, versus those who had a relatively mild sickness from the start, in whom it is ongoing.”

Alwan described the fluctuations of her own illness: “It’s a constant cycle of disappointment, not just to you but people around you, who really want you to recover.”

Paul Garner, who also has long covid, described it as a “very bizarre disease” that had left him feeling “repeatedly battered the first two months” and then experiencing lesser episodes in the subsequent four months with continual fatigue. “Navigating help is really difficult,” he said.

Tim Spector said that his team at the Covid Symptom Study had identified six clusters of symptoms for covid-19,1 a couple of which were associated with longer term symptoms, indicating a possible way of predicting early on what might occur. “If you’ve got a persistent cough, hoarse voice, headache, diarrhoea, skipping meals, and shortness of breath in the first week, you are two to three times more likely to get longer term symptoms,” he said.

[...]

 

[SouthAussie]

They are doing that where I live, I don't think it is a good idea, having lunch inches from where dump trucks or whatever are thundering by is a recipe for an accident.

We don't have dump trucks or any trucks thundering through our cities. When they speak of laneways they speak of something like this.


Your Guide to Adelaide's Laneways — This Is Radelaide

 

[musicaljoke]

I am really having a problem with how people who get Covid are being treated in society. I am talking to people who are crying, they are being treated like lepers. Geez, I thought that our society had evolved further than victim blaming people who get a virus.

This is important. And I am not seeing a lot of sympathy or empathy for these folks. They caught a virus, often because they are out in the community working. Yes, they have to isolate and are under quarantine, along with their close contacts.

If you know of someone who is positive for COVID-19, call them. Ask if they need anything. Be their friend.
Coronavirus Today: 'I call it COVID shaming'

Yes, victim blaming, not believing the victim's story, minimizing the deaths and the impact the loss has on so many families, and COVID shaming are prevalent, with few voices to speak out against it.

Thank you for your reminder to act with compassion.

 

[SouthAussie]

That's really specific! But, oh dear, what a concern for all. Taxi drivers are so vulnerable, and many are the sole supporters of their families and possibly their extended families. They may be highly motivated to keep working, even if they know they have Covid. That's not to say this man knew he had Covid. We don't know that.

Do you know if drivers are screened off from their passengers? How is it possible to make it safe for taxi drivers and their passengers?

At the moment, our taxi drivers are not partitioned off from the passengers (that I know of, been a while since I have been in a taxi here). But I would imagine that it is definitely something that might be on the cards. This has brought it to the NSW Premier's attention.

Sometimes it feels like we are always shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted.

But, in general, taxi companies are really concerned about the safety of their drivers. I know that their drivers have GPS activated all the time so they can be tracked by headquarters.

 

[musicaljoke]

We don't have dump trucks or any trucks thundering through our cities. When they speak of laneways they speak of something like this.

View attachment 264478
Your Guide to Adelaide's Laneways — This Is Radelaide

Toronto did this too and I love the idea. The city also closed down roads to make walking and bicycle friendly routes.

Coronavirus: Toronto starts closing streets to give cyclists, pedestrians more room

 

[Deleted member 158085]

Oh, it wasn't paywalled for me. It opened right up with no logons or account required.
Maybe it is not paywalled outside the US.

Anyone can view 5 articles for free per month with the Washington Post.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

Unfortunately, I don’t doubt that someone laughed because I’ve seen dozens of LOLs and hundreds of laughing emojis on social media in the comments section on articles about about COVID deaths. It’s a disgusting reality. People have lost their minds, or maybe their souls.

 

[Footwarrior]

Good article on what science has discovered about COVID-19.

https://elemental.medium.com/the-most-likely-way-youll-get-infected-with-covid-19-30430384e5a5

 

[SouthAussie]

Good article on what science has discovered about COVID-19.
https://elemental.medium.com/the-most-likely-way-youll-get-infected-with-covid-19-30430384e5a5
The Most Likely Way You’ll Get Infected With Covid-19

https://elemental.medium.com/the-most-likely-way-youll-get-infected-with-covid-19-30430384e5a5

Really good article. Thanks for posting. They sure have learned a lot. Very helpful to have the info all in one place.

Just missing the last little bit now:
“What’s the infectious dose via the respiratory route is really probably the last piece of this that isn’t completely answered yet"

 

[katydid23]

We don't have dump trucks or any trucks thundering through our cities. When they speak of laneways they speak of something like this.

View attachment 264478
Your Guide to Adelaide's Laneways — This Is Radelaide

Dump trucks don't pick up trash in your cities?

 

[katydid23]

https://nypost.com/2020/09/21/congressional-report-reveals-how-china-could-have-prevented-covid-19/

China, WHO could have helped prevent COVID-19 pandemic: congressional report
By Ebony Bowden

September 21, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic might have been prevented if not for Chinese cover-ups in the early days of the outbreak and the World Health Organization “parroting” Beijing propaganda, according to a damning audit from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The 96-page report — obtained by The Post ahead of its planned Monday release — says the Chinese Communist Party destroyed evidence and buried troubling data, while nationalizing the supply chainsand limiting exports of US companies 3M and General Motors, keeping key goods in the country.

“It is beyond doubt that the CCP actively engaged in a cover-up designed to obfuscate data, hide relevant public health information, and suppress doctors and journalists who attempted to warn the world,” reads the report, authored by Republican members of the Democrat-held committee.


“Research shows the CCP could have reduced the number of cases in China by up to 95 percent had it fulfilled its obligations under international law and responded to the outbreak in a manner consistent with best practices,” the report said, citing a study on Medrxiv, a Yale University-linked online clearinghouse for medical manuscripts.

“It is highly likely the ongoing pandemic could have been prevented,” the report said.

Instead, on Jan. 1, CCP officials ordered that the Wuhan wet market from which the contagion is believed to have sprung “be closed and sanitized, destroying forensic evidence that may have provided insight into the origins of the outbreak,” the report said.

 

[SouthAussie]

Dump trucks don't pick up trash in your cities?

"Thundering around'? No. Maybe stop and go, stop and go, emptying bins - before businesses open and traffic starts.

Nothing thunders around our cities. Too much traffic, too many traffic lights, too many pedestrian crossings, and a max speed limit of 50kph.

 

[katydid23]

"Thundering around'? No. Maybe stop and go, stop and go, emptying bins - before businesses open and traffic starts.

Nothing thunders around our cities. Too much traffic, too many traffic lights, too many pedestrian crossings, and a max speed limit of 50kph.

Ok, that's how ours go too. Stop and go in the early mornings. But there are buses and large vehicles which move through our cities during the day.

I love the outdoor restaurants but we will have to get our vehicles rerouted if we want to make it a permanent set up.

 

[CSIDreamer]

Interesting seroprevalence study. Depending on which round and which area, estimates can be that 4X to 11X (I didn't click on each round with each area) people have had Covid than known.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the U.S.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

https://www.nswtaxi.org.au/post/pos...is-are-operating-and-adapting-in-regional-nsw

Ballina Taxis in Regional NSW are changing the way they transport passengers around Ballina by adopting the use of a plastic shield between the driver and passenger seats in Taxis. These measures provide enhanced safety to the drivers and as well as passengers in Taxis to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

They have also adopted robust cleaning and hygiene practices for their Taxis to stop the spread of the virus and provide essential transport services to the community of the region. Taxis are being disinfected regularly and all Taxi drivers in the region are provided with a safety and hygiene kit consisting of disinfectant, gloves, masks, hand sanitiser and other cleaning essentials.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/21/cdc-covid-aerosols-airborne-guidelines/

For months, scientists and public health experts have warned of mounting evidence that the novel coronavirus is airborne, transmitted through tiny droplets called aerosols that linger in the air much longer than the larger globs that come from coughing or sneezing.

Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees. The CDC recently changed its official guidance to note that aerosols are “thought to be the main way the virus spreads” and to warn that badly ventilated indoor spaces are particularly dangerous.

Edited link

 

[Sundog]

We don't know about the 'laughing.' That is what Boyd experienced and what she saw. Who knows what was actually going on.
<snipped>
I just look at these articles as less than 100% accurate. The author's use journalistic license to make their points and to paint a narrative. We cannot accept it all as factual information. JMO

Yes, feature writing versus investigative or news journalism is a different genre of journalism, often referred to as literary journalism, it is not meant to be a straight news report, but uses anecdotal information without necessarily investigating its authenticity or representational value. It serves a different purpose than news, and some people like to read these bad news/good news feature stories. But we can't draw any conclusions from anecdotal accounts, it is just one person's account of things. Other stories could tell the opposite, about how good and decent people are during the pandemic. I read a lot of those accounts.

 

[musicaljoke]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/21/cdc-covid-aerosols-airborne-guidelines/

For months, scientists and public health experts have warned of mounting evidence that the novel coronavirus is airborne, transmitted through tiny droplets called aerosols that linger in the air much longer than the larger globs that come from coughing or sneezing.

Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees. The CDC recently changed its official guidance to note that aerosols are “thought to be the main way the virus spreads” and to warn that badly ventilated indoor spaces are particularly dangerous.

Edited link

This is good to know, but not good for those of us who are coming into winter. I wouldn't be surprised that badly ventilated indoor spaces are fairly normal in many buildings.

 

[Yvettea]

The Most Likely Way You’ll Get Infected With Covid-19

Instead of buying another can of Lysol, maybe invest in an air purifier, more comfortable two-ply cloth masks, or even an outdoor fire pit or space heater. Be prepared to meet friends outside in colder temperatures or insist upon masks, even in your home. We’ve still got a long way to go before we can declare victory over the novel coronavirus, but at least we know more now than we did six months ago. And you don’t have to sanitize your apples anymore.