Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #102

[acutename]

Covid super-mutant fears spread across Europe: Belgium has two confirmed cases | Daily Mail Online

From the article -

The second case in Hong Kong is in a traveler who returned from Canada. But officials say they may have caught the variant while in quarantine when the doors between hotel rooms were open.

traveler to Belgium as per this article, gets the Omicron COVID 11 days after she returns from her trip....so how many people have traveled in the past 10-14 days? Plus, she was in Egypt, not SA. I do not want to try to think how many people crossed paths with her, or anyone else infected (?), in airports, taxis, trains, etc. in the last 2 weeks. Remember contact tracing? For all we know, there is already a lot of Omicron around and we have just not officially noticed it. If you recall, in the US, in the east anyway, we were looking at China, and the early NYC cases traced back to Italy.

 

[acutename]

Botswana Covid variant has twice as many mutations as Delta - what we know so far | Daily Mail Online


The Botswana Covid variant, described by experts as the worst strain ever, has all the worrying mutations from previous versions of the virus, plus many more that could make it the most infectious and vaccine-resistant one so far.

The super strain has acquired the mutations of Delta, which made that variant so transmissible that it became world-dominant in months.

And the new variant also includes the vaccine-resistant alterations seen on Beta — another strain of concern that emerged in South Africa and was thought to be best at escaping the immune system until now.

It also contains a drop-out mutation that helped the Alpha variant take off in the UK last winter. In total, the new super strain has 32 mutations on its spike protein, more than any variant before it and twice as many as Delta.

It contains two unique alterations on a specific part of the spike which help viruses open the door to human cells.

All warning signs suggest it will become world-dominant in months but scientists have cautioned they have not confirmed any of the effects of the mutations in a laboratory.

South Africa’s population has very high levels of natural immunity and seems to be spreading with ease, which UK experts think may allow it to easily infect former Covid patients.

But there is no rise in hospitalisations in the region, which raises hopes it could be a milder Covid iteration.

the only possibly good thing about his would be if it is really mild and people get it and get some immunity.... but I feel as if we are back at square 1 IMO. hope that I am wrong and it is the former.

 

[Grouse]

Re the Nu Varient - and this one isn’t Nu now but something else ? - I could swear there were at least a few posts about Nu here maybe a month or more ago?
I guess we skipped past the FU varient

I think that name would have caused confusion - apparently "Nu" is pronounced "Nee" in Greek, but in the English speaking world everyone would have been calling it the "New" variant to add further to the confusion.

 

[Grouse]

traveler to Belgium as per this article, gets the Omicron COVID 11 days after she returns from her trip....so how many people have traveled in the past 10-14 days? Plus, she was in Egypt, not SA. I do not want to try to think how many people crossed paths with her, or anyone else infected (?), in airports, taxis, trains, etc. in the last 2 weeks. Remember contact tracing? For all we know, there is already a lot of Omicron around and we have just not officially noticed it. If you recall, in the US, in the east anyway, we were looking at China, and the early NYC cases traced back to Italy.

And 11 days assumes she caught it on the date of travel and not before, it's a long time but we know it can take up to 14 days for symptoms. Almost wondering did she catch it on return to Belgium, maybe in a quarantine facility?

Regarding Egypt it was posted on the last thread that some have been possibly using Egypt as a hub from SA to change flights and avoid restrictions.

 

[acutename]

And 11 days assumes she caught it on the date of travel and not before, it's a long time but we know it can take up to 14 days for symptoms. Almost wondering did she catch it on return to Belgium, maybe in a quarantine facility?

Regarding Egypt it was posted on the last thread that some have been possibly using Egypt as a hub from SA to change flights and avoid restrictions.

also cannot imagine how complex it becomes to trace travelers who make several "hops" and possibly pause in a few different places. I am sure that it can be done, but not easy, efficient or speedy and then the situation of having "rejected" travelers caught in limbo....

 

[Satchie]

'A storm in a teacup': South African medics try to calm fears over Covid variant threat to Christmas | Daily Mail Online

I laughed out loud at how the DM 'not a hysterical rag', calls this "ultra-infectious" and "vaccine resistant" in the beginning of an article that states 'So far what we have seen are very mild cases, so I'm not sure why we are all up in arms.'

Honestly, you can't make this stuff up. The DM loves pressing that panic button and watching people fall to pieces. Please don't allow it to happen.

 

[weepingangel]

Heavily mutated coronavirus variant puts scientists on alert

 

[margarita25]

 

[Grouse]

Honestly, you can't make this stuff up. The DM loves pressing that panic button and watching people fall to pieces. Please don't allow it to happen.

Great post, I could not agree more! If it's not covid panic mongering then it's supply chain breakdowns, no booze for Christmas, or 40 days of snow and power cuts to come! It's sad that they have obviously found it is the way to bait the clicks, at the potential expense of the mental health of so many who are already worrying themselves sick.

 

[JDG]

 

[KALI]

I think we've learned that it is better to be proactive instead of reactive.
Here's a little analogy... When you have 5 young children and one of them starts itching their head at the dinner table, you don't pay much attention. Four days later, 3 of your children are itching their heads, you may wonder, what's going on, but not too worried.
After seven days, all of your children are vigorously itching their heads at the dinner table. They now have festering sores on their heads.
Lice. You go to the pharmacy, you buy the readily available treatment and treat all of your children.
You bleach EVERYTHING in the house. A huge endeavor.
Then your children go to school.
A school who has denied there is a problem.
One week later at the dinner table one of your children start scratching their head.

'A storm in a teacup': South African medics try to calm fears over Covid variant threat to Christmas | Daily Mail Online


South African medics moved to calm a wave of panic over a new ultra-infectious and vaccine resistant Covid strain today as its arrival in Europe sparked fears of a new Christmas shutdown.

Belgium revealed a case of the Botswana variant - named 'Omicron' by the World Health Organization tonight - prompting EU chiefs to call for an 'emergency brake' on all travel from southern Africa after it was also found in Israel.

The Belgian health ministry said a case of the new B.1.1.529 strain was confirmed in an unvaccinated young woman who had returned from Egypt 11 days ago, suggesting it is already being seeded across the continent and is widespread in Africa.

In Britain, arrivals from six countries were added to the quarantine red list from noon - but fears were raised over a lack of checks on arrivals beforehand. Boris Johnson spoke to South African president Cyril Ramaphosa tonight to discuss the situation.

However, Angelique Coetzee, the chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, said that it was too early to begin imposing travel restrictions.

'It's a hasty decision,' she told the BBC. 'I would understand if it was two weeks later and we knew much more about this viral infection that is going around, this mutation.

'But for now, it is a storm in a tea cup, we have only become aware of this viral mutation ... in the last week.

'So far what we have seen are very mild cases, so I'm not sure why we are all up in arms.'

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen had earlier called for an EU-wide travel ban to southern Africa warning that the Omicron strain could be world-dominant in months.

 

[KALI]

Crazy Think?
I firmly believe in "prepare for the worst", hope for the best.
So, the worst is, we have a crazy Virus Variant that is difficult to put down with our current vaccines.
Now what?
Borders are closed, our current supply problems get worse.
China has already been locking down their citizens again. Why?
Obviously, I have no idea how bad this is or will turn out to be.
But, back to "Prepare for the worse, and hope for the best"
I suggest to my friends here, do some thoughtful stocking.
If nothing else, it may help you sleep better at night.

 

[beatrixpotter]

Crazy Think?
I firmly believe in "prepare for the worst", hope for the best.
So, the worst is, we have a crazy Virus Variant that is difficult to put down with our current vaccines.
Now what?
Borders are closed, our current supply problems get worse.
China has already been locking down their citizens again. Why?
Obviously, I have no idea how bad this is or will turn out to be.
But, back to "Prepare for the worse, and hope for the best"
I suggest to my friends here, do some thoughtful stocking.
If nothing else, it may help you sleep better at night.

This is what I've been doing since the start and it's helped me so much. I just keep planning ahead for the worst and hoping for the best. I don't want to even think too far ahead with this variant. BUT I'm not only almost done Christmas shopping I've got 95% of it wrapped. And I just keep trying to stay a few months ahead of what we need at all times.

It's mentally wearing at times to do this. But I know I would have been enormously more stressed through all this if I'd not been doing this. I was just talking to my husband last night about this pandemic. Never in my life have I ever had such a sick feeling in my gut, such a strong premonition that this was going to be huge, as when I started following it here. I have not regretted a single bit of planning ahead.

 

[beatrixpotter]

I'm curious about what others think. Is the pandemic better or worse than you were picturing?

I think I was pretty darn pessimistic about the pandemic. Over all it's thankfully not been as deadly as we initially thought. But I have to say as pessimistic as I was it's been worse than I could picture or imagine. I knew the ramifications could be huge. But it's like the entire world is changing. The fall out just seems never ending.

 

[Turkeytrot]

I'm curious about what others think. Is the pandemic better or worse than you were picturing?

I think I was pretty darn pessimistic about the pandemic. Over all it's thankfully not been as deadly as we initially thought. But I have to say as pessimistic as I was it's been worse than I could picture or imagine. I knew the ramifications could be huge. But it's like the entire world is changing. The fall out just seems never ending.

Definitely worse than I anticipated

 

[Turkeytrot]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/26/pfi...id-variant-jj-testing-vaccine-against-it.html

• Pfizer and BioNTech are investigating the new, heavily mutated variant of the virus that causes Covid-19, the companies said Friday morning.
• The companies said they can adapt their mRNA vaccine within six weeks and start shipping batches within 100 days if an escape variant is identified.
• Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca on Friday said they also investigating and testing the new variant.

 

[MimosaMornings]

I'm curious about what others think. Is the pandemic better or worse than you were picturing?

I think I was pretty darn pessimistic about the pandemic. Over all it's thankfully not been as deadly as we initially thought. But I have to say as pessimistic as I was it's been worse than I could picture or imagine. I knew the ramifications could be huge. But it's like the entire world is changing. The fall out just seems never ending.

Worse. Thought it would be a hardship for 6-8 months, majority would welcome a vaccine and life would resume as before.
Yep, silly me.
I had no idea it would have such devastation that there is little to no semblance to our lives prior to the pandemic.
JMO

 

[CrimeAway]

(1) I definitely didn't expect the pandemic to be this deadly, and this disruptive, for this long.

(2) I have been surprised and disappointed, at the amount of vaccine hesitancy and conspiracy theories regarding Covid 19.

ETA: I sadly think that number (2), has impacted number (1).

As soon as I heard about Sars Co-V 2, I started talking about it at the veterinary hospital where I worked. Dealing with infectious pathogens on a daily basis, most of us were immediately concerned.

 

[BeckyF]

I'm curious about what others think. Is the pandemic better or worse than you were picturing?

I think I was pretty darn pessimistic about the pandemic. Over all it's thankfully not been as deadly as we initially thought. But I have to say as pessimistic as I was it's been worse than I could picture or imagine. I knew the ramifications could be huge. But it's like the entire world is changing. The fall out just seems never ending.

Definitely worse than I imagined.

 

[whitelilac]

Very informative article:

New Concerning Variant: B.1.1.529