Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #102

[CrimeAway]

Me too. I was just sitting here thinking that this time last year my aunt was still alive and she was trying to work out how she could safely spend Christmas with my cousins. I still cant believe she didnt see Christmas . It was brutal, honestly.

And all those other families, having similar thoughts. Just awful.

Yet still so many people just don't seem to care, and refuse to take basic precautions.

I've been really disappointed in people's selfish attitudes over the last 2 years.

 

[Turkeytrot]

Covid Live Updates: U.K., Germany and Italy Confirm Omicron Cases

 

[margarita25]

I'm notifying a mod to make sure this video is okay to post.

Still catching up in here, but wanted to thank you @LaborDayRN for posting this - I would love to hear what Dr. Campbell has to say about all this.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Oy Vay--watching 110,000 Michigan fans screaming and hugging
over Michigan win over Ohio---this spectacle in a state with
exploding cases of Covid-- even outdoors I cannot see how this
wont result in many new cases

As happy as DH and I were that our Wolverines toppled OSU, I watched as fans ran out on the field to celebrate and called it a "super-spreader". Not good

 

[HongKongPhooey]

((((HongKongPhooey))))) I'm so sorry about the loss of your Aunt.

Thanks so much. I think I mentioned this before a long time back, but it says something doesnt it that some of my good WS friends "attended" her funeral with me remotely. Isnt that amazing?

What we would have done without our sanity checks here xX

 

[ilovewings]

As happy as DH and I were that our Wolverines toppled OSU, I watched as fans ran out on the field to celebrate and called it a "super-spreader". Not good

I too was happy for the Wolverines wonderful victory, but that spectacle
of fans going nuts just caused me to think how can these people not
understand we are in the middle of a health crisis-- sadly I have concluded
they just dont care----

 

[anneg]

Both better and worse. Better in that I pictured losing many people I am close to. Better in that I half-expected to die myself. Worse in terms of what I learned about my fellow man, which ties into worse in terms of how long this has lasted and how many times it has mutated.

Yes, both better and worse for me too. I was also afraid of losing close family members and friends, and thought there was a good chance DH and I would die if we got the virus (we're old). I also agree with your last sentence.

I honestly thought it would “run its course” like SARS and be over in a few months. I was worried about mutations after learning about that happening during the 1918 flu, but never could have fathomed the scope of all this.

Yup. Maybe it's a good thing that we can't see the future...

 

[Shelby1]

So, I'm back to having major anxiety like I was having in March of 2020 and beyond. This new variant sounds bad.

Husband and I were fully vaxxed as of the second week of Sept. so I don't think we are able to get a booster yet.

Are you guys thinking this is going to be super bad? Curious to hear from all of you smart Websleuths people that have been my go-to during this.

 

[anneg]

Thread by @PeterHotez on Thread Reader App

This is a Twitter thread by Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert at Texas Children's Hospital, that may make us all feel a little less worried. He says "the sky is not falling, as far as I can tell," and lists six reasons why he feels that way.

"First, Omicron from the reports I've seen so far does not appear to cause more severe disease than alpha or delta, it's not the Andromeda strain."

(For the other five additional points, see link)

 

[whitelilac]

This Omicron strain news came out what 2 days ago, maybe three?
Immediate concerns and countries closing their borders to a number of African countries to stop this thing.
Now we hear they've confirmed cases in the Netherlands, UK, Germany, Hong Kong and Italy.

No doubt it's in the US too......
It will never end.

And I have acquaintances (intelligent too, or so I thought) in Germany and Austria, who are STILL into all the conspiracy theories. Anti vax, anti control, freedom of choice etc etc.
It doesn't end.

 

[Turkeytrot]

What you need to know about the omicron variant

From the article..

• As of Saturday the US has not imposed any new travel restrictions on the European or Asian nations where the omicron variant has appeared.

 

[acutename]

I'm notifying a mod to make sure this video is okay to post.

ug... video confirms all my worst suspicions and the 11 day lead time to detection makes me think that this is already all over the world.

 

[ilovewings]

This Omicron strain news came out what 2 days ago, maybe three?
Immediate concerns and countries closing their borders to a number of African countries to stop this thing.
Now we hear they've confirmed cases in the Netherlands, UK, Germany, Hong Kong and Italy.

No doubt it's in the US too......
It will never end.

And I have acquaintances (intelligent too, or so I thought) in Germany and Austria, who are STILL into all the conspiracy theories. Anti vax, anti control, freedom of choice etc etc.
It doesn't end.

This Omicron strain news came out what 2 days ago, maybe three?
Immediate concerns and countries closing their borders to a number of African countries to stop this thing.
Now we hear they've confirmed cases in the Netherlands, UK, Germany, Hong Kong and Italy.

No doubt it's in the US too......
It will never end.

And I have acquaintances (intelligent too, or so I thought) in Germany and Austria, who are STILL into all the conspiracy theories. Anti vax, anti control, freedom of choice etc etc.
It doesn't end.

Interesting how we are continuallly surprised by people you thought
you knew!!!!!

 

[CrimeAway]

Peter Hotez Peter Hotez - Wikipedia
was on TWIV this time last year, and I remember it being an interesting episode (JMO).

I'm going to relisten.

 

[acutename]

Good News

Pfizer said an updated version of its COVID-19 vaccine will be 'ready in 100 days' if the new Omicron variant is resistant to its current vaccine

Pfizer said it will be able to manufacture and distribute an updated version of its COVID-19 vaccine within 100 days if the new variant Omicron is found to be resistant to its current vaccine.

"Pfizer and BioNTech have taken actions months ago to be able to adapt the mRNA vaccine within six weeks and ship initial batches within 100 days in the event of an escape variant," the company said in a statement.

Pfizer expects to know within two weeks whether the variant is resistant to its current vaccine, a company spokesperson told Reuters.

"We expect more data from the laboratory tests in two weeks at the latest. These data will provide more information about whether B.1.1.529 could be an escape variant that may require an adjustment of our vaccine if the variant spreads globally," the spokesperson said.

Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are also preparing to respond to the Omicron's possible threat.

this is nice but we are not really that great at distributing vaccine quickly- have we gotten any better? - and even if they develop a new vaccine in 100 days (3 mos), it takes us a long time to approve and distribute it and about 2 weeks to have it take full effect in a vaccinated person... a month and a half if we need 2 doses...we are talking about a year of lock down IMO.

 

[SoCalDavidS]

Thread by @PeterHotez on Thread Reader App

This is a Twitter thread by Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert at Texas Children's Hospital, that may make us all feel a little less worried. He says "the sky is not falling, as far as I can tell," and lists six reasons why he feels that way.

"First, Omicron from the reports I've seen so far does not appear to cause more severe disease than alpha or delta, it's not the Andromeda strain."

(For the other five additional points, see link)

He was on CNN today, and I agree with you that he was not sounding any big alarms about Omicron. I feel like it's too early to know. I'm sure much more will be learned in the next 7-10 days. I expect that either tomorrow or Monday, we'll hear that it's been detected in America.

It could be like Delta. But Delta was pretty horrible.

My opinion is that it will behave like Delta, but be exponentially more transmittable. Which means that Case #'s could rise dramatically. And this is where the bad part comes in.

While it may be that it is no worse than Delta, or even less harmful for those who are vaccinated, higher case #'s will still bring higher hospitalizations & deaths, even amongst the vaccinated. A 2% Vaccinated Hospitalization rate on 300,000 Daily Cases, will result in a higher total than Delta's peak of 200,000 Daily Cases at the beginning of September.

With Christmas & New Year's coming up, if this strain turns out to be highly contagious, spreading with less severe consequences amongst the vaccinated, then things are going to become REALLY Bad come January & February.

How many of you think people are going to change their holiday plans in 2 weeks, if it were to be announced that this strain is Insanely contagious, and spreading faster worldwide than any strain to come before? Sadly, I don't.

 

[acutename]

How are they identifying this "variant"? I thought that the current Covid tests, only test for the Covid-19, how does the test distinguish between the variants?

Stopping travel starting Monday is completely ridiculous. It reminds me of the hordes of people crushed into planes coming to the United States in March. All coughing on each other, off the plane in Atlanta, to transfer to other planes to go to their homes in FL, CA, TX, WA...great plan.

I totally understand wanting to stop travel immediately, but I think stopping with about 2 days notice was fairly immediate. Most international travel is booked way in advance, IMO.

 

[acutename]

I read this earlier and was shocked by the 61 positives. Shows the scale of the situation I think. Also, not to be the harbinger of doom but its way too late. 61 there at Amsterdam, how many more already arrived? Buckle up (again).

so did these people become infected on the flight? no testing prior? they were vaccinated? does anyone know what was required to board? Also, how big are those flights? how many passengers total?

 

[CrimeAway]

so did these people become infected on the flight? no testing prior? they were vaccinated? does anyone know what was required to board? Also, how big are those flights? how many passengers total?

I had read that it was 2 flights, and ~600 people total, so around 10% tested positive. I would imagine that more passengers will test positive in the coming days. I saw several unmasked people in the photos from the Daily Mail

Dozens of passengers who arrived in Holland from South Africa 'test positive for Covid' | Daily Mail Online

 

[Grouse]

so did these people become infected on the flight?

No I don't think that can be possible. I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure there is an incubation period of a few days before a test could be positive, or a person become infectious. They must have had it before they got on, which does imply a high general infection level in southern Africa.

I don't think we know yet if the 61 are the new variant do we?