Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #102

[CrimeAway]

Omicron variant was detected in the Netherlands before S. Africa flights

AMSTERDAM, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The COVID-19 Omicron variant was detected in the Netherlands before two flights arrived from South Africa last week carrying the virus, Dutch health officials said on Tuesday.

"We have found the Omicron coronavirus variant in two test samples that were taken on Nov. 19 and Nov. 23," the RIVM said. "It is not clear yet whether these people have visited Southern Africa."

Omicron variant was detected in the Netherlands before S. Africa flights

BEFORE South Africa raised the alarm.
This tells me that Omicron may very well be present elsewhere before the 24th but samples have not yet been tested as cases were assumed to be Delta......maybe.

I believe that samples have to be genetically sequenced to identify what mutations are present. Not all PCR tests are sequenced, and some countries, are doing more sequencing than others.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium

SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing: Is the US doing enough?

Why US coronavirus tracking can't keep up with concerning variants

ETA: It seems that the Omicron variant is still able to show a positive Covid test, if Sars-coV-2 is present, but that the regular rapid antigen or standard PCR tests will just show positive/negative, and not the variant present. JMO

 

[margarita25]

In my opinion, based on the YouTube comments, some people are jumping the gun with this “mild severity” business based on the one South African doctor’s comments. It could VERY WELL could turn out to be the case as the doctor has said, and of course I HOPE IT IS milder, but I agree with Dr. Fauci a thousand percent that we just don’t know yet for sure, (“Bottom line, George, we don’t know yet what the level of severity will be”). There are few different factors to evaluate in the pool of those initial patients studied in South Africa, too much to go into at the moment but Dr. Fauci summarizes it well.

As we know there are hundreds of mutations, and many of them are milder and not cause for concern. I hope that doctor is right, but we need more data, imo.

 

[musicaljoke]

This is not a pandemic of the unvaccinated

COVID is not the flu, and it is not Ebola. These simple facts explain much of the confusion about our government’s response to the pandemic. The ‘superpower’ which this virus has is that it is often highly contagious in people who have no significant symptoms.

When a person feels bad and has a fever, wearing a mask and staying away from other people makes sense. Likewise, it is common sense for the people around the victim to be fastidious about hand washing and other hygiene measures.

It is not common sense to live perpetually in that state, unless we are in the midst of an epidemic of an Ebola-like disease that spreads very easily and has a very high mortality. (About 50% or more of Ebola patients die, regardless of age or previous health status).

Yes, Ebola has a horrendous mortality rate. The mortality rate for covid is still at 2%, which means one person will die out of each group of 50 cases. If this was the mortality rate in a herd of sheep or cattle, the farmer would vaccine them all. For sure. And keep a closed herd just to be on the safe side.

Vaccination and isolation are key as long as the pandemic exists, or we face the high cost of mortality.

Heh, my veterinary experience is seeping out.

 

[margarita25]

Interesting article from the Washington Post, imo:

As omicron variant spreads, China senses vindication over ‘zero covid’ strategy

 

[LaborDayRN]

Yes it was, although he was overweight. He was in hospital for over a month, on a ventilator, heart stopped multiple times. Just couldn’t win the fight.

47 yrs old.

My condolences on your loss Elley Mae. I'm so sorry.

 

[CrimeAway]

Dr Peter Hotez on The Daily Show

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[tabitha111]

Greetings all. Like some, I stepped away from the forum for awhile. Not due to any disscussions on here, but the over abundance of information I was consuming got to be too much (Twitter esp),

I am triple jabbed, as are *most* folks in my retirement community. They held a booster clinic about two weeks ago.
Visiting family that I haven't seen in about two years now, for Thanksgiving.

Right before I left on vacation, a youngish lady (early 60's) in a wheelchair (she had a previous brain anyuresm she had recovered from) was dx with Covid when she fell in the community and was taken to the hospital. She now has pnemonia and is still in hospital. Rumor has it that she was not vaccinated.

We have been very lucky here - I fear our luck though may run out- with the new *omicron* variant abroad probably coming to the US soon. Interesting times.

************************************************
Welp- we have ANOTHER Covid positive resident. He is a man in his 90's - 3x vaxxed. So far he is confined to his apartment and taking meals there. I don't know anything more, but our community is soooo very lax on masks and visitors wearing masks
and just an overall feeling that the pandemic is over.
He did travel to Atlanta recently with his son, so we are all thinkiing that is where/when he was exposed.

Then there is the mysterious case of a resident who is in the hospital (not the original Covid resident- she is still in the hospital) but her neighbor....who according to the grapevine has a "virus in her throat" but its not Covid...ummmmm yah sure its not! Hospitalized? Virus in her throat? Not Covid?

 

[tabitha111]

Not a real necessity at all...but I subscribe to two different "HOME DECOR" subscripton boxes (my passion is interior design)....and we have recieved notice that our boxes are sitting in Long Beach, CA on container ships either out in the ocean or waiting in port...the Christmas boxes might not arrive on time this year for decorating.
I know in the big scheme of things, this is such a trivial matter, but customers are up in arms.

 

[MrX]

Yes, Ebola has a horrendous mortality rate. The mortality rate for covid is still at 2%, which means one person will die out of each group of 50 cases. If this was the mortality rate in a herd of sheep or cattle, the farmer would vaccine them all. For sure. And keep a closed herd just to be on the safe side.

Vaccination and isolation are key as long as the pandemic exists, or we face the high cost of mortality.

Heh, my veterinary experience is seeping out.

That is a wonderful article. It's such a shame that extremists on both sides monopolize the debate. I loved when our Governor, during his weekly pressers last spring, said something to the effect of "I'm dealing with virus deniers and people who want everything closed - they are nuts from the same basket."

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Greetings all. Like some, I stepped away from the forum for awhile. Not due to any disscussions on here, but the over abundance of information I was consuming got to be too much (Twitter esp),

I am triple jabbed, as are *most* folks in my retirement community. They held a booster clinic about two weeks ago.
Visiting family that I haven't seen in about two years now, for Thanksgiving.

Right before I left on vacation, a youngish lady (early 60's) in a wheelchair (she had a previous brain anyuresm she had recovered from) was dx with Covid when she fell in the community and was taken to the hospital. She now has pnemonia and is still in hospital. Rumor has it that she was not vaccinated.

We have been very lucky here - I fear our luck though may run out- with the new *omicron* variant abroad probably coming to the US soon. Interesting times.

************************************************
Welp- we have ANOTHER Covid positive resident. He is a man in his 90's - 3x vaxxed. So far he is confined to his apartment and taking meals there. I don't know anything more, but our community is soooo very lax on masks and visitors wearing masks
and just an overall feeling that the pandemic is over.
He did travel to Atlanta recently with his son, so we are all thinkiing that is where/when he was exposed.

Then there is the mysterious case of a resident who is in the hospital (not the original Covid resident- she is still in the hospital) but her neighbor....who according to the grapevine has a "virus in her throat" but its not Covid...ummmmm yah sure its not! Hospitalized? Virus in her throat? Not Covid?

Nice to see you back Tabitha. I hope your poorly residents all pull theough ok.

 

[HongKongPhooey]

Covid in Scotland: All nine Omicron cases linked to single event

So 9 people were infected with Omicron at an event on 20th Nov in Scotland. None had recently travelled.

It's been here before it was "identified"by SA on 24 Nov.

 

[LaborDayRN]

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[Herat]

Dr Peter Hotez on The Daily Show

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Wow. Dr. Peter Hotez is TERRIFIC

So reasonable and rational.

It does sound like we have to stop stigmatizing countries that don't have enough vaccines or vaccine distribution infrastructure and support them because that is where the variants arise.

I highly recommend this.

 

[margarita25]

Wow. Dr. Peter Hotez is TERRIFIC

So reasonable and rational.

It does sound like we have to stop stigmatizing countries that don't have enough vaccines or vaccine distribution infrastructure and support them because that is where the variants arise.

I highly recommend this.

How’s your candy stash holding up? Missed you! I’ll never forget that post you made in the early days about handling packages with tongs and honking the horn!! We were all laughing so hard, I was laughing so hard I was crying!!

 

[margarita25]

Woohoo, Dr. Fauci slide show:

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Dr. Fauci again reiterates from the small sampling size, it is too early to tell about disease severity, al though preliminary reports from SA say no unusual symptoms.

Mutation profile different from other variants of concern/interest. Says while some mutations are similar to Delta, “this is not Delta”.

* Also, 4th point on slide at 2:26: “Other mutations not well characterized” as to their functional capability.

I am interpreting this to mean that while they are seeing some familiar mutations, they are also seeing new ones which they don’t have reference data for, which is a little troubling, imo. In other words, who knows how they will behave.

I’m only 5 minutes in, but these are my notes so far.

—-

Eta: “Everything remains speculative, despite what we’re hearing in the press.”

 

[ilovewings]

My son is vaccinated and will soon begin an overseas assignment in the oil industry. The job will involve monthly flights. I was just beginning to feel comfortable about his job until the variant. My son has a young family.

It is unfortunate that just when things start looking up, along comes bad news-
Delta came along just after we began getting vaccinated and feeling like we were
turning the corner on this pandemic---now we have jazzed up our immune systems
with a booster and along comes Omicron---Wishing your son and his young family
can stay healthy..All I can say is this virus is smarter than we are

 

[CrimeAway]

IMO, the virus is going to do what viruses do; infect susceptible hosts, and reproduce in them. Every time that the virus reproduces, mutations can occur. If those mutations confer some fitness advantage to the virus, they will be naturally selected for, and increase in prevalence.

We have to give the virus fewer opportunities to reproduce and mutate, by minimizing infection risk, and getting vaccinated. Even if the vaccines do not fully protect against infection, they give the body a head-start in fighting the virus.
Less virus replication, and for a shorter time, should mean less chance for mutations IMO.

 

[CrimeAway]

Woohoo, Dr. Fauci slide show:

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Dr. Fauci again reiterates from the small sampling size, it is too early to tell about disease severity, al though preliminary reports from SA say no unusual symptoms.

Mutation profile different from other variants of concern/interest. Says while some mutations are similar to Delta, “this is not Delta”.

* Also, 4th point on slide at 2:26: “Other mutations not well characterized” as to their functional capability.

I am interpreting this to mean that while they are seeing some familiar mutations, they are also seeing new ones which they don’t have reference data for, which is a little troubling, imo. In other words, who knows how they will behave.

I’m only 5 minutes in, but these are my notes so far.

—-

Eta: “Everything remains speculative, despite what we’re hearing in the press.”

Thank you @margarita25

I took this SS from the video that you so kindly linked above.

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I think that for many of us here, the advice seems to be, to keep doing what we have been doing, and get your booster vaccine as soon as indicated.

I'm thankful for all the sensible, caring WS posters, who have been a voice of reason throughout this ongoing pandemic.

 

[Herat]

IMO, the virus is going to do what viruses do; infect susceptible hosts, and reproduce in them. Every time that the virus reproduces, mutations can occur. If those mutations confer some fitness advantage to the virus, they will be naturally selected for, and increase in prevalence.

We have to give the virus fewer opportunities to reproduce and mutate, by minimizing infection risk, and getting vaccinated. Even if the vaccines do not fully protect against infection, they give the body a head-start in fighting the virus.
Less virus replication, and for a shorter time, should mean less chance for mutations IMO.

Anyone remember MERS ( aka: MERS-CoV) ?

It was a type of coronavirus that was found in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It had a brief, but rather terrifying ascent with up to 35% mortality.

Then it mutated and hasn't been heard from since. This is what corona viruses are notorious for: mutating.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

 

[JayWill]

That is a wonderful article. It's such a shame that extremists on both sides monopolize the debate. I loved when our Governor, during his weekly pressers last spring, said something to the effect of "I'm dealing with virus deniers and people who want everything closed - they are nuts from the same basket."

I don't agree with your governor. China has kept the virus at a minimum by closing down completely for short amounts of time. I have two friends living in China, one of them has been shut in twice for 2 weeks and one in another area, once for two weeks. They have all food and any other supplies they need delivered to their doors by neighborhood committees.