Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #96

[GRT]

It would be nice if we quit harping on anti-vaxers and anti-maskers. People will continue to do what they want to do. We are all responsible for the decisions we make and can’t control others.

No matter what we do, the virus is here to stay, in some shape or form. I think we have the Wuhan lab to blame for that. Just let governments that try to hide and conceal that, face the consequences. IMO

I think that's smart. Name-calling never wins hearts and minds. Rather, it's divisive. I, too, think mistakes were made at the Wuhan Lab, but I hope not. I don't want that hanging over our head as well.

Let's all just pull together and try to support one another.

 

[beatrixpotter]

Wow...

Any idea why these numbers don't seem to line up at all with worldometer as far as the daily US cases go?

 

[CrimeAway]

A video from John Campbell discussing Delta variant, Long Covid, and an interview with an ME/CFS sufferer. ME/CFS is a post viral condition, which causes significant disability and has many similarities with Long Covid.

I've been concerned about the potential for long term disability following Covid infection since March 2020. Young people may not end up hospitalized from Covid-19, but could end up with life changing health effects.

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TWIV (This Week In Virology) also did an episode focusing on this issue

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[SouthAussie]

Any idea why these numbers don't seem to line up at all with worldometer as far as the daily US cases go?

Worldometer is definitely less accurate (when considering US data). It is more 'indicative' data than it is 'accurate' data. And primarily relies on the accuracy of press briefings.

"its Covid-19 data comes from a multilingual team that “monitors press briefings’ live streams throughout the day” and through crowdsourcing."
“Some errors are small and temporary, but some are relatively big and never corrected.”

The mystery behind the data aggregation site Worldometer

Whereas, John Hopkins uses state and county provided data (for the US). Which now drills down as much as also showing hospital bed use and availability.

Millions track the pandemic on Johns Hopkins’s dashboard.

 

[SoCalDavidS]

I'm starting to feel that's okay.

IMO it's impossible for anyone to have missed the message about how the virus is transmitted. It's just sheer, willful, pig-headedness to pretend not to understand the CDC message, which is intended to encourage people to get vaccinated so they won't need to wear a mask. The vaccines are widely available, there's no excuse in the US not to get one except 'I don't want to'. People who care, IMO, have gotten vaccinated.

Maybe time to just let people, institutions, and even governments take responsibility for their actions/inactions and not act out this stupid game of "I don't want to but I'm being forced to do it". Let people who are antimask and antivax catch the disease, let institutions who don't follow well-establish protocols deal with outbreaks, let governments who just want to pretend there isn't an epidemic, face the consequences and the voters.

The sad part is for countries that can't offer vaccines for everyone that wants them, I think we should turn our attention to helping those people and let the careless people in rich countries reap what they sow, or learn the hard way (or prove us all wrong, 'it's just like the flu'.)

Until a horrible variant comes along, whose spread begins among the 40% unvaccinated, and we're right back at March 2020, with even more resistance to reality than before.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Any idea why these numbers don't seem to line up at all with worldometer as far as the daily US cases go?

I've noticed yesterday that the US numbers seemed very low on Worldometers, and the majority of states didn't have any stats recorded. Not sure what's going on

You can flick between yesterday and today numbers here:
United States COVID: 34,753,803 Cases and 622,966 Deaths - Worldometer

 

[WichitaFalls]

Until a horrible variant comes along, whose spread begins among the 40% unvaccinated, and we're right back at March 2020, with even more resistance to reality than before.

I'm beginning to think we're just a couple of weeks from being back at March 2020. Things just "feel" the way they did back then.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Tennessee fires top vaccine official as COVID-19 shows signs of new spread — USA TODAY

“The Tennessee state government on Monday fired its top vaccination official, becoming the latest of about two dozen states to lose years of institutional knowledge about vaccines in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The termination comes as the virus shows new signs of spread in Tennessee, and the more-transmissible delta variant surfaces in greater numbers.

Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, said she was fired on Monday afternoon and provided a copy of her termination letter. It provides no explanation for her termination.

Fiscus said she was a scapegoat who was terminated to appease state lawmakers angry about the department's efforts to vaccinate teenagers against coronavirus. The agency has been dialing back efforts to vaccinate teenagers since June.

"It was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19," Fiscus said in a written statement. "I have now been terminated for doing exactly that.”

 

[WichitaFalls]

Orange County COVID-19 positivity rate on the rise, mayor recommends masks inside crowded places
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — New numbers show another spike in COVID-19 cases in Orange County.

After staying below 5% for a while, the rolling positivity rate is now close to 8% in Orange County, adding nearly 500 new cases a day.
Health and city leaders say it’s time for people to stop thinking only of themselves and stop dragging out the pandemic for everyone else. Mayor Jerry Demings said that includes recommending that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people wear masks inside places where social distancing isn’t possible.

Orange County COVID-19 positivity rate on the rise, mayor recommends masks inside crowded places

 

[SouthAussie]

Tennessee fires top vaccine official as COVID-19 shows signs of new spread — USA TODAY

“The Tennessee state government on Monday fired its top vaccination official, becoming the latest of about two dozen states to lose years of institutional knowledge about vaccines in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The termination comes as the virus shows new signs of spread in Tennessee, and the more-transmissible delta variant surfaces in greater numbers.

Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, said she was fired on Monday afternoon and provided a copy of her termination letter. It provides no explanation for her termination.

Fiscus said she was a scapegoat who was terminated to appease state lawmakers angry about the department's efforts to vaccinate teenagers against coronavirus. The agency has been dialing back efforts to vaccinate teenagers since June.

"It was my job to provide evidence-based education and vaccine access so that Tennesseans could protect themselves against COVID-19," Fiscus said in a written statement. "I have now been terminated for doing exactly that.”

IIRC, Tennessee is the state with the highest escalation in covid cases at the moment. Something like an increase of 228% over the last two weeks.

 

[SouthAussie]

It would be nice if we quit harping on anti-vaxers and anti-maskers. People will continue to do what they want to do. We are all responsible for the decisions we make and can’t control others.

No matter what we do, the virus is here to stay, in some shape or form. I think we have the Wuhan lab to blame for that. Just let governments that try to hide and conceal that, face the consequences. IMO

I wonder what consequences those 'other governments/people' will face if they are wrong - once scientists work out how the virus jumped from bats to humans. And I believe they will work it out, given time.

Might be nice if people would quit harping on that also. imo Until we know.
Let the scientists do their work, with freeflowing cooperation and information, instead of baling a country up into a defensive corner.

I wonder what (for example) the US would do if this virus started in Kansas or Long Island. "Come in everyone, come check our processes, don't believe what we tell you. Don't allow our scientists to do their own research and trace the origin." Somehow, I highly doubt it.

 

[CrimeAway]

I wonder what consequences those 'other governments/people' will face if they are wrong - once scientists work out how the virus jumped from bats to humans. And I believe they will work it out, given time.

Might be nice if people would quit harping on that also. imo Until we know.
Let the scientists do their work, with freeflowing cooperation and information, instead of baling a country up into a defensive corner.

I wonder what (for example) the US would do if this virus started in Kansas or Long Island. "Come in everyone, come check our processes, don't believe what we tell you. Don't allow our scientists to do their own research and trace the origin." Somehow, I highly doubt it.

IIRC, it took years to find the origins of Sars CoV-1

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus - Wikipedia

Edited because I wasn't sure if I used "proximal host" in the correct context.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome_coronavirus

 

[SouthAussie]

IIRC, it took years to find the proximal viral host of Sars CoV-1

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus - Wikipedia

Yes, and even more years to determine that the 1918 pandemic started in Kansas. Through young (enlisted) farmers and their disease-carrying livestock.

 

[CrimeAway]

Here's the latest clinical update from Dr. Daniel Griffin of the TWIV team.
He discusses some of the latest clinical studies, including vaccine efficacy against Delta (UK study), long covid and vaccines, and ivermectin

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[musicaljoke]

IIRC, it took years to find the origins of Sars CoV-1

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus - Wikipedia

Edited because I wasn't sure if I used "proximal host" in the correct context.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome_coronavirus

SarsCoV-1 had a frightful death rate of around 50% for people over 60. We have much to be thankful for that it was brought under control quickly and thoroughly.

I believe that we are currently the beneficiaries of a lot of the research that went into finding a vaccine for SarsCoV-1. I wonder if the vaccinations we are receiving now may be of benefit in the event of future Sars CoV outbreaks.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS): Development of Diagnostics and Antivirals

 

[LadyL]

FDA warns Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine linked to rare neurological reaction - National | Globalnews.ca

 

[WichitaFalls]

Excellent article in The Atlantic. It's long but very worth the time to read.

The 3 Simple Rules That Underscore the Danger of Delta

The 3 Simple Rules That Underscore the Danger of Delta
Vaccines are still beating the variants, but the unvaccinated world is being pummeled.
1. The vaccines are still beating the variants.
2. The variants are pummeling unvaccinated people.
3. The longer Principle No. 2 continues, the less likely No. 1 will hold.

 

[Lilibet]

Excellent article in The Atlantic. It's long but very worth the time to read.

The 3 Simple Rules That Underscore the Danger of Delta

The 3 Simple Rules That Underscore the Danger of Delta
Vaccines are still beating the variants, but the unvaccinated world is being pummeled.
1. The vaccines are still beating the variants.
2. The variants are pummeling unvaccinated people.
3. The longer Principle No. 2 continues, the less likely No. 1 will hold.

Excellent article. Thanks!

 

[GRT]

Until a horrible variant comes along, whose spread begins among the 40% unvaccinated, and we're right back at March 2020, with even more resistance to reality than before.

This is what keeps eating at me. So far, the variants have been (mostly) controlled by the vaccines, but what happens if the virus mutates in a much more destructive variant?

I'd like to see more incentives that convince folks to get the jab. For a while, we saw quite a few--here in Kansas (after I was vaccinated) they launched an incentive to win tickets to Nascar. Personally, I can't stand racing. I'm not sure who thought that one up, but I bet it didn't incentivize too many. LOL

But, even more than incentives, I'd like to see public service messages that share personal stories, such as a vaccinated person being the only one in her family that didn't get sick, or something else that allows people to see it's okay to be vaccinated.

 

[Estelle]

Talking about incentives....

Greece to pay young people to be vaccinated to boost uptake
The Greek authorities will give each vaccinated 18-25 year old a 150 euro pre-paid card

Greece to pay young people to be vaccinated to boost uptake