by Jake Harper/ inewsource / June 6, 2022
A surge in COVID cases hitting San Diego County has public health experts worried that a rise in hospitalizations and deaths could be on the way.
The Omicron variants BA.2 and BA.2.12.1, which are even more contagious than the variant that caused a winter surge in the U.S., are responsible for the recent increase in cases across the county — rivaling numbers seen in the Delta wave late last summer. For example, confirmed cases surpassed 1,500 per day for three days straight in late May.
“The respite we get between surges seems to be decreasing,” said Corinne McDaniels-Davidson, epidemiologist and the director of the San Diego State University Institute for Public Health.
Even more alarming, she said, data from wastewater sampling suggests that the number of new cases could be undercounted as more and more people rely on home-based testing. Looking at cities that preceded San Diego in the latest COVID-19 surge, she worries that hospitalizations and deaths could soon begin to rise.
“I think that probably is coming,” she said. “It’s frustrating.”
COVID has killed more than 5,300 people in San Diego County since the start of the pandemic. While hospitalizations hit their lowest point of the year in April, county data show those numbers rising throughout May.
For the balance of this article, please go here.
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
We’re in for a rough ride.
Horrible analogy. This is only a ride if you consider a train wreck that is still most definitely still in progress.
At least one out of every 331 people in this country has died of Covid in the last 2 years. That’s the ‘official’ number being a million dead in this country. Which is very likely an under-count due to incompetence and/or deliberate suppression for political gain by how the deaths were counted (think FL).
In 1918, the last Pandemic, this planet only had 1.1 Billion. There was no ‘flu’ shots and people argued about masks and the disease being faked just as…shall we say…’vigorously’ as the current crop of anti-science zealots have over the last two years. Probably 50 million died worldwide but so many were uncounted then, too, as life was very rural still then across broad swaths of the world…
Worse, this is mostly preventable or at least would be much more controllable if only the stupid and the greedy (not always the same people but often are) would quit acting like they do. I’m not polite or PC enough I guess but with 21 dead on my list including two relatives, I’ve lost any empathy for those humans that fit into those two categories.
There is also is a growing list of people I know that are talking about their Long Covid/Sequelae symptom after effects (over 200 documented so far) Those are mainly ignored because it doesn’t fit into the narrative of ‘we are so over covid’ economic propaganda and bluntly the doctors don’t know what to do about it. Too new of a disease. What will 10 years show, 20? Brain damage, brain shrinkage, these we know are happening already!
Certainly the long term economic and health ramifications look a bit grim being that roughly 30% of the people who have caught it have symptoms that linger or come on suddenly both serious and not. Which comes to tens of millions of people worldwide at this point.
Maybe 20 million dead so far being reported by the WHO, and we’re only in another lull here in Year 3. Mustn’t alarm the serfs, though, because the only thing that matters is economics and the wealthy accumulation they produce for the already wealthy. Ain’t economics grand?
I’ve posted links and vids on Covid articles here on the RAG, and will continue to do so because it’s the correct thing to do. I’ll add another couple below though I really have no idea if anyone is paying attention.
#1 wear a freaking mask indoors at least. An N95 not a earloops surgical mask or a cloth mask unless you have a replaceable filter style as prolonged exposure is a factor for increased chances of infection to seriously sick.
#2 send billions of the shots out around the world. They are NOT vaccines unfortunately though I certainly wish they were equal to the Polio and Smallpox and others that you never catch again after getting inoculated. But Public Health is not good for corporate profits though it should be the final word. But it isn’t, just continued insatiable greed by the already ridiculously wealthy junkies who are every bit as addicted to more as any street meth-head or heroin addict.
Do the best you can, think before you act. Always have a mask with you. Like a seatbelt, it won’t stop the accident but maybe you won’t go through the windshield…
sealintheSelkirks
US, new omicrons
Dr. John Campbell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZACVuEI2Xc
__
WHO Chief Warns Humanity Lowers Guard Against Covid-19 ‘At Our Peril’
The pandemic, says Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is “most certainly not over.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/05/23/who-chief-warns-humanity-lowers-guard-against-covid-19-our-peril
__
Immunology professor on why data shows more COVID infections among boosted Americans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVnQ5cZ-JyM
__
Monkeypox cases are rising—here’s what we know so far
An outbreak of monkeypox, which is related to smallpox, has public health officials concerned. But the virus can be contained with vaccines that are already stockpiled and available in some countries.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/monkeypox-cases-are-risingheres-what-we-know-so-far
__
And I’ve got one person who was in total lock-down quarantine in a physical rehab facility unit in Conneticut (lost toes to diabetes). All four patients caught a variant of the Avian flu a few weeks ago. She said it was moon-suited doctors & nurses, nobody else allowed into the ward for ten days. Another disease circulating…
sealintheSelkirks
The Covid update for people who are still paying attention. More bad news to contemplate. No matter how much folks want to ignore this damn disease, you really shouldn’t be! With 40,000 freshly dead in this country between June 1-Sept 1 (official numbers), we truly can say that America is number one even with only 4% of the world’s population…
Hardly anybody is wearing masks here, a friend in Utah said the same thing about SLC, another in Maryland repeats the refrain as does my best friend in Hawai’i where infection rates are just spiking. Looking at the OB Hotel surf cam it looks like exactly the same pattern down there. A few masks here and there but the great majority are all playing Russian Roulette thinking it won’t happen to them.
A family I taught to snowboard a few years ago are just struggling back from their 2nd bout, and like the first one last year only mom got hit really hard. Husband barely had a cough after teenage daughter went down first, then mom was slammed to the floor for three weeks and is showing all the signs of long covid; brain fog, shortness of breathe, etc etc. She doesn’t have any more sick days so she’s back at work but barely functioning.
When Will the Pandemic Truly Be ‘Over’?
Everyone wants to be done with Covid. But no single milestone will signal the end of the virus.
https://www.wired.com/story/when-will-the-pandemic-truly-be-over
__
The ‘End’ of COVID Is Still Far Worse Than We Imagined
Even now, the coronavirus is killing three times as many people as the flu.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/09/covid-pandemic-end-worse-than-flu
__
Even mild COVID-19 can cause your brain to shrink
Recent brain imaging shows the disease can cause physical changes equivalent to a decade of aging and trigger problems with attention and memory. Exactly why is still a mystery.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/even-mild-covid-19-can-cause-your-brain-to-shrink
__
What comes after Omicron? New variants are emerging.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/what-comes-after-omicron-new-variants-are-emerging
At least 300 Americans have died from COVID-19 every day for the past three months, and roughly 50,000 new COVID-19 infections were reported in the U.S. every day in September—all caused by new sublineages of Omicron: BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA.4., and BA.5. To date there have been more than 200 newer Omicron sublineages and their derivatives. What does mean for the new boosters and treatments?
__
The Pandemic’s Legacy Is Already Clear
All of this will happen again.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/09/covid-pandemic-exposes-americas-failing-systems-future-epidemics
Recently, after a week in which 2,789 Americans died of COVID-19, President Joe Biden proclaimed that “the pandemic is over.” Anthony Fauci described the controversy around the proclamation as a matter of “semantics,” but the facts we are living with can speak for themselves. COVID still kills roughly as many Americans every week as died on 9/11. It is on track to kill at least 100,000 a year—triple the typical toll of the flu. Despite gross undercounting, more than 50,000 infections are being recorded every day. The CDC estimates that 19 million adults have long COVID. Things have undoubtedly improved since the peak of the crisis, but calling the pandemic “over” is like calling a fight “finished” because your opponent is punching you in the ribs instead of the face.
__
4 ways the world messed up its pandemic response — and 3 fixes to do better next time
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/09/14/1123016479/global-pandemic-response-lessons-lancet-commission
A new report issued by the Lancet Commission looks at the first two years of the pandemic to consider what the world did right (spoiler: not much), what the world got wrong, and how we can end this public health emergency and prepare for future ones. According to the commission, the failures cost us 17.7 million unnecessary deaths globally — a figure that includes some 6 million reported deaths plus an estimate of unreported deaths. (Not to mention the many people still struggling with the long-term consequences of a prior infection with COVID-19.)
__
I continue to wear N95s whenever I go into a building.
sealintheSelkirks
Latest:
The Right’s Anti-Vaxxers Are Killing Republicans
Since Covid-19 vaccines arrived, the gap in so-called excess deaths between Republicans and Democrats has widened, a new study says.
https://theintercept.com/2022/10/10/covid-republican-democrat-deaths
A new study (https://www.nber.org/papers/w30512) has concluded what many Americans have long suspected: The Covid-19 pandemic has killed more Republicans than Democrats…
Just thinning the herd I guess, eh?
__
The best thing you can do to quash a deadly Covid-19 surge this winter
Redesigned Covid-19 vaccines could save thousands of lives, but few are getting them.
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/23393321/covid-vaccine-bivalent-booster-pfizer-moderna
__
Had my Bivalent Pfizer booster today in one arm, flu shot in the other. Flu shot cost me $35 but zero for the booster… Maybe I’ll make it through the coming surge expected as the Northern Hemisphere starts being inside more as winter hits.
So far I haven’t become magnetic….
sealintheSelkirks
Another update that nobody is going to like. Corporate theft. We need a functioning public health system.
‘Daylight Robbery’: Pfizer Condemned for Hiking US Covid Vaccine Price by 10,000% Above Cost
“While health workers and the vulnerable continue to go unvaccinated in developing countries, Pfizer is shamelessly fleecing the public for ever-greater sums of money,” said one campaigner.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/10/21/daylight-robbery-pfizer-condemned-hiking-us-covid-vaccine-price-10000-above-cost
__
More bad news:
The COVID Data That Are Actually Useful Now
Move over, case rates and hospitalizations. The next generation of COVID tracking is here.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/10/fall-winter-covid-cases-wave-data-predictions/671768/
…”case rates may seem low now, true infections may be up to 20 times higher.”
__
I saw a woman and her five year old last week wearing masks at Safeway when I had to go in for cat food. I gave a thumb’s up to them and I could tell the little girl was grinning at me though it may have been my ’77 Bahne ‘Bullet’ skateboard dangling from my hand. Being an old guy surfer/skater in a tiny town does that…but just nobody is wearing masks in these mountains.
Can’t wait for the “most infectious strains yet” to get ripping through the population that just mutated off from BA. 5,. Can’t find the article but it’s Q something 1.0 and 1.1 and looking to overtake BA.5 as the number one strain in the USA. And the shots are expected to be completely useless against them.
Roughly 30% of anyone who’s caught this is suffering from Long Covid, that’s millions of people some who can no longer work as it’s disabled them. Does anybody think this is a good thing?
__
And this was kind of interesting:
Whites now more likely to die from covid than Blacks: Why the pandemic shifted
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/10/19/covid-deaths-us-race/
__
sealintheSelkirks
Getting harder to find sources for the latest except if one browses the latest university publications and even those are becoming less accessible to the public, but this is a good summary of a number of articles I’ve read into that was posted today by a regular on this site.
As usual, it really isn’t good news to those who have ‘forgotten’ we are in Year 3 of the Covid Pandemic. It did “just go away like a miracle” like Trumpie said it would. Duh.
I have a former student who just went down with it AGAIN last week down south. He’s a bus driver and I asked if he’s been wearing his N95 and he said no. Well, another DUH, dude! This was a kid that taught my straight A stepdaughter trig in high school so he does know how to use his brain… he can’t afford the time off especially since he’s a new hire and just passed through his training period. So he’s going to wear N95s to protect his passengers though it was probably one of his nearly 100% unmasked riders that gave it to him (and probably 5 or 6 others at the same time).
Covid ALERT! 10 LARGE Problems
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/14/2135976/-Covid-ALERT-10-LARGE-Problems
__
And then there was this earlier article:
For those still trying to duck covid, the isolation is worse than ever
\
Some members of the masked minority have reorganized their lives indefinitely
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/10/26/covid-pandemic-still-isolating/
__
I swear, we are(generally) such an intelligent country with so many examples to go by don’t you think?
Big s/ there if you didn’t catch it!
__
8’F this morning, glittering ice paths through this snow-covered property. The whitetails are eating the apples off my tree that they can reach. I’m still eating the ones on higher limbs. Yum, sweet organic Jonathans!
sealintheSelkirks
Quick update.
My old student was told to get an ‘official’ hospital covid test, went to the local one and was told he had to pay $300. He called his bus bosses and the union rep gave him a list of alternative places that don’t rip you off like corporate hospitals. It took a few miserable hours today calling around and (he doesn’t have a car) to get in for the test. It will be two days before the results but with a positive home test…they know he’s sick with it since they are losing drivers to covid like crazy at the moment. Three others were just put in quarantine today along with a couple administrators who are in the buildings all day (along with a couple of the mechanics), and he said they now don’t have enough drivers to run the routes to the University and city…
The advantage of having a Union job is that they help you with things like that along with a proof of a positive (he had to stop the bus to get out an heave in the bushes) means he at least gets 5 paid days off. He’s really sick and says he’s a lot worse than he was in his first bout with this crap. He sounded terrible and was complaining about opening a window and the air coming in smelled like dead wet animal. Wonder what strain he’s got? So many to choose from!
Don’t get this crap. He’s only 39 and it is kicking his ass big time.
sealintheSelkirks
Another update. The US is still seeing between 300-600 deaths a DAY from covid and the politicians do this:
Senate Votes to Overturn Covid-19 National Emergency
Just over a week after the “election to save democracy,” Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to end the Covid-19 Emergency Declaration three years after it was invoked. Both parties show us time and time again that the working class needs its own party.
https://www.leftvoice.org/senate-votes-to-overturn-covid-19-national-emergency/
__
Millions are dealing with Long Covid just like millions in the 1920s were dealing with the debilitating diseases associated with the 1918 Pandemic that my grandpa talked about (and was one of).
Doesn’t anybody pay attention to history so they can compare it with current events? Definitely not politicians it seems. Doesn’t anybody care? Nope, not really as long as you aren’t the one that’s affected from this new disease. Or one of your direct relatives that you find you have to start taking care of because we don’t have public healthy care in this country.
The Pandemic is not over, just ignored. But instead of 110 million we have 330 million in this country. Which means a larger cohort of damaged people from this disease to contend with. Something to think about. Or will those people continue to be ignored and poo-poo’d at because it doesn’t fit the Corporate-Capitalist program of ever-increasing profits?
And then there is this byproduct of the GOP/Christo-Fundie anti-science mentality:
Covid Disruptions, ‘Rising Anti-Vaccine Activism’ Linked to Growing Measles Threat
“Widening gaps in immunization coverage are letting measles—the most contagious yet vaccine-preventable killer disease—spread and cause illness and death,” said one expert.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/11/24/covid-disruptions-rising-anti-vaccine-activism-linked-growing-measles-threat
__
Just…wow. Covid is spreading but governments don’t want to hear about it. How’s that for ‘government by the people?’
sealintheSelkirks
Latest two links, and of course nobody is going to like them. The 2nd is a non-subscriber link to the latest graphs etc.
But there is no way in hell that the medical community has any real idea of how many people are getting sick or infected. That was the entire point of those gov-subsidized home test kits. You think this gov would give anything FREE if the result didn’t have an alternative purpose that benefits them?
If TFG’s staff had thought of free test kits instead we’d still be in an Pandemic. Oh wait, WE STILL ARE! But the ‘official numbers’ would have looked better from the start. Which have always been below the reality. Even the deaths are underrepresented especially from the ‘excess death rate’ that insurance companies use.
Trust politicians to do what’s best for…keeping their corporate wealthy campaign bribes coming in. That’s why Biden is trying to break the railroad union like Reagan broke the Air Traffic Controllers Union in the 80s. Any of you remember that? Making the air safe for increased profits (!) and now the same thing happens. Is this what they call a mixed message to voters?
Oh well. Obama made not having medical insurance from a private for-profit multi-billion dollar corporation a federal crime. When you can be FINED by the IRS, a federal agency with agents carrying guns, it’s a crime, right? But I digress…
Here’s what you need to know about the COVID bivalent booster
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/3/2138850/-Here-s-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-COVID-bivalent-booster
__
And this certainly isn’t good news at all. The non-subscriber link to the ugly reality of Covid and now we’ve got the BQ variants running rampant across our country. Graphs etc at the link.
And yes, I still wear a mask everywhere when I’m out and about. Friday at Safeway there were probably six or eight of us out of maybe 40-50 people in the store (including maskless employees). Funny that it is quite noticeable that people without them are TRYING not to look at those of us who are. Pretending to ‘not’ see us is obvious. Weird stuff because one can literally catch them looking away. Don’t remind us they scream with their body language. Now we have the BQ variants and isn’t this going to be a fun 3rd winter of our discontent?
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/graphics/graphic-tracking-coronavirus-infections-us
__
sealintheSelkirks
Today’s latest news. Even Biden’s “Covid is Over” administration is starting to get nervous. Is he going back on TV to apologize and admit he was blowing hot air out his ass? Will the GOP allow him spending federal funds to do this?
Probably no to both questions.
Warning of Winter Surge, White House Revives Free At-Home Covid Test Program
“This is not one disease in isolation,” said the president’s Covid-19 response coordinator. “We are very aware that this increase that we’re seeing in Covid is in that context of one of the worst flu seasons in a decade and RSV that was quite bad.”
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/12/15/warning-winter-surge-white-house-revives-free-home-covid-test-program
___
Folks, best be thinking a little more critically again after the giddy playtime of the last few months. This damn virus mutates every 60 days into something new. Now Omicron BQ 1.1 and BQ 1.0 have taken over as the predominant strain from BA 5 in October. That’s just two months ago!
This is far scarier than people want to face I guess…me, too, for that matter. So far my ‘Dead of Covid’ list is still at 21.
sealintheSelkirks
Well, there was a surge of Covid among old people after Thanksgiving dinners and I expect with these new BQ strains that have blown across the country that it’ll be worse after Christmas with the huge increase in air travel going on. What a wonderful way to express family togetherness, spreading joy and sickness among your relatives. Yep, feeling a little cynical after hearing about a friend’s daughter whose mother in law (a 50 yr old nurse) that is now intubated and unconscious on her belly with RSV and pneumonia…
The curious case of the 471-day coronavirus infection
A patient’s lingering infection gave scientists a good look at viral evolution
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-infection-471-days-coronavirus-evolution-variants
NOTE: This article is from Aug. 30th.
sealintheSelkirks
And with all the Christmas dinners that happened yesterday, it might be a good idea to have these on the shelf…For those that didn’t catch it:
Free tests can now be ordered online at Covidtests.gov or by phone at 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489).
…The New York Times reported Thursday that Covid-19 cases “have risen roughly 55% over the past two weeks, while deaths have surged by around 65% in the same period. Hospitalizations have risen over 20%, adding strain to medical centers already deluged by cases of the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.”
sealintheSelkirks
This is most current summary by poster. NEW variants BQ and XBB are dodging vaccines! NOT good.
“Markedly reduced” protection against rising BQ.1, BQ1.1, XBB, & XBB.1 COVID subvariants
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/27/2144119/–Markedly-reduced-protection-against-rising-BQ-1-BQ1-1-XBB-amp-XBB-1-COVID-subvariants
__
So go party and don’t wear a mask and…risk assessment is not in the picture I guess. Waiting to hear about the surge of Christmas dinner infections and deaths like Thanksgiving did…
Wear a mask if you’re out and about. China is seeing 1 million new infections a day and it’s all going up here, too.
sealintheSelkirks
Primarily this says get the September ‘Bivalent’ shot now. Wear a mask now. Links to sources are at bottom:
Holy Crap! XBB 1.5 Has Gone NUTS!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/2/2144676/-Holy-Crap-XBB-1-5-Has-Gone-NUTS
Share this article
XBB 1.5 has far exceeded worst expectations, doubling its share of new U.S. covid cases, soaring from 18% to 40% last week.
The extremely immunity-proof mutation has pushed aside a dozen other covid variants by out-infecting them in a blitzkrieg wave blanketing U.S. states from coast to coast, proving itself the most-contagious covid of all.
continues at link
__
sealintheSelkirks
Two for this week .
XBB.1.5 scaring the bejeezus out of the scientists it seems. And wait until the next variants come from this explosion of infection:
China Ditched Zero Covid–Maybe It Shouldn’t Have
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/01/06/china-ditched-zero-covid-maybe-it-shouldnt-have/
>>>”Next, in a shock to western elites salivating at the delusion that these protests would topple the government, China eliminated zero covid in early December, ending quarantine measures starting January 8. And the protesters got what they wanted. Two-hundred and fifty million Chinese were infected within weeks of ditching zero covid. Millions will now die, and the health care system is overwhelmed. Remember, even the vaccinated sicken in large numbers. It turns out that emulating the west, when it comes to public health, is a very, very bad idea.”
__
Omicron Variant XBB.1.5 is the most contagious yet.
It’s the biggest COVID variant in the U.S.—and the most contagious ever. Experts fear the new, rapidly spreading variant will trigger a winter wave and change the course of the pandemic.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/omicron-variant-xbb15-most-contagious-variant-winter-wave
Experts still haven’t determined if getting the latest booster helps your chances of escaping this variant, known as XBB.1.5—but evidence shows a shot can reduce the severity of illness. (Above, a cell infected with COVID.)
Some school districts, like Ann Arbor, Michigan, have already re-instituted masks to try to lessen the risk. continued at link
__
I know, never any good news. But
*NOTE: one local school put in their ‘neighborhood newsletter’ asking parents to have children use ‘sanitary measures’ ie: 20 second handwashing and have them WEAR MASKS. Also isolate sick kids and quit sending them to school.
Of course all this is voluntary which being an extremely GOP-controlled area isn’t going to happen.
sealintheSelkirks
I’ve been talking with a DJ friend of mine from the community radio station KYRS out of Spokane about the latest . She emailed this a couple days ago:
“My friend has long covid, and 6 months after he recovered from the
respiratory part he started losing his speech flow and suffered sudden
memory loss.
We have no idea what repercussions we will be dealing with down the road.”
She is in her late 30s, at risk having respiratory problems since she was a child, and is so careful that when her partner got sick she managed to not catch it while living in the same house. He so far has recovered okay… So I sent her this that just popped up:
Understanding Long Covid
We know more now than before, and it’s still alarming
https://drtomfrieden.medium.com/understanding-long-covid-9c24f9150172
Who’s at risk?
Anyone can get long Covid — including people who are young, healthy, or who initially had a mild or even asymptomatic infection.
__
This is not just a flu, it’s a brain disease for many. Wear an N95 (best) or KN95 (2nd best) mask, not cloth (which is better than nothing) when in groups of people. And believe me when I say I’m really tired of wearing them, too, but refuse to let that ‘covid fatigue’ behavior break down the critical thinking that this on-going Pandemic requires. Almost half a million new cases ‘officially’ in the US recent weekly infection counts and that is absolutely a low-ball figure due to the ‘home test kits.’
What would the US do with 250 million sick out our population of 325 million? Who would keep the lights on? This isn’t getting better, just more ignored. How can people ignore this? Because it isn’t in the MSM…
sealintheSelkirks
A BILLION cases in a month? 33,000 deaths a day? Are you f**king kidding me?
Capitalist China has just given up and letting it rip…sort of like the US has already done but there is NOTHING in the corporate media keeping track and informing us. It’s all being hidden which is a lovely side effect of ‘home testing.’ Out of sight out of mind in real time.
If you are kept from information you CANNOT make an informed choice; instead you are being treated as a near mindless baby swaddled in diapers.
Is the United States even somewhat prepared for an even minor event like this? s/
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/20/2148261/-A-billion-cases-of-COVID-19-Reports-claim-that-China-is-suffering-33-000-deaths-a-day
___
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/20/1150228741/chinas-lunar-new-year-falls-amid-a-covid-surge-and-hard-financial-times
__
And southern Oregon is still buried by Covid and can’t get enough nurses to fully staff the hospitals:
https://www.ijpr.org/health-and-medicine/2023-01-13/two-rogue-valley-asante-hospitals-still-in-crisis-standards-of-care-mode
__
XBB 1.5 is just amazingly contagious. But what’s next because a billion cases in China is certainly going to spin off a whole bunch of new variants that will make their way across the planet.
Big Sigh.
sealintheSelkirks
US infection numbers up, hospitalizations up, and looking at the vids of the major snowstorm that just hit Japan I was absolutely amazed at the incredibly high percentage of people out in the snowy streets that were masked up. Probably 90% or more in the news feeds.
___
Folks: Please, please, get the bivalent COVID-19 booster if you can
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/26/2149523/-Folks-please-please-get-the-bivalent-COVID-19-booster-if-you-can
___
Millions of people suffer from long COVID—but why?
New data may help solve this mystery. Using a specialized lab technique, researchers are now testing patients with long COVID for microclots in their blood.
“We’re very early,” says David Putrino, a rehabilitation and long COVID scientist. But out of the few dozen samples they’ve tested, 100 percent had microclots.
Microclots Could Help Solve the Long Covid Puzzle
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/microclots-pots-long-covid-treatment-diagnosis
Microclots are detected in the patient’s smallest blood vessels which might help explain the conditions debilitating conditions…continued at link.
___
sealintheSelkirks
Ignore and it’ll go away, right?
So the most vulnerable are about to get kicked off the curb. Sounds awfully familiar in so many ways…
These benefits will disappear when Biden ends the Covid national and public health emergencies in May
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/politics/may-11-end-of-covid-and-public-health-emergencies/index.html
__
sealintheSelkirks
Question: Why would the uber wealthy at DAVOS put all these safety requirements in place you are about to read if the Pandemic is done as Biden and the GOP are claiming?
Answer: Because they are absolutely more intelligent than you are! Obviously COVID is not ‘all over with’ and the rulers know it so they are protecting themselves and their families. We’re all just the “lumpenfolk” and don’t you get that? Holy crap, people, just how stupid are we?
Please read and think about what this means for you and your family. Make sure you don’t skip the end that talks about your risks:
Venting About Ventilation in the Time of Covid
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/01/31/venting-about-ventilation-in-the-time-of-covid/
___
Mask up is the least you should be doing. Some EU countries like Belguim seem to actually care about their citizens and are showing far more intelligence than any so-called ‘leader’ in this country…
I wonder how much a CO2 monitors costs? This made me really curious about the few places I do walk into…
sealintheSelkirks
Two articles for the mid-February update:
COVID Death Rates By Partisan Lean & Vaccination Rate (W/BIVALENT BOOSTER Data)
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/12/2152587/-February-Update-COVID-Death-Rates-By-Partisan-Lean-Vaccination-Rate-W-BIVALENT-BOOSTER-Data
___
Are there places you should still mask in, forever? Three experts weigh in
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/10/1155516547/are-there-places-you-should-still-mask-in-forever-three-experts-weigh-in
___
Think before you act, folks!
sealintheSelkirks
March 1st update:
I really enjoyed the caption on the short Biden vid speech about Covid that is on this story.
How COVID-19 Changes the Heart—Even After the Virus Is Gone
https://time.com/6256674/covid-19-affects-heart
__
And just how bad has the Covid wave in China been the last two months? According to the NY Times, between 1 million and 1 1/2 million have died since they lifted restrictions that is far more than the ‘official’ count. Much like the US, the deaths are deliberately under-counted.
They are doing exactly what the US did first.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/15/world/asia/china-covid-death-estimates.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
___
Still about 300-400 a day dying of Covid in the US last I read but not much about that in the corporate MSM news from what people tell me (since I don’t watch tv). Multiply that by 7 days then by 52 weeks to get the expected deaths from Covid this year. Roughly 33,000. Unless, of course, another variant pops out that is even worse than XBB 1.5 strain.
___
Long COVID Now Looks like a Neurological Disease, Helping Doctors to Focus Treatments
The causes of long COVID, which disables millions, may come together in the brain and nervous system
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/long-covid-now-looks-like-a-neurological-disease-helping-doctors-to-focus-treatments
sealintheSelkirks
Latest on Covid.
Remember as you read this only 400+/- are dying every day of this disease in the US. That is 146,000 who will die of Covid this year. Not including the millions who continue to sicken over and over that aren’t counted anymore unless they show up at a hospital. Which they can’t afford.
Unless of course another strain/pandemic (like Avian) comes popping up which is extremely likely. We are completely unprepared for another, aren’t we?
https://inthesetimes.com/article/covid-1200-vaccine-health
___
We will only have privatized for-profit ‘health’ care to rely on as our government (such as it is) has completely failed us since there are roughly 50 million people that don’t have any ‘insurance’ in this country of any kind myself included. Covid booster shots cost $2.38 per, and starting in May they will cost about $130 each. Quite a profit when a lot of the research came from NIH government taxpayer funded labs…
Corporate clown Biden sucks. He always has from way back during the Clinton era. He needs to do an LBJ and not run.
Bernie Sanders for President! Universal health care is the only way forward.
sealintheSelkirks
Mid-March 2023, latest Covid information.
Not a single person is going to like reading any of these.
Me, I’m still in N95 masks anytime I’m around people. I’m often the only person in whatever building with one.
NOTE: Remember this quote as you read:
“As a general rule of thumb – with some important caveats that we explain below – if there are more COVID-19 deaths than excess deaths, COVID-19 deaths were likely overestimated. If there are more excess deaths than COVID-19 deaths, COVID-19 deaths were likely underestimated.”
Also know that “the CDC has recently modified its counts of excess deaths associated with COVID-19…the death rate (is now) associated with the early pandemic years…to provide a new baseline–a new normal.”
Three science articles to read; the first being the CDC Updates and remember the two quotes above while reading it.
___
Daily Updates of Totals by Week and State
Provisional Death Counts for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm
___
COVID-19 deaths in the US continue to be undercounted, research shows, despite claims of ‘overcounts’
https://theconversation.com/covid-19-deaths-in-the-us-continue-to-be-undercounted-research-shows-despite-claims-of-overcounts-198266
___
New data shows long Covid is keeping as many as 4 million people out of work
https://www.brookings.edu/research/new-data-shows-long-covid-is-keeping-as-many-as-4-million-people-out-of-work/
___
This last article is a serious slap to the face, an ice bucket thrown in our direction. It’s NOT getting ‘milder’ and is mutating every time it jumps to another person. Links are all through it to follow up.
Rethinking ‘Back to Normal’ in the Pandemicine
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/03/20/rethinking-back-to-normal-in-the-pandemicine/
___
sealintheSelkirks
April 1st 2023 updates, and these aren’t April Fools Day jokes:
(This has links all through it to follow)
A letter to my loved ones about COVID-19: You’ve moved on, but I’m still here
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2023/03/19/covid-pandemic-not-over-high-risk/11472097002/
___
I see corporate media and politicians just screaming about Fentanyl that people are actually CHOOSING to use and the horrific number of 100,000 a year are dying from that shit.
But not a freaking peep about Covid estimated 146,000 people (50% MORE deaths) that are going to die this year and did NOT choose to catch it unlike Fentanyl users.
Unless of course a worse variant shows up and kills even more. You may not be hearing a damned thing about Covid but it is still doing that.
And Covid deaths are okay! 50% more people than Fentanyl and nobody cares because ‘we are so over Covid?’ Wow.
Biden’s cancellation of anything to do with covid in favor of Capitalist privatization starts in a month. Which will lead us into even more of the following article:
Struggling Through the Covid Maze
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/03/31/struggling-through-the-covid-maze/
___
I know, never any good news. Saw my first butterfly this week, in March when it should be snowing still.
sealintheSelkirks
Mid-April 2023
Working sick: Americans with long COVID struggle to make a living
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/18/2164569/-Working-sick-Americans-with-long-COVID-struggle-to-make-a-living
___
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/14/2157819/-Three-years-of-hell-later-an-ER-Nurse-looks-back?pm_source=story_sidebar&pm_medium=web&pm_campaign=recommended
And it ain’t over with 300-400 dying every single day…
___
More about Covid reality and DeSantis. This makes one wonder about the true numbers of Florida dead from Covid, doesn’t it?
Florida Dept. of Health probably needs renamed since DeSantis’ little lapdog LIED AND ALTERED DATE about CoVid 19 info released to the public. So it really isn’t providing the taxpayer-funded service it was chartered to do. Anybody have any ideas on that?
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/8/2162824/-Florida-Department-of-Health-altered-data-to-make-vaccines-look-dangerous
___
This is who is running the Florida Dept. of Health:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tQRgt_7jUA
The moderators back & forth questions about what are scientific questions at least causes one to smile at the idiocy!
Imagine the entire country becoming Florida.
___
sealintheSelkirks
This popped up:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/18/2164694/-FDA-authorizes-second-bivalent-booster-shot-for-those-over-65-and-for-the-immunocompromised
___
And then this posted today:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/04/24/end-of-covid-19-emergency-declarations-is-shortsighted-and-premature/
40,000 officially dead of Covid since Jan 1st. But that’s okay, right? Collateral damage ain’t no big thing…
Links all through this article.
___
More on Long Covid:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/20/2164570/-Disability-denied-Unable-to-work-COVID-long-haulers-face-barriers-to-benefits
___
Sure doesn’t seem like it’s “going away like magic” now does it? But most people are ignoring facts because they are uncomfortable. Like the one that says the more times you catch this crap the more likely you are to be under the Long Covid cloud…
sealintheSelkirks
Well, it’s all over according to Biden and the WHO. Now it’s just killing people at twice the rate than the worse flu ever seen. Unless of course a new variant comes out that’s more deadly. What are the odds on that? Who knows but it could as this sucker disease sure does mutate quickly, doesn’t it?
Roughly 19,000 people caught it in one day recently, and that’s just those that went to the hospital because that’s the only metric that is counted now. And there are still 150 to 400 people dying every day in this country. And the science is says it looks like the more times one catches this disease even mildly the more likely it becomes that you’ll end up a victim of Sequela or Long Covid. About 30% of people who have caught it have reported various forms. Some mild, some quite debilitating, some that are looking permanently disabled.
Here’s a breakdown youtube on what to know:
What to know about the COVID pandemic as public health emergencies end
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWmYb6a5qKQ
___
Officially, our government expects about 140,000 people to die of Covid this year while the worst flu season ever caused about 60,000 deaths. But hey, it’s ‘culling the herd’ of those who are more susceptible, yes?
___
Then there is this that are worrying the hell out of the scientists. Won’t take much mutation for it to jump to humans is what they are thinking, and it’s far more deadly than ‘bat influenza/Covid’ it seems. Wish us all luck, eh?
Keeping a Bird’s Eye on Bird Flu
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/keeping-a-birds-eye-on-bird-flu/
___
For me, I’m still wearing N95s when I walk into Costco or the post office etc etc. Being an old guy surfer dude hence a lower immunity ability to fight off infections, it just isn’t worth the risk to me. Yes I’m tired of wearing masks but on the flip side I haven’t even had a sniffle in three years. This from a guy who has been sick with flu & colds that come around every single year since childhood (my first year teaching pre-K was miserable) that generally lasted a week to two weeks. Masks work!!
sealintheSelkirks
This first link is truly disturbing but it could explain a lot about the uptick in violence we’re seeing these last three years in the most infected country in the world (per capita). Huge numbers of people have caught this disease so… Links are all through this to follow if you are interested.
It also explains some of what my oldest grandpa spoke of that he saw after he came back from France in 1919 about what happened in the 1920s after the Pandemic of 1918.
There are eerie similarities between then and now, and he told me about how people he knew well in his Iowa hometown before he went to fight in early WWI (the AEF in 1916) that had noticeable personality changes when he came back and the only difference was they caught that damned virus but lived. Along with people both friends and family that he said ‘were slower and dumber’ who weren’t before they got sick.
And the early 20s saw the start and rapid rise of Mussolini’s Fascist violence in Italy (did Benito catch it perhaps?). A huge percentage of people died from the disease that has been estimated up to 10% of the world population, (100 million) compared to what we’ve had happen the last three years. But like the last Pandemic, enormous numbers of people caught it and lived.
Covid didn’t hit us as hard but now we have 8 billion and not just 1 billion. I find this pretty dang spooky!
Could it be… COVID?
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/19/2168040/-Could-it-be-COVID
___
Three more articles:
COVID, We Hardly Knew Ye
The coronavirus emergency is officially over. Now let’s learn the right lessons.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/covid-we-hardly-knew-ye/
___
Long COVID patients desperate for answers, relief
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82MB8BRYCTk
___
Public health questions remain as COVID emergency ends
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko3xkU2fH5o
___
This Pandemic isn’t over, folks. I know we want it to be but it’s going to affect our lives for years more I’m afraid.
sealintheSelkirks
Here’s an update I’ve been meaning to post:
Note: my old surf partner on Windward Side of Oahu’s wife sister & BIL, two of their kids and three grandkids were coming last week for a Hawai’ian visit to see them. DP, being a Biologist who taught High School Biology, was a little skeptical since their state is full of Covid at this point as are the tourists that are bringing new strains in from the Mainland and Asia. They tested before they came, BIL was positive and decided to stay home but sis and the rest were coming anyway…then sis went down two days later and the rest due to having been together getting ready to fly out, started showing symptoms. Two are now in the hospital… It ain’t over, folks.
How to Ask a Seatmate to Mask: The New Etiquette for Maskless Flights
Strategies for staying calm and polite while asking people to take coronavirus precautions on a maskless flight.
The Washington Post
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-to-ask-a-seatmate-to-mask-the-new-etiquette-for-maskless-flights?utm_source=pocket-newtab
___
COVID-19’s total cost to the economy in US will reach $14 trillion by end of 2023 – new research
https://theconversation.com/covid-19s-total-cost-to-the-economy-in-us-will-reach-14-trillion-by-end-of-2023-new-research-205379
___
Is the pandemic over? We asked an economist, an education expert and a public health scholar their views
https://theconversation.com/is-the-pandemic-over-we-asked-an-economist-an-education-expert-and-a-public-health-scholar-their-views-191047
___
The dark universe: can a scientist battling long Covid unlock the mysteries of the cosmos?
Since being laid low with the virus more than a year ago, Catherine Heymans can only operate in half-hour bursts. But her work could still change the way we understand the universe
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/may/02/catherine-heymans-dark-universe-the-cosmologist-battling-long-covid
___
This mentions that it’s still very much here in the US though hospitalizations are going down…mainly due to so many intelligent people having taken the shots.
COVID seeing new wave internationally, Dr. Peter Hotez explains more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqLmWj2bgSI
NOTE: I actually have a hard time realizing that this is on a Fox News in Texas! What, MAGA now thinks it isn’t a Democrat Hoax?
___
I’ll continue to update this even if nobody is paying attention.
sealintheSelkirks
My last two updates did NOT pop up in moderation and I had forgotten to copy them before posting.
I’ve got two friends go down extremely sick in the last week, one in Bonner’s Ferry Idaho with her 2nd bout, and one in Chico CA with his third.
The missing two postings had info about Covid hijacking immunity cells and how it’s affecting brain proteins…big scary news. Where they went I have no idea.
So here’s what you should be paying attention to but probably aren’t. I still never go in a building without an N95, or get in a car with someone without. People, this disease is cumulative!!!
What You Need to Know About XBB.1.5, the Latest Omicron Variant
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/what-you-need-to-know-about-xbb15-the-latest-omicron-variant
___
This one below has spread to Montana from NY in the last two weeks:
EU.1.1 Emerges as the Latest COVID-19 Subvariant
https://www.everydayhealth.com/coronavirus/eu-1-1-emerges-as-the-latest-covid-19-subvariant/
___
SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Accumulates in the Skull and Brain
https://www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/longcovid/104037
sealintheSelkirks
Still mutating, still sickening and killing people. At least it isn’t Delta, right?
Covid just keeps throwing out new variants:
U.S. sees biggest rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations since December
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-hospitalizations-rise-biggest-weekly-increase-since-december/
___
sealintheSelkirks
August Covid update:
Covid hasn’t entirely gone away—here’s where we stand
The coronavirus continues to cause infections, disease and death—and long covid.
NOTE: Nobody knows how many people are catching it. One of my former students (municipal bus driver) just went through his 3rd bout because he quit wearing his N95, and spent $30 at a pharmacy for an outdated test kit which showed him positive again. Like probably thousands of others every week, he didn’t report it to local health authorities…
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/07/07/1075979/covid-hasnt-entirely-gone-away-heres-where-we-stand/
PS: I love the ‘likely higher’ that keeps being mentioned…
___
Fatigue Can Shatter a Person
Everyday tiredness is nothing like the depleting symptom that people with Long COVID and ME/CFS experience.
Alexis Misko’s health has improved enough that, once a month, she can leave her house for a few hours. First, she needs to build up her energy by lying in a dark room for the better part of two days, doing little more than listening to audiobooks. Then she needs a driver, a quiet destination where she can lie down, and days of rest to recover afterward. The brief outdoor joy “never quite feels like enough,” she told me, but it’s so much more than what she managed in her first year of long COVID, when she couldn’t sit upright for more than an hour or stand for more than 10 minutes. Now, at least, she can watch TV on the same day she takes a shower.
In her previous life, she pulled all-nighters in graduate school and rough shifts at her hospital as an Occupational Therapist and long runs…
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/07/chronic-fatigue-long-covid-symptoms/674834/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
___
sealintheSelkirks
Mid-August update:
If you want data on the state of Covid in the US these days you have to look at data from sewage treatment plants or Walgreens. Both are on the rise. In fact, Walgreen’s Covid index is showing the HIGHEST Covid-19 positivity levels since May 2021.
https://www.walgreens.com/healthcare-solutions/covid-19-index
___
Thom Hartmann Program
Is COVID Spike Proof Pandemic Isn’t Over? w/ Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into crowded public spaces without a mask, a new COVID variant that can bite through vaccines has arrived. This wasn’t a summer flu, it’s not even a lapse in immunity, it’s EG5 the new COVID variant. EG5 is on the loose this summer and any expert would tell you, it’s a killer.
Thom Hartmann is joined by Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding
EG5 variant
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFZxJoYCxQ8
We now have a variant(s) that the shots DO NOT WORK AGAINST. They have mutated to completely bypass them. This is bad and, at this point, wearing an N95 mask and avoiding crowds is again going to be the way to deal with this new problem that is actually the old problem re-visited.
___
The virus is surging again. Here’s how to be your own contact tracer if you get sick.
You still need to tell your friends if you get Covid
https://www.vox.com/even-better/23282186/tell-friends-family-coworkers-covid-contact-tracing
___
Wear an N95…
sealintheSelkirks
The first US school district closes due to covid. What this article says is kind of what I expected to happen with how fast the new mutation has roared over the US. This strain looks like vicious beast as the XBB 1.5 etc. strains get overtaken by EG 5. It sure didn’t take long!
Interesting that it is so many of the teachers and staff…
Latest San Antonio Metro Health data shows COVID cases have increased 387% since early July
Metro Health reported 1,612 new cases this week
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2023/08/15/latest-san-antonio-metro-health-data-shows-covid-cases-have-increased-387-since-early-july/
___
Have had people last week tell me they know multiple people that have gone down sick with Covid. Another said today he knew three from two different families…that didn’t know one another. Nope, SARS II Covid 19 is not done with us yet.
Take appropriate actions to protect yourself and others.
sealintheSelkirks
Yes Seal, you are correct. It has spread like wildfire here in San Antonio. Entire families are on lockdown with it now and companies are switching back again to Work from Home. People who were sick with the prior strains are now battling this new variant. A new vaccine is supposed to be available mid-September, I think. The people that I know that have it say that although it’s bad and seems to be a long-lasting illness, it is not as bad as the first waves, although I have never seen anything spread as fast as this variant has.
Labor Day warnings and NO this damn virus is not done with us idiot humans!
Understanding the new Covid-19 variant, Eris
The formally named EG.5 is making the rounds, but we don’t have to worry just yet
https://theweek.com/feature/briefing/1025673/new-covid-variant-eg5
___
It’s Time to “Cancel” Covid Minimizing Doctors
https://www.okdoomer.io/its-time-to-cancel-covid-minimizing-doctors/
___
Covid Precautions Aren’t Primarily for You; They’re to Protect Those You Ought to Care About
Quote: …leaders are recklessly creating a callous society based on selfishness.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/08/30/covid-precautions-arent-primarily-for-you-theyre-to-protect-those-you-ought-to-care-about/
___
https://theweek.com/covid-19/1026029/need-for-masks-new-covid-variant?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us
___
And Covid is still out there mutating away into eventually, possibly, something even more devastating than we have seen yet, and we have a human right to protect our health.
The Right to Mask
https://www.okdoomer.io/the-right-to-mask/
___
sealintheSelkirks
I know people that have gotten sick with Covid in the last couple weeks. One, a long-time friend and one of the editors of my book, has gone down hard in Salt Lake City. Another on the East Coast seems to have caught a milder case, and there have been a couple local native people in this area. I don’t know which strain (there are about six in the US).
As more studies bring new info, it’s not just the initial hit we take in the main infection but how thoroughly it invades other parts of the body and the adverse effects that come later after one has ‘gotten better.’ This disease is full of Sequelae with over 205 (the last published count) different aspects of Long Covid.
This new disease continually mutates and bluntly our science can’t keep up with it.
XBB 1.5, EG 1.5, and many more are still circulating. Hospitalizations are up as are deaths, and this is the latest version to hit:
How evasive and transmissible is the newest omicron offshoot, BA.2.86, that causes COVID-19? 4 questions answered
https://theconversation.com/how-evasive-and-transmissible-is-the-newest-omicron-offshoot-ba-2-86-that-causes-covid-19-4-questions-answered-212453
__
There is also a new non-MRNA version of the shot that has been approved, like the earlier J&J shots and booster of the first couple of strains back in 2020 that uses snippets of the actual virus:
https://weather.com/health/coronavirus/video/third-updated-covid-vaccine-authorized-not-mrna
___
It isn’t ‘the flu’ by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a brand-new disease that we don’t know enough about yet. And yes, N95 masks work don’t listen to the bulls**t propaganda from the anti-science crowd of nitwits. Looks like I will continue to wear N95s indoors when I go places.
sealintheSelkirks
Another death added to my ‘Dead of Corona’ list. Now at 22.
___
End of October updates:
Do You Still Have to Isolate if You Catch COVID-19? Here’s What to Know
https://time.com/6322665/covid-19-isolation-policy-2023/
___
Covid Silence and How The Media Works
An insider explains why the most important stories often get the least attention.
https://www.okdoomer.io/covid-silence-and-how-the-media-works/
___
More on the non-MRNA shot:
Novavax? It’s Worth a Shot (A Little Bit of Good News)
There’s good news about Novavax, and vaccines in general. Of course, there’s always a reality check.
https://www.okdoomer.io/a-little-bit-of-good-news/
___
Very good source of information on the on-going Pandemic:
BMJ’s Coronavirus (covid-19) Hub
https://www.bmj.com/coronavirus
___
sealintheSelkirks
As these mutate they tend to become more contagious, but less harmful. This is not news. This isn’t the covid of 3 years ago. I know several that have contracted it in the past few months. And there’s probably many more that aren’t bothering to test for it.
My grandfather just died, and he had covid. He was also 92 and outlived his body and mind years ago. But I supposed they’ll add him to the tally.
So wear your mask, or not. The only one responsible for your health is you.
I read a science report about that oft-repeated ‘saying’ recently. It is not a science-based fact at all. Period. But people keep repeating it anyway. Humans say a lot of dumb things.
But since you mentioned that myth I’m sure you avoid breaking mirrors because of 7 yrs bad luck, and run from black cats crossing your path. Do you throw salt over your shoulder now and then, too, perhaps to ward off bad luck? And maybe carry a lucky rabbit’s foot which wasn’t at all lucky for the poor rabbit…
Think Smallpox, dude, that killed millions for centuries and NEVER stopped being a killer until a true vaccine was invented.
___
The Covid shots are NOT a vaccine and should never had be called that. A real vaccine stops one from catching the disease. Period. Shingles, measles, Polio, and so many others, you can never catch them again once you get the vaccines. Humans KILLED Smallpox and that was by vaccine or it would still be killing millions every year.
These are nothing more than ‘less likely hospitalization’ shots that builds up some immunity is all. But far more than the disease imparts itself which seems about 10 weeks before you can catch it again.
And this non-mRNA shot hopefully (according to the recent studies) lessens the likelihood for the Sequelae diseases of Long Covid. There are millions of people in this country with one or more of the 205 listed diseases/after effects (last I read), and I know a few folks that haven’t ‘bounced back’ yet to normal functioning. And they aren’t old folks.
As for your grandpa, the youngest person I know that has died of this was 39, a former snowboarding student, wildland fire-fighter, and living in Denver. Killed her in weeks. It’s not just the old farts.
But it is a far higher percentage of GOP MAGAs that never got the shots because they ‘didn’t believe’ in this new disease EVEN THOUGH TRUMP INVENTED THE SHOTS. Is that a sure sign of cognitive dissonance or is it his “I love the uneducated” stupidity of his followers?
But they found out differently the hard way haven’t they? Bless their hearts.
Sure have been a lot of kids here in the local schools that caught it in this MAGA area, entire volleyball teams and b-ball teams. The disease is cumulative especially for Long Covid so what do they face as they catch it again and again since it hasn’t all gone away like “A Miracle” as Trumpie said? And Biden for that matter saying the same crap.
As for your ‘responsible for health’ comment, an analogy is that maybe we should all stop paying attention to stoplights because, after all, the person I might run into should have been more responsible for their own health and avoided me, yes? It’s their fault!
How the hell do I avoid an infected person from BREATHING on me? Are you daft or maybe you have magical thinking in mind?
And, by the way, if you didn’t know, N95s are much better at STOPPING transmission of infection than they are of stopping it coming at you in some idiot’s breath. You have read the science about mask usage, yes?
sealintheSelkirks
A New Way to Die: One Hundred Years Of Covid
Most people do not understand viruses.
(NOTE: YOU DON’T. A 5 minute read to help dispel ignorance)
https://www.okdoomer.io/one-hundred-years-of-covid/
Jeffrey Taubenberger was part of the team that isolated and sequenced the genome of the 1918 flu virus (Spanish Flu) in the late 1990s. You could hardly find a more solid authority on flu. And this is what he has to say:
“We’re still living in what I would call the 1918 pandemic era 102 years later, and I don’t know how long it will last.”
___
A cut:
Get ready for a statistically significant increase in heart attacks, strokes, neurological diseases, immune system disorders. You name it. In fact, we’re already living through. We’ve been living through it. Only now are people starting to notice a little bit.
___
NOTE:
Of course the anti-science crowd is already blaming the significantly higher increased numbers mentioned above & excess deaths, that have been happening since just after Covid hit the world, on the Covid shots.
How’s that for irony? And ignorance bordering on stupidity? Like 1918, Covid WILL be killing people and making even more sick in 2123 according to the damned experts. Whom I wish were all wrong. But they’re not.
sealintheSelkirks
Still not a joke, people. Australia steps up…a little:
WA public hospitals strengthen mask-wearing requirements in response to surging COVID cases
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-17/wa-public-hospitals-mask-requirements-roger-cook-covid-19/103120580
___
A bunch of Long Covid links to think about:
https://getpocket.com/collections/long-covid-marginalized-groups?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us
___
sealintheSelkirks
Lost the updated info for the end of Nov/start of Dec as the post didn’t go into moderation after hitting submit. But these have popped up in the last two weeks, so here they are.
Never any good news but you knew that.
___
Cases Of New COVID-19 Variant Triple; CDC Monitoring (BA 2.86)
https://weather.com/health/coronavirus/video/cases-of-new-covid-19-variant-triple-cdc-monitoring
___
New COVID Variant JN.1 Could Disrupt Holiday Plans
https://www.medscape.com/s/viewarticle/new-covid-variant-jn-1-could-disrupt-holiday-plans-2023a1000uml?ecd=WNL_trdalrt_pos1_231211_etid6147991&uac=15316SV&impID=6147991
___
Latest COVID News – Not Good.
A cut: Even worse — evidence is increasingly pointing to long-term immune dysregulation as a result of even a single asymptomatic Covid infection.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/14/2211711/-FFS-Stop-contracting-Covid
___
sealintheSelkirks
From counterpunch:
+ According to the latest CDC COVID-19 wastewater data, the US is currently experiencing the second-largest surge of the pandemic. It will peak in the next week, with around 2 million infections per day. During this surge, around 100 million people total (1 in 3 people in the US) will likely get COVID.
___
About kids and Covid:
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/less-5-us-preschool-cohort-hospitalized-covid-were-fully-vaccinated-study-finds
___