***NON-POLITICAL COVID-19 Discussion Thread***

[JakeF]

A couple of reminders...

Originally Posted by Bwana

Once again, don't come in this thread with some kind of political agenda, or you will be shown the door. If you want to go that route, there is a thread about this in DC.

Originally Posted by Dartgod

People, there is a lot of good information in this thread, let's try to keep the petty bickering to a minimum.

We all have varying opinions about the impact of this, the numbers, etc. We will all never agree with each other. But we can all keep it civil.

Thanks!

Click here for the original OP:

Spoiler!

Apparently the CoronaVirus can survive on a inanimate objects, such as door knobs, for 9 days.

California coronavirus case could be first spread within U.S. community, CDC says
By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA, JACLYN COSGROVE
FEB. 26, 2020 8:04 PM

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating what could be the first case of novel coronavirus in the United States involving a patient in California who neither recently traveled out of the country nor was in contact with someone who did.

“At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown. It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States,” the CDC said in a statement. “Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. It’s also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.”

The individual is a resident of Solano County and is receiving medical care in Sacramento County, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The CDC said the “case was detected through the U.S. public health system — picked up by astute clinicians.”

Officials at UC Davis Medical Center expanded on what the federal agency might have meant by that in an email sent Wednesday, as reported by the Davis Enterprise newspaper.

The patient arrived at UC Davis Medical Center from another hospital Feb. 19 and “had already been intubated, was on a ventilator, and given droplet protection orders because of an undiagnosed and suspected viral condition,” according to an email sent by UC Davis officials that was obtained by the Davis Enterprise.

The staff at UC Davis requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, but because the patient didn’t fit the CDC’s existing criteria for the virus, a test wasn’t immediately administered, according to the email. The CDC then ordered the test Sunday, and results were announced Wednesday. Hospital administrators reportedly said in the email that despite these issues, there has been minimal exposure at the hospital because of safety protocols they have in place.

A UC Davis Health spokesperson declined Wednesday evening to share the email with The Times.

Since Feb. 2, more than 8,400 returning travelers from China have entered California, according to the state health department. They have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days and limit interactions with others as much as possible, officials said.

“This is a new virus, and while we are still learning about it, there is a lot we already know,” Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California.”

It is not clear how the person became infected, but public health workers could not identify any contacts with people who had traveled to China or other areas where the virus is widespread. That raises concern that the virus is spreading in the United States, creating a challenge for public health officials, experts say.

“It’s the first signal that we could be having silent transmission in the community,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. “It probably means there are many more cases out there, and it probably means this individual has infected others, and now it’s a race to try to find out who that person has infected.”

On Tuesday, the CDC offered its most serious warning to date that the United States should expect and prepare for the coronavirus to become a more widespread health issue.

“Ultimately, we expect we will see coronavirus spread in this country,” said Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “It’s not so much a question of if, but a question of when.”

According to the CDC’s latest count Wednesday morning, 59 U.S. residents have tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus — 42 of whom are repatriated citizens from a Diamond Princess cruise. That number has grown by two since Messonnier’s last count Tuesday, although the CDC was not immediately available to offer details on the additional cases.

More than 82,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported globally, and more than 2,700 people have died, with the majority in mainland China, the epicenter of the outbreak.

But public health leaders have repeatedly reminded residents that the health risk from the novel coronavirus to the general public remains low.

“While COVID-19 has a high transmission rate, it has a low mortality rate,” the state Department of Public Health said in a statement Wednesday. “From the international data we have, of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, approximately 80% do not exhibit symptoms that would require hospitalization. There have been no confirmed deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States to date.”

CDC officials have also warned that although the virus is likely to spread in U.S. communities, the flu still poses a greater risk.

Gostin said the news of potential silent transmission does not eliminate the possibility of containing the virus in the U.S. and preventing an outbreak.

“There are few enough cases that we should at least try,” he said. “Most of us are not optimistic that that will be successful, but we’re still in the position to try.”

[TLO]

Can anyone post the article from this link? I'd like to read it.

We're past the worst of the Omicron surge

And I hope we will soon get a real reprieve

But as much as I wish otherwise, the pandemic isn't over

Let's use the months ahead to prepare for whatever Mother Nature has in store for us

My latest @PostOpinionshttps://t.co/9YRqdEjCJT

— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) January 24, 2022

[OnTheWarpath15]

Here you go...

Ashish K. Jha is dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

The United States has likely passed the peak of its omicron wave. Case numbers are declining in our country’s most populous states and, if they follow the trajectory of decline seen in South Africa and Britain, we could return to a much more manageable rate of infections within a month.

These upcoming months will feel like a reprieve, and rightly so. Restrictions likely will be eased as we go back to a new sense of “normal.” But we also must remain prepared for what’s ahead — because there is little reason to believe that the pandemic is over.

What is ahead? First, it is possible, though unlikely, that the delta variant returns and co-circulates with omicron in different populations, contributing to ongoing infections and hospitalizations. Whether delta makes a comeback or not, cases are likely to remain seasonal. That means we are likely to see surges in Southern states this summer (as people there spend more time indoors) and in Northern states next fall and winter as the weather turns cold again. Further, we could easily see the rise of a new variant that might be more contagious or deadly.

The bottom line is that as the omicron surge subsides, we will enter a period of uncertainty, with low levels of infections but hard-to-predict surges, either from the current variants or new future variants. As such, we must use the months ahead to prepare.

First, tens of millions of Americans, including a majority of children, remain unvaccinated, and even more have not received a much-needed booster. Efforts to reach the un- and under-vaccinated must continue. Beyond that, we need an Operation Warp Speed 2.0 to aggressively study new variant-specific vaccines as well as intranasal vaccines that stimulate mucosal immunity, key for preventing infections and pan-coronavirus vaccines. We don’t know which of these will work, but we must make the investment to study and build them.

Second, testing is key to being prepared. Last year, as infections fell, testing production waned and eventually dried up. When more testing was urgently needed during the most recent surge, capacity had to ramp up almost from scratch. We can’t make that mistake again. We must ensure that we have a large national stockpile of in-home rapid tests, and we should continue to ramp up production of raw materials, including reagents. These efforts must also anticipate a transition toward broad tests capable of detecting not only the coronavirus but also other common respiratory ailments to help our health system triage different infections.

Third, new therapeutics from Pfizer and Merck, along with monoclonal antibodies and other intravenous antivirals, must be a cornerstone of managing infections during future surges. These treatments can substantially reduce the severity of infections, but while each of these therapies has demonstrated efficacy, we don’t have the doses we need, and the doses we do have are not being distributed equitably.


By the time the next variant arrives, all Americans should have access to antiviral treatments immediately after testing positive. We must have enough doses on hand, access to rapid tests (because these therapies must begin soon after symptoms emerge) and clear clinical pathways to ensure any American can access them. Their potential to substantially blunt the next wave justifies significant investments in effective protocols and stockpiles, including making treatments free to people who test positive.

Finally, there is the issue of communication. This pandemic has polarized our nation, with much of the United States splintering into two camps: those who believe the pandemic is over, and those who believe we will be in this pandemic forever. Unfortunately, the virus will continue to challenge us for some time, but it need not dominate our lives. We need to clearly communicate the moment we are in, the actions people should take during periods of low infection and the temporary measures we might need during future surges (mask-wearing, testing, etc.). The lack of clear communication has meant that at every point in the pandemic so far, we were either over- or underreacting, and both have costs. Our leaders must do a better job of communicating where we are, what is to come and how best to prepare.

Attention to these crucial areas will ensure that Americans need never return to the protracted disruptions of school, work and public life. It will also allow us to begin the long task of building a new, healthier normal, even as we continue to manage the virus. And we should help Americans understand that the worst of the pandemic is behind us and that we have the tools to manage future surges, no matter what Mother Nature sends our way.

[IA_Chiefs_fan]

I just wanted to say thanks. This thread has provided a lot of great information and links. I still do other research but I've gained a TON from this thread over the past couple years.

[SupDock]

In response to the Florida new about closing monoclonal infusion sites, just wanted to chime in that the monoclonal antibodies mentioned in the article are not thought to be effective for Omicron, and my health system stopped using them a couple weeks ago.

The newer treatments are much more limited, and very hard to get.

Would be curious about Hamas experience with Paxlovid.

[displacedinMN]

Great article about 1918 pandemic

Spoiler!

Entering the third year of a deadly pandemic may have some Minnesotans wondering how things could possibly be worse. The final months of 1918 provide a sobering answer.

An influenza pandemic began ravaging the state in the fall of that year — ultimately killing more than 10,000 Minnesotans. Meanwhile, young men were being sent off to a bloody world war overseas and wildfires were destroying entire cities in northern Minnesota.

Reader Sarah Rasmussen moved into a 1917 Minneapolis home just before COVID-19 and realized they were not the first family to endure a pandemic within its walls. She wondered what life was like for those people a century ago.

"They may not have set up a small gym in the basement, but maybe they saw friends in the backyard," Rasmussen wrote in an e-mail.

She sought answers about life in Minnesota during the 1918 pandemic — and how it compares to today — from Curious Minnesota, the Star Tribune's reporting project fueled by great reader questions.

The deadly disease that began killing thousands in 1918 likely originated in Kansas, based on modern research. It quickly earned the nickname "Spanish influenza" because Spain was a neutral country in World War I and did not censor reports about the illness. After cropping up in military camps, it spread quickly due to the proximity and movement of troops during the war, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

By the fall, social activities in Minnesota ground to a halt much as they did in spring 2020. Some cities shut down schools and canceled large events. Police broke up crowds in local saloons. The University of Minnesota delayed opening for the fall semester.

"All the towns and cities for miles around are closed — everything but the meat markets, grocery and dry good stores," a young woman, LaVerne Roquette, wrote to her boyfriend overseas in October 1918. "At some places people have to wear gauze masks when they appear on the streets. … The government has closed all schools, churches, theatres."

"That was written 104 years ago, but could have been yesterday," said Curt Brown, author of "Minnesota 1918: When Flu, Fire and War Ravaged the State." A former Star Tribune reporter, Brown still writes a weekly history column for the newspaper.

Not everyone appreciated the precautions.


Dr. H.M. Bracken, executive officer of the state board of health, was vociferously opposed to the school and business closures in Minneapolis.

"If you begin to close, where are you going to stop? When are you going to reopen and what do you accomplish by opening?" Bracken told the Minneapolis City Council in October 1918. "Thus far, St. Paul has seen fit to follow my advice."

About 10 days later, citing a surge in cases, St. Paul followed Minneapolis in shuttering everything from churches and schools to soda fountains and bowling alleys.

Even government agencies were sparring over the new rules. The Minneapolis School Board tried to defy the city Health Department's closure order. The health commissioner responded by ordering the chief of police to close all school buildings and arrest anyone who tried to interfere. The schools, which had opened for half a day, were quickly closed again.

Poorly understood disease

The differences between the two pandemics largely outweigh the similarities, however, starting with the basic standards of living at the time. Cars were still a luxury item and home electricity wasn't guaranteed — particularly in rural areas.




"No one had radios in their homes. … They weren't getting barraged with total case numbers and death counts on social media and TV and radio," Brown said. "It was more word of mouth."

In Minneapolis, mail carriers and Boy Scouts were dispatched to homes and businesses to deliver placards and literature on the spread of influenza. Newspapers offered regular guidance, but there was limited understanding of the disease.

"Scientifically, they didn't even know what the influenza virus was until 1933," Brown said. "They thought it was bacteria."

The Minneapolis City Council ordered that the street commissioners "sprinkle and flush" the streets with water, because "the bacillus of Spanish influenza lurked in the dust of the streets," according to a Minneapolis Morning Tribune article from October 1918.


Some advice is familiar today. The assistant dean of the University of Minnesota medical school, Dr. Richard Beard, said at the time that the disease passed through particles "distributed by mouth or nose spray." To set an example, the Minneapolis Health Department eliminated the use of shared drinking cups and towels — and banned sneezing in the workplace.

The importance of fresh air was regularly stressed. Beard advised that people should open streetcar windows, work in ventilated offices, avoid crowded places and "sleep as nearly as possible out of doors."

Hospitals overrun

Within weeks of the first case reported in Minneapolis, hospitals were overrun. U.S. Surgeon General Rupert Blue chastised the general public for relying too heavily on modern medical care.

"The present generation has been spoiled by having had expert medical and nursing care readily available," Blue said. "I believe the public generally ... has not interested itself sufficiently in studying the home care of the sick."

Testing wasn't available and treatment options were limited to prevention. It would be several decades before an influenza vaccine was available.

"There were no intensive care units or respirators," Brown said. "Death from disease was less of a mind-blow than it is today. I think they were used to people dying of diseases like diphtheria and smallpox."

A section of the 1919 West High School yearbook dedicated to graduates killed in World War I featured some former students who had died after contracting influenza in the military.

Nursing staffs were stretched thin by the double crises of flu and war. Ambulances and hospitals in many cities were dedicated almost entirely to flu patients.

In early November 1918, half the nurses at the City Hospital (now HCMC) in Minneapolis were out sick with influenza, and substitutes were hard to find since many were helping the war effort or wildfire victims. Sailors from a naval training station in Illinois were called in to attend flu patients in Minneapolis.

Another place flu found fertile ground to spread was in the temporary housing set up for evacuees of the wildfires in northern Minnesota, says Brown. Historic wildfires in 1918 decimated entire cities and burned people and animals alive. Those who escaped the fast-moving blazes were packed into cramped housing or crowded hospitals.

'Trifecta of woe'

The flu lingered through 1919 and into 1920, though it claimed the majority of its victims at the end of 1918. As with our current pandemic, it came in waves that spurred lockdowns and subsequent re-openings.



When a shutdown was lifted in Minneapolis in November 1918, the Minneapolis Tribune reported that crowds quickly jammed movie theaters and dance halls.

"The passing throngs ... hesitated, still uncertain as to whether or not one huge joke was in the process of being perpetrated, walked up to the cashier's cage, and then, satisfied that it was all true, entered joyously," the Tribune reported about a movie theater.

Roughly 12,000 Minnesotans ultimately died from the illness, Brown said, which is slightly more than have died so far from COVID-19. But Minnesota's population was less than half its current size, so proportionately the death toll was much larger. And unlike other outbreaks, an unusual number of healthy young adults succumbed to the 1918 flu.

"Then you throw on this huge forest fire in the fall and the guys serving in World War I," Brown said, "it was a trifecta of woe."

[DaFace]

Well, my mom tested positive this morning. She's a special education coach and tutored a kid for a few hours face to face (though with masks) last Tuesday who then tested positive that evening.

So far, just aches and some digestive issues. Hopefully it'll stay that way. My worry is more for my dad who is asthmatic and had a major heart attack 10 years ago, but they're both vaxxed and boosted, so hopefully it'll stay mild.

[IA_Chiefs_fan]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Well, my mom tested positive this morning. She's a special education coach and tutored a kid for a few hours face to face (though with masks) last Tuesday who then tested positive that evening.

So far, just aches and some digestive issues. Hopefully it'll stay that way. My worry is more for my dad who is asthmatic and had a major heart attack 10 years ago, but they're both vaxxed and boosted, so hopefully it'll stay mild.

You're all in my thoughts.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by IA_Chiefs_fan

In the past six months I've lost five people from my circle to COVID. One was the daughter of a friend and she was in her early twenties. I also had a coworker who damn near didn't survive it but thankfully she did. In my previous 44 years I've never lost anyone to the flu. So my anecdotal evidence says **** that "barely worse than the flu" nonsense. Plenty of hard evidence says it too.

Sorry to hear it. And sorry to others in this thread who have been impacted similarly.

I have been extremely lucky throughout this whole pandemic. First of all, I don't think I've even caught it yet. Second, pretty much everyone in my family on both sides has had it and recovered with little to no issue. Both sides of my family are full of anti-vaxers and COVID deniers with comorbidities too.

I literally have not lost a single family member or friend. Yet. I always have to say yet because you just never know.

[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Well, my mom tested positive this morning. She's a special education coach and tutored a kid for a few hours face to face (though with masks) last Tuesday who then tested positive that evening.

So far, just aches and some digestive issues. Hopefully it'll stay that way. My worry is more for my dad who is asthmatic and had a major heart attack 10 years ago, but they're both vaxxed and boosted, so hopefully it'll stay mild.

Hope it all stays mild for your mom and dad.

[IA_Chiefs_fan]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

Sorry to hear it. And sorry to others in this thread who have been impacted similarly.

I have been extremely lucky throughout this whole pandemic. First of all, I don't think I've even caught it yet. Second, pretty much everyone in my family on both sides has had it and recovered with little to no issue. Both sides of my family are full of anti-vaxers and COVID deniers with comorbidities too.

I literally have not lost a single family member or friend. Yet. I always have to say yet because you just never know.

If you've made it this far without losing a loved one to Covid, you might never. I really feel like things are just going to progressively get better from this point on, with a few speed bumps here and there. Fingers crossed for you (and everyone else).

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Well, my mom tested positive this morning. She's a special education coach and tutored a kid for a few hours face to face (though with masks) last Tuesday who then tested positive that evening.

So far, just aches and some digestive issues. Hopefully it'll stay that way. My worry is more for my dad who is asthmatic and had a major heart attack 10 years ago, but they're both vaxxed and boosted, so hopefully it'll stay mild.

Thinking about you all.

[TLO]

Looks as though the omicron wave in our area is receding.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Well, my mom tested positive this morning. She's a special education coach and tutored a kid for a few hours face to face (though with masks) last Tuesday who then tested positive that evening.

So far, just aches and some digestive issues. Hopefully it'll stay that way. My worry is more for my dad who is asthmatic and had a major heart attack 10 years ago, but they're both vaxxed and boosted, so hopefully it'll stay mild.

I wish them well. Keep us updated.

[philfree]

I had Covid back in Oct. 2020 now I have the "Comicon" variant. I've had one Moderna shot back in May. I have done some traveling and been around plenty of people since then and I figured I was exposed to the virus several times and I was immune but alas. I did hear a guy on the radio the other day say that the Comicon variant had characteristics of being manufactured in a lab so maybe that's why so many people are getting it. Who knows!

It's like a cold pretty much.

[IA_Chiefs_fan]

So the wife and I had COVID (I assume Delta variant) at the beginning of November. We were pretty sick but nothing scary. We got Pfizer x2 in spring of 21. We got Moderna boosted the middle of December. We now have COVID (I assume Omicron variant) again. For me the symptoms are sore throat, stuffy nose, upset stomach for a couple days. No big deal at all. My wife is sicker but nothing too bad. She has a very sore throat, very stuffy nose and a low fever for a couple days. I almost went nuts sitting at home last time. I'll be home until Monday now. Ugh