COVID-19 News and Discussions

[R8Z]

A few points I've seen this week:

- The Ivermectin study (the big one, 220k+ people) I was hoping to be pristine has had a nut-head heading the study (Lucy Kerr, believes in hipnosis treatment and other esoteric bs I found on her own website), which is great shame because it puts a lot of doubt on it even though initially it looked pristine. I sincerely hope the raw data gets out (it's from the unified Brazilian health system) and someone does a retrospective study on it, but the damage is already done. IVM is personally back to 50% works or doesn't to me.
- Everybody is talking about COVID excess deaths but Australia had a zero covid policy with great success (very high rate of tests and case tracking) and also has an astonishing rate of excess deaths in the same period. I personally would blame lockdown-fever or the jab side effects, but this is still to be seen.

[wjfox]

lockdown-fever

What do you even mean by this?

- Everybody is talking about COVID excess deaths but Australia had a zero covid policy with great success (very high rate of tests and case tracking) and also has an astonishing rate of excess deaths in the same period. I personally would blame lockdown-fever or the jab side effects, but this is still to be seen.

What are you talking about??

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/exce ... US~GBR~USA

[Cyber_Rebel]

Letting this happen will kill people in almost every population group. 9/10 Americans are covid deniers now it seems. No one wears a mask. No one social distances. No on cares. It's not a matter of letting, "rational people" work it out. Unless a person is a hermit they will be exposed as literally every contact around them will endanger them. Personal action is only so effective when collective action is nonexistent! We need restrictions and they won't come. Everyone's so up in arms about China forcing quarantines and here I am wishing our governments would do literally anything at all.


Now to post what I came here for. If the case counts in the US and Canada don't start curling up soon I will become convinced that they are simply not being counted or that the statistics are otherwise rigged. Even if they do curl up if they don't match european data rest assured we are being lied to. **** this hell.

I just got back from a 3 day weekend trip in Canada, and have to say there actually is a difference in how people perceive public health measures compared to the states. Many people still (were required at the time) wore mask, and some still were respectable to social distance. Mind you, this wasn't the case all the time, but it was certainly more prevalent. The Canadians I talked to who were fed up with restrictions weren't because they were really anti-vax nor deniers, but just Covid fatigued.

On the other hand, the weekend parties with the younger crowd and St. Patrick's Day in Quebec will no doubt lead to many increased cases. This crowd is also the most fed up and had the harshest measures.

What you said is also ties into our previous argument. I know you believe America is not a "true" democracy and really I'm inclined to agree. I'm familiar with the studies done in which the oligarch class basically influence and often "guide" policy in the U.S., but, where we disagree is just how much of this terrible outcome is also the fault of the people. The masses being unengaged along with the general hyper-individualist culture of the U.S. when compared to Canada and elsewhere is also very much at fault. If you attempted some of the things you stated on this board priorly, for example, a "war-time" economy to combat climate change, the American populace would literally have your head.

The case counts possibly not being accurate is something I'm expecting along with minimal restrictions. If the main people entering hospitals are still majorly the same anti-vax denier types, then it's just a necessary evil towards policymakers. It's also left up to the individual, but I have to say as someone who actually has been ridiculed and even threatened for simply wearing a mask, these people can all just go get fucked at this point. Like said before, these people are causing the deaths of others who need surgeries or have health issues by overloading the healthcare system. Going "simply have a better healthcare system" when these people are also the ones who vote against even having one is also an exercise in futility. Tis why I stated it plainly, let them have their "freedom," including freedom from healthcare so others who need it may receive it.

I also apologize if it seems like I ignored your previous post, I didn't, but I've been having a break with the left over a lot of things like this. Believing in the collective good is still an ideal I share, but for the opposite reason as yourself or someone similar might. It's because I don't believe people are wholly inherently good, and truly are naturally selfish animals who need to be better educated towards better outcomes. It's too simple to say that the "elites" are the sole problem while not addressing the root issue of human nature itself.

[caltrek]

Congress’s Epic Pandemic Funding Failure
by Dylan Matthews
March 22, 2022

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2298 ... prevention

Introduction:

(Vox) As I write this, the White House is warning that it will soon run out of funding to address the Covid-19 pandemic.

Without additional money, uninsured Americans will stop being able to get free tests and treatments for Covid-19 after March 22, and won’t be able to get free vaccinations through the federal Uninsured Program after April 5. The White House says it won’t be able to buy additional antiviral pills or new monoclonal antibody treatments for people with Covid, or to fund surveillance that could catch future waves of the virus.

The administration wants $22 billion; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tried to pass $15 billion only to face a rebellion from both Republicans and Democrats angry that the money would come out of the Biden stimulus plan’s funds for state governments. If this stalemate holds, the federal effort to halt the virus could effectively be over, even though the pandemic itself clearly isn’t.

That would be a disaster. Equally disastrous, though, is that Congress is simultaneously refusing to invest heavily in preventing the next pandemic.

The failures that made Covid-19 such a catastrophe — and kept the federal government and international community from squelching it when it was still a minor outbreak — still exist. We still lack the ability to adequately monitor new infectious diseases, and we still don’t invest sufficiently in preparing treatments and vaccines for viruses that could cause a pandemic if unchecked.

[caltrek]

‘A New Beginning’: New Zealand to Drop Covid Vaccine Passes and Mandates
March 22, 2022

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... d-mandates

Introduction:

(The Guardian) New Zealand will do away with vaccine passes and vaccine mandates for some of the workforce in early April, in a major loosening of the country’s tough Covid-19 restrictions.

The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced the changes on Wednesday morning, citing high vaccination rates, better data to identify which environments are high risk, and modelling that suggests the country’s Omicron outbreak would peak in early April.

The country reported 20,087 new cases on Wednesday, 960 people in hospital and a further 11 deaths, bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic to 210. New Zealand has officially recorded more than 500,000 cases of Covid-19 – nearly all of them during the Omicron wave – but modellers expect the true figure could now could be as high as 1.7 million. Modelling suggests Auckland has now reached peak cases, with numbers slowly dropping, and the rest of the country is expected to reach its peak by 5 April.

“We’ve been signalling for some time that when we come off the peak, that would be the time to be able to ease the use of things like vaccine passes and mandates,” Ardern said.

The changes include scrapping all gathering limits in outdoor settings and removing requirements for people to use the Covid-19 tracer app to scan in when entering businesses. Hospitality and other venues can increase their indoor gathering limit from 100 to 200 from Friday.

[Miky617]

By the end of today, The Worldometer website will show the US having surpassed 1,000,000 deaths due to Covid. Actual figure may be much higher, of course. The US population in 2020 was 329.5 million. That's about 0.3% of the population gone, which may not sound like much, but for every 1,000 people in the country, at least three are reported dead due to Covid.

To put it in perspective for myself, my high school totalled roughly 1,000 people at the time I graduated. If three of those students died in a car wreck, that would be the talk of the year, and it undoubtedly would have earned a moment of silence and a special mention at the graduation.

[wjfox]

Thank goodness the pandemic is "over". Time to drop all measures aimed at lowering spread.

Oh wait.

[Xyls]

In case you all thought this was over...

[weatheriscool]

Patients with Covid and flu double the risk of dying, say scientists
Source: Guardian

Covid-19 patients who have been hospitalised should also be routinely tested for flu, researchers have said. The call was made after the publication of a paper in the medical journal the Lancet that revealed having both conditions more than doubles the risk of a patient dying.

Scientists also discovered that individuals who had contracted both Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, and influenza viruses were more than four times more likely to require ventilation support and 2.4 times more likely to die than if they just had Covid-19.

“We found that the combination of Covid-19 and flu viruses is particularly dangerous,” said Professor Kenneth Baillie of Edinburgh University. “We expect that Covid-19 will circulate with flu, increasing the chance of co-infections. That is why we should change our testing strategy for Covid-19 patients in hospital and test for flu much more widely.”

*snip*

“We were surprised that the risk of death more than doubled when people were infected by both flu and Covid-19 viruses,” said Professor Calum Semple of Liverpool University. “It is now very important that people get fully vaccinated and boosted against both viruses, and not leave it until it is too late.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... scientists

[weatheriscool]

Free COVID-19 tests ending for uninsured Americans
Source: ABC

Americans who don't have health insurance will now start to see some of the free COVID-19 testing options disappear, even if they are showing symptoms.

Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest testing companies in the country, told ABC News that patients who are not on Medicare, Medicaid or a private health plan will now be charged $125 dollars ($119 and a $6 physician fee) when using one of its QuestDirect PCR tests either by ordering a kit online or visiting one of the 1,500 Quest or major retail locations that administer the tests, such as Walmart or Giant Eagle.

This week, federal funding to cover the cost of COVID-19 testing and treatment for uninsured Americans officially dried up; any further infusion of cash hinges on Congress passing the White House's request for billions more in COVID relief, which is still stuck at an impasse.

Quest has begun notifying its clients and partners they can no longer expect to be reimbursed for uninsured claims, barring additional funding from Congress.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/free-covi ... itter_abcn

[caltrek]

How the Next Pandemic Surge Will be Different
by Keren Landman
March 21, 2022

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/ ... erent-same

Introduction:

(Vox) Covid-19 cases are rising again in Europe. They’re outright exploding across much of Asia. The United States, however, is in a Covid lull, having just come down from the winter’s omicron outbreak.

It’s an uneasy time. On one hand, it’s likely the worst of the pandemic is over, at least in terms of severe illness and death. But on the other hand, we have to ask: Do these upticks in the rest of the world foreshadow America’s future?

It’s true that the US often sees cases rise several weeks after they tick upward in the United Kingdom. We are again watching a new(ish) variant, BA.2, trace a familiarly steep curve on graphs tracking new cases, provoking a familiar but chronically contentious question: What should we do about it, as individuals and as a society?

While this moment feels familiar in many ways, several factors set it apart from previous pandemic lulls.

Collectively, we have more immunity, and more treatments, than ever before. At the same time, we’re more fatigued about the state of the pandemic and arguably less prepared for a wave, considering there’s more confusion than ever about what our individual risk is at any place and time.

[RupertR]

In case you all thought this was over...

I don't think it won't be over before we vaccinate the whole planet (like we did with smallpox), as it didn't stop mutating. And the problem that if we vaccinate slowly, like right now, we won't be able to catch it up. The virus is faster. I hope it will mutate to something more deadly, as it seems like we have no choice but to live with it forever.

[weatheriscool]

Shanghai To Lock Down Millions For Mass Testing As China's Covid Cases Surge
Source: The Guardian

China will shut down its largest city in two stages as it sticks to a 'zero-Covid' strategy amid growing outbreaks of the virus. Shanghai will launch a phased lockdown to curb an Omicron-fuelled Covid-19 outbreak that has hit China with its highest caseloads since the early days of the pandemic, the city government said.

China's biggest city will lock down its eastern half from Monday until Friday, officials said, followed by a similar lockdown of its western side beginning on 1 April. The metropolis of 25 million people has in recent days become the leading hotspot in a nationwide outbreak that began to gain pace in early March.

A record 3,450 symptomatic cases were reported in Shanghai on Sunday, accounting for nearly 70% of the nationwide total, along with 50 symptomatic cases, the city government said on Monday. China's National Health Commission on Monday reported 5,134 new asymptomatic cases for the previous day, and 1,219 local confirmed infections.

Although the case numbers remain insignificant in a global context, they are China's highest since the first weeks of the pandemic, which first emerged in the city of Wuhan in late 2019. Millions of residents in affected areas across the country have been subjected to citywide lockdowns...

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... ases-surge

[erowind]

.

[weatheriscool]

FDA authorizes second coronavirus booster shot for people 50 and older
Source: Washington Post

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized a second booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines for people 50 and older, a decision intended to help shore up protection against severe illness.

The shots, which can be given at least four months after a first booster dose, are not a permanent solution to the pandemic. But with a still-more-transmissible version of the omicron coronavirus variant becoming dominant in the United States, even a short-term immunity boost among those at risk of severe illness could provide a valuable layer of protection.

The second booster is expected to become available immediately after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reaches a decision on who should get it.

The CDC is expected to say that people in the age group may get a fourth shot, instead of an explicit recommendation that they do so, a reflection of the ongoing debate about the benefits of additional doses and uncertainties about the future of the pandemic. The agency is also expected to highlight vulnerable populations within the age group who may get the shot.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2 ... ster-shot/

[weatheriscool]

If you got J&J vaccine, consider two mRNA booster shots, CDC data suggest
Source: Washington Post

The nearly 17 million Americans who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine are less protected against serious illness and hospitalizations than those who got the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots, according to federal data released Tuesday. The latest data suggest Johnson & Johnson recipients should get a booster with one of the messenger RNA vaccines, if they haven’t already done so — and even consider a second messenger RNA booster for the greatest protection.

The data come from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that analyzed the results of mix-and-match vaccine-and-booster combinations during a four-month period when the highly transmissible omicron variant was dominant. Even combining a Johnson & Johnson vaccine with a booster of either Johnson & Johnson, or one of the two messenger RNA vaccines, wasn’t as strong as three shots of the messenger RNA vaccines in preventing emergency room visits or hospitalizations, according to the report. The results confirm what health officials and scientists have known for some time based on earlier research. But the study is important because vaccine effectiveness data on the mix-and-match booster strategies in the real world has been limited.

The new data, from a 10-state study conducted by independent researchers, may provide clarity amid a confusing stew of data about the single-dose vaccine. It shows that three doses of a messenger RNA vaccine perform the best, while a Johnson & Johnson vaccine followed by a messenger RNA booster shot is next best. Two shots of Johnson & Johnson provide a lower level of protection, with a single shot just 31 percent effective against hospitalization. “That’s too low, especially in this world where we have access to other things,” said Natalie E. Dean, a biostatistician at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. “One priority is making sure that people who only received one dose [of Johnson & Johnson vaccine] are aware that they should go and get, preferably, a messenger RNA vaccine.”

The data also suggest a second boost with a messenger RNA vaccine may need to be considered, even for individuals who have received two doses of Johnson & Johnson, said Boghuma Titanji, an infectious-diseases expert at Emory University. “This is not yet a formal recommendation,” Titanji said, “but is something individuals who fall in this category should discuss with their health-care provider.” The takeaway: “If you can get the messenger RNA vaccine series, and especially get one as a booster, this [study] confirms that is the way to go,” said Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2 ... n-vaccine/

[weatheriscool]

Researchers develop sensor for faster, more accurate COVID-19 tests
https://phys.org/news/2022-03-sensor-fa ... ovid-.html
by Johns Hopkins University

A COVID-19 sensor developed at Johns Hopkins University could revolutionize virus testing by adding accuracy and speed to a process that frustrated many during the pandemic.

In a new study published today in Nano Letters, the researchers describe the new sensor, which requires no sample preparation and minimal operator expertise, offering a strong advantage over existing testing methods, especially for population-wide testing.

"The technique is as simple as putting a drop of saliva on our device and getting a negative or a positive result," said Ishan Barman, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, who along with David Gracias, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, are senior authors of the study. "The key novelty is that this is a label-free technique, which means no additional chemical modifications like molecular labeling or antibody functionalization are required. This means the sensor could eventually be used in wearable devices."

Barman says the new technology, which is not yet available on the market, addresses the limitations of the two most widely used types of COVID-19 tests: PCR and rapid tests.

[weatheriscool]

Judge Stops Navy from Discharging Any Religious Vaccine Refusers
Source: Military.com

Fresh off of a Supreme Court decision that saw his previous vaccine-refuser injunction narrowed, a federal judge in Texas issued a new order Monday that turns the case into a class-action lawsuit and halts the Navy from discharging vaccine-refusing sailors Navy-wide.

In Monday’s order, O’Connor granted the SEAL’s request to broaden the case out to a class action that includes “4,095 Navy service members who have filed religious accommodation requests,” the ruling said. That request was filed in January, according to court records.

Legal experts who previously spoke with Military.com said that it appeared the lawyers for the sailors had intentionally picked a judge who would be more sympathetic to their claims.

Read more: https://www-military-com.cdn.ampproject ... users.html

[caltrek]

'Unconscionable, Cruel, and Stupid': Senators Gut Global Covid Aid in Funding Deal
by Jake Johnson
April 1, 2022

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/ ... nding-deal

Introduction:

(Common Dreams) Key Republican and Democratic senators on Thursday reportedly reached a deal on Covid-19 aid that slashes proposed funding to combat the pandemic outside the United States, a decision that public health advocates condemned as short-sighted and potentially catastrophic for developing nations.

"Such a move would be unconscionable, cruel, and stupid," Public Citizen president Robert Weissman said in a statement. "Not only would it consign poorer countries, especially in Africa, to more death and disease, it would invite a resurgence of the pandemic in the United States. How could this lesson not be learned?"

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who has led the GOP side of the negotiations, said Thursday that senators "reached an agreement in principle" on coronavirus funding weeks after the Democratic leadership yanked pandemic money from an omnibus spending package due to disagreements over how to finance the aid.

Republicans have questioned the need for any new money to combat the pandemic and demanded that any aid be repurposed from states. The new agreement will need at least 10 Republican votes to advance out of the evenly divided Senate.

According to the Washington Post, the agreed-upon framework includes $10 billion in funding overall, less than half of the $22 billion the Biden White House has requested to keep key coronavirus testing, treatments, and vaccination programs alive. The administration has already been forced to cancel orders for therapeutics and shut down a program covering Covid-19 testing and treatment for the uninsured.

[wjfox]

Covid: Record 4.9 million people have the virus in UK

3 hours ago

About one in every 13 people in the UK has coronavirus, according to latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

That is some 4.9 million people, up from 4.3 million people the week before.

ONS officials say that is the highest number seen since its survey began at the end of April 2020.

The surge in infections is being driven partly by the contagious Omicron BA.2 sub-variant and people mixing more.

The figures for the week ending 26 March are thought to give the most accurate reflection of what's happening with the virus in the community.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-60953501