COVID-19 News and Discussions

[caltrek]

Six Common COVID Myths Busted by a Virologist and a Public Health Expert
by Simon Nicholas Williams and Stephen Griffin
November 29, 2022

Introduction:

(The Conversation) Almost three years into the pandemic, myths and misinformation remain widespread. Here we, a virologist and a public health researcher, debunk some common misconceptions about COVID.
Myth 1: The virus is becoming milder…
Myth 2: COVID only affects older and vulnerable people…
Myth 3: Washing hands is enough to prevent COVID spread…
Myth 4: Masks don’t work…
Myth 5: Vaccines don’t reduce transmission…
Myth 6: Vaccines were rushed through…

Read more concerning each of these “myths” here: https://theconversation.com/six-common ... rt-188396

[wjfox]

Fears of deadly infection surge as China abandons zero-Covid policy

Sun 4 Dec 2022 07.00 GMT

[...]

For nearly three years the authorities have battled to keep Covid out of the country, using every tool of technology, mass mobilisation and repression at their disposal, regardless of the tragic costs to individuals and the terrible damage to the national economy.

China became a nation of vigilance, constantly on guard against the virus lapping at its shores. Xi Jinping, China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, was champion of this isolationist approach.

Now Beijing has decided to move on.


[...]

Omicron has proved less deadly as it spread across countries such as Britain, but by the time it had become dominant, about 95% of the UK population had some form of antibodies from vaccines or previous infections, Bauld said.

China has relatively low vaccination and booster rates, particularly among the vulnerable elderly – only 40% of the over-80s have had booster shots. Almost no one has natural antibodies from previous infections.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... vid-policy

[weatheriscool]

Biden administration considers proposal to end military COVID vaccine mandate
Source: Reuters

President Joe Biden's administration is mulling a proposal from Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to repeal the U.S. military's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the White House said on Saturday.

McCarthy, who is vying to become speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, earlier told Fox News he had won bipartisan agreement to lift the mandate at a White House meeting with Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

[snip]

But the White House said Biden had agreed only to consider the idea.

"Leader McCarthy raised this with the president and the president told him he would consider it," said White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton. "The secretary of defense has recommended retaining the mandate, and the president supports his position. Discussions about the NDAA are ongoing."

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden- ... 022-12-03/

[wjfox]

COVID treatments and prevention are still improving – so the longer you can avoid it the better

Published: December 8, 2022 11.51am GMT

There have been enough COVID infections in the UK since March 2020 for every person to have been infected between 1.3 and two times, according to mathematical modelling.

Of course, some people will have had COVID more than twice, and some won’t have had it at all. But COVID is not a “one and done” disease, and any ideas of eliminating it are now unrealistic.

There is however an increasingly pervasive narrative which suggests we shouldn’t bother to mitigate against COVID, apart from through vaccination, because infection (and reinfection) is supposedly inevitable – and even useful for topping up immunity.

But counter to this somewhat fatalistic perspective, multilayered mitigation measures alongside vaccination have shown the potential to reduce COVID spread. These measures, such as purifying the air in closed spaces and destroying the virus with a type of UV light, are sustainable and not restrictive. The result could be fewer infections overall and a longer time, on average, between infections.

Read more: https://theconversation.com/covid-treat ... ter-192140

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

[weatheriscool]

Covid cases explode in Beijing leaving city streets empty and daily life disrupted
Source: CNN

Empty streets, deserted shopping centers, and residents staying away from one another are the new normal in Beijing – but not because the city, like many Chinese ones before it, is under a “zero-Covid” lockdown.

This time, it’s because Beijing has been hit with a significant, and spreading, outbreak – a first for the Chinese capital since the beginning of the pandemic, a week after leaders eased the country’s restrictive Covid policy.

The impact of the outbreak in the city was visible in the upmarket shopping district Sanlitun on Tuesday. There, the usually bustling shops and restaurants were without customers and, in some cases, functioning on skeleton crews or offering takeout only.

Similar scenes are playing out across Beijing, as offices, shops and residential communities report being understaffed or shifting working arrangements as employees fall ill with the virus. Meanwhile, others stay home to avoid being infected.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/china/be ... index.html

[R8Z]

This was too good not to share.



(forgive me)

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

New Projection Shows One Million Could Die From COVID in China
by Anishi Kohli
December 17, 2022

Introduction:

(Time) Roughly a million people could die from COVID-19 in China by next year as a result of the country’s rapid abandonment of pandemic restrictions, a new projection suggests.

Researchers worry that ill-prepared healthcare systems, low rates of vaccination among the elderly and ineffective vaccines will contribute to a massive and deadly COVID-19 surge that has already begun overwhelming hospitals in Beijing.

The country of 1.4 billion has had some of the strictest COVID containment measures in place since the pandemic began nearly three years ago, but the government began easing restrictions this month after a wave of fervent protests that began in November against President Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policies.

Read more here: https://time.com/6242070/covid-china-d ... xplainer/

[wjfox]

[caltrek]

One of Long COVID's Worst Symptoms May Have a Potential, Readily Available Treatment
by Carly Cassella
December 21, 2022

Introduction:

(Science Alert) Eight patients with long COVID had their 'brain fog' lifted after taking a combination of medicines concocted by researchers at Yale University.

The combo includes guanfacine and an antioxidant called N-acetylcysteine (NAC).

Both medicines are already FDA-approved and widely available for the safe treatment of ADHD, traumatic brain injury (TBI), Tourette's syndrome, and PTSD. Neither has severe side effects, and they are well-tolerated by almost everyone.

At the moment, guanfacine and NAC have only been tested on a small cohort of long haulers, most of whom were women, but the initial signs are extremely promising. More extensive clinical trials with placebo controls are needed to confirm the drug combo actually improves brain fog.
However, given the severity and widespread nature of long COVID, the researchers think clinicians should consider prescribing guanfacine to patients. In the United States, NAC is available over the counter.

"If patients have a physician who can read our paper, we're hoping that they can access help right now," says neuroscientist Amy Arnsten.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/one-of-lo ... treatment

[weatheriscool]

China estimates 37 million infected with COVID in a single day
Source: New York Post

Nearly 37 million people may have contracted COVID-19 in China earlier this week, making the country's viral outbreak the world's largest.

Minutes from an internal meeting of the National Health Commission (NHC) revealed that as many as 248 million people - nearly 18% of China's population - came down with the virus in the first 20 days of December, as a surge that began in Beijing is now spreading to rural regions, Bloomberg News reported.

It is unclear how Chinese health officials arrived at that estimate, as the country's network of PCR testing booths were shut down earlier this month.

Read more: https://nypost.com/2022/12/23/china-est ... n-one-day/

[weatheriscool]

Packed ICUs, crowded crematoriums: COVID roils Chinese towns
Source: AP

By DAKE KANG today

BAZHOU, China (AP) — Yao Ruyan paced frantically outside the fever clinic of a county hospital in China’s industrial Hebei province, 70 kilometers (43 miles) southwest of Beijing. Her mother-in-law had COVID-19 and needed urgent medical care, but all hospitals nearby were full.

“They say there’s no beds here,” she barked into her phone.

As China grapples with its first-ever national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, relatives of sick people are searching for open beds, and patients are slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for a lack of beds.

Yao’s elderly mother-in-law had fallen ill a week ago with the coronavirus. They went first to a local hospital, where lung scans showed signs of pneumonia. But the hospital couldn’t handle COVID-19 cases, Yao was told. She was told to go to larger hospitals in adjacent counties.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/health-china ... osition_05

[wjfox]

China ends Covid quarantine for travellers in January

2 hours ago

China will scrap quarantine for travellers from 8 January, officials said, marking the last major shift from the country's zero-Covid policy.

After almost three years of closed borders, this will reopen the country to those with work and study visas, or seeking to visit family.

But it comes as China struggles with the virus's ferocious spread in the wake of restrictions being lifted.

Reports says hospitals are overwhelmed and elderly people are dying.

The true toll - daily case counts and deaths - is currently unknown because officials have stopped releasing Covid data.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-64097497

[weatheriscool]

China to stop publishing daily Covid figures: NHC
Source: AFP

Cities across China are struggling with surging virus cases, resulting in pharmacy shelves stripped bare and overflowing hospitals and crematoriums, after Beijing suddenly dismantled its zero-Covid regime earlier this month.

The decision to scrap the daily virus count comes amid concerns that the country's blooming wave of infections is not being accurately reflected in official statistics.

Beijing last week admitted the scale of the outbreak has become "impossible" to track following the end of mandatory mass test

Read more: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/2 ... igures-nhc

[Xyls]

Time to shut down flights to China again. China should be punished for concealing health data. Yet again!

[caltrek]

Time to shut down flights to China again. China should be punished for concealing health data. Yet again!

I doubt that "we" will do that. In any case, I don't think it should be a matter of "punishment." It may feel like "punishment" to the Chinese (and people wishing to fly to and from China) but it should be more a matter of health precaution. I would think that it would be hypocritical of the Chinese government to complain given their history of shut-downs and social isolation in dealing with COVID-19. Not to mention the somewhat different path they have chosen regarding vaccines.

[Xyls]

Time to shut down flights to China again. China should be punished for concealing health data. Yet again!

I doubt that "we" will do that. In any case, I don't think it should be a matter of "punishment." It may feel like "punishment" to the Chinese (and people wishing to fly to and from China) but it should be more a matter of health precaution. I would think that it would be hypocritical of the Chinese government to complain given their history of shut-downs and social isolation in dealing with COVID-19. Not to mention the somewhat different path they have chosen regarding vaccines.

Completely disagree with this approach. We already saw the "not being racist, not punishing the Chinese people approach" at the start of COVID and look where that got us. Forever more if there is a new disease being reported in China, should be immediate travel restrictions as the country simply is not honest.

[caltrek]

Time to shut down flights to China again. China should be punished for concealing health data. Yet again!

I doubt that "we" will do that. In any case, I don't think it should be a matter of "punishment." It may feel like "punishment" to the Chinese (and people wishing to fly to and from China) but it should be more a matter of health precaution. I would think that it would be hypocritical of the Chinese government to complain given their history of shut-downs and social isolation in dealing with COVID-19. Not to mention the somewhat different path they have chosen regarding vaccines.

Completely disagree with this approach. We already saw the "not being racist, not punishing the Chinese approach" at the start of COVID and look where that got us. Forever more if there is a new disease being reported in China, should be immediate travel restrictions as the country simply is not honest.

My point is that "immediate travel restrictions" should not be viewed as a matter of punishment. Rather, it should be more a matter of a health precaution.

Why "punish" the Chinese people for the dishonesty of their government?

Are they not already victims in that regard?