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Coronavirus - the new strain XXIV

For the time being I think we just have to get used to boosters every 6-12 months, and be glad that this pandemic didn't happen 25 years ago or more, pre-internet, and pre mRNA vaccine technology.

But one must consider the proliferation of immune escape variants and thus opportunities for repeat infections over time. This is not a good plan particularly for the elderly and infirm among us.
 
The lockdowns bought time to get people vaccinated. Without them the hospital systems would have collapsed. The Malaysian health minister has stated that the more relaxed mask policy for now is purely based on keeping an eye on ICU usage. We have masking on public transport and indoors at the premises owner discretion. It turns out that most people still use them anywhere crowded.
 
What scientists have learnt from COVID lockdowns
Restrictions on social contact stemmed disease spread, but weighing up the ultimate costs and benefits of lockdown measures is a challenge.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02823-4
Thanks for posting this link, an interesting and well written article.

Act fast, act hard (in the best way for that particular virus with all known info at the time) was the advice given by an expert in the field of dealing with viral outbreaks right at the start. And that is supported by the evidence in the article. Whilst Boris did get the timing for the first lockdown wrong and it cost a lot of lives (from the report):

Knock estimated that had England introduced a nationwide lockdown one week earlier in March 2020, it would have halved deaths during the first wave

Had he been given enough convincing information (at that point a range of scientists had a range of views, but the in the field expert had already said: act fast, act hard) to make the call a week earlier?

I would hope that we are now much better prepared for the next viral outbreak and as more analysis of Covid is completed we end up with a much better decision making process and with more aware decisions makers.
 
Zoe is beginning to report rising case numbers again driven by young people (also an initial report of the blood pressure survey - they're exploring whether covid and higher bp are linked). Sore throat, headache, blocked nose and runny nose are the predominant symptoms being reported just now...

 
Zoe is beginning to report rising case numbers again driven by young people (also an initial report of the blood pressure survey - they're exploring whether covid and higher bp are linked). Sore throat, headache, blocked nose and runny nose are the predominant symptoms being reported just now...


Interesting. Wastewater COVID measurements starting to rise again in Massachusetts and several people I know have tested positive recently (vaccinated, and previously infected):
https://www.mwra.com/biobot/biobotdata.htm
 
Concern as Sage remains inactive since February

Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies has not been activated since Covid, despite ongoing health fears

The UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies has not met since February, when it was stood down after two years of work on Covid-19.

There were no Sage meetings during the summer, which saw a new wave of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, a monkeypox outbreak, a heatwave, as well as radiation fears following damage to nuclear power plants in Ukraine.

https://www.researchprofessionalnew...cern-as-sage-remains-inactive-since-february/
 
Interesting! New blood test to identify Long Covid receives European approval.

‘The test was developed after clinical studies published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology suggested that patients with lingering symptoms after COVID-19 had a distinct immunologic profile. One study, published in January, found this was characterised by patterns of inflammatory marker expression. Specifically, those with PASC had persistent SARS-CoV-2 protein in CD14+, CD16+ monocytes for up to 15 months following acute infection, compared with healthy controls, the researchers concluded.’

https://www.medscape.co.uk/viewarticle/long-covid-blood-test-receives-european-approval-2022a10022cg
 
Could tiny blood clots cause long COVID’s puzzling symptoms?
Scientists debate evidence for a micro-clot hypothesis that has some people pursuing potentially risky treatments.

Ive been warned to be alert for this from my ms nurse if I ever get covid as there is a number of ms/rrms/spms sufferers who have experienced micro clots after a covid infection along with kidney/liver damage, prob due to the fact that being immobile greatly increases the risk of problematic clotting.
 
Ive been warned to be alert for this from my ms nurse if I ever get covid as there is a number of ms/rrms/spms sufferers who have experienced micro clots after a covid infection along with kidney/liver damage, prob due to the fact that being immobile greatly increases the risk of problematic clotting.

Of course they won't know unless they look. That means nmr scans which very few are getting.
 
Zoe is beginning to report rising case numbers again driven by young people (also an initial report of the blood pressure survey - they're exploring whether covid and higher bp are linked). Sore throat, headache, blocked nose and runny nose are the predominant symptoms being reported just now...


These sound like the symptoms of a typical seasonal cold!…
 
This might as well go here given the connection between obesity and covid risk...

Liz Truss could scrap anti-obesity strategy in drive to cut red tape
Exclusive: Health officials ‘aghast’ as review launched of measures to deter people from eating junk food

"Officials at the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, the part of the Department for Health that formulates policies to tackle major public health problems, were said by a source to be “aghast” at the prospect of Truss potentially discarding strategies to counter junk food that have been agreed and approved by parliament.

Almost two-thirds of adults Britons are overweight or obese. Obesity costs the NHS an estimated £6.1bn a year to treat because it is an increasingly common cause of cancer, diabetes, heart conditions, painful joints and other health problems."

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...nti-obesity-strategy-in-drive-to-cut-red-tape
 
WTAF?
Has anyone told the virus?

In sight doesn't mean we're there yet, which WHO also stated clearly. "A marathon runner wouldn't ease off with the finish line in sight" Half of all hospital admissions are of people who have had 3 or more doses of vaccine.
 
W.H.O says the end of the Covid pandemic is in sight, deaths are at there lowest since Feb 2020

That seems like a very bold prediction given how they were blindsided by Omicron less than a year ago. I very much hope we are toward the tail end of the pandemic, but ISTM that nobody knows what the next phase will be.
 
Half of all hospital admissions are of people who have had 3 or more doses of vaccine.

Surely that means that a small percentage of a very large number make up half of the hospital admissions (the vaccinated), but a much larger percentage of a small number make up the other half (the un-vaccinated). I’m sure More or Less have done this or similar. It’s pretty good news really as it shows the efficacy of the vaccines, that you’re massively less likely to end up in hospital if you’re vaccinated than if you aren’t.
 


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