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Coronavirus - the new strain XXII

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51 459 cases today (that's a big jump from last Monday), 41 deaths and 719, 624 and 635 hospitalisations (I think these have probably stopped falling now)
 
sean99 said:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health...isinformation-trump-counties-covid-death-rate

Since May 2021, people living in counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump during the last presidential election have been nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19 as those who live in areas that went for now-President Biden.
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I don’t doubt there’s a strong connection between voting Trump and not getting vaccinated, and therefore dying, but it’s notable that this commissioned study controls for age but not socio-economic status. Poorer counties are more likely to vote Trump AIUI, and also to have worse pre-existing disease burden, worse exposure to covid, less access to health resources, including testing and vaccines themselves. Interesting article but it would be a shame if the unequal effects of covid get explained away in terms of misinformation and Trump.
 
Aren't Americans even worse off than us when it comes to employment support? Unlikely they're all going to play the game if the result is you end up living in your car.
 
Seanm said:
Poorer counties are more likely to vote Trump AIUI
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I don't know if that's true. Poor, rural, predominantly white counties are more likely to vote for Trump, but poor, urban, ethnically diverse counties are more likely to have voted for Biden. The latter has had a disproportionately high burden from Covid but have been persuaded to be vaccinated at a much higher rate than rural white voters.
 
matt j said:
Aren't Americans even worse off than us when it comes to employment support? Unlikely they're all going to play the game if the result is you end up living in your car.
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I'm not sure what you mean by this and by "playing the game".

Access to testing remains very poor in the US. Lateral flow tests are unobtanium, and $15 a pop if you can find them. PCR tests are often not covered by insurance and $150+. There are some excellent free testing sites in low income areas, but otherwise testing is difficult and / or expensive.

Access to vaccination is excellent. Shots are available everywhere, booking is easy and the entire process is free.

I do agree that it's a burden to be vaccinated if it results in your having to take one or more days of unpaid leave to recover - but on the other hand if you get a bad case of covid you'd be off for a week or more, and potentially have thousands of dollars in healthcare bills.
 
sean99 said:
I don't know if that's true. Poor, rural, predominantly white counties are more likely to vote for Trump, but poor, urban, ethnically diverse counties are more likely to have voted for Biden. The latter has had a disproportionately high burden from Covid but have been persuaded to be vaccinated at a much higher rate than rural white voters.
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I think this already paints a more complex picture than the article, which has something of the “just sayin’” about it.
 
Joe P said:
Somewhat related to the baring of souls ... I've lost a family member to COVID, who was infected by a neighbour in the months before any vaccine was available. He had a short visit outside over a hedge unmasked. He passed it on to his wife, son and daughter, all of whom were hospitalized for weeks with one person needing ventilation. Thankfully she survived but she is now a widow.
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I'm so sorry to hear this, Joe.

Craig
 
gavreid said:
51 459 cases today (that's a big jump from last Monday), 41 deaths and 719, 624 and 635 hospitalisations (I think these have probably stopped falling now)
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So cases do seem to be on the rise again (from an already silly high) and with Omicron now starting to run wild I suspect it won't be long before hospital admissions climb substantially again.There are already reports of hospitals cancelling cancer ops in some regions due to staff shortages and Covid cases so at what point do the government admit they are once again late to the party and introduce some further measures? My guess is no matter what they'll wait until after Xmas which is going to be a complete cauldron of infection with people of all generations gathering indoors.Still at least that other hotbed of infection, the schools, will be closed for a week or two. It's like manual for how not to handle a pandemic!
 
I watched the Dimbleby Lecture on BBC1 earlier. Given by the woman (name escapes me ..sorry) who led the development of the AZ vaccine. A very powerful watch. No punches pulled. She was dignified and self effacing, but also not afraid to call out Govt. for lack of funding or preparation etc. Very good explanation of how things were run in parallel to speed up progress. Get it on Catch Up.(iPlayer)
 
Meanwhile.. I've been pointed to a video on Youtube, from Dr John Campbell. I hadn't heard of him before, but unsurprisingly he divides opinion..with the Anti Vaxxer brigade in particular having the knives out for him. He's not a Dr of Medicine. He's a retired Nurse Trainer with a few other medical related quals, but he his clearly also not an idiot. He points to a lot of evidence from SA that seems to show that Omicron is being detected in hospital patients where it is not the primary reason for admission.The patients are, in general not getting too sick and not needing O2.

This chap's conclusion is that Omicron, due to its high infectivity, may well very quickly become the dominant strain and.. effectively the end of the pandemic. I'm not sure it works quite like that.. but whatever. An interesting listen and maybe cause for some optimism.
Please don't shoot the messenger..

 
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