[COVID-19] General Discussion

[The Seeker]

Aaron Rodgers said he had 'Covid toe,' later calls it 'disinformation' and says it's a fracture

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers revealed Wednesday that he's playing with a fractured toe, 24 hours after saying he was suffering from "Covid toe."

www.aol.com

 

[Yulia]

Scientists warn of new Covid variant with high number of mutations

The B.1.1.529 variant was first spotted in Botswana and six cases have been found in South Africa

www.theguardian.com

Jeez, again new variant !!!((( This covid will last forever, can't stand it anymore!

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Jeez, again new variant !!!((( This covid will last forever, can't stand it anymore!

Well, certainly for the foreseeable future. They are keeping an eye on this one, but whether it ends up becoming more prevalent and displacing the Delta variant remains to be seen.

I think this is why the vaccination only way, while very effective against getting seriously I'll and dying from it, won't stop transmission and high case numbers. Which is why how we live with Covid needs to be tackled on numerous fronts, Otherwise, we risk more variants in the future.

 

[The Seeker]

Jeez, again new variant !!!((( This covid will last forever, can't stand it anymore!

I know how you feel my friend.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

South Africa to be put on England’s travel red list over new Covid variant

Flights from six countries will be banned as officials review travel measures after scientists voice concern over variant

www.theguardian.com

Omicron: How worried should we be?

Scientists are closely watching a new variant - but there are few clear answers.

www.bbc.co.uk

And remember before Lions tour a significant SA poster was saying how quickly SA would get fully vaccinated? Currently, only 24% are fully vaccinated in SA.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations

Our vaccination dataset uses the most recent official numbers from governments and health ministries worldwide. Population estimates for per-capita metrics are based on the United Nations World Population Prospects. Income groups are based on the World Bank classification. A full list of our...

ourworldindata.org

 

[Which Tyler]

B.1.1.529 Covid variant ‘most worrying we’ve seen’, says top UK medical adviser

Dr Susan Hopkins says R value of variant first found in Gauteng, South Africa, is now 2

www.theguardian.com

 

[Eleutherarch]

Partner has spent five days in SA over the last three years. Her flight is on Thursday, so the emergence of this new variant could not be better-timed. I cannot get through to the High Commission for additional information. I have no idea if outbound flights are on the chopping block or if it is only a temporary ban on inbound UK flights until the quarantine infrastructure is re-established.

Javid is due to update the Commons at 11. We booked as soon as the travel corridor was reopened without restriction. Clobbered. It's hilarious in its own way . . .

I do not resent cautious approaches - part of my background is in virology. We will abide by whatever guidance is issued. However, I cannot stand the fact that these protracted epidemiological problems are in no small part due to people prioritising their personal liberty over everything else (as well as lacklustre governmental directives).

Last time I checked, we live in a society. We use the same ******* roads. Frequent the same shops. Public health belongs to us collectively and we should act accordingly.

Additionally, let's put a greater emphasis on teaching critical thinking in schools. Might do something to address the staggering number of utter morons walking around that disparage the scientific method and basic tenets of biology and biochemistry.

 

[ncurd]

I think I may have shared it before but why is when people talk about "living with the virus" those doesn't include mask wearing and firebreak lockdowns.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

But this also shows why we should be vaccinating the poorer countries like those Southern African countries to stop these variants emerging.

 

[Which Tyler]

But this also shows why we should be vaccinating the poorer countries like those Southern African countries to stop these variants emerging.

Not to mention trying to keep case rates down with the tools available beyond vaccination.
Vaccination is not an alternative to mask mandates; equally and as you say, getting first vaccines into as many people as possible is far, far more important than getting 3rd vaccines into the privileged few.

More cases => more viral reproduction => more mutations => more variants of concern.

 

[Eleutherarch]

But this also shows why we should be vaccinating the poorer countries like those Southern African countries to stop these variants emerging.

Absolutely. But black and brown nations are always lower down the pecking order. There is precedent for this. If the Western nations had been willing to allocate funds to establish a robust campaign to limit the spread of HIV back in the 80's, the impact of the HIV pandemic would have been ameliorated massively. However, it was originally a problem for poor Africans and then the gay community - nothing to be concerned about

 

[McTallshort]

I think I may have shared it before but why is when people talk about "living with the virus" those doesn't include mask wearing and firebreak lockdowns.

I still cannot get my head round why people make such a fuss about wearing a mask. It's only a chuffing mask, surgeons perform brain surgery wearing one so how is walking round Morrisons with one such a ******* problem

 

[Which Tyler]

I still cannot get my head round why people make such a fuss about wearing a mask. It's only a chuffing mask, surgeons perform brain surgery wearing one so how is walking round Morrisons with one such a ******* problem

Yup, it's a minor irritation, several orders of magnitude less irritating than a common cold; which is several orders of magnitude less irritating than influenza, which... I think you know where I'm going with this.

Hell, it's less irritating than wearing a t-shirt on a hot day.


The cynic in me suggests that a mask mandate was only ever going to fly whilst tory donors and friends held all the strings on masks coming into the country, but now anyone can get them more-or-less direct from the Chinese supplier - there's no need to mandate them, as the profits have plummeted.

 

[Eleutherarch]

Not to mention trying to keep case rates down with the tools available beyond vaccination.
Vaccination is not an alternative to mask mandates; equally and as you say, getting first vaccines into as many people as possible is far, far more important than getting 3rd vaccines into the privileged few.

More cases => more viral reproduction => more mutations => more variants of concern.

You are a man of sense.

People look at the vaccination campaign and wonder why COVID-19 hasn't been eradicated like smallpox or polio. The molecular constitution is very different. This is not a DNA-based virus with low mutagenic capacity. It's going to change given the opportunity. Virulence is unpredictable - there is a level of lethality where viruses struggle to propagate because they kill their hosts too fast (Marburg, Ebola etc . . .) and then there are those viruses that circulate constantly relatively unnoticed. There is a massive spectrum in between.

We have no idea what to expect, but we should try to avoid creating a situation whereby we find out.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

But this also shows why we should be vaccinating the poorer countries like those Southern African countries to stop these variants emerging.

I can't speak for other poorer countries and then also of course not for all South Africans but I can tell you a huge percentage of our poor and not so poor at all are unvaxed precisely because they don't intend to be and not at all due to availability/accessibility. Even in my own family and certainly amongst others I have had dealings with who would be considered poor.

My point being that in SA if you WANTED to get vaccinated you probably have both your shots already apart from obvious exceptions like for instance I appreciate the uncertainty for pregnant women and people in.. not sure if this si the best word but.. exceptional circumstances. I remember we were clambering to get vaccinated even if just as a means to help curb spread and thus mutations but now you just don't see the regular vax spots even remotely as busy.

I'm all for choice but feel it should be informed choice and I just don't believe the general SA public is anything close to informed and we have a very real distrust for government and public institutions across most of our population and not for no reason sadly. But I'm rambling now, sorry.

 

[Eleutherarch]

I can't speak for other poorer countries and then also of course not for all South Africans but I can tell you a huge percentage of our poor and not so poor at all are unvaxed precisely because they don't intend to be and not at all due to availability/accessibility. Even in my own family and certainly amongst others I have had dealings with who would be considered poor.

My point being that in SA if you WANTED to get vaccinated you probably have both your shots already apart from obvious exceptions like for instance I appreciate the uncertainty for pregnant women and people in.. not sure if this si the best word but.. exceptional circumstances. I remember we were clambering to get vaccinated even if just as a means to help curb spread and thus mutations but now you just don't see the regular vax spots even remotely as busy.

I'm all for choice but feel it should be informed choice and I just don't believe the general SA public is anything close to informed and we have a very real distrust for government and public institutions across most of our population and not for no reason sadly. But I'm rambling now, sorry.

This is true - all members of our family have been vaccinated. With a couple of hiccoughs, availability hasn't been too much of a problem.

There is good reason to be distrustful of SA public institutions but the ANC has never been good at promoting public health messages. And they have a track record of out-and-out misinformation when it comes to public health. They can and should do a lot more.

 

[Eleutherarch]

 

[Bada-Bing!]

So this new variant has a new name: Omicron, by the WHO.

 

[Which Tyler]

So this new variant has a new name: Omicron, by the WHO.

Just skipping Mu, Nu and Xi then

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Patiently waiting for the Snu-Snu variant