BBC: China pneumonia outbreak: COVID-19 Global Pandemic

[China]

Florida breaks record with 31,758 new COVID cases

 

Florida reported nearly 32,000 new COVID-19 cases to the CDC from Thursday, a new single-day high for the pandemic.

 

The 31,758 cases attributed to the past day in the latest federal data surpasses the previous record of 27,669 from Aug. 26.

 

The state came just shy of that when 26,811 new cases were reported from Wednesday.

 

The spike from the contagious omicron variant has been sudden. Florida had for weeks been reporting fewer than 2,000 new cases per day from late October through early December.

 

According to the Florida health department’s weekly COVID-19 data report, released Friday evening, the statewide new-case positivity rate rose to 13.8% this week, up from 5.3% last week and 2.6% the week before.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Llevron]

Got news of an uncle that died last night/ this morning. It’s sad, but the mfer asked for it. Wasn’t vaccinated. Started getting symptoms Wednesday….bad enough that we wanted him to go to the hospital but he refused. Didn’t answer his phone this morning so they went to find him and the body was already cold. 
 

Im more pissed he ruined everyone’s Christmas. It’s the wife’s side of the family and the first Christmas they were with us. I told her that’s literally how people die when she told me he refused the hospital earlier in the week. Didn’t really expect he would kick it, but like I said he asked for it. 

[China]

The year in COVID, visualized

[Larry]

1 hour ago, China said:

Deflated health care workers and desperate patients clash over alternative Covid treatments

 

Dr. Jack Lyons remembers the pandemic's early days when grateful communities banged pots and pans to honor frontline health care workers.

 

But now, faced with hostility just for trying to save his patients' lives, he says that, sadly, those days are long gone.

 

Lyons is one of the many doctors and nurses tackling the rise in Covid-19 cases that are flooding hospitals as the Omicron variant rapidly spreads throughout the country.

Now health care workers fighting on the front lines of the pandemic are also coming face to face with patients who dismiss and even threaten them over how they are being treated for the virus.

"Folks act as if they can come in the hospital and request any certain therapy they want or conversely decline any therapy they want with the idea being that somehow they can pick and choose and direct their therapy. And it doesn't work," Lyons told CNN from the CentraCare hospital he works at in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

 

As the highly transmissible Omicron variant, which has become the dominant strain in the US in a matter of weeks, drives up case counts, a newly fueled wave of misinformation about the pandemic and the vaccines designed to end it continues.

From groundless conspiracy theories that the vaccines contain microchips or alter people's DNA to deliberate falsehoods about vaccine deaths and mask side effects, the pandemic misinformation industry is thriving.

This dangerous misinformation has also led to a slew of lawsuits being filed against hospitals demanding unproven medical treatments, like Ivermectin. Health care providers are reporting growing hostility between medical workers and patients and their families.

It's a constant dose of harassment and vitriol.

"They insult your intelligence, they insult your ability, and most hurtful, they say that by not using these therapies you are intentionally trying to harm the people we've given everything to save," Lyons said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Got to say, though.  Been really shocked at the number of my fellow health care workers actually spewing the myths, themselves.  

 

Had somebody who I regard as literally the best nurse in the unit state that "It's not even a vaccine, they're just calling in that to push it.  It doesn't prevent infection."  

 

The hospital I work has had a policy for years that employees either get a flu shot, or they have to be masked for their entire shift.  

 

Well, this year, I'd say half the nurses are saying "They make us wear a mask all day, anyway.  So why should I get a flu shot?" 

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Larry

[The Evil Genius]

But do any vaccines prevent infection? Or are vaccines solely to diminish the chance of infection (and/or diminish the effects of said infection)?

 

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by The Evil Genius

[Larry]

1 minute ago, The Evil Genius said:

But do any vaccines prevent infection?

 

Nope.  

 

What they do do, is make it so that your immune system responds to the invasion, before the disease builds up enough numbers to make you sick.  

[The Evil Genius]

1 minute ago, Larry said:

 

Nope.  

 

What they do do, is make it so that your immune system responds to the invasion, before the disease builds up enough numbers to make you sick.  

 

So that nurse doesn't understand basic medical science?

[GoCommiesGo]

4 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

 

So that nurse doesn't understand basic medical science?

I read somewhere recently that the majority of unvaccinated healthcare workers were nurses. 
 

Most doctors are fully vaccinated and the article was pointing out the delta between the two. 

[Larry]

Just now, GoSkinsGo said:

I read somewhere recently that the majority of unvaccinated healthcare workers were nurses. 
 

Most doctors are fully vaccinated and the article was pointing out the delta between the two. 

Actually, the one I saw said that among health care workers, the lower you went in terms of education, the lower the % vaccinated was. 
 

Doctors were mostly vaccinated. Nurses were lower. CNAs lower still. 
 

Which coincidentally means that the vaccination rate is lowest, among the people who are in the most contact with the patient, and the best position to spread it. 

[tshile]

5 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

But do any vaccines prevent infection?

I listened to some reasonably intelligent people discuss this. 
 

polio. 
 

polio is, for many people, for whatever reason, the standard for a vaccine and it makes you immune to it. So many people associate vaccine with immunity. With the flu no one says ‘did you get your flu vaccine’ everyone says flu shot. To them this is an intentional distinction because the flu shot doesn’t keep you from getting it and sometimes they guess the wrong strain etc. 

 

different vaccines provide different levels of protection. Covid is caused by a corona virus which is notoriously hard to vaccinate against, see: flu  and  common cold. 

Edited December 26, 2021 by tshile

[Captain Wiggles]

Chicken pox vaccine for example is 85-90% effective. I remember my doctor saying he doesn't even see cases anymore. Guessing that will likely change in the future. 😒

[Larry]

20 minutes ago, tshile said:

polio is, for many people, for whatever reason, the standard for a vaccine and it makes you immune to it

 

It makes you immune to the disease.  

 

It does not make you immune from ever having the virus in your system at all.

 

(And I'm pretty sure that the vaccine does not work in 100% of people, either.  What it does do is it protects enough people, so that if you are one of the small percent who can't take it/doesn't work, then there are so few people you can get it from that you're safe, anyway.)  

[tshile]

Yeah man we get it. 
 

it works in 99%

[Larry]

19 minutes ago, clietas said:

Chicken pox vaccine for example is 85-90% effective. I remember my doctor saying he doesn't even see cases anymore. Guessing that will likely change in the future. 😒

 

Well, remember when the anti-vax thread was about elementary schools having outbreaks of measles, because a few Karens decided that they knew better than their doctors, and didn't vaccinate their kids, and the school's vaccination rate was 80%, instead of 95%?  

 

When our vaccination was 95%, the disease had pretty much zero cases.  Let the vaccination rate drop to 80%, and you get a dozen cases.  (And outraged Karens trying to tell reporters that her not vaccinating Tabatha doesn't make her responsible in any way, because if those other parents had vaccinated their kids, than unvaccinated Tabatha would have been fine.)  

[Elessar78]

6 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

But do any vaccines prevent infection? Or are vaccines solely to diminish the chance of infection (and/or diminish the effects of said infection)?

 

 

 

 

Antibodies: first level of defense, is shredded by Omi and Delta. So you get sick/can get sick
 

T cells/b cells take a few days to kick in but clear the infection quicker. 

Let’s please stop talking about “deaths”. That was always a low percentage. From the outset it was about flatten the curve.

 

2-3 doses of vax still preventing hospitalization=flattening the curve.

[Destino]

Too many of my friends families have positive covid tests this Christmas.  They’re all mild cases though so everyone should come out of it fine, but this is the first time it felt like so many of the people I know were sick at the same time.  Covid is sweeping through NoVa like a wild fire.  

[The Sisko]

After we heard about my Brother-in-Law, my wife called around asking about friends. Most of them either had a member or two that had it, or in a couple o cases, the whole family. Fortunately, none of them got really sick, but again, they were all vaxed.

All of this makes me wonder though, given the circus COVID has been, what’s going to happen when something really nasty comes along. Certainly COVID is bad, but whenever something worse comes along, the same reaction as with COVID will have some really bad large scale outcomes. The scary thing is that due to global warming, I think this kind of novel disease outbreak/pandemic is going to be a more frequent occurrence than in the past. If it becomes a once a decade or two event instead of once a century, it’s going to get ugly fast.

[Larry]

Thought that's been occurring to me.  (Yeah, I know.  That's dangerous.)  

 

I get the impression that what we're seeing right now, with Omicron, is a huge, rapid, surge in positive tests.  But with no corresponding surge in hospitalizations. 

 

And I get the impression that we are concluding that "Omicron is a lot more contagious, but it's also a lot milder."  

 

And I wonder if that's true.  

 

Because it occurs to me that we're coming to that conclusion, by comparing the numbers against the numbers for original Covid, and Delta.  

 

But, the Omicron numbers are taking place in a different population than what Original and Delta spread in.  

 

I wonder if the "lower rate of hospitalization" might be due, not to Omicron being less severe, but due to the large numbers of the population who are either vaccinated, or previously exposed, and are therefore somewhat more resistant.  

 

Idle speculation, from somebody a lot less expert than a lot of experts.  

 

[Simmsy]

On 12/23/2021 at 8:40 PM, TryTheBeal! said:

Couple of points, from some sharps I know.  
 

1.  The good news is the bad news.  With Omicron we’re gonna burn our way through 9 months of cases in 8-10 weeks.  If you’re boosted and healthy and don’t subject yourself to massive viral loads, you’ll likely see it through.  This vastly speeds up the idea of COVID becoming endemic in a manner similar to the flu.  And that’s good, BUT…

 

2.  Over the next 8-10 weeks, our healthcare will get overwhelmed and collapse.  Especially for the working class.  Meaning, even for the folks highly protected from Omicron, that it’s a really, really bad time to get into a car accident, or fall off a ladder or cut yourself in a kitchen, etc.  You do not want to have some rando misfortune ER visit for the next 90 days.

 

Be smart, be safe, make informed risk/reward decisions…and have a little fun!

Don't worry, dislocated my should last Tuesday. I should be good for at least a year.

[Elessar78]

22 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

But do any vaccines prevent infection? Or are vaccines solely to diminish the chance of infection (and/or diminish the effects of said infection)?

 

 

 

 

This question piqued my curiosity. In a UK study infection between household members vaxxed to vaxxed was 25% of the time vs vaxxed to UNvaxxed 38%. This is for delta.

[PeterMP]

21 hours ago, tshile said:

Yeah man we get it. 
 

it works in 99%

 

Polio vaccine efficacy relates to how many doses you've had and even the timing of doses.

 

To achieve 99% efficacy actually takes multiple doses given over a period of years.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/polio/hcp/effectiveness-duration-protection.html

 

And that's the version of the vaccine given today when and where it can be afforded.  Not the original version.  That 99% is the result of decades of research in terms of optimizing the vaccine, dosage, and schedule.

8 hours ago, Larry said:

Thought that's been occurring to me.  (Yeah, I know.  That's dangerous.)  

 

I get the impression that what we're seeing right now, with Omicron, is a huge, rapid, surge in positive tests.  But with no corresponding surge in hospitalizations. 

 

And I get the impression that we are concluding that "Omicron is a lot more contagious, but it's also a lot milder."  

 

And I wonder if that's true.  

 

Because it occurs to me that we're coming to that conclusion, by comparing the numbers against the numbers for original Covid, and Delta.  

 

But, the Omicron numbers are taking place in a different population than what Original and Delta spread in.  

 

I wonder if the "lower rate of hospitalization" might be due, not to Omicron being less severe, but due to the large numbers of the population who are either vaccinated, or previously exposed, and are therefore somewhat more resistant.  

 

Idle speculation, from somebody a lot less expert than a lot of experts.  

 

 

Also a lot of the most vulnerable are already dead.

 

Determining if omicron is actually more mild is going to be a very difficult if not impossible thing to do.

Edited December 26, 2021 by PeterMP

[China]

Doctor Suggests Unvaxxed Patients Should Be Moved Toward the Back of the Treatment Line: ‘We Need to Talk About This’

 

MSNBC medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta told Joy Reid Wednesday it’s time to begin looking at the bioethics of placing a lower priority on unvaccinated Covid patients with regard to treatment.

 

Gupta, a pulmonologist, joined The ReidOut for a discussion with the host and fellow guest Dr. Brook Watts about the country’s expected caseload as the Omicron variant spreads. Reid, when introducing the physician, said she has run out of patience with vaccine hesitant Americans.

 

“I’m sort of reaching my kind of peak fatigue, mental fatigue level, and I’m not even dealing with what the doctor and what you guys are dealing with in real life,” said the MSNBC host. “But it’s like, I know just off the top of my head, at least a half dozen people who have gotten Covid, who are vaccinated, but who got it in settings where they were around mixed groups or were with people who were not necessarily vaccinated.”

 

Reid said that she had seen models which are projecting 140 million new Covid cases over the next two months, and asked Gupta what he thinks should be done.

 

“We have to move away from this paradigm of even thinking about caseloads day over day,” Gupta said. “Because it’s overwhelming. It’s psychologically depressing, it’s discouraging.”

 

The doctor said he believes that private sector pressure might help force people to get vaccinated, but if more people do not lift up their sleeves, it is time to assess whether those people should be shuffled to the back of the line at struggling hospitals.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[tshile]

Popped positive on a rapid today. 
so, the vegas trip has been canceled. Technically new cdc guidance says 5 says after first symptom and 24 hours after last, you’re fine, as long as you’re boosters. If my symptoms go away by Tuesday morning I could still go. 
 

but my parents are watching our kids and my dad isn’t boostered yet - had to take antibiotics for a while so he wasn’t eligible until tomorrow. So, not worth the risk. 
 

i feel like a train ran over me. Crushing headache and body aches. The rest of me feels fine. I actually ran a bit yesterday - boy was riding his bike and I had the dog so I was basically sprinting to keep up for about a mile. Felt fine. 
 

Most testing places are closed today. I got to the urgent care at 8:15 am. Didn’t get tested until like 12:30, had no fever at the time, didn’t get my results back until 2. Been sleeping ever since. 
 

now I’m isolated to the basement in an effort to keep the kids from being exposed as much as possible. 

[skinsmarydu]

Sorry, @tshile.  Hope you get better soon. 

[Barry.Randolphe]

@tshile didn't you come down with Covid previously? What was your vaccine? Pfizer?

 

hope you feel better soon