BBC: China pneumonia outbreak: COVID-19 Global Pandemic

[JCB]

I hear y’all. Still feel safe-ish playing sports outdoors but probably gonna avoid even outdoor restaurant seating for a couple three weeks.

[Cooked Crack]

5 hours ago, Elessar78 said:

What’s y’all’s behavior right now? Locking down? We never really went to restaurants and bars before Covid and I’d been clamoring for grocery pickup before Covid so basically we don’t go out for anything. 

Mostly the same behavior. Still going to the gym but now the mask is back. I upgraded my mask for everything else. Got about 70 N95s so hopefully will be good for 2.5 months. Don't really do dining so don't have to worry about that.

[skinsmarydu]

Same here.  I only go places when I really need to & I'm masked everywhere except home & vehicle...all day at work. I haven't left home since Wednesday, I go back to work Tuesday.  I absolutely have to go out tomorrow because I'm running out of a lot of stuff & there are errands that have to be handled, but I'll be taking every precaution...bank on it. 

[just654]

I think it about everyone’s comfort level. Up until 2-3 weeks ago. I was pretty much back to life as normal. I have dialed it back. But still saw family over the holiday. Scheduled a test for today just in case. I believe we are closer to just living with this than most of you. I think we can see it will be here for a long time. I think we end up getting a shot every 6-12 months and go about living a normal life. The hospitals are busy right now. But with my contacts there most are saying it is people that either have the sniffles and are freaked out or people trying to get a test. 

[purbeast]

Considering I'm basically over covid at this point (tested positive Wednesday but had symptoms since last Saturday night) I am going to be doing what I was prior to this.  I basically was doing everything as usual just with a mask on.  Montgomery County has been very good about vaccinations and masking so I have felt comfortable doing pretty much my normal stuff.  

 

But considering I should have some sort of natural protection now, I will just be going back to that starting this upcoming week at some point.  Going to hit up the gym again, go to stores, etc, like I was doing prior, with mask on.

[China]

Covid is rampant among deer, research shows

 

The findings are a reminder that human health is intertwined with that of animals and inattention to other species could prolong the pandemic.

 

Humans have infected wild deer with Covid-19 in a handful of U.S. states and there’s evidence the virus has been spreading between deer, according to recent studies, which outline findings that could complicate the path out of the pandemic. 

 

Scientists swabbed the nostrils of white-tailed deer in Ohio and found evidence of at least six separate times that humans spread the coronavirus to deer, according to a study published last week in Nature. 

 

About one-third of the deer sampled had an active or recent infection, the study says. Similar research in Iowa of tissue from roadkill and hunted deer found widespread evidence of the virus. 

 

The research suggests the coronavirus could be taking hold in a free-ranging species that numbers about 30 million in the United States. No cases of Covid spread from deer to human have been reported, but it’s possible, scientists say. 

 

It’s a reminder that human health is intertwined with that of animals and inattention to other species could prolong the pandemic and complicate the quest to control Covid. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Barry.Randolphe]

So people in Ohio need to stop having sex with deer? We need a PSA from Fauci ASAP on that one.

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[757SeanTaylor21]

How can you determine that humans are the one who psst it?

[Fergasun]

There's not enough testing kits available to most people to do the testing thing.  Not even sure if there are still free testing sites.

[Sticksboi05]

12 hours ago, Cooked Crack said:

 

 

 

CDC came to its senses. Not requiring a negative test was unacceptable. Changing the guidance only puts more pressure on the FDA to get more tests on the market (there's 70+ in Germany for instance). But yet again the immediate back and forth here and quick reversal after experts said WTF erodes public trust. Taiwan said they've seen people contagious with Omicron for 12 days after testing positive.

 

I really don't know what is going on at the CDC but it's going to take them a long time to regain public trust post-pandemic.

[China]

Indiana life insurance CEO says deaths are up 40% among people ages 18-64

 

The head of Indianapolis-based insurance company OneAmerica said the death rate is up a stunning 40% from pre-pandemic levels among working-age people.

 

“We are seeing, right now, the highest death rates we have seen in the history of this business – not just at OneAmerica,” the company’s CEO Scott Davison said during an online news conference this week. “The data is consistent across every player in that business.”

 

OneAmerica is a $100 billion insurance company that has had its headquarters in Indianapolis since 1877. The company has approximately 2,400 employees and sells life insurance, including group life insurance to employers in the state.

 

Davison said the increase in deaths represents “huge, huge numbers,” and that’s it’s not elderly people who are dying, but “primarily working-age people 18 to 64” who are the employees of companies that have group life insurance plans through OneAmerica.

 

“And what we saw just in third quarter, we’re seeing it continue into fourth quarter, is that death rates are up 40% over what they were pre-pandemic,” he said.

 

“Just to give you an idea of how bad that is, a three-sigma or a one-in-200-year catastrophe would be 10% increase over pre-pandemic,” he said. “So 40% is just unheard of.”

 

Davison was one of several business leaders who spoke during the virtual news conference on Dec. 30 that was organized by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

 

Most of the claims for deaths being filed are not classified as COVID-19 deaths, Davison said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

----------------------------------------

 

Life expectancy fell sharply in the U.S. last year among high-income countries

 

The United States had the second-steepest decline in life expectancy among high-income countries last year during the pandemic, according to a study of death data spanning several continents. 

 

The only country studied that saw a starker overall trend was Russia.

 

The study, published Wednesday in The BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal), assessed premature death in 37 countries, comparing observed life expectancy in 2020 with what would have been expected for the year based on historical trends from 2005-2019. Life expectancy dropped in 31 of these countries during the pandemic. 

 

The U.S. trend was among the worst. 

 

U.S. men saw life expectancy fall by nearly 2.3 years, from about 76.7 to 74.4. Women lost more than 1.6 years of life expectancy, from about 81.8 to 80.2.

 

The measurements provide one of the most comprehensive views of the human cost of the pandemic and illuminates its effects on different age groups and genders. One surprise: The drop in life expectancy in the U.S. was driven by the deaths of young people, said Dr. Nazrul Islam, a researcher at the University of Oxford and the study’s lead author. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Larry]

Thanks, Biden.  

[Elessar78]

20 hours ago, China said:

Covid is rampant among deer, research shows

 

The findings are a reminder that human health is intertwined with that of animals and inattention to other species could prolong the pandemic.

 

Humans have infected wild deer with Covid-19 in a handful of U.S. states and there’s evidence the virus has been spreading between deer, according to recent studies, which outline findings that could complicate the path out of the pandemic. 

 

Scientists swabbed the nostrils of white-tailed deer in Ohio and found evidence of at least six separate times that humans spread the coronavirus to deer, according to a study published last week in Nature. 

 

About one-third of the deer sampled had an active or recent infection, the study says. Similar research in Iowa of tissue from roadkill and hunted deer found widespread evidence of the virus. 

 

The research suggests the coronavirus could be taking hold in a free-ranging species that numbers about 30 million in the United States. No cases of Covid spread from deer to human have been reported, but it’s possible, scientists say. 

 

It’s a reminder that human health is intertwined with that of animals and inattention to other species could prolong the pandemic and complicate the quest to control Covid. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

How do deer get Covid. Humans are never close to them. Is there an intermediary species?

[Larry]

20 minutes ago, Elessar78 said:

How do deer get Covid. Humans are never close to them. Is there an intermediary species?

[TradeTheBeal!]

29 minutes ago, Elessar78 said:

How do deer get Covid. Humans are never close to them. Is there an intermediary species?

Nah, deer in my area are super tame and will occasionally eat from your hand if you make the effort.

[tshile]

32 minutes ago, Elessar78 said:

How do deer get Covid. Humans are never close to them. Is there an intermediary species?

Actually, deer have among the most contact with humans among wild animals and that’s specifically why they are studied. 
 

I have a family of 12 that walk through my yard 2-3 times a day. 

[PeterMP]

1 hour ago, Elessar78 said:

How do deer get Covid. Humans are never close to them. Is there an intermediary species?

 

Could be.  We know that cats, ferrets, and minks could get it too.  It wouldn't be surprising if the early strains were widely contagious at different levels to most mammals.

8 hours ago, Sticksboi05 said:

 

CDC came to its senses. Not requiring a negative test was unacceptable. Changing the guidance only puts more pressure on the FDA to get more tests on the market (there's 70+ in Germany for instance). But yet again the immediate back and forth here and quick reversal after experts said WTF erodes public trust. Taiwan said they've seen people contagious with Omicron for 12 days after testing positive.

 

I really don't know what is going on at the CDC but it's going to take them a long time to regain public trust post-pandemic.

 

I made the same point with respect to a tweet that you posted before.  The total number of days of infection doesn't really matter with respect to the CDC guidelines.  Because the key is days with symptoms having been resolved.

 

Can you actually give a link to a documented case where somebody is contagious that would be an issue based on current CDC guidelines?

 

All these people saying the current CDC guidelines aren't sufficient.  Certainly some of them have been able to point to an actual (published) case study to demonstrate that point.  If they have, I haven't seen it.

 

And I'll point out the sensitivity of some of the tests approved in Germany is so low that they have been considered to be worthless.  Germany has a 14 day quarantine period.  And of course omicron is spiking again and Germany is going back into lockdowns.

 

https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/germany-reasserts-lockdown-warning-with-covid-cases-spiking

 

Where's the benefit?

Edited January 3, 2022 by PeterMP

[Spaceman Spiff]

Do the deer in your yards have swagger?

 

 

[China]

55 minutes ago, PeterMP said:

 

Could be.  We know that cats, ferrets, and minks could get it too.  It wouldn't be surprising if the early strains were widely contagious at different levels to most mammals.

 

 

 

It starts like this:

 

Then the next thing you know your cat is inviting it's deer friends in the house while your gone...

 

[China]

Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US

 

Covid-19 has killed at least 826,783 people and infected about 55.7 million in the United States since last January, according to data by Johns Hopkins University.

 

[Click on the link for an interactive map]

 

On a per capita basis, North Dakota, Alaska and Rhode Island have reported the most cases while Mississippi and Alabama are leading the country in deaths.

 

Those numbers fail to paint a complete picture, however, since testing scarcity and delays likely left many Covid-19 cases and deaths undiagnosed, especially during the outbreak's early stages.

 

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that as many as 1 in 3 people in the United States has been infected, more than three times the official count.

 

Click on the link for the full article and tabulated data

[Larry]

7 minutes ago, China said:

Those numbers fail to paint a complete picture, however, since testing scarcity and delays likely left many Covid-19 cases and deaths undiagnosed, especially during the outbreak's early stages.

 

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that as many as 1 in 3 people in the United States has been infected, more than three times the official count.

 

Certainly possible.  

 

Far as I know, I've never had it.  

 

But then, I've never been tested, either.  

 

So it's certainly possible that I had it, had mild or no symptoms, and I just don't know it.  

[China]

Southeast U.S. poised for a firestorm of omicron cases, with few safeguards in place

 

The United States is heading into the third year of the coronavirus pandemic with the extremely contagious omicron variant poised to ignite a firestorm of infection across the Southeast after exploding through the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

 

Lower vaccination rates and fewer mask and vaccine mandates have created a much different environment for the omicron variant to spread in the South, leaving experts unsure whether outbreaks will end up deadlier than in the North.

 

Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi are among the states experiencing the sharpest increases in covid-19 hospitalizations since Christmas, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. And the situation may only get worse, as initial outbreaks in metropolitan areas spread to more poorly vaccinated rural regions.

 

Georgia has shattered records, with nearly 1 in 3 tests coming back positive in the last week of December — and in metro Atlanta, nearly half of tests were positive. New daily infections in Florida have hit an average of about 43,000 — far above the peak of 23,000 reached during the delta variant surge in the summer. Louisiana also has eclipsed daily infection records set during its summer surge, with 12,500 cases reported Thursday, which state officials said was nearly twice the record, established in August.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Sticksboi05]

1 hour ago, PeterMP said:

 

Could be.  We know that cats, ferrets, and minks could get it too.  It wouldn't be surprising if the early strains were widely contagious at different levels to most mammals.

 

I made the same point with respect to a tweet that you posted before.  The total number of days of infection doesn't really matter with respect to the CDC guidelines.  Because the key is days with symptoms having been resolved.

 

Can you actually give a link to a documented case where somebody is contagious that would be an issue based on current CDC guidelines?

 

All these people saying the current CDC guidelines aren't sufficient.  Certainly some of them have been able to point to an actual (published) case study to demonstrate that point.  If they have, I haven't seen it.

 

And I'll point out the sensitivity of some of the tests approved in Germany is so low that they have been considered to be worthless.  Germany has a 14 day quarantine period.  And of course omicron is spiking again and Germany is going back into lockdowns.

 

https://www.bloombergquint.com/politics/germany-reasserts-lockdown-warning-with-covid-cases-spiking

 

Where's the benefit?

 

I'm going to assume if Taiwan's infectious disease organization felt the CDC was incorrect, that some of these cases have indeed been contagious longer than five days after symptoms resolved - or they're going to make the reasonable conclusion that they cannot document even a minute fraction of the hundreds of millions of cases since 2020, but that isn't needed to use the precautionary principle regardless. I'm also going to assume that if Dr. Fauci said the CDC got so much push back from public health experts on their proposed guidance that they are likely to update it, that that says something.

 

I personally don't need them to give me a documented case study, I am going to take the word of the huge number of highly talented immunologists and virologists who said they disagree, plenty of which, has been on Twitter expanding their thoughts. It's one thing if a couple folks here or there were angry with everyone else in lockstep.

 

Again the CDC could have put this to bed by providing all the data they alluded to in their media advisory. I think everyone's in agreement the odds of transmission is drastically lower for the range the CDC is referring to, but not absolute zero, especially not for unvaccinated people.

Edited January 3, 2022 by Sticksboi05

[PeterMP]

36 minutes ago, Sticksboi05 said:

 

I'm going to assume if Taiwan's infectious disease organization felt the CDC was incorrect, that some of these cases have indeed been contagious longer than five days after symptoms resolved - or they're going to make the reasonable conclusion that they cannot document even a minute fraction of the hundreds of millions of cases since 2020, but that isn't needed to use the precautionary principle regardless. I'm also going to assume that if Dr. Fauci said the CDC got so much push back from public health experts on their proposed guidance that they are likely to update it, that that says something.

 

I personally don't need them to give me a documented case study, I am going to take the word of the huge number of highly talented immunologists and virologists who said they disagree, plenty of which, has been on Twitter expanding their thoughts. It's one thing if a couple folks here or there were angry with everyone else in lockstep.

 

Again the CDC could have put this to bed by providing all the data they alluded to in their media advisory. I think everyone's in agreement the odds of transmission is drastically lower for the range the CDC is referring to, but not absolute zero, especially not for unvaccinated people.

 

First, everybody isn't in lock step.  There is a lot of variation out there to people saying this is awful to people saying they don't agree but it isn't awful to people just staying silent.  Personally, I probably would have gone to 5 if vaccinated and 7 if not and eliminated the part about symptoms resolving.  And left it at 10 if unresolved symptons.

 

That one group has to provide data and the other is nonsensical.  

 

Is there a reason at this point in time that the CDC guidance for Covid should be more strict than the flu?

 

The idea that there is a 0 chance of transmission isn't followed for any disease that occurs with any regularity in this country.  Proving that there there is 0 chance of transmission is essentially impossible and creates an unobtainable goal.