BBC: China pneumonia outbreak: COVID-19 Global Pandemic

[Ball Security]

 

 

[China]

Omicron ‘sub-variant’ throws up new virus questions

 

Scientists are keeping a close watch on a recently-discovered sub-variant of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus to determine how its emergence could affect future pandemic spread.

 

The initial Omicron variant has become the dominant virus strain in recent months but British health authorities have notably identified hundreds of cases of the latest version, dubbed BA.2, while international data suggest it could spread relatively quickly.

 

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) identified more than 400 cases in Britain in the first 10 days of this month and has indicated the latest variant has been detected in some 40 other countries, accounting for a majority of most recent cases in some nations including India, Denmark and Sweden.

 

The UKHSA indicated on Friday it had designated the BA.2 sub-lineage as a variant under investigation (VUI) as cases of it were on the increase even if, in Britain, the BA.1 lineage currently remains dominant.

 

The authority underlined that “there is still uncertainty around the significance of the changes to the viral genome”, which required surveillance as, in parallel, cases in recent days showed a sharp rise in BA.2 incidence notably in India and Denmark.

 

“What surprised us is the rapidity with which this sub-variant, which has been circulating to a great extent in Asia, has taken hold in Denmark,” French epidemiologist Antoine Flahault told the AFP news agency.

 

Scientists must evaluate how the virus continues to evolve and mutate. Its latest incarnation does not possess the specific mutation used to track and compare BA.1 with Delta, the previously dominant strain.

 

BA.2 has yet to be designated a variant of concern – but Flahault says countries have to be alert to the latest development as scientists ramp up surveillance.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Ball Security]

 

 

[China]

Drinking red wine can reduce risk of catching Covid, according to new research

 

Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, several ‘tips and tricks’ that have been labelled as cures to the virus have been brought up from time to time.

 

Many of them have fortunately been debunked, but a recent study has claimed that one specific alcoholic drink could reduce the risk of catching Covid.

 

The research, which was published in Frontiers In Nutrition, comes from the British database UK Biobank, which were analysed at Shenzhen Kangning Hospital in China.

 

Here's what you need to know about the research and what types of alcohol - if any - can actually protect you from catching Covid.

 

According to the report, which studied drinking habits and Covid history during the pandemic, drinking red wine could reduce the risk of Covid infection.

 

The report boldly claimed that "played protective effects" against Covid.

 

Across the study 473,957 subjects were used, 16,559 of whom tested positive for COVID.

 

It then used a model to come to various conclusions on how different alcoholic drinks would affect your protection against Covid.

 

The model decided that whilst wine was good for decreasing the risk of Covid, some other alcoholic drinks were not.

 

The study discovered that those who consume five or more glasses of red wine a week had a 17% lesser risk of catching the virus.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Elessar78]

We:red wine and covid

 

when the pandemic hit, Australian wine makers were stuck selling their inventory at cut rate prices, because China was their biggest customer. Bad move, China.

[Larry]

Just pointing out:  The problem with studies like that is that it finds correlation, not causation.  

 

Just to invent a hypothetical, maybe people who regularly drank red wine stayed home more.  

[JamesMadisonSkins]

On 1/22/2022 at 5:05 PM, Barry.Randolphe said:

Kinda interesting on that chart that virtually all of the positive and rising states are red states.....

 

All the positive and rising states for the last 3-4 weeks were very blue states. That was even more interesting to me.

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Elessar78]

6 hours ago, JamesMadisonSkins said:

 

All the positive and rising states for the last 3-4 weeks were very blue states. That was even more interesting to me.

Most of those were places you could directly fly into from abroad?

[steve09ru]

7 hours ago, Larry said:

Just to invent a hypothetical, maybe people who regularly drank red wine stayed home more.  

I'm sure all alcohol sales would show the same

[China]

There are FOUR different strains of Omicron circulating, WHO warns

 

OMICRON now has four strains circulating around the world, the World Health Organisation has warned.

 

The mutant variant has developed a number of separate lineages since emerging late last year.

 

This is not a surprise, it is a common pattern for virus strains - with Delta having split into more than 200 sub-variants before Omicron overtook it.

 

Most of the strains are so similar to the original they make no extra impact on severity or immunity.

 

Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.

 

The first known version of Omicron is B.1.1.529 - which is what was dubbed a variant of concern by WHO.

 

This then developed into two strains, with BA.1 becoming super transmissible, spreading to 171 countries and causing a row back on freedoms in many places.

 

Now, BA.2 and BA.3 have been logged as new sub-variants in the Omicron family.

 

They have many of the same mutations as Omicron - with current case rates very low, especially for BA.3.

 

There have been 426 cases of BA.2 found in England since December 6, with London top of the table with 146.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[PCS]

Geez this is ridiculous. The county I live in posted a 40.3 percent positivity rate. Of course the vaccination rate is sitting around 54 percent so there is that. Morons. Sigh. 

[Larry]

2 minutes ago, PCS said:

Geez this is ridiculous. The county I live in posted a 40.3 percent positivity rate. Of course the vaccination rate is sitting around 54 percent so there is that.  Sigh. 

One of the scary things about a number like that, is that it implies that the only people being tested are the ones who are pretty sure they've got it. 

[Dan T.]

JFC.

 

(this could have gone in the "Florida?" thread too...)

 

Edited January 26, 2022 by Dan T.

[PCS]

Gotta keep Ron happy I guess.  Moron. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Larry said:

One of the scary things about a number like that, is that it implies that the only people being tested are the ones who are pretty sure they've got it. 

 

Yep. And knowing the area, there's a fair chance many aren't getting tested because they don't care,"it's just the flu",or don't want to admit it. 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

Me most days on Twitter lol...

 

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[tshile]

On 1/25/2022 at 9:12 AM, JamesMadisonSkins said:

 

All the positive and rising states for the last 3-4 weeks were very blue states. That was even more interesting to me.

 

On 1/25/2022 at 4:07 PM, Elessar78 said:

Most of those were places you could directly fly into from abroad?

drawing conclusions from positive rates and general political ideology is dumb. It doesn’t mean anything. 
 

covid is very much a local issue. Looking nationally and trying to draw meaningful trends is dumb. You need to look at a region, and you need to look at a timeline that represents what you’re trying to actually determine; and then you need to apply it equally when comparing it to other regions. 
 

just because place A has rising/falling metrics now, and place B doesn’t, doesn’t mean a damn thing comparing the two. You need to compare A, when there’s an outbreak, to B, when B has its outbreak. And then you need to account for, just off the top of my head:

- population density

- number of people that move through the area at that time (ie: international airport and tourist destination vs random county in the mid west…)

- vaccination rate

- demographics including socioeconomic (young, old, poor, wealthy - are there tons of minimum wage workers working in places with lots of peoples or does 60% or the area enjoy working from home…)

- time of year

- how well does the area follow cdc guidelines

- what are school/daycare policies

- access to healthcare and the quality of that healthcare

 

my issue and frustration isn’t with you, but I’m very tired of the people who put this information out there (news, Twitter, whatever) not taking even a god damned minute to explain anything beyond the most basic, and meaningless, aspects of the data. 
 

right now a lot of really smart people are crunching this data constantly and using it to advise various agencies, from the office of the president down to your local school board, and even the best of the are issuing corrections, putting things out with tons of caveats, or making large ranges for their projections. 
 

No, your cnn anchor showing you a graph of red and blue states and a positive rare for both isn’t educating you. They are feeding you garbage, and pretending they’re informing you. And you don’t know any better because it’s the same garbage floating around all the social platform

 

 

Edited January 27, 2022 by tshile

[TradeTheBeal!]

Reminder that Musk predicted COVID was over in May 20.

 

 

[CousinsCowgirl84]

To be fair, Elon Musks timelines are always optimistic.

 

 

How close are we to making this a mild illness? I mean, I what is a mild illness? A lot of people die from the flu, but we kind of consider the flu a mild illness.  So till we get to a point where 15k die a year from COVID? 

it seems odd to me after a year of seeing how many lives wearing a mask will save each year, even for something as common as the flu, we have collectively decided it’s not worth it. Yikes.

Edited January 28, 2022 by CousinsCowgirl84

[Larry]

1 hour ago, CousinsCowgirl84 said:

it seems odd to me after a year of seeing how many lives wearing a mask will save each year, even for something as common as the flu, we have collectively decided it’s not worth it. Yikes.

Well, to be fair, not giving a **** about harming people has been a Republican thing, pretty much my entire life. 
 

They've simply moved on from that, to taking active delight in it. 

[China]

Indiana lawmakers push ivermectin as COVID-19 treatment

 

Proposed legislation by two Republican members of the Indiana House of Representatives seeks to remove the bureaucratic red tape that that limits doctors and pharmacists from dispensing ivermectin, a drug not approved for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19 by the Food and Drug Administration.  

 

Representative John Jacob is a disciple of freedom, and believes personal choice should extend into the doctor’s office and pharmacy. He told I-Team 8 he took ivermectin when he was diagnosed with COVID-19 last summer. That is one of the reasons he co-authored the bill that blocks state licensing boards from disciplining doctors, pharmacists or nurses who dispense ivermectin as a treatment of COVID-19.  

 

“I think it is very clear that there is a certain slant on information flow. In other words, the medical community, the government, has been censoring and having only certain information come out as being viable treatment,” Jacob said.

 

Jacob says he has not talked to any doctors about the legislation.  

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Fergasun]

My wife has had cold/sinus infection/congestion symptoms since Tuesday.  She had the oppurtunity to get a COVID test Tuesday and I gave her a hard time about not taking it.  Tonight she was talking about her symptoms and I basically said "You do realize that everyone in my office who had COVID was congested, coughing, and had sinus infection symptoms just like you."  She started to freak out...I thought she knew.

 

Public service announcement: Omicron looks like allergies/cold/congestion/cough.  

[EmirOfShmo]

9 hours ago, Fergasun said:

My wife has had cold/sinus infection/congestion symptoms since Tuesday.  She had the oppurtunity to get a COVID test Tuesday and I gave her a hard time about not taking it.  Tonight she was talking about her symptoms and I basically said "You do realize that everyone in my office who had COVID was congested, coughing, and had sinus infection symptoms just like you."  She started to freak out...I thought she knew.

 

Public service announcement: Omicron looks like allergies/cold/congestion/cough.  

Exactly what happened to my wife a couple of weeks ago. She woke up Thursday & said she felt like ****. Same symptoms as you describe your wife has. My wife was in bed Thursday & Friday. She was able to go to the Richmond raceway on Saturday* to get a test. They told her 2 days for results but didn't get a text until Tuesday saying she was positive. By then she was still stuffed up but not coughing (and she didn't do much of that at all). She's fine now but was wiped out for about 4 days. 

 

*I told her she would have to drive herself as I wasn't getting in a car with her. She was good about it. Luckily the entire time she was in an upstairs bedroom. I would mask up, with gloves, & take her food & drinks she wanted.

[Rocky21]

1 hour ago, EmirOfShmo said:

Exactly what happened to my wife a couple of weeks ago. She woke up Thursday & said she felt like ****. Same symptoms as you describe your wife has. My wife was in bed Thursday & Friday. She was able to go to the Richmond raceway on Saturday* to get a test. They told her 2 days for results but didn't get a text until Tuesday saying she was positive. By then she was still stuffed up but not coughing (and she didn't do much of that at all). She's fine now but was wiped out for about 4 days. 

 

*I told her she would have to drive herself as I wasn't getting in a car with her. She was good about it. Luckily the entire time she was in an upstairs bedroom. I would mask up, with gloves, & take her food & drinks she wanted.

Glad you were able to stay negative with a spouse who’s positive.