Covid-19 #17: Covid Is For Ever

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

More college football games cancelled. Shocking. 

[A True Kaniggit]

2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

More college football games cancelled. Shocking. 

I’m shocked. 

[Fury Resurrected]

On 9/22/2020 at 7:21 PM, Castellan said:

more on long term side effects - Parkinson disease 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-23/covid-19-may-cause-parkinsons-disease-research-finds/12688384

This is fucking terrifying. I had a family member with Parkinson’s and it is a truly horrible condition

[Larry of the Lawn]

1 hour ago, Fury Resurrected said:

This is fucking terrifying. I had a family member with Parkinson’s and it is a truly horrible condition

It really is.  My grandma died with Parkinson's and watching what it did to her body, and what the side effects of the drugs did to her mind and mental health, is one of the worst things I've witnessed any one suffer through.

[The Anti-Targ]

I should really listen to my own advice, since I am guilty of not following it. But it is good to be skeptical of any scientific news appearing in mainstream media. They are either getting the wrong end of the stick because they don't understand the actual science, or they are being deliberately hyperbolic.

I imagine it is far too soon to actually be seeing Parkinson's emerge in Covid-19 patients to the extent that it is definitively provable that it's a known chronic risk. But it is still worth being wary that it could be.

[Zorral]

The only person I've known personally to die of Parkinson's, was a good friend of partner since college days, Michael Blake, the author of Dances With Wolves, and not incidentally, prior to writing Dances With Wolves, a close friend of Kevin Costner.  It was, to put it mildly, horrible.

And now coronavirus is filled with mutations, as SARS viruses will do, as they survive and thrive. The dominant mutation seems to make it more transmittable, even if not more 'deadly', They Say.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/23/houston-coronavirus-mutations/?

Links within article on-site.

Quote

 

....Scientists in Houston on Wednesday released a study of more than 5,000 genetic sequences of the coronavirus that reveals the virus’s continual accumulation of mutations, one of which may have made it more contagious.

The new report, however, did not find that these mutations have made the virus deadlier or changed clinical outcomes. All viruses accumulate genetic mutations, and most are insignificant, scientists say.

Coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2 are relatively stable as viruses go, because they have a proofreading mechanism as they replicate. But every mutation is a roll of the dice, and with transmission so widespread in the United States — which continues to see tens of thousands of new, confirmed infections daily — the virus has had abundant opportunities to change, potentially with troublesome consequences, said study author James Musser of Houston Methodist Hospital.

“We have given this virus a lot of chances,” Musser told The Washington Post. “There is a huge population size out there right now.”

.... The new study, which has not been peer-reviewed, was posted Wednesday on the preprint server MedRxiv. It appears to be the largest single aggregation of genetic sequences of the virus in the United States thus far. A larger batch of sequences was published earlier this month by scientists in the United Kingdom, and, like the Houston study, concluded that a mutation that changes the structure of the “spike protein” on the surface of the virus may be driving the outsized spread of that particular strain....

....Morens noted that this is a single study, and “you don’t want to over-interpret what this means.” But the virus, he said, could potentially be responding — through random mutations — to such interventions as mask-wearing and social distancing, Morens said Wednesday.

“Wearing masks, washing our hands, all those things are barriers to transmissibility, or contagion, but as the virus becomes more contagious it statistically is better at getting around those barriers,” said Morens, senior adviser to Anthony S. Fauci, the director of NIAID....

 

 

[Zorral]

I understand your state right now.  Still, if you've been observing all the protocols outside and inside the office, you are quite likely to be OK.  What is really difficult and adds stress levels is not knowing when you should get tested ... or how ... or where even, depending on where one lives.  And then how long it will take to get the result. This long incubation period, and being contagious without being actually sick or showing symptoms adds even more stress.

Young people are infecting the older generations.  YAs don't get very sick generally and / or are asymptomatic.  But they infect the 30's-40's, they in turn infect those older than themselves.  At each age group the disease manifests more severely, at least from what I read this morning.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/world/covid-19-coronavirus.html?

105 schools in NYC have already at least 1 positive case.  Parents lie too, and send their sick kids to school.  That's one way to get rid of public education -- kill enough teachers and the rest quit.

 

 

[Xray the Enforcer]

1 hour ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

I was in a meeting yesterday, at the office, and the chief legal officer came in and basically said “everybody out” - there was a confirmed case of the virus in the office. That person and their close contacts had been sent home.

I was wearing a mask the whole time, but still very freaked out. 

I basically ran for the hills and went to go clear out my guts with vodka (note: that is a joke, I know that vodka is not a disinfectant, nor should one drink disinfectant).

Ugh I'm sorry that you had to deal with that @Chataya de Fleury 

[Mudguard]

32 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

Yup, it’s just added stress. I’ve been vigilant about mask-wearing everywhere, even when it’s not required (my office only requires masks in meetings, or for moving around the office, or if not socially distanced. And thank god I was wearing a mask the moment I left my car to walk into the office. 

I had a PCR test on Monday and got the results back on Tuesday, so yay for Cobb County Health Department. 

But, now I feel like I should maybe take a test again next week. How f—-cking awful is it to know on Tuesday that you are 100% ok and then potentially get exposed on a Wednesday...

Vodka definitely helped.

 

Good luck, hope you're still negative.  More companies should allow employees that can do their job from home to work remotely.  

It's frustrating that in the US, we really haven't made any progress to get the disease under control over the last 6 months.  We had over 30,000 cases at the beginning of April, and we're at over 40,000 cases per day now heading into fall.  Masks optional in an indoor setting?  And half the country doesn't think its a serious disease.  We've wasted the last 6 months.  It's mindboggling.

[Gareth]

3 hours ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

 

I basically ran for the hills and went to go clear out my guts with vodka (note: that is a joke, I know that vodka is not a disinfectant, nor should one drink disinfectant).

Some vodka can be a disinfectant.  I think there is a brand that is >80% alcohol by volume and that would work.  Otherwise, just drink Bacardi 151 or everclear lol.

[Zorral]

This is causing all kinds of other health problems.  Just this afternoon we had to take my partner to the ER due to crazy spiking blood pressure during a heavy duty zoom - tech meeting -- i.e. on Zoom, about how to use it and other apps, for a huge interactive cultural project that partner has instigated and is scheduling,, etc.  If it all comes off as hoped it will make history.  If it doesn't, that's all she wrote.  This is stressful all by itself.

Not to mention what this all doing to my blood pressure!

Once in the ER, it seems the readings had gone way down.  But there it is, and there partner still is.  Starving too, without having any real breakfast or lunch.  So I'm making something to take to the ER and hope I can find someone to take it in.

 

 

[HoodedCrow]

They don’t care if you’re starving if they want an empty stomach for certain tests. When that is done have food ready!

[Zorral]

I am still making food, but Partner just phoned.  Told to go home. Will walk (we changed all our medical care locations and physicians to have them in walking distance since corona).  After all, no exercise today! The rice just finished cooking, and the door opened, and am blessed again with the presence of Partner. 

[Clueless Northman]

22 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Every other government will need to have a reckoning to account for its public health failings that lead to unnecessary excessive deaths. Some govts will have more to answer for to their people than others.

I honestly wants to see most governments and health authorities leaders (WHO included) put in the dock, Nuremberg-style, when this is over. Sure, some tried to do their best and will be able to walk free, but there are a lot of people in America and Europe who fully deserves to spend several years in jail for basically enabling mass-murder.

[The Anti-Targ]

10 hours ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

I was in a meeting yesterday, at the office, and the chief legal officer came in and basically said “everybody out” - there was a confirmed case of the virus in the office. That person and their close contacts had been sent home.

I was wearing a mask the whole time, but still very freaked out. 

I basically ran for the hills and went to go clear out my guts with vodka (note: that is a joke, I know that vodka is not a disinfectant, nor should one drink disinfectant).

No kidding it's a joke. If you were taking it seriously you would have put the vodka in a nebuliser and inhaled it so that it got nice and deep into the nasopharynx and sinuses, and right down into the deepest recesses of the lungs. I'm sure nothing bad has ever happened from someone inhaling fine droplets of vodka for several minutes. 

Though, I suppose consuming it the tradition way might have some short term mental health benefits.

Hope all works out well. Personally I would go get tested again, but probably not right now. If you are infected you probably want to give the virus a day or two to rise to a detectable titre. Our managed isolation of overseas arrivals specifies a test at day 3 after arrival and at day 12. Depending on how close you came to the person with confirmed infection a day 3 / 4 test would probably do the trick. But if you were directly exposed I'd say get a day 12 test just to be sure. And keep yourself isolated.

Some epidemiologists here are recommending we completely shut the border (not even allow citizens to return) for countries where there is very high rates of disease / transmission. If we did, that list of countries might grow quite long as northern winter hits and transmission rates go up as predicted. Not sure it's a good idea, and what criteria we'd use to decide whether to put a country on that list, or when to remove it off the list.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

22 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

@The Anti-Targ - the vodka was really more for my mental health, all joking aside. My anxiety with all this has been HUGE, but I’m saving my Valium prescription for winter, since I only have 5 of them.

I was not in any contact with the infected person, much less close contact. I was also not in true close contact with any people who might have been a contact of a contact (the meeting lasted for 15 minutes, and for the last 10 minutes, I was 20 feet away from anyone, sitting by an open door. 

It’s been two days, and I have no symptoms (and I’m 45, so not exactly a young pup). Neither does my son or my two cats.  I’m still going to get tested again on Monday, if for no reason other than to assuage my anxiety.

See the vodka was your first mistake. You should have gone with shining the lights inside of your body. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

19 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

Goddamn it, I *knew* I was forgetting something...

I mean, you still have options to exhaust. You can also go with the plasma transfusions or the super magic pills, but if you want my advice on a full proof plan to shield yourself, go on a solo ocean voyage. Side effects may occur though, including but not limited to: (i) sea sickness, (ii) vomiting, (iii) dehydration, (iv) sun burn, (v) being shit on my birds, (vi) said birds attacking you, (vii) sharks, (viii) an angry whale that wants a crazed captain to leave him alone lashing out at you, (ix) Aquaman, (x) befriending a volleyball, (xi) loss of vision, (xii) death, (xiii) mild headaches and a burning sensation in the anus. I can confirm though that there have been zero Godzilla sightings in the last 17 minutes, so we're good, right?

[Fury Resurrected]

57 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I mean, you still have options to exhaust. You can also go with the plasma transfusions or the super magic pills, but if you want my advice on a full proof plan to shield yourself, go on a solo ocean voyage. Side effects may occur though, including but not limited to: (i) sea sickness, (ii) vomiting, (iii) dehydration, (iv) sun burn, (v) being shit on my birds, (vi) said birds attacking you, (vii) sharks, (viii) an angry whale that wants a crazed captain to leave him alone lashing out at you, (ix) Aquaman, (x) befriending a volleyball, (xi) loss of vision, (xii) death, (xiii) mild headaches and a burning sensation in the anus. I can confirm though that there have been zero Godzilla sightings in the last 17 minutes, so we're good, right?

Gojira comes to save the earth so I wish we’d sight her.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

6 minutes ago, Fury Resurrected said:

Gojira comes to save the earth so I wish we’d sight her.

So I see that you're predisposed to be anti-Kong. Interesting. 

[Fury Resurrected]

1 minute ago, Tywin et al. said:

So I see that you're predisposed to be anti-Kong. Interesting. 

I am pro kaiju and anti human