Covid #35: I am the Alpha and the Omega.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

I wondered whether the Blue states with low case numbers can restrict travel from Florida or Alabama and impose a quarantine measures, if those travelers can't provide proof that they are vaccinated.

[Zorral]

22 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

I wondered whether the Blue states with low case numbers can restrict travel from Florida or Alabama and impose a quarantine measures, if those travelers can't provide proof that they are vaccinated.

Back in the darkest days of winter 2020, when red gleefully cheered that it was blue that was sick, particularly NYC, and this was the end forever of that damned city BY GAWD!  there were a lot of states restricting travel at their borders, particularly people from New York.  This includes not only Vermont and Connecticut but Florida. When Florida etc. caught fire, we asked for arrival quarantine, which was enforced and as enforceable as doing the same for airlines arrivals when the airports opened to non-essential flights again.

Plus you know NY stole all Florida's medical supplies  when it was the other way around, essentially -- tRumpkins interfered and prevented medical aid and assistance getting to NY. 

How quickly so many have forgotten so much. 

 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

3 hours ago, Zorral said:

Back in the darkest days of winter 2020, when red gleefully cheered that it was blue that was sick, particularly NYC, and this was the end forever of that damned city BY GAWD!  there were a lot of states restricting travel at their borders, particularly people from New York.  This includes not only Vermont and Connecticut but Florida. When Florida etc. caught fire, we asked for arrival quarantine, which was enforced and as enforceable as doing the same for airlines arrivals when the airports opened to non-essential flights again.

Plus you know NY stole all Florida's medical supplies  when it was the other way around, essentially -- tRumpkins interfered and prevented medical aid and assistance getting to NY. 

How quickly so many have forgotten so much. 

 

Yeah,  but like I said, if I were Governor of those Northern States, I'd put into place travel restrictions for any person that is hailing from anywhere South of Virginia, and can't provide proof of being vaccinated. Vermont, Maine and those other states in the North East have good vaccination rates. Personally I think, the US should consider doing a real lfe reamke of a John Carpenter classic. Escape from Florida. But I gather Biden isn't the kinda guy to mobilize the National Guard to cut off Florida.

[Zorral]

'Course there are problems within our sorts of states too for vaccination and safety protocols, with the same groups refusing, evading, lying and hiding their non-compliance, over and over, and doing so since the pandemic began, and continuing to do so -- as here in NY in January and February 2020.  Because "We aren't part of the US.  US laws don't apply to us." Direct quote, I'm afraid, from the height of NYC as the hotspot, of the US and world.  

https://gothamist.com/news/brooklyn-teens-death-after-falling-ill-camp-jolts-orthodox-community-and-mystifies-health-officials

 

 

 

[Luzifer's right hand]

In Austria you can do self tests with QR codes which you can do at home and upload to a website which are valid for a day for our 3G system (you need either a negative test, a positive PCR test in the last 6 months or a vaccine to get access to certain things).

It was not surprise to me when a cousin at a recent family BBQ admitted that he and most of his pals have been faking them. Those self tests are the most Austrian solution I ever heard. Do something but make it as easy to circumvent as possible. 

[Which Tyler]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/26/what-is-behind-the-latest-fall-in-cases-of-covid-across-the-uk

Quote

What is behind the latest fall in cases of Covid across the UK?

Confirmed infections have dropped 21.5% week on week – though recorded deaths are still on the rise

Is this how it ends? After an 18-month rollercoaster of soaring and falling cases, and more than 100,000 UK deaths, is the epidemic fizzling out? Has immunity finally got the upper hand, or will the sudden drop in Covid cases prove no more than a brief downturn? There are many moving parts behind the numbers and huge uncertainty over what happens next.

ARTICLE CONTINUES...

 

[Padraig]

1 hour ago, Which Tyler said:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/26/what-is-behind-the-latest-fall-in-cases-of-covid-across-the-uk

Its interesting.  Its not just the UK.  The worst countries in Europe in terms of infection have all seen a drop in cases over the last week.    The Netherlands has seen the biggest drop (based on ourworldindata figures).   The UK, Malta and Cyprus are all down also.  Portugal and Spain have seen smaller declines but are still down, after very bad trends.

Now, there are still big increases in other countries (like France, Italy and the US) but they were starting from a better position.  So perhaps this Delta wave isn't going to be as severe as feared.  It will rip through countries, pick off the least careful but then die down (helped by vaccinations)

Of course, most of those countries have stopped relaxing restrictions or re-added restrictions.  The UK is one exception here.  So a continued decline in UK numbers should be a very good sign.  The US is the other exception, given its approach to vaccinations and restrictions.

[Week]

The other factor that I've read about (need to re-find the source) is that the Delta variant replicates way more quickly than other variants. The, supposed, effect is that people get sick much more quickly - reducing the length of asymptomatic spread and shortening the lag between case/hospitalization/death. In countries with good vaxx, that seems to be - knock on wood - a pretty fortunate confluence of events.

We'll see what it means is areas/countries lagging in vaccinations.

[Fez]

5 minutes ago, Padraig said:

Now, there are still big increases in other countries (like France, Italy and the US) but they were starting from a better position.  So perhaps this Delta wave isn't going to be as severe as feared.  It will rip through countries, pick off the least careful but then die down (helped by vaccinations)

Worth noting though that countries on the upswing currently, like the US, France, Italy, and Israel only saw increases in cases starting around mid-June, or even later than that. Whereas in the UK the increase started in late-May; the UK could simply be further along the curve than the others. And India even further along then that; COVID cases there have cratered from the peak in May. The raw number of cases is still high, due both to the population size and low vaccination availability, but it's been a major improvement.

[Zorral]

https://slate.com/technology/2021/07/covid-delta-variant-infection-breakthrough-pandemic.html

Quote

 

. . . .Mary Harris: Public health officials are blaming the new, breakthrough cases of COVID on the emerging delta variant.

There’s early evidence that people infected with the delta strain carry about a thousand times the amount of virus that those infected a year and a half ago carried. And now, many people have stories related to the variant. A little more than a week ago, one of my colleagues posted his own cautionary tale in our companywide Slack. He went to Florida to visit family, everyone fully vaccinated—and one by one, most of them were testing positive. It raises some worrying questions: Do we really know what’s going on with delta right now? If you’re vaccinated, are you able to just carry on? Or is the U.S. in the midst of a COVID backslide? To try to work through these dilemmas, I spoke with Slate news director Susan Matthews, who’s been reporting throughout the pandemic, on Tuesday’s episode of What Next. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Mary Harris: What do we know about the delta variant at this point?

Susan Matthews: So, I think we know that delta is very contagious, more than other variants or the original virus. What I’ve heard doctors suggest is that that when you get infected with delta, it is able to replicate more quickly before your body can mount an immune response. So even if you’re vaccinated, and even if your body is trained at mounting that immune response, which is what you want, the variant is going to be able to replicate faster. So it’s going to make you a little bit sicker than you would be if you were just infected with the original coronavirus strain, which your bolstered immune response would probably take care of before you got sick.

A couple things: There just isn’t very good data about how many breakthrough cases were expected and how many we’re seeing right now. One of the very first things I looked into was what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is doing about this. And the CDC is only tracking breakthrough cases that result in hospitalization or death. I feel like what we don’t know is more than what we actually know.

Mary Harris: So you don’t have the data, but you do have these anecdotes­—like the story of what happened in Provincetown, Massachusetts, when a whole bunch of people who were out on July 4 got infected—that seem to imply something.

Susan Matthews: Yeah. I think what we all heard when we were learning about the vaccines early on is that they’re pretty effective. So you may think, “Maybe one person in my group of 10 would get infected if we were exposed to the coronavirus.” But that’s not really how it works, particularly if you’re living your life as you did before: One person gets infected and then it replicates in that person and then, if you’re still all spending time together indoors and unmasked, it’s going to spread again. . . .

 

No wonder almost all the news sites I visit are reporting anger, outrage and even pleas to punish those who won't vaccinate by the responsible ones who have observed every safety regulation suggested, including that one of disinfecting our grocery containers -- whew! WHEW! when that one was allowed to be unnecessary.  Now wonder all the news sites I visit report the growing number of vaccination mandates  locally, state-wise, and private, as well as increasing calls for a federal mandate.

It does seem that requiring proof of vaccination to enter public spaces is rather simpler than telling people to put on masks -- though they should do that too, absolutely.  For their own sakes, and their children's, as well as mine.

[Padraig]

1 hour ago, Fez said:

Worth noting though that countries on the upswing currently, like the US, France, Italy, and Israel only saw increases in cases starting around mid-June, or even later than that. 

True.  That's a more accurate way to describe the situtation (than what I said).  The other countries in Europe that have seen their trends start to improve were the countries that were hit right after the UK.

It might suggest an upper bound for the countries that are still on the upswing (which is lower than the winter one).  Hopefully!

[karaddin]

On 7/23/2021 at 12:40 PM, The Anti-Targ said:

My impression is that people in NSW are being a bit defiant about following the lockdown rules. Or have I got the wrong impression?

It's mostly just bs and the ongoing complete failure of our media to priorities honesty and public interest in the face of competing profit motives.

Mobility rates in Sydney are around 1/10th of normal if I'm remembering it right, everyone that can work from home is working from home. Most of the infection is happening within workplaces with people doing essential work. The worst of the outbreak so far has also been centred in a region where the majority of our logistics companies are based (trucking, couriers etc) along with warehouses for supermarkets etc and public transport drivers. So even when they've tried to cut off movement in and out of those areas they've had to roll it back as the nation still needs food being delivered to supermarkets and so on, along with public transport grinding to a halt if they prevent the majority of their work force from doing their jobs.

The worst is creeping from Sydney's south west to the west now which does suggest they're getting it under control in the south west but still struggling to catch it before onwards transmission despite excellent contact tracing.

Aside from work place transmission the other big one is that with Delta the whole household is pretty much guaranteed to get it once someone brings it home - this was less reliably the case with previous strains. I still hope we'll get it properly under control and start reducing, but long term we just need the vaccinations.

[The Anti-Targ]

6 hours ago, karaddin said:

It's mostly just bs and the ongoing complete failure of our media to priorities honesty and public interest in the face of competing profit motives.

Mobility rates in Sydney are around 1/10th of normal if I'm remembering it right, everyone that can work from home is working from home. Most of the infection is happening within workplaces with people doing essential work. The worst of the outbreak so far has also been centred in a region where the majority of our logistics companies are based (trucking, couriers etc) along with warehouses for supermarkets etc and public transport drivers. So even when they've tried to cut off movement in and out of those areas they've had to roll it back as the nation still needs food being delivered to supermarkets and so on, along with public transport grinding to a halt if they prevent the majority of their work force from doing their jobs.

The worst is creeping from Sydney's south west to the west now which does suggest they're getting it under control in the south west but still struggling to catch it before onwards transmission despite excellent contact tracing.

Aside from work place transmission the other big one is that with Delta the whole household is pretty much guaranteed to get it once someone brings it home - this was less reliably the case with previous strains. I still hope we'll get it properly under control and start reducing, but long term we just need the vaccinations.

Always reassuring to know the media has the public's best interests at heart.

[Zorral]

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/07/26/colombian-covid-variant-already-spreading-in-south-florida/

Gosh, who woulda thought such a thing?

[Fragile Bird]

8 minutes ago, Zorral said:

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/07/26/colombian-covid-variant-already-spreading-in-south-florida/

Gosh, who woulda thought such a thing?

I saw a map on CNN yesterday showing that almost every single county in Florida has hit ‘critical’ level, meaning, I think, 50% increases in cases in a week.

[Which Tyler]

https://www.facebook.com/RtAVM/posts/5946821382054488

[The Anti-Targ]

I don't do Facebook. Can you summarise?

[Pebble thats Stubby]

32 minutes ago, The Anti-Targ said:

I don't do Facebook. Can you summarise?

Quote

Imagine if in London during the Blitz there'd be a whole bunch of people going "I'LL TURN ON MY LIGHTS IF I FEEL LIKE IT"

 

[Theda Baratheon]

I don’t know what this thread is for cos I’m tired n I don’t wanna read it all but it says covid so I’m assuming that’s what it is 

anyway I have the dreaded Corona and whilst it totally royally sucks and has knocked me for six it’s actually a nice relief to let myself be ILL for once. Don’t get me wrong I’d rather be healthy and not ill whatsoever but usually when I’m ill I try and power through as quickly as possible but this time fucj it I’m alread isolating and it’s covid, it can be serious, so am just letting myself be proper ill and actually in the long run this will get me through it much quicker and be much healthier than trying to push through it and ending up slightly run down for weeks or months on end which is what I’ve done plenty of times in the past being ill 

Anyway it sucks but I had a nice personal epiphany & hope I make the most of things a bit more when I’m better that’s it thanks 

[Which Tyler]

9 minutes ago, Theda Baratheon said:

I don’t know what this thread is for cos I’m tired n I don’t wanna read it all but it says covid so I’m assuming that’s what it is 

anyway I have the dreaded Corona and whilst it totally royally sucks and has knocked me for six it’s actually a nice relief to let myself be ILL for once. Don’t get me wrong I’d rather be healthy and not ill whatsoever but usually when I’m ill I try and power through as quickly as possible but this time fucj it I’m alread isolating and it’s covid, it can be serious, so am just letting myself be proper ill and actually in the long run this will get me through it much quicker and be much healthier than trying to push through it and ending up slightly run down for weeks or months on end which is what I’ve done plenty of times in the past being ill 

Anyway it sucks but I had a nice personal epiphany & hope I make the most of things a bit more when I’m better that’s it thanks 

Good luck for a rapid and full recovery. This thing's a right PITA