COVID-19/Coronavirus Information and Support Thread (see OP for useful links)

[TexRex]

Ooh, 25000 posts

Harlot!

 

[Danoff]

Harlot!

I believe the technical term is Post Temptress.

 

[Touring Mars]

Here's a plot of SARS-CoV-2 hospitalisations in Scotland since the beginning of the pandemic, with each wave labelled according to the dominant variant at the time.

Hospitalisations have been steadily increasing for the last year and now stand at a 7-day average of 120 per day.

The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 is now less deadly per infection than flu for the first time, but there is also bad news - potential new variants and waning immunity could yet reverse this trend, but the main issue is that SARS-CoV-2 presents a much greater risk of long lasting serious illness than a typical flu infection, meaning that the overall healthcare burden due to COVID is still likely to present a major challenge, even without any more dangerous new variants arriving.

Tl;dr - it is still a very good idea to wear a mask in public places and avoid infection/reinfection and minimise your chances of transmitting the virus to others.

 

[CodeRedR51]

I'm interested in the stats that show how many of those deaths are not vaccinated, or had other health issues prior to getting COVID.

Anyone?

 

[Danoff]

Anyone?

United States: COVID-19 weekly death rate by vaccination status

Death rates are calculated as the number of deaths in each group, divided by the total number of people in this group. This is given per 100,000 people.

ourworldindata.org

Currently, for death rates, it's over 20:1 when comparing unvaccinated to vaccination+booster covid deaths. Just did a quick google search to find that, 2nd hit.

 

[UKMikey]

I bet a lot of people have a good idea why.

England’s Covid cases and hospitalisations are rising – and experts don’t know why

Since the start of the month, infections and hospitalisations have increased across England

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Touring Mars]

For the first time, one of my 'inner circles' (family, workmates and closest friends) has been breached by COVID - my friend and former boss tested positive this morning, and I feel like I dodged a bullet as we didn't go for our usual drink after work on Friday.

He is infact one of my 'social bubble', a group of just 4 of us who met up during the pandemic and we still don't hang out with many other people, so I'm gutted that he has COVID, but I'm also confident he will be OK as he is triple-vaxxed and very fit/healthy... indeed he took part in a cross-country race at the weekend, even though he was probably already infected by then.

On a positive note, my friend's boyfriend's brother who was critically ill with COVID over Xmas has recovered and is back enjoying life with his wife and three children. He was a recent transplant patient hence he was especially vulnerable to COVID, but I'm glad to say that he is evidently over the worst of it.

 

[TexRex]

On a positive note, my friend whose boyfriend's brother was critically ill with COVID over Xmas has recovered and is back enjoying life with his wife and three children.

 

[Joey D]

Pfizer asks US to allow 4th COVID vaccine dose for seniors

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech asked U.S. regulators to authorize an additional booster dose of their COVID-19 vaccine for seniors.

apnews.com

Probably not the worst idea. The fourth dose, or rather the "additional dose" is already being used for immunocompromised people along with transplant patients and a handful of other patients with varying conditions.

 

[Touring Mars]

Here's an update on the number of COVID hospitalisations in Scotland... almost back to their highest ever point and rising rapidly.

The only crumb of comfort in this data is that there will be a larger proportion of 'with COVID' cases and also that actual COVID hospitalisations are generally less severe than in previous waves, but it is still very disconcerting, not least as some COVID restrictions still remain in Scotland, and this is a supposedly 'mild' variant. And this is how rapidly Omicron variant BA.2 has taken over from BA.1..., and whose virulence is still not known...

 

[TheCracker]

I'm taking it that this is partially due to the fact that it is now six months on from boosters getting rolled out and their affectivness is on the wain and with few restrictions about, people are just not being as careful anymore.

 

[Touring Mars]

I'm taking it that this is partially due to the fact that it is now six months on from boosters getting rolled out and their affectivness is on the wain and with few restrictions about, people are just not being as careful anymore.

Yes, both things are definitely a factor. The troubling thing with that graph above isn't just the height that the line is now at, but the gradual baseline increase over the last 6 months. Previously, there were clear peaks, and even in the last 6 months there have been three clear peaks, but these now appear to be superimposed upon an increasing background. And when the background level of infection looks to be approaching the all time high level of hospitalisations, then things are not looking great. Bearing in mind that Scotland was due to lift all remaining restrictions on Monday, but this has been postponed. At this rate, we will be lucky not to see new and more onerous restrictions returning within weeks.

 

[Touring Mars]

Two of my closest five friends in Glasgow currently have COVID, and now two of my work bubble (of six people) also have COVID now.

Slightly worrying that I went to lunch with my friend on Friday and sat directly opposite him for an hour, and now he has tested positive this morning.

I had a bit of a runny nose last night and so I tested this morning, but I'm (currently) negative, though I wouldn't be surprised if I test positive in the coming days. It seems like it is not going to be avoidable for much longer.

 

[Blitz24]

Two of my closest five friends in Glasgow currently have COVID, and now two of my work bubble (of six people) also have COVID now.

Slightly worrying that I went to lunch with my friend on Friday and sat directly opposite him for an hour, and now he has tested positive this morning.

I had a bit of a runny nose last night and so I tested this morning, but I'm (currently) negative, though I wouldn't be surprised if I test positive in the coming days. It seems like it is not going to be avoidable for much longer.

I'm in the same boat as you. Was at a family gathering on Thursday and found out yesterday my oldest niece has Covid. I do not distinctly remember being near her for a long duration of time but I need to be aware of any changes. I haven't had any symptoms.

 

[Dreadmed]

Last couple of occasions I've used the Tube, about 1/3 to 1/2 of passengers are still using a face-mask. I imagine that's partly due to common sense (if not the signs STRONGLY recommending to use one), although 2 to 3 weeks back I had to go down to town right as the kids came out of school... and that ratio dropped down to 1/8 (and that's being generous!).

Safe to say I'm doing my best to avoid the morning rush hour and the 3pm escapees from now on. 😐

 

[Touring Mars]

I'm in the same boat as you. Was at a family gathering on Thursday and found out yesterday my oldest niece has Covid. I do not distinctly remember being near her for a long duration of time but I need to be aware of any changes. I haven't had any symptoms.

There's never a good time to get COVID, but I start my new job next Monday and have family plans for the end of this week, so getting COVID right now would be a real nightmare for me. I'm nervous enough about moving to a new working environment, esp. since I am going to be 'hotdesking' (In a pandemic? Really??)

-

Glasgow scientists develop simple test for malaria in mosquitoes - BBC News

Researchers at the University of Glasgow said it opens "huge opportunities" for disease response.

www.bbc.com

A bit of cool news though - my best mate and my old boss (who currently has COVID) did most of the work on this paper on malaria.

My mate Mario isn't mentioned in the article and is only a mid-place author, even though he carried out all of the data acquisition, wrote the code for the data analysis, and did all of the data analysis. He also wrote most of the paper too. He did atleast 75% of the work, the rest being collecting or growing mosquitoes, and yet he's not the main author because... reasons.

 

[ProjectWHaT]

This is so frustrating.

On February 21st, my university stopped doing surveillance testing for full vaccinated people. On March 14th, they eased mask requirements. Today, March 23rd, exactly 9 days after, they announced we were going to "Alert Yellow" because "COVID-19 cases on the Ithaca campus are increasing beyond our predictions, indicating a substantial prevalence of the virus on campus. This rising transmission is likely due to a number of factors, including relaxing mask requirements, the emergence of the BA.2 variant, and increased social activities." Despite this, they haven't re-instate mask requirements or testing, despite "the majority of positive cases being reported on campus are from symptomatic testing, which tells us that there are even more asymptomatic cases within our community."

I really wish they didn't loosen restrictions like testing and masks. They literally don't hurt anyone and it keeps everyone safe, not only the students and the professors, but also the surrounding community that heavily depend on students for commerce and stuff.



Anyways, I'm glad we know exactly what we need to do to reduce unnecessary infections and yet nothing of substance is being done

 

[Blitz24]

New York City has decided to modify the vaccine mandate for performers and athletes, finally allowing for Brooklyn Nets PG Kyrie Irving to play in home games and also allowing for unvaccinated Mets and Yankees players to play home games in 2 weeks. While this is a terrible look for the city, the way the mandate was provisioned made no sense. Why could opposing teams have unvaccinated players still play but the home team could not essentially penalized the NYC area sports teams while not equaling the playing field. This likely will open up the mandate to further scrutiny (due to 1400 individuals losing their job from the mandate) and spell the end of the mandate altogether.

 

[Joey D]

@Joey D How are you feeling now? I saw that you were having difficulties with recovery from covid before?

Nearly two months post-COVID and I'm still having issues. Thankfully, I'm not nearly as tired as I was a few weeks ago, but simple things get me pretty winded. I've also developed tremors that are pretty noticeable in my hands when I'm trying to pour something and I don't feel as "with it" as I did before. It's not debilitating or anything, but my concentration levels are sort of all over the place as is my ability to think clearly, especially when I'm trying to get a thought out. It's hard to explain, but it's like I want to say something and I know what I want to say, but it gets jumbled up. If I force myself to slow down, it's not really noticeable. I just need to reread e-mails and stuff before I send them. My appetite kind of sucks too, but I'm not sure if that's a post-COVID symptom or not. At the very least it's helped me lose the extra weight I've put on and I'm under 200lbs for the first time in a long time.

Thankfully, I have an appointment at the long-COVID clinic the first week of April so I'm hoping they can help me sort some things out.

 

[sirjim73]

Nearly two months post-COVID and I'm still having issues. Thankfully, I'm not nearly as tired as I was a few weeks ago, but simple things get me pretty winded. I've also developed tremors that are pretty noticeable in my hands when I'm trying to pour something and I don't feel as "with it" as I did before. It's not debilitating or anything, but my concentration levels are sort of all over the place as is my ability to think clearly, especially when I'm trying to get a thought out. It's hard to explain, but it's like I want to say something and I know what I want to say, but it gets jumbled up. If I force myself to slow down, it's not really noticeable. I just need to reread e-mails and stuff before I send them. My appetite kind of sucks too, but I'm not sure if that's a post-COVID symptom or not. At the very least it's helped me lose the extra weight I've put on and I'm under 200lbs for the first time in a long time.

Thankfully, I have an appointment at the long-COVID clinic the first week of April so I'm hoping they can help me sort some things out.

Sounds like you're suffering from what I've heard people call "brain fog".
Your symptoms sound familiar to reports I've read. Hopefully that means the clinic will be able to help you deal with them, using the experience they have built up.

Feel better soon 👍

 

[Populuxe]

Thankfully, I have an appointment at the long-COVID clinic the first week of April so I'm hoping they can help me sort some things out.

Good luck. I hope you make a full recovery.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Well San Francisco was approaching zero new daily cases....but it appears a new surge has begun. We've had at least 4 positives at our office and I may have been exposed myself. Seems as though the ba.2 surge is here.

 

[Joey D]

The FDA may authorize a second COVID-19 booster for adults 50 and older, reports say. But not all experts agree.

The first doses have been extremely effective in protecting people against severe COVID-19, raising questions about the need for repeated boosters.

www.usatoday.com

The FDA is expected to authorize a fourth dose for people ages 50+ this week. It still surprises me that some "experts" are saying that we should be focused on getting people their first, second, or third doses instead of authorizing another dose. Here's the thing, the people that wanted those doses have already got them and no amount of education, incentivizing, threatening, etc. will get them to change their tune. So why not authorize a fourth dose and let the people who will get it, get it?

 

[Touring Mars]

First day in my new job/office/team and everything was starting to feel a bit more like normal, until my new boss told me just now that a woman who was in yesterday has tested positive this morning What's worse is that she was in my boss's office for around 2 hours yesterday talking with my boss, and then I was in the same office for 90 minutes. I reckon it might be a minor miracle if I don't get COVID at some point in the next couple of weeks, or indeed if I don't already have it...

 

[Blitz24]

The FDA may authorize a second COVID-19 booster for adults 50 and older, reports say. But not all experts agree.

The first doses have been extremely effective in protecting people against severe COVID-19, raising questions about the need for repeated boosters.

www.usatoday.com

The FDA is expected to authorize a fourth dose for people ages 50+ this week. It still surprises me that some "experts" are saying that we should be focused on getting people their first, second, or third doses instead of authorizing another dose. Here's the thing, the people that wanted those doses have already got them and no amount of education, incentivizing, threatening, etc. will get them to change their tune. So why not authorize a fourth dose and let the people who will get it, get it?

At this point, you are better off arguing with a wall than convincing some people that the shot could be beneficial to them.

 

[Joey D]

Guess the pandemic isn't over:

Daily COVID-19 cases to jump 42% by April 10 + 2 more forecasts

Daily COVID-19 cases are projected to increase 42 percent nationwide over the next two weeks as the omicron subvariant BA.2 gains prevalence, modeling from Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic shows.

www.beckershospitalreview.com

 

[Touring Mars]

Scotland's hospitalisation rate might have peaked in the last couple of days, but it could still go up as recent data is updated.

That said, it has already beaten the previous highest ever peak (previous peak was 198 hospitalisations per day (7-day average) and new peak recorded just days ago was 210 per day...).

But, recent case numbers do point to a slow down - herd immunity kicking in once again? (as if it really ever did before...), though it is definitely much more prevalent than it was before, irrespective of what the data says.

This is a massive problem - the data is now being compromised from all directions - not only are COVID hospitalisations a tricky thing to measure at the best of times, but COVID cases are being missed due to a lack of testing and lack of funding for COVID surveillance systems. At a time when cases are skyrocketing, new variants are more likely than ever, reinfections are happening, and there's an ever-changing landscape of immunity (i.e. waning protection from vaccines), it is hard to even begin to interpret the data with any confidence now.

One thing is for sure though, most people I know who have caught COVID have done so in the last few weeks, and I'll probably be lucky not to join them...

 

[Sprite]

So my mums work (Co-op) have 3 staff off with Covid and it’s running rife through our village apparently. I’m so glad we are antisocial 😆

In other news, I visited my office on Monday (we have the choice to get together as a team once a month) and on my way home I noticed this excellent scrawling on the bus shelter.

 

[Shaun]

Sounds like you're suffering from what I've heard people call "brain fog".

I know the feeling and pretty sure I was suffering from it, not so much now.

A few weeks ago I was commissioning an electrical installation and when there are hundreds of connections it's not unusual to have a few faults like this install did.

Circuit diagrams in hand I eventually worked out the issues, it did though take about an hour when it's something I would normally sort out in 5 minutes. I was at times genuinely confused and for someone who's been doing this type of work for a good amount of time in was scary.

 

[TexRex]

Guess the pandemic isn't over:

Daily COVID-19 cases to jump 42% by April 10 + 2 more forecasts

Daily COVID-19 cases are projected to increase 42 percent nationwide over the next two weeks as the omicron subvariant BA.2 gains prevalence, modeling from Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic shows.

www.beckershospitalreview.com

Counterpoint:

In other news, I visited my office on Monday (we have the choice to get together as a team once a month) and on my way home I noticed this excellent scrawling on the bus shelter.

I like the bit in the bottom left, which appears to be a scrawling of a political compass marked to indicate "authoritarian right" and which was surely never anything other than that.