COVID-19 News and Discussions

[wjfox]

Take note, R8Z.

-----

NC hospitals say nearly all COVID-19 patients on ventilators are unvaccinated

January 6, 2022 5:37 p.m. EST

Doctors from Duke, UNC-REX and WakeMed hospitals all echoed the same three messages on Thursday: get vaccinated, get boosted and avoid emergency rooms if you aren't seriously ill.

The joint news conference comes alongside another day of record new cases of the virus in North Carolina. On Thursday, a record 24,292 new cases were reported, with 30.1% of tests returning positive over the past 24 hours.

[...]

Getting vaccinated and boosted is the key to staying out of hospitals or becoming seriously ill from coronavirus, all three physicians urged. At WakeMed and UNC hospitals, 100% of COVID-19 patients on ventilators are unvaccinated, they said.

At all WakeMed hospitals, only 1 in 10 ICU patients are fully vaccinated, and at Duke, all the patients on ECMO, a form of life support used for only the sickest patients, are unvaccinated.

As of 4:40 p.m. on Thursday, a spokesman for UNC Health said all COVID-19 patients on ventilators in the ICU were unvaccinated.

https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/nc-hos ... /20065686/

[wjfox]

E3: Gaming convention cancels in-person event due to Covid

Published 4 hours ago

Major video game convention E3 will not be held as an in-person event in LA in June 2022, for the third year in a row.

The decision was due to health risks surrounding Covid-19 and the "safety of exhibitors and attendees", said organisers the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).

Since 1995, E3 has brought the entire games industry together to help build excitement for upcoming releases.

It allows the world's biggest games developers to showcase their projects.

Last year the event was held digitally with games companies like Nintendo, Xbox, Konami and Ubisoft taking part and fans had access to online showcases, trailers and preview material.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59908212

[caltrek]

With the latest Omicron wave, a lot of news stories are emerging for across the globe. So, I thought I would do another around the world roundup.

Xi’an Hospital Punished for Refusing Entry to Pregnant Woman
January 6, 2022

https://www.courthousenews.com/xian-hos ... ant-woman/

Introduction:

BEIJING (AP) — Hospital officials in the northern Chinese city of Xi'an have been punished after a pregnant woman miscarried after being refused entry, reportedly for not having current Covid-19 test results.

The city government announced Thursday that Gaoxin Hospital General Manager Fan Yuhui has been suspended and the heads of the outpatient department and medical department sacked.

A government statement said the incident "caused widespread concern in society and caused a severe social impact."

The statement was read at a news conference by the head of the city's health department, Liu Shunzhi, who bowed in apology to the woman, who is undergoing recovery, and for "providing poor access to medical treatment and inadequate service for those with special requirements."

The system will "open green channels for those with special needs and make every effort to ensure all received attention amid the pandemic," state media quoted Liu as saying.

Italy Makes Covid Shots Mandatory for Over 50s, Macron Targets Unvaccinated
by Cain Burdeau
January 6, 2022

https://www.courthousenews.com/italy-ma ... accinated/

Introduction:

(Courthouse News) — With infections exploding globally due largely to the more contagious but less severe omicron variant, Italy has become the first major country to make vaccination mandatory for anyone over the age of 50 and France is seeking to tighten even further rules against the unvaccinated.

The number of new cases of Covid-19 being detected in Europe and the United States is astronomical. In Europe, 1.2 million new cases were reported on Wednesday and more than 704,000 people tested positive in the U.S. Globally, more than 2.5 million cases were reported in the past 24 hours, by far the highest ever for a single day.

Despite the massive increase, omicron appears to be causing less severe sickness and the number of deaths globally has not risen, though deaths are rising in some countries.

The World Health Organization on Thursday warned against taking omicron lightly.

“We do know that omicron is causing less severe disease, but it doesn't mean it is just a mild disease,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on the pandemic, during a news briefing from the agency's headquarters in Geneva.

Amid Omicron Surge, We Know Startlingly Little About Who’s Getting Boosted in the United States
by Abigail Weinberg
January 7, 2021

https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2 ... g-boosted/

Introduction:

(Mother Jones) We know that there’s no better way to prevent severe illness and death from the rapidly spreading Omicron variant than getting boosted. Receiving a booster after being fully vaccinated for five months, according to one study, reduced mortality by 90 percent.

Yet booster shot outreach efforts are facing a big problem: We don’t know exactly who is getting boosted. The data is, frankly, a mess. And that stops public health workers on the state and local level from taking the actions they need to combat the coronavirus.

One of the most glaring issues is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t publicly report racial and ethnic information on booster shot recipients under age 65, even though it does so for people fully vaccinated people and those who have received at least one dose. No word yet from the CDC on why that is. But for a disease that has killed and infected Black, Indigenous, and Latino people at higher rates than Asian and white people, this lack of granular data is particularly glaring.

[caltrek]

Around the world roundup continued...

Delhi Reports 17,335 Fresh Covid Cases, 9 Deaths; 55-hour Curfew from Tonight
January 7, 2022

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 55206.html

Introduction:

(Hindustan Times) Delhi on Friday reported 17,335 fresh Covid infections and 9 deaths, continuing the alarming but predicted surge. The positivity rate, after Friday's addition, rose to 17.73%. The number of containment zones in Delhi as on Friday was 6,912.

Starting from 10pm on Friday, Delhi will remain under curfew till 5pm on Monday and during these 55 hours, shops, malls and markets will largely remain closed. Only essential shops, services will be allowed to function during the lockdown time. The health department of the government has asked all city government-run hospitals to cancel leaves, barring maternity and medical leaves.

"In view of recent surge in Covid-19 cases and for efficient management of Covid-19 pandemic in NCT of Delhi, all MDs/MSs/Directors of all hospitals of Government of NCT of Delhi are directed not to grant leaves of any type except maternity leaves and other medical leaves to any medical and non-medical staff with immediate effect and cancel all such leaves, if already granted," read an order issued by the health department.

Mini-lockdown in Gujarat to Curb Covid-19 Spread.
January 7, 2022

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 37877.html

Introduction:

(Hindustan times) In view of rising daily cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Gujarat government on Friday announced a series of measures, including a night curfew in 10 cities, to control the spread of the virus in the state.

According to chief minister Bhupendra Patel, who chaired a review meeting earlier today, the night curfew will be in effect from 10pm to 6am in Ahmedabad, Anand, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Nadiad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara.

[caltrek]

From Japan:

Japan to Place Three Prefectures Under COVID Quasi-emergency as Tally Climbs
January 7, 2022

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022 ... bases.html

Introduction:

(Kyoto News) Japan decided Friday to place three prefectures with surging COVID-19 cases under a quasi-state of emergency as their governors suspect the viral resurgences have started from U.S. military bases there, while the nationwide tally of infections for the day hit a four-month high of more than 6,000.

The declarations in Okinawa, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima will be effective from Sunday to Jan. 31, allowing the prefectures to bolster anti-coronavirus measures and request that dining establishments shorten their business hours and stop serving alcohol.

Health experts have warned of a sixth wave of the pandemic in Japan amid the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus.

The enforcement of the measures, the first under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office in October, is designed to rein in rapidly spreading infections and prevent local medical systems from being stretched too thin.

[caltrek]

Australia Faces Deluge Of Omicron Cases And Hospitalizations As It Sticks To ‘Living With Covid’ Strategy
by Siladitya Ray
January 4, 2022

https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityar ... 70c7c47845

Introduction:

(Forbes) On Tuesday, Australia both reported its highest number of new Covid-19 cases and total hospitalizations—2,682— since the start of the pandemic.

The massive surge in new cases has severely strained the country’s testing regime, causing stock shortages and lengthy wait times for results.

Despite this, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday refused to make rapid antigen tests freely available to all Australians, as he doesn’t want the government to “undercut” pharmacies.

In his interview with 7News, Morrison added that the country has to live with the virus and the rapid antigen test “isn't a medicine.”

On the record number of hospitalizations, Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Sonya Bennett said that early evidence suggests that a majority of these patients were infected with the delta variant and added that omicron is “inherently, in itself, a less severe virus.”

[Xyls]

Lol.

[wjfox]

[andmar74]

Lol.

I think Eric Feigl-Ding has lost it. I have been following him for almost the whole pandemic, but now he is just spreading fear and panic. Other experts on Twitter do the same. The experts are not really educated for this situation.
If you look at the graph Ding is talking about, you can see that the number of deaths is much lower than the earlier wave, and it's not likely to increase much further. So that is obviously good news, fewer deaths!

Also, "protect the children" is usually one of their catch phrases, but the children are very robust to omicron and the other variants. Very few children gets as far as an ICU. Then they say long Covid for children, but it's not at all clear that long Covid is a major problem for children.

Update: I just saw this one:

Speaking at a news conference, she referred to a Finnish expert panel’s summary of more than 4,000 international studies which showed one in two adults and around 2% of children may experience prolonged symptoms connected to COVID-19.

So only 2% of children may get long-Covid, and probably most of those will not be permanent.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-heal ... 4Klu5AGgMM

[Xyls]

Lol.

I think Eric Feigl-Ding has lost it. I have been following him for almost the whole pandemic, but now he is just spreading fear and panic. Other experts on Twitter do the same. The experts are not really educated for this situation.
If you look at the graph Ding is talking about, you can see that the number of deaths is much lower than the earlier wave, and it's not likely to increase much further. So that is obviously good news, fewer deaths!

Also, "protect the children" is usually one of their catch phrases, but the children are very robust to omicron and the other variants. Very few children gets as far as an ICU. Then they say long Covid for children, but it's not at all clear that long Covid is a major problem for children.

Update: I just saw this one:

Speaking at a news conference, she referred to a Finnish expert panel’s summary of more than 4,000 international studies which showed one in two adults and around 2% of children may experience prolonged symptoms connected to COVID-19.

So only 2% of children may get long-Covid, and probably most of those will not be permanent.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-heal ... 4Klu5AGgMM

Lol, really this is the argument we are going to make? You are a citing a news conference where they are saying that every other adult who catches COVID will likely go on to develop chronic illness, and 2% of children getting the same thing as overplaying it? Polio was only 0.1-0.5% of people coming down with severe effects so by that measure COVID is even more prevalent... Houston we have a problem. Basically in an average high school of 1000 people, 20 kids are going to become chronically ill for god knows how long just for attending for school? Werk.

[wjfox]

For elite footballers, the effects of covid-19 linger for months

Long after infection, players play fewer minutes and complete fewer passes

Jan 8th 2022

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detai ... for-months

[andmar74]

For elite footballers, the effects of covid-19 linger for months

Long after infection, players play fewer minutes and complete fewer passes

Jan 8th 2022

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detai ... for-months

There was no vaccine in March 2020.
But even now 16% of Premier League players refuse to get the vaccine.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/english-pre ... nt-players

[wjfox]

F**k everything about this government.

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]