Coronavirus 7: Ring in Delta Plus and then Omicron Takes Over

[Smash!]

Got my 2nd booster today 💪 Our Committee on Vaccination doesn‘t explicitly recommend it but said everyone who wants can get the shot. Since all measures have ended and an omicron specific vaccine isn’t available yet I decided to go for it.

[Dandruff]

I got Moderna yesterday afternoon and thought I had evaded side effects.  Woke up 13 hours after the shot shaking uncontrollably and freezing.  After an hour shivering under the covers, I managed to turn on a space heater, which helped.  Am running a low-grade fever today, am achy and very fatigued, but am now out of bed and dressed.  Guess I should eat something, but that means I'll have to stand up again...

[Coconut Flan]

People just want to be done whether the virus is done or not.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/covid-wave-probably-coming-america-152501494.html

[samurai_sarah]

5 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

People just want to be done whether the virus is done or not.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/covid-wave-probably-coming-america-152501494.html

It'll come as a sore blow to the virus to find out it's been cancelled.

[Ozlsn]

So Australia-wide today there were 21 covid deaths and 2,844 people are hospitalised. But yeah, all back to normal.

We also had our first cases of Deltacron detected during the week, so it will be interesting to see where that goes.

Winter is coming, and with it the first flu/covid season. I need to book that vaccine too.

[therulesofjinx]

The University I work for went masks optional the 3rd or 4th week of March, as did the public schools in my state, and within the past 6 days, 4 people in my office have tested positive for Covid. We are a small office; so just under half of us have it. We are all vaccinated and boosted (as are all employees and the vast, vast majority of students here), so luckily everyone's symptoms are very, very mild right now. I took two at-home tests over the weekend- both negative- and I don't have any symptoms thus far. I just went for a PCR test, juuuuust to be sure, and picked up a free at-home test while I was there. There are only three of us at work today and we're all staying masked and away from each other. Hopefully the rest of us don't also get it! I haven't spoken to any colleagues outside of my office today, but a quick walk through the building and the student center showed more people masking than last week, so I'm wondering if this is a trend across the University as a whole...

[Smash!]

My reason for the 2nd booster: The Israeli data show that you have good levels of antibodies after the shot - it only lasts about a month and decreases afterwards. Since my country lifted all measures as of April 1 there most likely will be a spike in cases before the numbers hopefully decline in the summer months. I wanted to protect myself during that surge and have some important things like dental work done. At the same time, if another vaccine should be available next Fall I‘ll be eligible to get it since enough time will have passed from the 2nd booster. 

[Coconut Flan]

I'm really surprised they went to the trouble to produce this video, but it's so true to character:

https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/20220413137865/line-of-duty-reunion-video-boris-johnson/

[Smee]

On 4/10/2022 at 9:43 PM, Ozlsn said:

So Australia-wide today there were 21 covid deaths and 2,844 people are hospitalised. But yeah, all back to normal.

We also had our first cases of Deltacron detected during the week, so it will be interesting to see where that goes.

Winter is coming, and with it the first flu/covid season. I need to book that vaccine too.

21 deaths in Nsw alone yesterday. I am continually baffled at how *everything* is just… back. My kids’ school has already had dances, open band rehearsals, camp registrations, Easter hat parade (with parents & friends) and colour run fundraising. MAYBE you’ll see 2 or 3 masks on adults at these events but no distancing. It’s hard not to give in to the “oh well, I’m vaccinated and it wasn’t that bad when I had it” mentality when that seems to be everywhere around us.

[Katzchen24]

12 minutes ago, Smee said:

21 deaths in Nsw alone yesterday. I am continually baffled at how *everything* is just… back. My kids’ school has already had dances, open band rehearsals, camp registrations, Easter hat parade (with parents & friends) and colour run fundraising. MAYBE you’ll see 2 or 3 masks on adults at these events but no distancing. It’s hard not to give in to the “oh well, I’m vaccinated and it wasn’t that bad when I had it” mentality when that seems to be everywhere around us.

It's really concerning. There's been a lot of Covid in my family and we're all fully vaxed and boosted. It worries me that all the mask mandates have been dropped in SA and everything is just open. I'm still uncomfortable being in enclosed spaces with lots of people after having such a rough time with Covid myself. I was sick for weeks with it, and I'm scared for my partner who is asthmatic. I don't understand the relaxed attitude either.

[Ozlsn]

On 4/14/2022 at 10:39 AM, Coconut Flan said:

I'm really surprised they went to the trouble to produce this video, but it's so true to character:

https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/20220413137865/line-of-duty-reunion-video-boris-johnson/

That. Is. Awesome.

Please God let him and his morally bankrupt cronies face charges and end up unemployable.

[Ozlsn]

New omicron subvariants found in wastewater near Melbourne airport.

Unsurprising really, if we were going to see them I'd expect them to show up there first.

Meanwhile we are coming out of our most recent wave which is predictably leading to calls to remove the remaining restrictions, presumably so we can start a new wave in time for the cold and flu season and winter. /s

[Ozlsn]

Interesting twitter thread about long covid, microclots and persistent viral infection.

Also has some application to other long viral syndromes.

While I'm thinking of that MS reversed by transplanted immune cells that fight Epstein-Barr virus. This is so damn cool, and I sincerely hope it becomes a standard treatment quickly.

[Smash!]

There is also a hypothesis that EBV virus reactivation leads to long covid. Which is super interesting to me since they found antibodies against EBV after my mom developed ME/CFS. I don‘t think her initial illness was an EBV infection. What if EBV is the cause for a lot of post-acute syndromes and autoimmune diseases?

To the topic of long covid: There was a super interesting episode of the „Coronavirus Update“ podcast on Long Covid. Unfortunately it‘s in German but you can find the script here

Guests were neurologist Christiana Franke and Immunologist Carmen Scheibenbogen from the Long Covid consultation hour at Charité Berlin. Carmen Scheibenbogen is one of the few experts on ME/CFS.

Some interesting parts translated under spoiler

How many develop Long Covid?

Spoiler

Q:
Can you give us a figure when you think about the frequency? There are not quite as many younger people who, for example, were also asymptomatic or had a mild course of the disease. What does rare mean in this case? So one in 100? One in 10,000? Is there any way to name that?

Carmen Scheibenbogen:
[…]And with the younger ones, I think you can work with the ten percent, I think. And we don't usually talk about asymptomatic people, but rather, even if you talk about a mild covid, these are people who were usually quite ill.

Q:
So like a flu.

Carmen Scheibenbogen
Exactly, like a proper cold or flu. And not only that they were sick, but they were often sick courses over two, three weeks.

Risk Factors

Spoiler

Q:
How decisive is it whether I had a high viral load as an infected person, Ms. Scheibenbogen? Is anything known about this yet?

Carmen Scheibenbogen
Let's come back to the risk factors. There are already a number of studies on this. And there is a large study that has shown, for example, that the level of the SARS-CoV-2 virus load during the acute infection is also a risk factor for developing a post-Covid syndrome. Interestingly, however, EBV reactivation, so the EBV virus was also detected in a proportion of patients....

Q:
Epstein-Barr virus, also known as Pfeiffer's glandular fever.

Carmen Scheibenbogen
Exactly, the Epstein-Barr virus was detected in some of the patients. It is important to know that this is a virus that almost all of us also carry, i.e. a herpes virus, which usually hides in the body and does not cause any symptoms, but can also become active during infections. And it has been seen that not only was there more EBV virus in those during the acute illness, who then developed a post-covid syndrome, but that antibodies can also be measured, which also indicate that EBV reactivates. I can easily go into this again in connection with mechanisms, what it can actually mean that EBV reactivates. We know other risk factors and in our study we saw patients who were actually healthy until the onset of the disease, i.e. who had hardly any previous illnesses. And we also looked again: Are there also immunological factors? After all, the immune system plays a very important role in how well we cope with such an infection. And we have indeed seen that we find immunodeficiencies in some of the patients. And interestingly enough, this is mainly a deficiency of complement factor, called mannose-binding lectin. This is a complement factor that helps us when we are dealing with a new pathogen.
with a new pathogen. It helps us to bind this pathogen, so to speak, and to neutralize it more quickly. And if you have this deficiency, then you run the risk of not being able to cope with viral infections quite as quickly. We have found this deficiency in 25 percent of those who have developed post-covid syndrome. In line with this, there was also a study from Zurich that also showed: If you have lower immunoglobulins, they described this for IgM and also IgG3, which are different forms of such immunoglobulins or antibodies, then you also have a higher risk of developing post-Covid syndrome. And what is most obvious, of course, is that there are significantly more women than men. So it's about twice as often women. And this can also point to the immune system, because we know that women often have a more active immune system and that this more active immune system also brings with it the risk that, as a result of an infection, one may not find one's way back to a normal, balanced immune system so quickly. And this more active immune system can also bring with it a risk that one suffers from inflammations for longer or also develops autoimmune reactions.

 

[Ozlsn]

The search is on for the cause of a cluster of hepatitis cases in children, both in Europe and North America. It seems possible that the cases are being caused by adenovirus infection, I'm wondering if latent infection is being reactivated by covid infection - haven't seen anything confirming this yet. 

[CTRLZero]

Of course, now that I’m taking a flight tonight, a federal judge has ruled that mask mandates on airplanes are unenforceable.  If I make it to my destination in one piece, I’ll let you all know if any fights break out.  Sigh.  I’ll be wearing my mask.  😷

CNN - mask mandates unenforceable

[Dandruff]

17 minutes ago, CTRLZero said:

Of course, now that I’m taking a flight tonight, a federal judge has ruled that mask mandates on airplanes are unenforceable.

Are speed limits enforceable?  People speed, and if they're caught they're subject to fines, points, suspension or revocation of their license, and possibly jail.  Would it really be so hard to ID and document mask violations in a closed aircraft?  Fine them and/or put them on a no-fly list and then see how they feel about masking up.  It isn't enforcement, but would be a deterrent for at least some.

[Smash!]

9 hours ago, CTRLZero said:

Of course, now that I’m taking a flight tonight, a federal judge has ruled that mask mandates on airplanes are unenforceable.

This makes me so mad. We‘re down to maybe 300 deaths a year on our streets because of speed limits and lots of zones in cities where the limit is 30km/hour. If you only go a little over the 30 you’ll get a hefty fine. 

But mask mandates and quarantine isn‘t enforceable with a virus that not only causes severe illness and death but long term disability in the younger population? 

[ADoyle90815]

I managed to be visiting my mom when Orange Fuckface appointed "judge" ruled against the federal mask mandates. I just flew home today, and from what I saw, many people including myself were still wearing masks, including some of the flight crew.

At least, where I live, people take this pandemic seriously, so when I got off the plane, most people in the airport were still wearing masks. I'm just glad that flight attendants no longer have to deal with adults having toddler tantrums over wearing a mask while on a plane. 

 

[CTRLZero]

32 minutes ago, ADoyle90815 said:

I just flew home today, and from what I saw, many people including myself were still wearing masks, including some of the flight crew.

I flew last night, and it was announced on our flight that masks were now optional and we were "free to be free"!  This was on Alaska Airlines.  Not one of the crew on both flights (Alaskan and American) were masked, and very few passengers wore masks (maybe 10%).  It was slightly different in the airport, maybe 30% at SeaTac, dwindling to 10% at Chicago and Nashville.  At least there were enough people masking that I didn't feel too out of place.  Interestingly, everyone on our bus to downtown was masked.

Time will tell if we get another huge surge.  I could hear people coughing on the plane, and can only hope it's just allergies.

[Dandruff]

1 hour ago, CTRLZero said:

I could hear people coughing on the plane, and can only hope it's just allergies.

I have the same hope every time I'm near a cougher.  I'd be beside myself if I was near an unmasked one on a plane.

[SassyPants]

On 4/19/2022 at 5:33 PM, CTRLZero said:

I flew last night, and it was announced on our flight that masks were now optional and we were "free to be free"!  This was on Alaska Airlines.  Not one of the crew on both flights (Alaskan and American) were masked, and very few passengers wore masks (maybe 10%).  It was slightly different in the airport, maybe 30% at SeaTac, dwindling to 10% at Chicago and Nashville.  At least there were enough people masking that I didn't feel too out of place.  Interestingly, everyone on our bus to downtown was masked.

Time will tell if we get another huge surge.  I could hear people coughing on the plane, and can only hope it's just allergies.

I had the exact same experience flying on Wednesday from So America. Masks still mandatory on the International flight, but in Miami and Dallas few masks. DWF to San Jose a few more masks, about 10%-

[47of74]

Some good news about COVID-19.

Quote

The United States is out of the Covid-19 pandemic phase, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"We are certainly, right now, in this country, out of the pandemic phase," Fauci said on PBS NewsHour Tuesday.

Shifting out of the pandemic is not language that Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, has heard in conversations within local health departments, she said on Wednesday.

But there has been a subtle shift on the ground with local health officials now returning some focus to non-Covid areas, such as maternal health, childhood immunizations, tuberculosis, HIV and other public health concerns.

Of course if not for fuck face and his Branch Trumpvidian groupies this could've been the case several months ago.

[CTRLZero]

My mother-in-law's assisted living facility is once again on total lockdown, with residents staying within the confines of their rooms.  Just when she was on a winning streak with bingo!  This is really so sad, because it is hard enough for her to get social interaction, and now she has to go back to isolation.  Although we don't have the complete picture, apparently several of the residents were infected, but we haven't heard of any Covid-related deaths.   Overall, the facility has always done a good job keeping residents safe, yet Covid sneaked in somehow.

 

[church_of_dog]

46 minutes ago, CTRLZero said:

My mother-in-law's assisted living facility is once again on total lockdown, with residents staying within the confines of their rooms.  Just when she was on a winning streak with bingo!  This is really so sad, because it is hard enough for her to get social interaction, and now she has to go back to isolation.  Although we don't have the complete picture, apparently several of the residents were infected, but we haven't heard of any Covid-related deaths.   Overall, the facility has always done a good job keeping residents safe, yet Covid sneaked in somehow.

 

My mom's place was at zero for a few months, then had one case just after my last visit a month ago, then that case cleared and they had another few weeks at zero, then yesterday one case again.  (Both of these times it was staff, not residents, though in the past there have been both).  Neither time recently did they return to lockdown, but everyone is still masking, and staff gets temp checked daily, etc.  Obviously it's not foolproof but the proper level of caution seems fuzzy at the moment IMO.

Globally covid seems like it's ramping up to another serious wave, though Fauci's comments don't fit that, which puzzles me.  This time seems scary to me in that almost no one outside of medical facilities seems to be taking any precautions anymore.  And it's becoming clear that vaccines do not prevent/reduce Long Covid, which is looking worse and worse.  Sigh.