Coronavirus Outbreak: Part 4

[system]

Continuing the discussion from Coronavirus Outbreak: Part 3 (Part 1) - #10042 by ehsanchez.

Previous discussions:

• Coronavirus Outbreak: Part 3 (Part 1)

[Shmebulock]

How long did that take?? A year??

[Shmebulock]

@Shmebulock

A year??

A year and a half!! The last thread started in July '21.

[PrincipalTinker]

Should I change it to part 4?

[ParkRanger]

I don’t even read this thread, and I say yes.

[PrincipalTinker]

That’s all I needed was one person to agree!

I can change it back if I offended anyone.

[ParkRanger]

Doesn’t the forum automatically make a new thread when one reaches 10K posts, appending Part X to the name? So there would be no one to be offended but a bot.

[amvanhoose_701479]

@ParkRanger

So there would be no one to be offended but a bot.

Are you new to social media?

[motherofdaughtersthree]

Isn’t the truth?!

[QwertySC]

FOUR?!?!!

Wonder what @Pod ia up to these days

Peace out pals.

[amvanhoose_701479]

The CDC has reformatted their genomic surveillance data presentation to better emphasize the uncertainty in the most recent 3 weeks of data.

I’m in Region 6, and we’re just coming down from our BQ.1/BQ.1.1 surge. No idea what XBB.1.5 will mean for us. Non-event? Small bump? New surge?

[TwilightatDisney]

One of the interesting bits from all the data coming out this past week is that the data on the BiV shot isn’t necessarily accurate b/c those few that got that last booster may also be those who mask, distance and use other mitigation measures to avoid catching covid. Hense the efficacy of the BiV booster could be in question.

ETA: or rather, they don’t really know how effective it is b/c there are fewer data points. I’m NOT trying to spread misleading information. I believe the booster is effective but I thought it was interesting that some noted possible issues w/ the data.

[ehsanchez]

@amvanhoose_701479

I’m in Region 6, and we’re just coming down from our BQ.1/BQ.1.1 surge. No idea what XBB.1.5 will mean for us. Non-event? Small bump? New surge?

I really expected things to start hopping after Christmas break but it’s been quiet. In fact, we’ve averaged more kids on campus regularly so far than last semester.

[amvanhoose_701479]

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-announces-evusheld-not-currently-authorized-emergency-use-us

FDA revokes authorization for key anti-COVID drug, a blow for vulnerable...

We are moving backwards in available treatments. The CDC put out this:

Yeah, not much groundbreaking there.

There are also concerns about whether we should even be using molnupiravir.

https://twitter.com/theosanderson/status/1619020680313573378?s=46&t=qlIqTB4naPVHFNq8lCb8_g

This is one of the study’s authors. He’s a huge name in the field (i.e., if the study was from anyone else, he’s one that everyone would be looking to for his take on it).

[PrincipalTinker]

Are you still reading Twitter? I realized this morning that I don’t think I can do that ever again.

[TwilightatDisney]

You can curate your feed to avoid all the ugly that Twitter is morphing into (I have only read about the ugly and have never actually seen any of it). There are still many scientists posting good information about covid.

[amvanhoose_701479]

@PrincipalTinker

Are you still reading Twitter?

It is still the best place to get current Covid info.

I just curate who I follow. (Use the “Following” tab at the top of my feed rather than the default “For You”.)

Multiple takes on any breaking developments, directly from leading people in their fields.

The media outlets reporting is way too dependent on the individual reporters…their personal biases, level of knowledge, etc. (I read so many articles that include bits I know to be outdated or inaccurate that it makes me question the value of anything in the article. I mainly use them as a jumping off point to see what MedTwitter is saying on the topic.)

Several people I follow are making backup plans (mainly Mastodon) but few are leaving completely.

The most challenging bit is there are certain people that I think have particularly bad takes on everything Covid. It’s interesting to follow them to see where their heads are at, but their followers have so harassed some of the people that are highly worth following, there are now tools to block everyone that follows someone specific. The people I value are feeling it necessary to use those blocking tools, and I’m concerned I’ll get caught up in one of those and not see those I really want to see.

[sanstitre_has_left_the_building]

This is worth a repost. My edited highlights of comments made in the very first thread in the early months of 2020.

@sanstitre_has_left_the_building

Part 1 of my Edited highlights

So am I the only person that’s not the least bit worried about this?

It would never occur to me to be even slightly worried.

Yeah, I’m still not even slightly worried.

Look how fast governments have moved to contain this…and the reporting of the rate of spreading and risk of death helps to keep people willing to stay home, or be kept in isolation, etc. If they hadn’t been able to move so quickly, this could have grown into epidemic proportions, and the ultimate death toll would be growing significantly higher.

Time to cancel the Olympics? I do understand the impact cancelling would have on the athletes. But can the global community afford this level of exposure?

Wow. Video from an infectious disease doctor who visited the Diamond Princess. “I’ve worked in the Ebola epidemic, the SARS epidemic and I have never been so scared in my life.”

The question will be: when do we stop banning travel from other countries? At some point, it’s going to be Europe. We can’t ban the world.

I hope this subsides in the summer.

I’m guessing then that the next step would be working toward a vaccine, correct?

I’ve heard they are working on one that is in animal trials. Unclear how long till it would be ready for use in humans, but hopefully soon enough to have an impact.

Yes, they are already and apparently good progress but it still has to go through trials so minimum 18 months.

That sounds reasonable. But also is a long time for the virus to spread. Just wondering about our end of May trip to Universal… we will just have to wait and see how things progress.

We have a trip planned for May and are still planning on going.

Well, heck, people. I just listened to the (two-hour) report from the WHO mission to China. The upshot is, the authorities need to be on this like white on rice, and all of us need to start paying close attention and doing what the CDC etc. says in terms of hand washing, etc.

China’s reaction is also what worries me. Why would they quarantine millions of people, slam on the breaks of the economy, if it were “just the flu”? I don’t think the U.S. has ever enacted travel bans.

China let their problem get out of hand, and that’s why they reacted like they did. Same thing with Iran. That isn’t going to happen in any developed country with a decent government that cares about its people more than it cares about itself. If you live in a country with an elected government, if nothing else, they want to be sure they get *re-*elected!

I found myself throwing a few extra things in my Costco cart today, just in case we have an outbreak here and people start to panic buy.

Masks have been sold out for awhile. Amazon folks have marked up prices quite a bit. Key is hand wash and hand wash. Alcohol based hand sanitizer.

A Walt Disney spokesperson says they are monitoring several employees at the Florida theme park who recently traveled to Italy during the coronavirus outbreak.

We are headed to WDW and Universal the last week of March/first week of April. I’m not going to let this media hype keep us from a 10-day vacation. The odds are far greater that we will encounter more danger (driving to the airport, etc.) than getting this virus.

I am travelling May 9-16, hopefully things will be looking better by then.

Has anyone considered the upside? Vastly lower crowd levels. Perhaps?

Me? I’m not worried. I hope I get a great rate on a summer cruise. There’s zero chance I’d take a new vaccine for this or give one to my kids.

I know you’ll all be shocked, but my son flew home yesterday, with a connection in Denver, AND I DID NOT MAKE HIM WEAR A MASK. Which was good, because no one else did.

Why would you? Did he have symptoms of illness? (Coughing/sneezing?)

I have no plans to change or cancel my upcoming trips (June and October) to WDW.

People are pretty paranoid, with it being all over the news that we’re all going to die.

Has anyone ever seen such empty shelves at Costco?

I thought about taking pictures this morning at Costco but honestly I was shaken by my experience and I did not want it in pictures.

Most experts seem to think that 2% is the likely fatality rate. That would put it on par with the epidemic of 1918.

We’re going with Fred Olsen in July. We’re going to Norway - they have had cases there too but I haven’t heard about any issues for cruises.

These latest cruise issues are just more silliness.

By July governments will either forbid all cruise sails or they will have figured out that cruises are OK.

Forbid all cruises? This would be epic. Can you imagine?

I’m getting increasingly (and immensely selfishly) concerned that this is going to impact my June trip.

Our trip is in 2 weeks. I’ve gone from “no way I’m cancelling” to legitimately being on the fence and potentially having to eat a sizable financial loss.

We are going in May. I fully plan on going on our trip. There are so many illnesses that spread through traveling and I think it would be overkill to shut everything down for this virus.

[missoverexcited]

I spy me! Crazy to read our thoughts back then when we know how it turns out. So far, anyway.

[PrincipalTinker]

This morning is was a RT from a scientist that I have followed for years. There was a purpose for the RT, but I can’t read that any more.