Coronavirus

[KnightHawk 2.0]

The paper highlights two critical issues: attitudes toward social distancing, and the cost of infection. I fear that because people are being infected but not dying, a complacency in some areas, defiance in others -the South Dakota rally is an obvious example- is making control of the disease either impossible or useless, but that as a result the costs of health care have increased, and this, in the US where the costs of health care are already too much for many households. I can understand the frustration with the rules, but they exist for a reason. And to make this worse, I think enough people may decide that some will die, and that is just tough on them, but which also means Covid 19 is going to be around for a long time. I feel for those who are behaving responsibly and having their security undermined by cynics who may be making a visit to the supermaket an ordeal.

And it doesn't help when the President, instead of leading by example, holds rallies where there are no masks, and no social distancing, and ridicules his opponent in the Presidential contest for doing just that. But I am not surprised.

Completely agree that it doesn't help when the So-Called President who doesn't lead by example, holds rallies where masks aren't required and no social distancing,ridicules his political opponent in the presidential election for wearing a mask and practicing social distancing, and i am also not surprised by his toxic rhetoric.

[Rover177]

Masks can cause more trouble than not wearing masks. Different for medical personnel in controlled areas but in the general public, touch a surface and then touch a mask can cause perspiration to take 'a nasty' to an orifice. Tear ducts are especially vulnerable.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Masks can cause more trouble than not wearing masks. Different for medical personnel in controlled areas but in the general public, touch a surface and then touch a mask can cause perspiration to take 'a nasty' to an orifice. Tear ducts are especially vulnerable.

Then learn how to wear one properly.

[njjohn]

Masks can cause more trouble than not wearing masks. Different for medical personnel in controlled areas but in the general public, touch a surface and then touch a mask can cause perspiration to take 'a nasty' to an orifice. Tear ducts are especially vulnerable.

What a pathetic and selfish attempt to rationalize the Trump/Fox News anti mask narrative. The main purpose of wearing a mask is to protect others from you. People not wearing masks and keeping distance is why the US is so pathetic at dealing with Covid. 1000 people a day are dying. Compare that to the modest country of Thailand with a population of 70 million including the 10 million in the mega city of Bangkok has had only 3400 cases and 58 deaths total! They are currently have ONE case. Why?... because people listened to the government lead by heath experts and didn't politicize common sense measures. Thailand's success is more the rule across the world not the exception.

This whole "not wearing a mask is expressing your freedom is ridiculous". What's next the "freedom" to fly through your windshield in a car accident by not wearing government mandated seat belts? At least in that case your only killing yourself not others.

[filghy2]

This whole "not wearing a mask is expressing your freedom is ridiculous". What's next the "freedom" to fly through your windshield in a car accident by not wearing government mandated seat belts? At least in that case your only killing yourself not others.

Actually, the same types argued against mandatory seat belts in the past, including dubious arguments that they actually increased risk. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/05/u...rnd/index.html

[filghy2]

Double the number of cases of annual flu but only half the number of deaths; perspective is needed.

Wrong. Annual flu deaths in recent years average around 40,000 in the US, so Covid-19 is already 5 times worse. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html

[Stavros]

Last night the Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson announced a new set of rules that will attempt to short circuit a resurgence of Covid 19. In doing so he praised the British people's love of freedom (because, Boris, we aren't in love with dictatorships), and then blamed the very same people for being the reason there has been so worrying a spike in infections new measures must be taken.

In his perfect world, where he is responsible for everything and liable for nothing, he made no mention of the fact that he was the man who urged people to go back to work, to revive their high streets by going to shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants, and who said we can all go on holiday as long as we behave and follow the guidelines -but to say that would be to admit that we have reached September and his policies have failed. Like the Brexit merry-go-round, we are back where we started in March, but Johnson is too much of a coward to re-impose the lockdown that happened then, and it seems nobody in his Cabinet, assuming they knew this was about to happen, had the balls to challenge him to go further than he has.

So here we are: the confusing and inconsistent rules that have been partially to blame for the spike, are not cleared up: the number of people allowed at a wedding will be reduced from 30 to 15, the maximum allowed at a funeral will be 30. You can drink yourself stupid with your mates in the pub before 10pm, but then you must leave. Why not 9pm? Or 8pm? Spectators will not be allowed into sporting venues.

I think most people will abide by the rules, but are not as willing to do so as they were in March. And with the prospect of the service sector shutting down, with one estimate that even with financial support a million workers face losing their jobs before Christmas, I don't believe the six-month period Boris Johnson will hold, and not just because he can't stick to any plan that he produces, even when he proclaims it as some once-in-a-lifetime no-pain-no-gain solution.
He is incosistent because he is incompetent.

I think we are moving toward a policy -and among the peope, an attitude- in which we accept that we must live with Covid 19 and all that implies with regard to infections, and deaths, and wait for the vaccine to lessen its impact on society, assuming that it does.
Before Christmas, I expect the same man who has imposed this six-month semi-lockdown on the UK to lift it, given that even with the resurgence 'only' 1% of the population are dying from it, and we have learned enough about its clinical profile to manage the illness in our hospitals.

People may disagree with me, but in the case of the UK, we have suffered from incompetent government, a government that declined to test and trace people in March, then said we would have a 'world beating' test and trace system that is anything but, and with a Prime Minister who rarely talks to the heads of the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and true to form as the laziest Minister of recent times, doesn't much communicate with his own Cabinet, and whose policies on Covid 19 have been issued as, in effect, decrees from Downing Street, none of them submitted to Parliament for its approval.

Combine that incompetence with his desperate moves in Brexit and it is no surprise the rumour is that Johnson will be dumped by his own party next year, unless he decides to resign, given his complaints he can't live on his annual £150,402 salary, finds the apartment in No 10 too small, can't get a nanny, and he and his wife have to cook their own food, and on top of that, pay Council Tax.

The US President thinks it is 'a shame' that 200,000+ Americans are dead, millions infected. And indeed it is- well, it is actually a lot more than that, but let's not get emotional about it. But when the same crisis that has hit the US and the UK is managed so much better in Germany, Greece- yes, Greece-, South Korea and New Zealand, one is tempted to ask: is there another way?

Is it too late to change course? No, but that requires leadership of the kind that is so obviously lacking in the UK right now. Six months? My fear is that this incoherent policy will drag on for another year, compounded by the reality of Brexit when it kicks in next January, kicking being the most likely description of its impact.

New restrictions in England are reviewed here-
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...s-b533851.html

[Stavros]

It may be possible for someone diagnosed with COVID-19 to be admitted to hospital for treatment on a Friday, and be returned home on Monday, claiming to be fit and healthy, or to be over the worst of the infection. Whether or not hydroxychloroquine has been used or not, the reality that is emerging is that COVID-19 may have long term health consequences.

It is called ‘Long Covid’ and includes illnesses related to muscle fatigue, damage to the lungs and gut, and possible mental health impairment related to memory loss and anxiety. Clinically, it is argued studies over 25 years need to establish if COVID-19 is a here-today gone-tomorrow illness, or one that will continue to affect humans for decades to come. In the meantime you will find some of the arguments of what might constitute ‘Long COVID’ in this link

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-54296223

[Stavros]

The most imporant news on Covid-19 so far, is that a vaccine trial has a 90% success rate, though this must be understood in the context of the trials, and it is not yet known if the vaccine confers immunity, and whether or not an infection can re-occur. I also understand the vaccine must be taken in two doses three weeks apart.

-The trial involved 43,538 people 42% of whom are described as having 'diverse backgrounds'.
-As Pfizer-BioNTech state in their press release-

"The case split between vaccinated individuals and those who received the placebo indicates a vaccine efficacy rate above 90%, at 7 days after the second dose. This means that protection is achieved 28 days after the initiation of the vaccination, which consists of a 2-dose schedule. As the study continues, the final vaccine efficacy percentage may vary."

-Subject to Government approval, Pfizer-BioNTech state that they "expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021."

Poorly presented press release (paragraph breaks would make it more readable) is here-
https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-re...didate-against

I am not sure how this will impact other vaccine trials, but this is the first positive move in the campaign against this virus. As to who gets the vaccine first, that I cannot know.

[sukumvit boy]

Yes there are many Phase III trials nearing completion now showing good results but requiring 2 doses. The Chinese already have a vaccine in production for months with 2 plants able to produce 100 million doses per year . Reportedly ,several thousand Chinese Party officials have already been vaccinated. Unfortunately , although the Chinese have pledged to release a substantial portion of their production through a world wide consortium those doses will not be available to Americans because Trump pulled us out of that consortium !
I will find the article and post it here.