Covid-19

[neufer]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[orin stepanek]

Bummer: Hospital called and Rehab has been postponed indefinitely because of spike in covid cases! Seems a shame[ the place is practically empty anyway! I am glad they are looking out for the wellbeing of those of us who go there! ! wish we could put the pandemic behind us already!

[neufer]

Bummer: Hospital called and Rehab has been postponed indefinitely because of spike in covid cases! Seems a shame[ the place is practically empty anyway! I am glad they are looking out for the wellbeing of those of us who go there! ! wish we could put the pandemic behind us already!

Haven't you HERD, Orin

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

<<Atlas Shrugged is a 1957 novel by Ayn Rand. The title is a reference to Atlas, a Titan in Greek mythology, who is described in the novel as "the giant who holds the world on his shoulders". The significance of this reference appears in a conversation between the characters Francisco d'Anconia and Hank Rearden, in which d'Anconia asks Rearden what advice he would give Atlas upon seeing "the greater [the Titan's] effort, the heavier the world bore down on his shoulders". With Rearden unable to answer, d'Anconia gives his own advice: "To shrug".

The book depicts a dystopian United States in which private businesses suffer under increasingly burdensome laws and regulations. Railroad executive Dagny Taggart and her lover, steel magnate Hank Rearden, struggle against "looters" who want to exploit their productivity. Dagny and Hank discover that a mysterious figure called John Galt is persuading other business leaders to abandon their companies and disappear as a strike of productive individuals against the looters.>>

[orin stepanek]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/13/the-dea ... he-us.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/14/health/u ... index.html

Who Knows?

[Fred the Cat]

History has a funny way to repeat. For our era, perhaps it will be recorded “Before Covid” then “After Donald”.

[BDanielMayfield]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/13/the-dea ... he-us.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/14/health/u ... index.html

Who Knows?

Dr. Fauci has factual, solid, historical data about exactly how diseases spread and the effects of this pandemic. So to your question Orin, I'd answer Fauci knows.

Thanks for sharing those news stories quoting his dire predictions re what would happen if people throw caution to the wind and just "Let it fly", hoping that herd immunity will quickly get us passed this mess. The death toll would be much more horrific than it already is.

[orin stepanek]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/13/the-dea ... he-us.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/14/health/u ... index.html

Who Knows?

Dr. Fauci has factual, solid, historical data about exactly how diseases spread and the effects of this pandemic. So to your question Orin, I'd answer Fauci knows.

Thanks for sharing those news stories quoting his dire predictions re what would happen if people throw caution to the wind and just "Let it fly", hoping that herd immunity will quickly get us passed this mess. The death toll would be much more horrific than it already is.

Thanks: wasn't a ? though; more or less just passing along of waiting for the herd

[Chris Peterson]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/13/the-dea ... he-us.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/14/health/u ... index.html

Who Knows?

Dr. Fauci has factual, solid, historical data about exactly how diseases spread and the effects of this pandemic. So to your question Orin, I'd answer Fauci knows.

Thanks for sharing those news stories quoting his dire predictions re what would happen if people throw caution to the wind and just "Let it fly", hoping that herd immunity will quickly get us passed this mess. The death toll would be much more horrific than it already is.

Thanks: wasn't a ? though; more or less just passing along of waiting for the herd :shock:

This disease does not appear to confer any lasting immunity on those who get it. So our hope for herd immunity hangs on the right kind of vaccine. Otherwise, we'd better develop effective treatments.

[orin stepanek]

Dr. Fauci has factual, solid, historical data about exactly how diseases spread and the effects of this pandemic. So to your question Orin, I'd answer Fauci knows.

Thanks for sharing those news stories quoting his dire predictions re what would happen if people throw caution to the wind and just "Let it fly", hoping that herd immunity will quickly get us passed this mess. The death toll would be much more horrific than it already is.

Thanks: wasn't a ? though; more or less just passing along of waiting for the herd

This disease does not appear to confer any lasting immunity on those who get it. So our hope for herd immunity hangs on the right kind of vaccine. Otherwise, we'd better develop effective treatments.

+1 I totally agree Chris!

[BDanielMayfield]

This disease does not appear to confer any lasting immunity on those who get it. So our hope for herd immunity hangs on the right kind of vaccine. Otherwise, we'd better develop effective treatments.

That's not at all reassuring. If catching this damn contagion doesn't even confer lasting immunity, wouldn't making "the right kind of vaccine", (one that works long term) be quite difficult?

[Chris Peterson]

This disease does not appear to confer any lasting immunity on those who get it. So our hope for herd immunity hangs on the right kind of vaccine. Otherwise, we'd better develop effective treatments.

That's not at all reassuring. If catching this damn contagion doesn't even confer lasting immunity, wouldn't making "the right kind of vaccine", (one that works long term) be quite difficult?

Most viruses, and especially coronaviruses, don't confer long lasting immunity. The ones that do are the exceptions. But that doesn't mean vaccines can't, because there are a variety of components of our immune system that can be involved, as well as our ability in vaccines to use techniques that enhance immune response, or tailor the antigenic component. And, of course, there's also the possibility that it will require updates every year or two, like with influenza (although hopefully not because of new mutations).

So the prospects for a vaccine are quite bit better than for natural immunity.

[BDanielMayfield]

This disease does not appear to confer any lasting immunity on those who get it. So our hope for herd immunity hangs on the right kind of vaccine. Otherwise, we'd better develop effective treatments.

That's not at all reassuring. If catching this damn contagion doesn't even confer lasting immunity, wouldn't making "the right kind of vaccine", (one that works long term) be quite difficult?

Most viruses, and especially coronaviruses, don't confer long lasting immunity. The ones that do are the exceptions. But that doesn't mean vaccines can't, because there are a variety of components of our immune system that can be involved, as well as our ability in vaccines to use techniques that enhance immune response, or tailor the antigenic component. And, of course, there's also the possibility that it will require updates every year or two, like with influenza (although hopefully not because of new mutations).

So the prospects for a vaccine are quite bit better than for natural immunity.

Thanks. That’s much more hopeful.

[KayBur]

That's not at all reassuring. If catching this damn contagion doesn't even confer lasting immunity, wouldn't making "the right kind of vaccine", (one that works long term) be quite difficult?

Most viruses, and especially coronaviruses, don't confer long lasting immunity. The ones that do are the exceptions. But that doesn't mean vaccines can't, because there are a variety of components of our immune system that can be involved, as well as our ability in vaccines to use techniques that enhance immune response, or tailor the antigenic component. And, of course, there's also the possibility that it will require updates every year or two, like with influenza (although hopefully not because of new mutations).

So the prospects for a vaccine are quite bit better than for natural immunity.

Thanks. That’s much more hopeful.

Only there is this difficulty: those vaccines that are almost ready for mass production require special storage conditions. And many countries will not be able to create these conditions in order to maximize the coverage of the population. Of course, we may think that our question will be solved exactly. But the virus walks around the world and there is no guarantee that if some country will not be the source of the mutated virus due to the fact that it was unable to provide vaccination of the population. There are still enough not so developed and prosperous countries in the world that they pose a threat to everyone else.

[Chris Peterson]

Most viruses, and especially coronaviruses, don't confer long lasting immunity. The ones that do are the exceptions. But that doesn't mean vaccines can't, because there are a variety of components of our immune system that can be involved, as well as our ability in vaccines to use techniques that enhance immune response, or tailor the antigenic component. And, of course, there's also the possibility that it will require updates every year or two, like with influenza (although hopefully not because of new mutations).

So the prospects for a vaccine are quite bit better than for natural immunity.

Thanks. That’s much more hopeful.

Only there is this difficulty: those vaccines that are almost ready for mass production require special storage conditions. And many countries will not be able to create these conditions in order to maximize the coverage of the population. Of course, we may think that our question will be solved exactly. But the virus walks around the world and there is no guarantee that if some country will not be the source of the mutated virus due to the fact that it was unable to provide vaccination of the population. There are still enough not so developed and prosperous countries in the world that they pose a threat to everyone else.

Yes, it's a challenge outside of developed countries (and even within them). All the same, things are looking up.

[orin stepanek]

I went to the Dr. the Dr. said; get your self a Covid Test! Yeah It was negative! Had other tests> don't know results but more testing in two weeks! I hate it!

[orin stepanek]

Got my 2'nd shot Tuesday; Hope every one gets theirs!
I also hope the hospital reopens the rehab center soon!

[orin stepanek]

Are the variants worse than the original Covid 19; will this ever go away?

[Chris Peterson]

:shock: Are the variants worse than the original Covid 19; will this ever go away?

Yes, it will become endemic, just another virus that causes colds (like similar coronaviruses in the past). In the meantime, the vaccine is protective against the variants. The main thing to slow down the formation of new variants, some of which may not respond to the vaccine, is getting most of the world population, including children, vaccinated.

Fortunately, we've learned how to make vaccines very rapidly. So if a new variant arises that is problematic, there's a good chance that booster shots against it will appear quickly. In the meantime, continuing with masks is wise.

[Ann]

I had my first shot yesterday. I was lucky to get Pfizer, because our Swedish equivalent of Dr. Fauci, Anders Tegnell, strongly recommends that we us Astra Zeneca. Well, Sweden has a lot of Astra Zeneca in stock, and Tegnell insists that we use it.

Ann

[skyimagelab]

Are the variants worse than the original Covid 19; will this ever go away?

It sounds like they are certainly more infectious than before.

[orin stepanek]

Are the variants worse than the original Covid 19; will this ever go away?

It sounds like they are certainly more infectious than before.

Well that's true; but it sounds that if you have been vaccinated; your protected by the variants also! They are talking a booster shot coming up that should protect you there too!

[rstevenson]

… [re Covid] It is worth keeping in mind, however, that it is only the leading cause of death when categorized and viewed on a daily basis. On any given day, you're still more likely to die of something other than COVID-19. And this is a short term situation (unlike most of the other common causes of death). In any case, COVID-19 has an extremely low death rate, and you're unlikely to die of it even if you're in a risk group. This will pass, and few will die.

In scanning through this thread, I was struck by your certainty in saying that, Chris. With a year more data, would you still express your assessment of the risk of Covid-19 that way?

Rob

[Chris Peterson]

… [re Covid] It is worth keeping in mind, however, that it is only the leading cause of death when categorized and viewed on a daily basis. On any given day, you're still more likely to die of something other than COVID-19. And this is a short term situation (unlike most of the other common causes of death). In any case, COVID-19 has an extremely low death rate, and you're unlikely to die of it even if you're in a risk group. This will pass, and few will die.

In scanning through this thread, I was struck by your certainty in saying that, Chris. With a year more data, would you still express your assessment of the risk of Covid-19 that way?

Yes and no. Viewed from an individual risk standpoint, COVID presented a low risk. And viewed even in terms of population statistics, it was low risk. But it infected so many people that the sheer numbers were large, even while representing a very small percentage. And, of course, what has shown up with this disease, which was not predicted early on, was the remarkably high morbidity, including long term health consequences.

Also, note the context of the response, which was really addressing the suggestion that the disease's transient death rate briefly exceeding that of the (daily) death rate from cancer or heart disease somehow put it on a par with those things in terms of severity.

[rstevenson]

Thanks for the quick response, Chris.

I needed to hear from sensible people here simply because I'm spending way too much time reading and being upset by the never ending stream of ill-informed argument in other forums. The Asterisk is a refreshing change of pace. I hope all who inhabit this quiet corner of the web are doing well.

Rob

[Chris Peterson]

Thanks for the quick response, Chris.

I needed to hear from sensible people here simply because I'm spending way too much time reading and being upset by the never ending stream of ill-informed argument in other forums. The Asterisk is a refreshing change of pace. I hope all who inhabit this quiet corner of the web are doing well.

Rob

Yes. The dogmatic stupidity runs deep. What should be obvious is that a highly transmissible, pandemic disease that kills a fraction of a percent of those infected and produces enough serious illness to easily saturate the medical system will have dire social and economic consequences. And yet, this is ignored by so many.

It is interesting to compare Covid with polio. Most people look back on polio as a devastating disease that science largely eliminated in the developed world (and indeed, in nearly all of the world). And yet, Covid is far deadlier than polio, and infects orders of magnitude more people.