The COVID-2019 Thread

[harrybarracuda]

Another antivax tosser begging for a vaccination on his deathbed.

Anti-vax Cheshire dad, 45, killed by Covid pleaded for jab from hospital bed - Stoke-on-Trent Live

[HermantheGerman]

Anything else I can do for you?

Covid isn't ever going to disappear completely, but maybe you can.

[misskit]

COVID-19 update: Florida breaks daily case record again with 76,887 new infections; hospitalizations pass 9,000

Florida reported 76,887 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest daily number of the pandemic, and the number of hospital patients with the virus passed 9,000, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.


The increase in cases comes as a record 151,725 tests are being reported on average per day as of Dec. 30, the most recent data available for testing rates. The state’s average for daily cases has increased for 41 consecutive days, revised CDC data shows, reaching 56,760 as of Friday.


On Thursday, 9,034 patients in Florida hospitals had COVID-19, the highest number since Sept. 17 and a 120% increase since two weeks earlier, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows. The number includes patients admitted with the virus and those who tested positive while hospitalized.


Miami-Dade County’s average daily case rate of 3,678 per 100,000 population is the third-highest of the nation’s 3,143 counties reporting data to the CDC, excluding counties with low population. Richmond and Bronx counties in New York have the highest rates.


Yet COVID-related death reports have remained low in Florida during the omicron surge, and the the state has the second-lowest among other states with a 7-day average of 0.09 deaths a day per 100,000 population. Florida increased its death count by three on Friday.


Broward County’s testing positivity rate is the third highest of Florida’s counties, with 38.3% as of Thursday. Orange County has the highest rate with 40.4%; Palm Beach County’s rate is 37.7% and Miami-Dade County is 35.4%. Public health experts say the virus is considered under control when the COVID-19 test positivity rate is under 5%. Every county in Florida has a rate over 13%.


As of Thursday, at least 4,563,163 Floridians have been infected by COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. An average of 21 Floridians per day have died of COVID over the past week and at least 62,625 have died in total.


Meanwhile, an average of 51,193 vaccinations are being administered per day in Florida as of Thursday, the first decline of 2022. About 63.6% of Floridians are fully vaccinated and 32.7% have received booster shots.

COVID-19 update: Florida breaks daily case record again with 76,887 new infections; hospitalizations pass 9,000

[misskit]

Omicron explosion spurs nationwide breakdown of services

Ambulances in Kansas speed toward hospitals then suddenly change direction because hospitals are full. Employee shortages in New York City cause delays in trash and subway services and diminish the ranks of firefighters and emergency workers. Airport officials shut down security checkpoints at the biggest terminal in Phoenix and schools across the nation struggle to find teachers for their classrooms.


The current explosion of omicron-fueled coronavirus infections in the U.S. is causing a breakdown in basic functions and services — the latest illustration of how COVID-19 keeps upending life more than two years into the pandemic.


“This really does, I think, remind everyone of when COVID-19 first appeared and there were such major disruptions across every part of our normal life,” said Tom Cotter, director of emergency response and preparedness at the global health nonprofit Project HOPE. “And the unfortunate reality is, there’s no way of predicting what will happen next until we get our vaccination numbers — globally — up.”

MORE Omicron explosion spurs nationwide breakdown of services | AP News

[panama hat]

With Omicron having taken over the news cycles . . . Delta is still the one killing people, it hasn't been replaced by the new variant, but it is clogging up health care in many places.

How quickly can a diagnosis be made whether it's one or the other?

[misskit]

^I saw an article which said there was not a way to test personally for the variants. Testing variants is done by gene sequencing at labs, by random batches, at the state level here in the US.

Apparently, the only way one knows which variant they have is by the symptoms.

Will try to find the link to that info.

[misskit]

This isn’t the item I read earlier but says pretty much the same thing.


Omicron vs. delta: Why it’s so hard to tell which COVID variant you have


Many COVID-positive Americans are wondering which of the multiple variants they could be facing. The methods for figuring that out, sadly, are not definitive

As the nation swells with yet another deadly wave of the pandemic—this time from a second formidable mutation of the virus—many Americans are now testing positive for COVID-19 and wondering exactly which of the multiple variants in circulation they could be facing.


The relative prevalence of each variant, especially the chief delta and omicron strains, dominates discourse on the pandemic’s status. But that information is actually quite difficult to obtain—not just for patients, but for doctors, too. COVID-19 tests used today simply detect the presence of the virus but can’t identify the specific variant: That involves a separate genomic-sequencing process, often done in a separate lab, and it’s not logistically feasible for every positive-test sample to undergo sequencing. Health officials order it to be performed on a percentage of the positive-test samples in order to track the pandemic’s course, but citizens aren’t privy to their individual results. (In fact, viral samples are scrubbed of names before they’re parsed.)


Thus, variant statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are extrapolated from a representative data set, rather than a complete account of every reported case.


But for those sick at home and wondering which strain they’re fighting, that’s hardly helpful. For macro analysts, however, there is one quicker way to check if a case is of the currently surging omicron variant, based on the results of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

Researchers have discovered that omicron has a genetic sequencing unique from its fellow variants, delta and alpha: Its so-called S gene has a small deletion in it. This anomaly can be detected in a PCR test, as the S gene is one of three target genes that the substrate reacts with; in cases of omicron, the test will “miss” the mutated S gene, resulting in a band dropout referred to as “S-gene target failure.” The band dropout can be easily read by a laboratory technician, and is widely accepted as a tell for the variant pending sequencing confirmation.

However, experts caution that it’s not definitive—there have been recorded cases of omicron that did not present S-gene target failures in PCR tests. As with much of the COVID pandemic, scientists are still deciphering how and why. Thus, while an S-gene target failure is likely indicative of omicron, the lack of that marker could also still occur with omicron—or delta, or alpha, or any other variant.

On the other hand, for patients, that just leaves self-sleuthing—with only symptoms of the illness as the only clues. Ah, but that’s easily foiled, too: While health agencies have described slight discrepancies in the classic symptoms for each variant, the symptoms are still very similar—and the virus can attack each person in a way that’s impossible to predict.

But, if it’s any comfort, knowing which variant you have won’t help you recover any faster, anyway. So, might as well accept it: We’re staying in the dark here.

Omicron vs. delta: Which COVID variant do I have?

[Joe 90]

Another antivax tosser begging for a vaccination on his deathbed.

Anti-vax Cheshire dad, 45, killed by Covid pleaded for jab from hospital bed - Stoke-on-Trent Live

I know personally two anti vaxers who now suffer from long covid after serious illness from the virus, similar age.

[misskit]

Experts predicts up to 5 MILLION could skip work next week with COVID, putting strain on businesses and transport as US hits its second highest daily case count of 900,832 infections: Omicron peak is expected to crest at end of January


The US recorded 900,832 new COVID cases on Friday, the second highest day ever after record set Monday
Deaths jumped to 2,615 for the day, a 22% increase from a week ago on a rolling average basis
One expert estimates 5 million people in the US may be calling out sick next week, some 3% of the workforce
Disruptions are forcing some businesses into de facto lockdown because they lack the staff to operate
Most forecasts suggest that the Omicron surge will not peak in the US until late in January
Dr. Fauci said on Friday that the US could soon be regularly recording 1 million new cases of COVID each day
Explosion of Omicron-fueled infections in the US is already causing a breakdown in basic services

MORE Five million people could call in sick this week as US hits its second highest daily case count | Daily Mail Online

[panama hat]

This isn’t the item I read earlier but says pretty much the same thing.

Thank you

[harrybarracuda]

Experts predicts up to 5 MILLION could skip work

I wonder how much the CBI paid for this bit of "news"?

I'm sure there will be more than a few signing off sick on the sly, but to say five million are "skipping work" is a typical Daily Mail insult designed to feed the outrage of the curtain-twitching old goats in Goldalming et al that still read it.

[harrybarracuda]

A Rhode Island hospital is dealing with a Covid-19 outbreak with patients after it asked staff who had tested positive, but were asymptomatic, to come in due to a staffing shortage.
Eleanor Slater Hospital, a state-run facility with campuses in Cranston and Burrillville, reported it had 28 infected patients as of Thursday, according to the Boston Globe. The hospital has roughly 200 patients.

Outbreak reported at Rhode Island hospital after Covid-positive, asymptomatic staff asked to work

[harrybarracuda]

New York State on Saturday added more hospitals to its list of those ordered to postpone elective surgeries for at least two weeks as the surge in Covid-19 cases threatens to overwhelm hospitals.
The list now includes 40 hospitals that have “met the state’s threshold for ‘high risk regions’ or low capacity facilities,” the Department of Health said in a statement on Saturday.
All 31 hospitals in the Mohawk Valley, Finger Lakes and Central regions are now included on the list, and the nine others are scattered throughout the state, according to the statement. None are in New York City. The hospitals must cancel procedures starting on Thursday.

Covid Updates: Long Waits and Extra Expense for Many to Get Tests in U.S. - The New York Times

[harrybarracuda]

Brilliant.

Airlines Strand Passengers Who Partied on Flight Without Masks

A group of Canadian social media influencers and others flouted Covid-19 rules on a flight to Cancún, Mexico, resulting in airlines leaving many of them without a way home.

Airlines Strand Passengers Who Partied on Flight Without Masks - The New York Times

[harrybarracuda]

Heheh that worked

The number of appointments for the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has risen sharply this week in Quebec, according to Health Minister Christian Dubé.


In a brief message posted to social media Friday morning, Dubé notes that in the last few days, appointments for first doses have increased from 1,500 per day to more than 6,000.


The minister took a moment to thank those who finally decided to get vaccinated, reiterating that it is never too late to receive a first dose of vaccine.


Thursday, Dubé announced that vaccine passports would be required to enter Société des alcohols du Québec (SAQ) and Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) locations starting Jan. 18.

First-dose vaccinations quadruple in Quebec ahead of restrictions at liquor and cannabis stores | CTV News

[harrybarracuda]

The number of people in hospital with Covid in Scotland has increased by more than 50% in the last week, according to new figures.


The latest statistics published by the Scottish government reveal that 1,362 people were in hospital with the virus on Friday - up from 897 on Hogmanay.


A total of 48 Covid patients were in intensive care, up from 34 a week ago.


Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has said the next two weeks were set to be the "most difficult" ever faced by the NHS.


Senior medics told BBC Scotland that pressures were being felt in hospitals, GP services, the ambulance service and in social care settings.

Covid in Scotland: Virus hospital patients increase by 50% in a week - BBC News

[harrybarracuda]

COVID hospitalizations in New Jersey continued to rise on Friday, and it appears more patients being hospitalized over the past week have been in need of more intensive care.
Hospitalizations stood at 5,701 on Friday night, an increase of 80 from the prior day, after an adjustment to Thursday's count by the state health department.
That represents a 1.4% increase in hospitalizations. But those in the ICU stood at 812 Friday night, up 4% from the prior day, and those needing a ventilator stood at 441, a 10.5% increase from the prior day.
While hospitalizations have increased by 21% since Jan. 2, driven in part by the spread of the omicron variant, those in the ICU have risen by 26%, and the number of patients on ventilators has grown by 51%.

Number of NJ COVID patients on ventilators up, hospitalizations rise

[HermantheGerman]

He's a fucking professor of infectious diseases at Edinburgh University.

Who is trying to make money by selling his book.
We had a similar clown here in Germany who lost his job because he appeared in more talk shows then at his job (University)

Anyway this is what the Edinburgh clown said 7 May 2020

For the non-vulnerable population, coronavirus carries no more risk than a "nasty flu", says Prof Mark Woolhouse, an expert in infectious disease who led the research.

Coronavirus: Is it time to free the healthy from restrictions? - BBC News

[HermantheGerman]

Here comes Deltacron.... It's a race for who can find the next virus and give it a name.

Cyprus Finds Covid-19 Infections That Combine Delta and Omicron

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

[harrybarracuda]

Here comes Deltacron.... It's a race for who can find the next virus and give it a name.

Cyprus Finds Covid-19 Infections That Combine Delta and Omicron


Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

"Small update: the Cypriot 'Deltacron' sequences reported by several large media outlets look to be quite clearly contamination - they do not cluster on a phylogenetic tree and have a whole Artic primer sequencing amplicon of Omicron in an otherwise Delta backbone."

https://twitter.com/PeacockFlu/statu...725694717.html

[misskit]

COVID-19 cases in Tokyo 14.5 times the number a week ago

Tokyo reported 1,223 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 9, surpassing 1,000 for the second straight day.


The latest daily count was 14.5 times the 84 cases confirmed on Sunday of the preceding week, bringing the seven-day average of new cases over the week through Jan. 9 to 664.9, compared with 66.0 over the previous seven-day period.


Of the newly confirmed cases, 504 patients were in their 20s, or more than 40 percent of the total. They were followed by 232 patients in their 30s, 159 in their 40s, 102 in their 50s and 100 teenagers.


The number of serious patients, those requiring ventilators or ECMO heart-lung bypass machines, came to four, the same as the day before.

COVID-19 cases in Tokyo 14.5 times the number a week ago | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

[harrybarracuda]

Singapore's health minister Ong Ye Kung said vaccines that are available in the country have been far more effective than doing nothing at all, as he implored holdouts to get inoculated in the face of an expected wave of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Nearly 70% of those who died from Covid-19 last year in the city-state were not fully vaccinated, according to Ong, despite the unvaccinated making up a far smaller percentage of the population. About 87% of the total population was vaccinated as of the end of the year, according to Ministry of Health data.
Ong, in comments made in parliament on Monday, detailed statistics from the 247 deaths recorded among fully vaccinated individuals last year. The statistics signaled mRNA vaccines possibly offer higher protection:

• 11 deaths per 100,000: Sinovac
• 7.8 deaths per 100,000: Sinopharm
• 6.2 deaths per 100,000: Pfizer/BioNTech
• One death per 100,000: Moderna

Singapore breaks down Covid deaths by vaccine

[harrybarracuda]

I see UK cases have dropped from 218,000 cases in a day to 141,000 cases.

Good news indeed.

[misskit]

Omicron is surging — and Democrats aren’t shutting things down this time


BOSTON — Democrats have a message for Omicron-flooded America: get vaxxed and carry on.


From New York to California, Democratic mayors and governors are fighting to keep schools and businesses open with an urgency they haven’t flexed before in the pandemic.

MORE Omicron is surging — and Democrats aren’t shutting things down this time

[harrybarracuda]

Omicron is surging — and Democrats aren’t shutting things down this time


BOSTON — Democrats have a message for Omicron-flooded America: get vaxxed and carry on.


From New York to California, Democratic mayors and governors are fighting to keep schools and businesses open with an urgency they haven’t flexed before in the pandemic.

MORE Omicron is surging — and Democrats aren’t shutting things down this time

Now they know how many trumpanzees it kills.