The New Normal

[Sbob]

Well distressing news from Daughter in-law . She went on a vacation and while gone all of her co workers have tested positive for the variant. She’s back and feeling lousy, she had Covid and got the vaccine months later. Said she feels worse now than when she had Covid. Rapid test is negative but she’s waiting on another test. So far my son’s fine and no kid issues. Just hoping that this ski season doesn’t go to S$&t

 

[MarzNC]

The 1918 pandemic lasted into 1920. This pandemic is probably more widespread globally. It could last longer even with the availability of vaccines for rich countries. That said, there is little justification for lock downs in countries that have enough vaccine supply and a reasonable distribution approach. Every county had hiccups during the early stages of vaccination for the general public.

Aug. 1, 2021

What We Can Glean From Rare COVID-19 Reinfections

Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease doctor from Johns Hopkins University, about COVID-19 reinfections.

www.npr.org

" . . .
ADALJA: COVID is going to be with us forever. This is a new respiratory virus that's established itself in the human population. It efficiently spreads. It's not something that can be eliminated. So we will have COVID cases. And it is going to become tamer, more like other respiratory viruses because of the impact of the vaccine. But it's going to be with us. There's no way that COVID magically goes back into bats, and we go back to 2019. And I think that reinfections are going to be something that people deal with, but they're mostly going to be mild. And I even think breakthrough infections in people who get vaccinated are something that most of us are going to experience at some period in time, and most of them are going to be mild because what the goal - the overarching goal - and I think many people forget this - was not to eradicate COVID-19 - that's not possible - but to defang it.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So you feel that we're well on our way to that being the case and that perhaps in a few years, this might look different?

ADALJA: I do think we're well on the way to defanging and taming this virus. As more people get vaccinated and more people get natural immunity, we are going to see this turn itself into a seasonal coronavirus that we deal with year in and year out but aren't threatened in the way we have been in the past.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Dr. Amesh Adalja, infectious disease doctor at Johns Hopkins University, thank you very much.

 

[Harvey]

tested positive for the variant

Do they tell you if you have Delta? I was feeling crappy last week, kind of covidy (who knows) got tested, came up neg. I asked if they could tell me if I had Delta. They said no. I was hoping that if I was positive it would be Delta.

 

[MarzNC]

Well distressing new from Daughter in-law . She went on a vacation and while gone all of her co workers have tested positive for the variant. She’s back and feeling lousy, she had Covid and got the vaccine months later. Said she feels worse now than when she had Covid. Rapid test is negative but she’s waiting on another test. So far my son’s fine and no kid issues. Just hoping that this ski season doesn’t go to S$&t

Eep! I felt bad for one afternoon/evening a couple weeks ago and opted to do a PCR test. Felt fine by the next morning. Don't have results yet. Was towards the end of a driving trip that included a little time inside American Dream mall. Fully vaccinated by mid-June. Never had any reason to suspect COVID-19 during 2020 or the ski season thru mid-April.

Have heard some stories about people feeling bad, getting tested, and finding out they had a standard crud, not COVID-19. Hope she feels better soon in any case.

 

[MarzNC]

Do they tell you if you have Delta? I was feeling crappy last week, kind of covidy (who knows) got tested, came up neg. I asked if they could tell me if I had Delta. They say no. I was hoping that if I was positive it would be Delta.

No, genomic testing isn't standard. It's extra effort and expense. The states and CDC are sampling regularly to try to have a sense of the variants that are active in various areas.

For example, NC is working on a comprehensive surveillance program to have an organized approach to sampling for COVID-19 variants and other infectious diseases. My grad school keeps sending alumni news about pandemic related projects.

Carolina to lead $15 million statewide COVID-19 surveillance program funded by NC Policy Collaboratory - UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health

July 26, 2021 A new surveillance program, led by UNC-Chapel Hill's Dirk Dittmer, Amir Barzin and Audrey Pettifor, will collect, sequence and share data on SARS-CoV-2 samples from across the state, providing real-time information on variants circulating in North Carolina.

sph.unc.edu

 

[MarzNC]

Yale Medicine put together a good overview of Delta based on recent news from July. Bottom line is that vaccination is important because people of any age who are unvaccinated and get COVID-19 are at the highest risk of serious illness that leads to hospitalization, or death. Getting tested based on even very minor symptoms is worth while for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, assuming they want to protect people around them. Unvaccinated seniors, say over 60, are at the highest risk of death as was the case in early 2020. Delta is that much more contagious then earlier strains of SARS-CoV-2 even when someone doesn't have symptoms.

Aug. 3, 2021

5 Things To Know About the Delta Variant

Delta was a highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus strain that was first identified in India, and also circulated in the United States and other countries. The vaccines have proven to be highly effective against Delta, but anyone who is unvaccinated is at risk for infection by the variant.

www.yalemedicine.org

 

[D.B. Cooper]

I understand why people don't want to get vaccinated. I disagree with them, but I understand. I think the following reasons can contribute to being hesitant:

• people don't like being told what to do, especially by those of a different political opinion
• governments have been deceptive before in ways almost unimaginable (Gulf of Tonkin)
• the emergency approval was not unanimous
• other medication was deemed, at the time of authorization, to be safe (thalydomide)
• religious reasons

I put the list up there not for debate material, but because I think those can be reasons that are understandable......note that I did say I disagree with them.

 

[Sbob]

Do they tell you if you have Delta? I was feeling crappy last week, kind of covidy (who knows) got tested, came up neg. I asked if they could tell me if I had Delta. They said no. I was hoping that if I was positive it would be Delta.




Not sure yet, I’ll ask her. She’s a nurse in a rehab facility. The last time they had staff issues was when they got there second vaccinations ,half the staff was out for 3 days.

I’m curious as to how the patients fare vs first round that hit her facility.

 

[Harvey]

I heard this morning that 93% of new cases are delta so there is that. If true. (Gulf of Tonkin and all).

 

[Campgottagopee]

I heard this morning that 93% of new cases are delta so there is that. If true. (Gulf of Tonkin and all).

OK, I missed something. If they can't tell you if it's the delta variant how do they know it's the delta variant?