COVID-19 - Wuhan Coronavirus (a non-political thread, see pg. 36 #1778)

[AlexB]

People here with severe allergies have officially been advised not to take the Pfizer vaccine after two NHS workers suffered reactions in the first day of vaccination... It doesn’t help convince the sceptics who think the whole process has been rushed through

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by AlexB

People here with severe allergies have officially been advised not to take the Pfizer vaccine after two NHS workers suffered reactions in the first day of vaccination... It doesn’t help convince the sceptics who think the whole process has been rushed through

I think the vaccine Pharma executives, board members etc. and their families should take it first.

The cynical me says this was discussed already and for one reason or another, was not done.

I know there will always be a certain % with adverse reaction, and I believe the risks to be acceptable (considering the alternative). Nevertheless, it would be a good show of confidence to general public.

[sterlingice]

Wouldn't people just view it as the Russian vaccine that Putin gave his daughter(?) where we all just assume it was for show and probably not even a real shot?

SI

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Wouldn't people just view it as the Russian vaccine that Putin gave his daughter(?) where we all just assume it was for show and probably not even a real shot?

SI

I would assume the western reporters will do their due diligence and make sure it wasn't a fraud injection.

[molson]

My boss is in the hospital with COIVD and I have been drafted into some pretty intense stuff that I am figuring out on the fly. I feel like that guy who played QB for the Broncos a few weeks ago. I spend my short breaks dreaming about my next vacation - even if that's just me at home for a few weeks.

[Kodos]

Get better soon, MrBug.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Interesting tool to see how overwhelmed your hospital is.

Thanks for the link. No data for three of the four hospitals in the rural country I live in. The one that does report, 72% and 42%. It wouldn't take many patients to tip that either way.

[rjolley]

One of ours is 100% and 27%. The other is 83% and 14%.

[miked]

Emory is doing pretty well because the highest cases are out in the country.

[CrimsonFox]

[Thomkal]

heh

[NobodyHere]

spoilered for some nsfw language

Spoiler

[Thomkal]

heh again

[Edward64]

I'm still trying to rationalize the tremendous spike. Someone help me understand.

On the worldometers site, it show the start of 7-day moving avg increases beginning in mid-Oct. With incubation period of let's say 14 days, what happened in mid Sept, early Oct that cause this?

The flip answer is many people got weary and got careless etc. but looking for something more tangible.

Was it the GOP mask-less political campaigning? Might explain TX but doesn't explain CA or NY

Air travel did seem to tick up in late Sept, early Oct according to • COVID-19 impact on TSA checkpoint numbers | Statista. So I guess that might be a factor

Was it that workers returning to office? I couldn't find any stats but don't remember reading any articles on that. I think most companies are still have workers do remote as preferred choice.

Was it the opening up of restaurants and other small businesses? Maybe

So what happened in mid Sept to early Oct, that didn't occur over the summer, to start this?

[GrantDawg]

Schools?

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[sterlingice]

Usually takes 6-8ish weeks for a little bit of noise to equal a major spike so, I think some combination of schools and pandemic fatigue

SI

[sterlingice]

I think all the data about "well, little kids don't spread COVID like we thought" is going to be found to be false or at least partially false. It's pretty hard to show where exactly you got a communicable disease when it's endemic in the population (also a good reason to doubt all the airline studies that are like "no one is reporting they got sick on the plane" because not only were they on a plane but a new city, a hotel, etc - so it would be impossible to pinpoint exactly where you got infected). And I think it's going to fit into the category of "duh, of course schools were a major vector for transmission (especially those who threw their hands up in the air and said 'kids can't wear masks so don't even try to enforce it'").

SI

[PilotMan]

It's even more simple than schools. It's colder weather. We saw the growth hit Europe, who starts colder weather before the states, we knew the case growth was coming, and it did. It's not terribly surprising.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

It's even more simple than schools. It's colder weather. We saw the growth hit Europe, who starts colder weather before the states, we knew the case growth was coming, and it did. It's not terribly surprising.

How you feeling, PM? Think about you all the time.

[PilotMan]

Thanks, I have mostly recovered. All my symptoms have lessened and today was the first day that my boys and I got outside for a couple hours and played some disc golf. I'm legal to go out again. Only my wife is still under quarantine in the house. She's the last one to get better, and it's mostly making her exceptionally tired.

My middle son tested negative, so I wonder if that means that he was the one who brought it in when he came back from college. He had been exposed, but he never had a single symptom. He came back on a Thursday, and my Monday my oldest had gotten it. It's either that or the oldest from work.

We are very thankful that we have managed to avoid the worst of the cases. The recovery isn't fast though. Even yesterday I still didn't feel right. We all are way more fatigued than normal and shaking the cough has been hard.

[ISiddiqui]

Glad y'all are getting better. Hope the recovery continues smoothly!

[GrantDawg]

I am so glad. Great to hear.

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[Thomkal]

Yay PM and family!

[MrBug708]

Count me as one of the COVID patients. I think I started a post here before I didn't finish it, but it's been a crazy ride. Got back from out of town during Thanksgiving. Work up Tuesday, the 1st with a fever. Went in and got tested. Results back last Thursday as COVID positive. Wife tested positive and has been asymptomatic ever since. First five days, had fever, chills, aches, fatigue, slight loss of smell, slight cough, diarrhea, pretty much everything but loss of smell and breathing issues. Fast forward to Tuesday and I was monitoring my oxygen levels and they were hovering around 90, so I went down to urgent care and had a pretty bad coughing fit. They sent me to the ER where I waited for about three hours before I received a room. They gave me oxygen and admitted me about 930 on Tuesday. Wife is freaked out at this point because the stories about going to the hospital and never coming back weighed on her mind. Oxygen helped, had a rough night being monitored but most of my sytems were going away other than breathing. Went to get up and go to the bathroom and nearly passed out there due to shortness of breath. Really scariest moment of my life. Discharged last night, but going to have to be on oxygen for 2-3 weeks hile my breathing stabilizes. Definitely not out of the woods, but it does feel like I'm in the back half of recovery. Getting hospitalized for this is something that I never imagined happening, but it happened anyways.

[MrBug708]

Looks like I did post, Oops! Hopefully this is a little more insight into what I went through!

Edit - Pilotman did and others saw my facebook! Glad you guys were watching out for me!

[JPhillips]

Good to see you Bug.

[Lathum]

Good to see you got the help you needed Bug, lets hope for a speedy recovery

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Count me as one of the COVID patients. I think I started a post here before I didn't finish it, but it's been a crazy ride. Got back from out of town during Thanksgiving. Work up Tuesday, the 1st with a fever. Went in and got tested. Results back last Thursday as COVID positive. Wife tested positive and has been asymptomatic ever since. First five days, had fever, chills, aches, fatigue, slight loss of smell, slight cough, diarrhea, pretty much everything but loss of smell and breathing issues. Fast forward to Tuesday and I was monitoring my oxygen levels and they were hovering around 90, so I went down to urgent care and had a pretty bad coughing fit. They sent me to the ER where I waited for about three hours before I received a room. They gave me oxygen and admitted me about 930 on Tuesday. Wife is freaked out at this point because the stories about going to the hospital and never coming back weighed on her mind. Oxygen helped, had a rough night being monitored but most of my sytems were going away other than breathing. Went to get up and go to the bathroom and nearly passed out there due to shortness of breath. Really scariest moment of my life. Discharged last night, but going to have to be on oxygen for 2-3 weeks hile my breathing stabilizes. Definitely not out of the woods, but it does feel like I'm in the back half of recovery. Getting hospitalized for this is something that I never imagined happening, but it happened anyways.

Good you are doing better.

Question - did they give you any of the fancy therapeutics or just oxygen and monitored you?

[Vince, Pt. II]

Great to see you back around these parts buddy!

[Kodos]

FOFC has our rally caps on. Glad to see things turning around for our posters and their families.

My wife's father just got diagnosed yesterday. They live in Kansas, and his wife won't wear a mask. Had a big Thanksgiving get-together with about 30 people, including two who were known to have coronavirus. Smart plan. Needless to say, my wife is pissed at her stepmother.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Good you are doing better.

Question - did they give you any of the fancy therapeutics or just oxygen and monitored you?

Just oxygen from the tank. Took one home and have oxygen at the house as well.

[Vince, Pt. II]

My dad had a co-worker (and good friend) who was out with "the flu." He didn't want to get tested, but finally decided to earlier this week. The friend was feeling better, so he was back at work today, where he and my dad work closely together. Probably not always wearing masks, just because they both hate them.

This afternoon his (the co-worker's) test came back positive.

I have no words right now for the idiocy involved here.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Dola - this is the same work environment where a DIFFERENT co-worker already tested positive and had already had close contact with several of their employees, leading my dad to be COVID tested yesterday.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Just oxygen from the tank. Took one home and have oxygen at the house as well.

You didn't get the special antibody treatment? Weird!

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/u...reatments.html

[RainMaker]

Also glad you are doing better. Just not knowing where things are headed has to be terrifying.

[tarcone]

So I worked the clock st s freshman basketball game tonight. The visiting coacj wore his mask around his nose and our AD did not cover his nose. We are a mask must be worn district, but admin isnt. So much craziness.

[Icy]

We are much better in Spain and seems the second wave is going down... but now we have the Christmas. Everybody will visit and have dinners with family despite the rules, because hey, we are latins, we love party and family and freedom and rules are for the others, not for me! We will relax measures, etc and January the third and hope the last big wave will hit us harder than the second, as it happened with the second after a relaxed summer.

Pure darwinism I'd say, I have lost the faith in governments and people.

[GrantDawg]

Good to hear you are doing better, Bug. I know when my b-i-l went into the hospital, it terrified us. Glad you are battling it out.

[BYU 14]

Of course this happens in Yuma, home of Batshit crazy GOP chairwoman Dr. Kelli Ward.

'A slap in the face': Arizona ER doctor fired after talking about severity of COVID-19 pandemic

[PilotMan]

Youngest, who successfully came off his epilepsy medication this year (after 3 years seizure free), who got his driver's license, who is dual enrolled in college for his Senior year, who has overcome Covid, now looks like he's got some post-covid syndrome symptoms. He's been quite tired, but can't sleep more than a couple hours, chest pains, dizzy spells, foggy mind. Poor kid has been through a lot. He's carrying a lot of anxiety, wants a clear answer as to what is going on, he's scared. His pediatrician cancelled an appointment today because he didn't think there was much they could do to help and said we should go to the ER. He's not in ER level distress, and we explained to our son that they are only going to treat his symptoms, which we can do, and that they don't know enough to be able to 'fix' it. It's a difficult situation.

[GrantDawg]

My daughter is having a rapid test tonight. Two people in her office tested positive, and now she can't taste or smell anything.

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[whomario]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Youngest, who successfully came off his epilepsy medication this year (after 3 years seizure free), who got his driver's license, who is dual enrolled in college for his Senior year, who has overcome Covid, now looks like he's got some post-covid syndrome symptoms. He's been quite tired, but can't sleep more than a couple hours, chest pains, dizzy spells, foggy mind. Poor kid has been through a lot. He's carrying a lot of anxiety, wants a clear answer as to what is going on, he's scared. His pediatrician cancelled an appointment today because he didn't think there was much they could do to help and said we should go to the ER. He's not in ER level distress, and we explained to our son that they are only going to treat his symptoms, which we can do, and that they don't know enough to be able to 'fix' it. It's a difficult situation.

There's definitely more that the right Department/Specialist can do. Covid19 is especially pesky, but longterm issues and need for 'rehabilitation' isn't unique to it but an issue with many viral infections including the flu. And there is definitely stuff that ought to be checked out. Which is not meant to alarm, but there's often more to it than outward symptoms.
I find it pretty shocking the doctor's bestest and onliest idea was the ER and not even doing some basic diagnosis. That being said: People at the ER might know where to turn within the hospital system. I doubt very much you'd be the first they find asking that question.

Hope it works out well and fast and he gets well soon.

[Edward64]

Sorry to hear of everyone's challenges right now.

My best wishes to everyone and hope you guys & family get over this.

[GrantDawg]

Crap. She tested positive. She has been home the last few days since her birthday was last weekend. This is not good.

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[JPhillips]

God bless, Grant. Best wishes to her.

[Lathum]

Best of luck to her and your family.

[Edward64]

Not sure if this was reported in MSM earlier re: Feb conference but I didn't know about it. Also pretty cool (and scary) how they are able to essentially do contact tracing with the "genetic fingerprinting".

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/11/healt...nce/index.html

A biotech conference in Boston last February that's already been flagged as a Covid-19 superspreading event led to at least 245,000 other cases across the US and Europe, a new genetic fingerprinting study shows.

One single case seems to have been responsible for many of the other eventual cases, the team at the Broad Institute in Massachusetts reported.
Their study finds two particular genetic fingerprints of viruses associated with the conference and then tracks those lineages across the US. One "was exported from Boston to at least 18 US states as well as to other countries, including Australia, Sweden, and Slovakia," the team, led by Bronwyn MacInnis, director of pathogen genomic surveillance at the Broad Institute, wrote in the journal Science.
:
:
It's hard to document a superspreading event. Researchers must show that people were infected and in contact with one another. When tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people are involved, it's almost impossible.

But genetic fingerprinting makes it possible. The Broad team used databases of the virus to track these individual changes, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs (pronounced "snips).

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Youngest, who successfully came off his epilepsy medication this year (after 3 years seizure free), who got his driver's license, who is dual enrolled in college for his Senior year, who has overcome Covid, now looks like he's got some post-covid syndrome symptoms. He's been quite tired, but can't sleep more than a couple hours, chest pains, dizzy spells, foggy mind. Poor kid has been through a lot. He's carrying a lot of anxiety, wants a clear answer as to what is going on, he's scared. His pediatrician cancelled an appointment today because he didn't think there was much they could do to help and said we should go to the ER. He's not in ER level distress, and we explained to our son that they are only going to treat his symptoms, which we can do, and that they don't know enough to be able to 'fix' it. It's a difficult situation.

I spent a good part of the day in the ER today. The boy woke up with vision issues and he really started escalating from there. We knew that his major symptoms were stuff we could manage, but he's also 17, and he needs to have some faith that we do know what we're doing. However, it was just one thing too much, and it was hard to argue against him. He ended up getting an IV with some pain meds for headaches, and an upper GI cocktail to control some of his stomach pain. All his tests and xrays came back normal, and he got to talk with the doctor for a while. He was reassured that he was ok, that he will be ok, that he won't be in danger at this point from the Covid, that the medication that we are giving him will be the best for him, and he left feeling much better about everything. The vision issues were stemming from a migraine style headache, that he's never had before. The rest is still just post-covid symptoms that they felt would take another couple weeks to resolve.

As a dad, this was a very hard choice. His mom and I could have argued that we know best, and that we are doing what we know is best for him, but at his age, it's hard to argue that he can't have a say in what is best for him. The bill is going to suck, but we have pretty good insurance, and are fortunate to have a little money to cover it. I think though, that we earned some teenager respect (which we aren't short on) and he got the information helped relieve his anxiety.

[Edward64]

Another interesting website. Essentially tracking vaccine pre-purchases by country and the discrepancies between the haves and have nots.

COVID-19 | Launch and Scale Speedometer

9.6 BILLION DOSES ARE ALREADY RESERVED, EVEN BEFORE ANY CANDIDATES ARE ON THE MARKET

Despite this public commitment to equity, individual countries are incentivized to purchase as many vaccine doses (and from as wide a pool of candidates) as possible in order to increase their chances of covering their population. Before any vaccine candidates are even approved for market, confirmed purchases cover 7.2 billion doses, with another 2.4 billion doses currently under negotiation or reserved as optional expansions of existing deals.

I see Indonesia and Brazil. I think they are participating in China's trials so this chart does include that vaccine(s).

It also shows the US with approx $1B in confirmed vaccine doses purchases. With a population of 330M x 2 doses max = 660M, this seems like overkill especially when also including "potential dose purchases" for a total of 2.6B does. My guess is US was hedging across the top 2-3 drugs (at least) and hence the overbought no. In a situation like this, no one will complain much about wasting money.

I am surprised that SA, Qatar, Kuwait are seemingly left out? You would think the richer countries could get access to the vaccines early.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I spent a good part of the day in the ER today. The boy woke up with vision issues and he really started escalating from there. We knew that his major symptoms were stuff we could manage, but he's also 17, and he needs to have some faith that we do know what we're doing. However, it was just one thing too much, and it was hard to argue against him. He ended up getting an IV with some pain meds for headaches, and an upper GI cocktail to control some of his stomach pain. All his tests and xrays came back normal, and he got to talk with the doctor for a while. He was reassured that he was ok, that he will be ok, that he won't be in danger at this point from the Covid, that the medication that we are giving him will be the best for him, and he left feeling much better about everything. The vision issues were stemming from a migraine style headache, that he's never had before. The rest is still just post-covid symptoms that they felt would take another couple weeks to resolve.

As a dad, this was a very hard choice. His mom and I could have argued that we know best, and that we are doing what we know is best for him, but at his age, it's hard to argue that he can't have a say in what is best for him. The bill is going to suck, but we have pretty good insurance, and are fortunate to have a little money to cover it. I think though, that we earned some teenager respect (which we aren't short on) and he got the information helped relieve his anxiety.

You did the right thing, and I am glad it was no more than that. It is a scary disease, and sometimes the mental part of it is as hard as the physical.
My daughter is having headaches/body-aches and general nausea. Her breathing is rough, but so far not unlike what she normal deals with a winter cough (she is asthmatic, so any chest congestion is usually bad). She never leaves her room without a mask, and her mom has been bringing her food.
Neither of our work is going to let us quarantine. We are disposable, er I mean, essential workers. My wife's doctor/boss called her last night and said she should stay home, then at 10 O'clock last night asked her to come in this afternoon to set her area up for the week, then take a rapid test. If it is negative, she is supposed to work. So, instead she actually having my wife work more, and come expose others even though if she tests negative today she could be positive any time next week.
I work mostly outside, so I am not as likely to expose co-workers or customers. I will just do drive through and curb side for lunches. I have 4 big co-morbities, so that is the biggest worry. Our house is too small to be isolated. There is next to no chance that if my wife gets it, that I will not get it.