*** OFFICIAL *** COVID-19 CoronaVirus Thread. Fresh epidemic fears as child pneumonia cases surge in Europe after China outbreak. NOW in USA (7 Viewers)

[The Commish]

Have taken a long break from the COVID nonsense.  This popped up on my radar.  I'd hold off in proclamation that Omicron was our off ramp for a bit longer unfortunately.  Parts of this data still need further review.

 

[Doug B]

Have taken a long break from the COVID nonsense.  This popped up on my radar.

This link is paywalled for those who have reached Reuters' article limit. I see the headline - "Omicron infection induces limited immune response in unvaccinated; COVID hospital deaths rise on weekends". What else from that article jumped out at you?

One question raised by the headline that the article could answer: How are they defining "limited immune response"? If they mean "immune response measured by protection against infection", then IMHO not really a big deal. If they mean cellular immunity -- and if they have the info to back that up -- then that's something.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

This link is paywalled for those who have reached Reuters' article limit. I see the headline - "Omicron infection induces limited immune response in unvaccinated; COVID hospital deaths rise on weekends". What else from that article jumped out at you?

One question raised by the headline that the article could answer: How are they defining "limited immune response"? If they mean "immune response measured by protection against infection", then IMHO not really a big deal. If they mean cellular immunity -- and if they have the info to back that up -- then that's something.

Here you go:

April 18 (Reuters) - The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review.

Omicron infection induces limited immune response

Unvaccinated people infected with the Omicron variant are unlikely to develop immune responses that will protect them against other variants of the coronavirus, a new study suggests.

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Unlike antibodies induced by COVID-19 vaccines or infections with earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants, antibodies induced by the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants do not neutralize other versions of the virus, researchers found when they analyzed blood samples obtained after Omicron infection. People with Omicron "breakthrough" infections after three doses of the mRNA vaccines designed to neutralize earlier versions of the virus had high levels of neutralizing antibodies against the two Omicron variants, although the efficiency was lower than against previous SARS-CoV-2 versions, according to a report undergoing peer review at Nature Portfolio and posted on Research Square. But among those whose immune systems had not been primed to recognize the virus through vaccination or by natural infection, antibodies after Omicron infection "were very specific for the respective Omicron variant, and we detected almost no neutralizing antibodies targeting non-Omicron virus strains," said Karin Stiasny and Judity Aberle of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria in a joint email.

BA.2-induced antibodies appeared to be particularly unlikely to defend against any other variant, they added. The study "emphasizes the importance of booster vaccinations for immune protection."

COVID-19 hospital death rates go up on weekends

The average number of global deaths from COVID-19 were 6% higher on weekends compared to weekdays throughout the pandemic, according to statistics reported to the World Health Organization between March 2020 and March 2022.

The research, scheduled for presentation this month at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, found that worldwide there were on average 449 more COVID deaths on weekends than weekdays (8,532 vs 8,083). The highest absolute increase in weekend COVID-19 deaths was in the United States (average 1,483 weekend deaths vs 1,220 weekday deaths), followed by Brazil (1,061 vs 823), the UK (239 vs 215) and Canada (56 v 48 deaths). Only Germany reported significantly fewer average deaths at weekends compared to weekdays. The increase in COVID-19 deaths on weekends may reflect reporting delays, but it also is likely due to hospital staffing levels and other organizational factors, the researchers said in a statement.

The data does not take into account patients' individual risk factors, local policies and public health interventions, which could have affected the outcomes. "Further studies, with detailed clinical data are needed to investigate the drivers of and causes for the risk of death on weekdays and weekends from COVID-19," the researchers said in the statement.

Click for a Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.

 

[PhillipPhoto]

@Reuters: The TSA will stop enforcing a requirement to wear masks on airplanes after a federal judge in Florida ruled that Biden's mandate covering planes, trains, taxis, ride-share vehicles and transit hubs was unlawful https://reut.rs/3ErTFWV https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1516185870386274306/photo/1

Science.  

 

[The Commish]

1 hour ago, Doug B said:
This link is paywalled for those who have reached Reuters' article limit. I see the headline - "Omicron infection induces limited immune response in unvaccinated; COVID hospital deaths rise on weekends". What else from that article jumped out at you?

One question raised by the headline that the article could answer: How are they defining "limited immune response"? If they mean "immune response measured by protection against infection", then IMHO not really a big deal. If they mean cellular immunity -- and if they have the info to back that up -- then that's something.
Expand  

Here you go:

Quote
April 18 (Reuters) - The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review.

Omicron infection induces limited immune response

Unvaccinated people infected with the Omicron variant are unlikely to develop immune responses that will protect them against other variants of the coronavirus, a new study suggests.

Report ad

Unlike antibodies induced by COVID-19 vaccines or infections with earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants, antibodies induced by the Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants do not neutralize other versions of the virus, researchers found when they analyzed blood samples obtained after Omicron infection. People with Omicron "breakthrough" infections after three doses of the mRNA vaccines designed to neutralize earlier versions of the virus had high levels of neutralizing antibodies against the two Omicron variants, although the efficiency was lower than against previous SARS-CoV-2 versions, according to a report undergoing peer review at Nature Portfolio and posted on Research Square. But among those whose immune systems had not been primed to recognize the virus through vaccination or by natural infection, antibodies after Omicron infection "were very specific for the respective Omicron variant, and we detected almost no neutralizing antibodies targeting non-Omicron virus strains," said Karin Stiasny and Judity Aberle of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria in a joint email.

BA.2-induced antibodies appeared to be particularly unlikely to defend against any other variant, they added. The study "emphasizes the importance of booster vaccinations for immune protection."

COVID-19 hospital death rates go up on weekends

The average number of global deaths from COVID-19 were 6% higher on weekends compared to weekdays throughout the pandemic, according to statistics reported to the World Health Organization between March 2020 and March 2022.

The research, scheduled for presentation this month at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, found that worldwide there were on average 449 more COVID deaths on weekends than weekdays (8,532 vs 8,083). The highest absolute increase in weekend COVID-19 deaths was in the United States (average 1,483 weekend deaths vs 1,220 weekday deaths), followed by Brazil (1,061 vs 823), the UK (239 vs 215) and Canada (56 v 48 deaths). Only Germany reported significantly fewer average deaths at weekends compared to weekdays. The increase in COVID-19 deaths on weekends may reflect reporting delays, but it also is likely due to hospital staffing levels and other organizational factors, the researchers said in a statement.

The data does not take into account patients' individual risk factors, local policies and public health interventions, which could have affected the outcomes. "Further studies, with detailed clinical data are needed to investigate the drivers of and causes for the risk of death on weekdays and weekends from COVID-19," the researchers said in the statement.

Click for a Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.
Expand  

Thanks IK!!  Sorry Doug B, work got in the way of my goofing off.

ETA:  The thing that stuck out to me was that the BA.2 variant isn't all that backwards compatible.  This leaves reasonable people to understand those former variants are still on the table should they breakout again somehow.

 

[belljr]

so the website i follow completely revamped their data and page and now i have no idea what to think

Everything went to "green" 

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Thanks IK!!  Sorry Doug B, work got in the way of my goofing off.

ETA:  The thing that stuck out to me was that the BA.2 variant isn't all that backwards compatible.  This leaves reasonable people to understand those former variants are still on the table should they breakout again somehow.

Sounds like the Moderna fall booster is going to be a revamped formula with some Omicron specifics added to the mix.

 

[The Commish]

Sounds like the Moderna fall booster is going to be a revamped formula with some Omicron specifics added to the mix.

When settled in, this is going to be treated very similar to the flu IMO....said that about 2 months into this fiasco after watching all the nonsense from people.  They will do cocktails of vaccine depending on variants they are seeing etc.  

 

[IvanKaramazov]

When settled in, this is going to be treated very similar to the flu IMO....said that about 2 months into this fiasco after watching all the nonsense from people.  They will do cocktails of vaccine depending on variants they are seeing etc.  

Agreed, and I'll be surprised if the annual covid shot isn't administered right alongside your annual flu shot.  Or we get a single shot for both seasonal viruses.  This seems like a pretty good outcome to me.  

 

[Scoresman]

I haven't been following the data on mask effectiveness vs. Omicron.  I've continued to wear N95s indoors where possible because I think I read that they were the only ones effective now and wearing a mask is really not a big deal to me.  Also have a wife who is immunocompromised.

Why so much relief about the airplane/airport mandate lifting?  Are masks so ineffective that the mandate just didn't make sense anymore? Or are people just tired of wearing masks? 

 

[Doug B]

The thing that stuck out to me was that the BA.2 variant isn't all that backwards compatible.  This leaves reasonable people to understand those former variants are still on the table should they breakout again somehow.

My understanding is that pretty much any strain previous to Delta is just pretty much gone in the U.S. Probably got some odd cases here and there ... but Delta and Omicron have outcompeted prior variants pretty decisively. Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 might end up sweeping out Delta before too long.

Anyway, thinking of the proposition above ... it might not matter much if Omicron antibodies don't help much against early-variant COVID infection. Was hard to tell by the article's wording, but the study seemed to be based on "neutralizing antibodies" which implies strictly humoral immunity -- which, with COVID, is known to wane relatively quickly anyway..

 

[PhillipPhoto]

I haven't been following the data on mask effectiveness vs. Omicron.  I've continued to wear N95s indoors where possible because I think I read that they were the only ones effective now and wearing a mask is really not a big deal to me.  Also have a wife who is immunocompromised.

Why so much relief about the airplane/airport mandate lifting?  Are masks so ineffective that the mandate just didn't make sense anymore? Or are people just tired of wearing masks? 

Well, when they bagger you to pull up your mask over your nose, and then 5 minutes later they hand you pretzels and soda and everyone takes their mask off at the same time anyway it doesn't take much thinking to figure out it's really not doing much good.  People are tired of it in that sort of way.

 

[Doug B]

Yes, we do.

Covid surveillance is obviously a new component of the system, but the current/trending and historical data is available here:  https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance

More Information about the NWSS system: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/surveillance/wastewater-surveillance/wastewater-surveillance.html#how-wastewater-surveillance-works
 


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If you look at the map there aren’t that many places that are doing samples. 

Circling back to this exchange from a few weeks ago, because I learned something new about local (New Orleans area) wastewater surveillance. Apparently, there is some degree of wastewater surveillance that's not making it into the CDC's data tracker.

Looking at the CDC's map in [icon]'s link, it might look like there is no wastewater surveillance in the New Orleans area at all. Apparently, however, the CDC has eyes on wastewater surveillance in places not indicated on that map. In the New Orleans area, for instance (wwltv.com 4/14/2022):


Quote



The Times Picayune | New Orleans Advocate reports the level of coronavirus found in two New Orleans wastewater sites rose nearly 700% over the last two weeks, reporting data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus levels in Louisiana are low, but this recent data has infectious disease experts a bit panicked after weeks of declining cases and loosening restrictions.

“We’re in a little bit of a fog right now, but certainly wastewater suggests SARS-CoV-2 is definitely here and it does seem to be – at best we can tell – increasing,” said Susan Hassig, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Tulane University. 

There has been a mild rise in cases over the last week. 604 COVID-19 cases were reported over the last week, up from 450 the previous week. There is also a belief that there are more cases going undetected due to the rise in use of at-home tests, which are not reported to public officials. There are currently a total of 63 people hospitalized in Louisiana due to COVID-19.

The rising levels of COVID nationwide and in Louisiana are predominantly driven by the rise of the BA.2 subvariant of omicron, estimated to be about 50% to 60% more infectious than the original omicron variant. It makes up 84% of COVID cases in the southwest region and 43% of cases in Louisiana as of April 2.

Wastewater in New Orleans — which reflects virus particles shed in saliva, urine and feces — has shown higher levels of coronavirus since the CDC started tracking it in mid-February. The increase has been reflected in samples taken at the end of March and has been steadily increasing through April 9, the most recent data available.

Now I want to check some other metro areas not shown on the CDC map to see if there's even more wastewater surveillance than we think. Anywhere in Florida? Atlanta area? Minneapolis-St. Paul? Philadelphia? Phoenix? Nashville? Etc.

The upshot? Wastewater surveillance in the U.S. is probably a lot more comprehensive than commonly thought.

 

[Doug B]

Now I want to check some other metro areas not shown on the CDC map to see if there's even more wastewater surveillance than we think. Anywhere in Florida? Atlanta area? Minneapolis-St. Paul? Philadelphia? Phoenix? Nashville? Etc.

The upshot? Wastewater surveillance in the U.S. is probably a lot more comprehensive than commonly thought.

You can export the CDC's raw wastewater data here. I have just done so with the most recent data set updated yesterday.

Right now, there is wastewater data being collected from 45 states plus DC. I see Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, Wyoming and North Dakota are not represented.

 

[nirad3]

I don't know that I agree that this was an issue for a judge to decide, but this mandate had long outlived its useful life and was on a trajectory to become another one of those dumb things that we do forever out of institutional inertia, like taking our shoes off every time we board a flight.  Glad it's gone.  

Get yourself TSA Pre-Check and this is a thing of the past.  I travel about once a month and this has been a Godsend.  No shoes off, no taking laptop/electronics out of your bag... just put stuff on the belt and let it go through and walk through the metal detector and voila! you're done.  Best $85 I've ever spent and a must-have if you travel for business on the regular.

People like me have been intentionally hanging onto the loosest, most light-weight, most comfortable cloth masks we can find specifically for the purpose of complying with the letter of FAA policies when we fly.  Those masks checked a regulatory box, but they were accomplishing nothing in terms of actual covid prevention.  Your wife is no less safe today in her N95 than she was 48 hours ago.

Seriously.  The mask type I've been wearing for two years has done me no good, I can almost guarantee it.

------

And on the news.... yahoo!  Traveling on Thursday/Friday and it will literally be like a breath of fresh air to finally travel again without a mask on. 

 

[Scoresman]

Get yourself TSA Pre-Check and this is a thing of the past.  I travel about once a month and this has been a Godsend.  No shoes off, no taking laptop/electronics out of your bag... just put stuff on the belt and let it go through and walk through the metal detector and voila! you're done.  Best $85 I've ever spent and a must-have if you travel for business on the regular.

Seriously.  The mask type I've been wearing for two years has done me no good, I can almost guarantee it.

------

And on the news.... yahoo!  Traveling on Thursday/Friday and it will literally be like a breath of fresh air to finally travel again without a mask on. 

Then why wouldn't you get a better mask?  

 

[The Commish]

My understanding is that pretty much any strain previous to Delta is just pretty much gone in the U.S. Probably got some odd cases here and there ... but Delta and Omicron have outcompeted prior variants pretty decisively. Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 might end up sweeping out Delta before too long.

Anyway, thinking of the proposition above ... it might not matter much if Omicron antibodies don't help much against early-variant COVID infection. Was hard to tell by the article's wording, but the study seemed to be based on "neutralizing antibodies" which implies strictly humoral immunity -- which, with COVID, is known to wane relatively quickly anyway..

I'm not all that worried about prior strands.  It's future strands that would concern me.  Remember, we though that Omicron might be our off ramp meaning it was a pretty weak strand compared to the others and getting it would be preferable to one of the others AND in getting it, it would help with future infections.  That's likely not the case.  I'd like to see the reasons why it's ineffective on prior strands.  That will likely hold true for future ones as well.  That's the bummer part.

 

[nirad3]

Then why wouldn't you get a better mask?  

Because the research I took the time to do pointed to masks being ineffective for those with beards; plus it seemed that only well-fitting N-95s were said to have any effectiveness.... and they were incredibly difficult to find at the time.  So I just continued to wear the ill-fitting cloth mask because I was told to.   

Was happy to get the vaccines when it was my turn, if you're wondering.  Just happen to think that mask efficiency was kinda just "grey area" type of stuff.  So I'm glad we've decided to forgo them in airports and on planes.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Why so much relief about the airplane/airport mandate lifting?  Are masks so ineffective that the mandate just didn't make sense anymore? Or are people just tired of wearing masks? 

tbh i think there was so much unrest and unruly behavior due to them on flights people including flight attendants preferred it be optional.

i travel almost every week. I’ll continue to wear my mask mostly because I’m immunocompromised.  But i will say air filtration on planes is very good so i think it’s a pretty low risk place to make them optional.  Plus the crazies are delaying flights due to their behavior which is getting really annoying. 

it would be nice though if people wore them if they are hacking up a lung or something.  

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Then why wouldn't you get a better mask?  

For me, the answer is that I'm up to date on my vaccinations and I'm no longer worried about getting covid.  I'm sure I'll eventually catch it, recover at home, and move on.  Wearing a mask doesn't accomplish anything worthwhile IMO.  

The nice thing about our new protocol is that people like me can drop the mask, and people who are a little more risk averse can just keep masking.  There's little justification for a one size fits all policy any more.

 

[Scoresman]

Because the research I took the time to do pointed to masks being ineffective for those with beards; plus it seemed that only well-fitting N-95s were said to have any effectiveness.... and they were incredibly difficult to find at the time.  So I just continued to wear the ill-fitting cloth mask because I was told to.   

Was happy to get the vaccines when it was my turn, if you're wondering.  Just happen to think that mask efficiency was kinda just "grey area" type of stuff.  So I'm glad we've decided to forgo them in airports and on planes.

I don't think it's binary in that it's either 100% effective or 100% ineffective.  I have a beard too and I'm pretty convinced I've been in a couple situations where my N95 prevented me from getting it from people I came into contact with.  

I'm not afraid of dying from COVID, but I am afraid of having to deal with long COVID and potential permanent taste loss.  Wearing a mask is so not a big deal to me compared to that.  

That said, I'm not necessarily in favor of keeping mandates.  I just wish the decision was based on science and not politics.  

 

[IvanKaramazov]

That said, I'm not necessarily in favor of keeping mandates.  I just wish the decision was based on science and not politics.  

Two things on this:

1) There really hasn't been any good scientific justification for mask mandates since vaccines became widely available.  The whole "my mask protects you and your mask protects me" thing was always a little dubious, but it really went out the window once some of us got vaccinated (I don't need you to protect me) and N95s became ubiquitous (you don't need me to protect you).  I'm still puzzled as to why that never clicked for so many people.

2) There's no such thing as politics-free policy-making.  Mask mandates always involved trading off a basic freedom (dressing the way you like) for a marginal increase in personal safety.  Scientists don't have any special training or wisdom to bring to bear on that issue.

 

[jobarules]

I haven't been following the data on mask effectiveness vs. Omicron.  I've continued to wear N95s indoors where possible because I think I read that they were the only ones effective now and wearing a mask is really not a big deal to me.  Also have a wife who is immunocompromised.

Why so much relief about the airplane/airport mandate lifting?  Are masks so ineffective that the mandate just didn't make sense anymore? Or are people just tired of wearing masks? 

Lol it's been 2 years of wearing masks

 

[Zegras11]

Got Covid last Friday.

home tested negative Friday AM, so thought cough and sore throat was a virus.  

Friday and Saturday were just brutal. About 40 major, violent coughing attacks. Headache and fog. bad, runny nose.

Sunday AM, same home test was very strong positive. Went to our primary doc Urgent care. Was test positive there also.

Prescribed Paxlovid.  It was amazing how fast and effective it was in minimizing coughing attacks to 2-3 minor ones last two days. I feel like 90% better.

Booster did its job and saved me a trip to the hospital. I had two PE's in 2009, and have been super safe, until last month when numbers were super low here. Likely caught it in Pendleton, OR, playing poker last week. We left Wed night.  

Stay safe. Watch the numbers in your area...

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Amy G Dala MD@AmyGDalaMD

People: aRe yoU goInG to mAsK fOreVeR

Me: well I still wear seatbelts & helmets, use sunscreen, get vaccinated, wash my hands, drink pasteurized milk, cook chicken before eating it, & don't drink water straight from the lake so

 

[Terminalxylem]

When settled in, this is going to be treated very similar to the flu IMO....said that about 2 months into this fiasco after watching all the nonsense from people.  They will do cocktails of vaccine depending on variants they are seeing etc.  

It’s a bit too early to tell. Influenza mutates in different ways than SARS-CoV-2, and is more prone to interspecies mixing of viral parts, which are major reasons for yearly vaccination. Once Covid is no longer present in non-pandemic quantities, the potential for mutation will also diminish.  Will be interesting to see where it equlibrates.

 

[PhillipPhoto]

Oooof.  

 

[Terminalxylem]

My understanding is that pretty much any strain previous to Delta is just pretty much gone in the U.S. Probably got some odd cases here and there ... but Delta and Omicron have outcompeted prior variants pretty decisively. Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 might end up sweeping out Delta before too long.

Anyway, thinking of the proposition above ... it might not matter much if Omicron antibodies don't help much against early-variant COVID infection. Was hard to tell by the article's wording, but the study seemed to be based on "neutralizing antibodies" which implies strictly humoral immunity -- which, with COVID, is known to wane relatively quickly anyway..

A big part of cellular immunity is activating memory B cells to produce antibodies. Thus, the lack of neutralizing antibodies still hamstrings overall immune response.

Also, I wouldn’t count on delta and other variants disappearing forever. Multiple species can and do coexist for other viruses, rearing their ugly heads when favored by selective pressure. Especially when you consider how different locales are at different points in their pandemic curve, and potential animal reservoirs. I bet future vaccines will be polyvalent (covering multiple strains) to account for this possibility.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Well, when they bagger you to pull up your mask over your nose, and then 5 minutes later they hand you pretzels and soda and everyone takes their mask off at the same time anyway it doesn't take much thinking to figure out it's really not doing much good.  People are tired of it in that sort of way.

Transmission takes a prolonged exposure to adequate amounts of virus. It’s not an all-or-none phenomenon, so some masking is likely better than none.

 

[AAABatteries]

You can export the CDC's raw wastewater data here. I have just done so with the most recent data set updated yesterday.

Right now, there is wastewater data being collected from 45 states plus DC. I see Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, Wyoming and North Dakota are not represented.

I think you have to have indoor plumbing for the wastewater data to be valuable.

 

[PhillipPhoto]

I think you have to have indoor plumbing for the wastewater data to be valuable.

Ha, kind of a backhanded dig but, all kinds of properties both rich and redneck on septic systems. 25% of all households.  

 

[PhillipPhoto]

Transmission takes a prolonged exposure to adequate amounts of virus. It’s not an all-or-none phenomenon, so some masking is likely better than none.

Likely sounds about right, as far as my comment about the messaging goes.  That just oozes confidence.  

 

[Terminalxylem]

Likely sounds about right, as far as my comment about the messaging goes.  That just oozes confidence.  

Great. So we agree that wearing masks, even if not all the time, is likely to reduce the risk of infection.

 

[PhillipPhoto]

Great. So we agree that wearing masks, even if not all the time, is likely to reduce the risk of infection.

Sure, so does shutting down the non-food isles in Walmart. Or going to restaurants,  but, eating in plastic tests. Science. Totally worth it. 

 

[leftcoastguy7]

Likely caught it in Pendleton, OR, playing poker last week. 
 

Sorry you had to go through that, but glad you are doing better.

I love live poker but have yet to try it maskless. Everything we know about Covid tells us poker is a horrible environment.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Sure, so does shutting down the non-food isles in Walmart. Or going to restaurants,  but, eating in plastic tests. Science. Totally worth it. 

I’m all for shutting down all isles in Wal-mart. 

 

[Scoresman]

Sure, so does shutting down the non-food isles in Walmart. Or going to restaurants,  but, eating in plastic tests. Science. Totally worth it. 

Except shutting down restaurants really sucks and really is something that can’t be shut down forever.  But wearing a proper mask? No big deal at all considering the value it provides in lowering transmission rates.  Just like sunscreen, seatbelts, etc. are all minor things that give massive benefits compared to their inconveniences. 
 

I know 5 year olds who complain less about wearing masks than a lot of adults. I just don’t get it. 

 

[parasaurolophus]

Well, when they bagger you to pull up your mask over your nose, and then 5 minutes later they hand you pretzels and soda and everyone takes their mask off at the same time anyway it doesn't take much thinking to figure out it's really not doing much good.  People are tired of it in that sort of way.

That's science changing, mid flight. 

My favorite pandemic theater bad policy moment was when I had to have surgery last month and they made me take off my N95 and made me put on a yellow surgical style mask that might as well have had arrows and text that said virus please enter here. 

I even had a brand new sealed one with me and they wouldn't let me wear it. 

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Cool.  Nobody is stopping you from wearing an N95 for the rest of your life.  If that's best for you, you should do that.  

I can't speak for everybody, but I just wanted to be left alone to make my own decisions.  I respect your right to do the same.

 

[PhillipPhoto]

Except shutting down restaurants really sucks and really is something that can’t be shut down forever.  But wearing a proper mask? No big deal at all considering the value it provides in lowering transmission rates.  Just like sunscreen, seatbelts, etc. are all minor things that give massive benefits compared to their inconveniences. 
 

I know 5 year olds who complain less about wearing masks than a lot of adults. I just don’t get it. 

It either matters or it doesnt.  If it really makes a difference wear it 100% of the time on a flight because if you let everyone take it off at the same time during snack time those of us with an ounce of common sence understand it's bad policy. Or at a minimum a good policy applied badly. That's what I meant about a lot of people being sick of it. Sick of the stupidity. And of course 5 year olds are more gullible.  

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

YLE with another timely post relative to our thread's line of discussion  

SARS-CoV-2 transmission on planes

Was thinking to myself as I saw the headline a couple days ago... I haven't worn a mask in months now, but there's zero chance I wouldn't be wearing a mask on a plane right now with cases increasing in multiple places across the country. 

 

[AAABatteries]

Cool.  Nobody is stopping you from wearing an N95 for the rest of your life.  If that's best for you, you should do that.  

I can't speak for everybody, but I just wanted to be left alone to make my own decisions.  I respect your right to do the same.

All along this has been a balancing act - is Covid deadly enough to force restrictions on others.  I know you were in favor of some of those restrictions early on but not now.  I agree but I think it’s fair for me to admit that I would reverse course if either a new strain becomes more deadly or we encounter a completely new virus.  

Assuming you agree, then we are just disagreeing on where Covid lies on the spectrum.  Meaning, I think the issue is more “how deadly is Covid” and less “should people be allowed to make their own decisions”.

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

so the website i follow completely revamped their data and page and now i have no idea what to think

Everything went to "green" 

I bet they switched it, as the CDC and most state agencies did a few weeks ago, from "Community Transmission" to "Community Levels." 

See the two maps about 1/4 of the way down the page on YLE's post yesterday for a comparison. We "went green" here a few weeks ago as well, despite the numbers not changing much from the day before. It literally changed overnight on the CDC's site. Boom. No more COVID!

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Cool.  Nobody is stopping you from wearing an N95 for the rest of your life.  If that's best for you, you should do that.  

I can't speak for everybody, but I just wanted to be left alone to make my own decisions.  I respect your right to do the same.

But you wear your seatbelt in the car and on the plane, right?  You don't smoke indoors or on a plane and appreciate that others don't as well, correct?

Wearing a mask on public transit until this is no longer considered a pandemic (or at least not in the middle of another surge here) should be an easy yes for a slight inconvenience.  

 

[Doug B]

Circling back to this exchange from a few weeks ago, because I learned something new about local (New Orleans area) wastewater surveillance. Apparently, there is some degree of wastewater surveillance that's not making it into the CDC's data tracker.

Looking back on the bolded, that's not correct. All the surveillance is making it into the CDC's current dataset -- it's just that the map of surveillance sites is not updated.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

But you wear your seatbelt in the car and on the plane, right?  

What business is it of yours whether I do either?

There are a grand total of three people in the world whose opinions I care about when it comes to stuff like this.  I'm married to one of those people, and the other two each share 50% of my DNA.  Everybody else is free to have an opinion, but their opinion is a matter of complete indifference to me.

 

[PhillipPhoto]

I deactivated the seatbelt alarm in my jeep when I swapped the seats out. 

 

[culdeus]

But you wear your seatbelt in the car and on the plane, right?  You don't smoke indoors or on a plane and appreciate that others don't as well, correct?

Wearing a mask on public transit until this is no longer considered a pandemic (or at least not in the middle of another surge here) should be an easy yes for a slight inconvenience.  

Those are not equal. The Vaccine was the equivalent to a seat belt on a plane and those other measures.  The goalpost moving needs to stop.  This has been over for a year+ now.  That a bunch of morons that didn't understand science ignored the vax bothers me none, no more than someone wrapping their skull around a tree not wearing a seatbelt.  

 

[Doug B]

I bet future [COVID] vaccines will be polyvalent (covering multiple strains) to account for this possibility.

No doubt about it.

What I'm hoping for in the near future is that the pipeline from new variant identification through development, trials, approval, and distribution gets WAY shorter. Analogous to the way flu vaccine manufacture has settled into an annual cycle so that late every summer, a new predictive flu vaccine hits the market.

 

[jobarules]

lol so her answer is yes