Emergence of a Deadly Coronavirus

Post Reply New Topic

Coronavirus has infected 1.7 million New Yorkers, study estimates

An estimated 1.7 million New Yorkers have had COVID-19 — six times the official count, a study released Tuesday suggests. Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai also found the coronavirus was circulating through the five boroughs “long before” the first recorded case, the study published in Nature states.

The researchers used more than 10,000 plasma samples taken from the beginning of February to July during routine health visits and COVID-19 hospitalizations to reach their conclusion.

I never lost my sense of taste/smell.

I had slight fever, chills, fatigue, "wet" pins-and-needles sensations. Basically, I felt like a mild case of the flu to me. It lasted 3 weeks, though.

Some bad news from Denmark:

Denmark plans to cull up to 17 million mink to stop mutated coronavirus

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/05/euro ... index.html

What it says... We're even bringing in the military to assist in the culling.

Antibodies are not very efficient at protecting against this mutated strain, so those who have already recovered could get re-infected by the new strain.

For the same reason the COVID vaccines currently under development might not be able to protect against it. If it spreads abroad, it could undermine worldwide efforts to create a functional vaccine.

Canada quietly updates COVID-19 guidelines on risk of airborne spread

Canada has quietly revised its guidelines on how COVID-19 spreads to include the risk of aerosol transmission, weeks after other countries and international health organizations acknowledged the airborne threat of the coronavirus. "This is pretty major," said Linsey Marr, one of the top aerosol scientists in the world and an expert on the airborne transmission of viruses at Virginia Tech. "The big difference now is that ventilation is important — distancing alone is not enough."

The update to PHAC's guidelines came after Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam recommended the use of three-layer non-medical masks Tuesday to prevent the spread of COVID-19 ahead of winter weather that could bring more people together indoors. "If we were only concerned about large droplets, then pretty much almost any piece of single layer of fabric would work," she said. "But because we are concerned about aerosols, then we do need to think about the quality and fit of our masks and we know that having multiple layers improves the filtering performance of masks."

Studies of superspreading events, such as a choir practice in Washington state, a call centre in South Korea and a restaurant in China, have supported the conclusion that some degree of transmission is occurring through aerosols. Virus particles were also found in the air at a nursing home outbreak in May in Montreal, where a faulty ventilation system may have been a source of transmission that infected 226 residents and 148 employees. An outbreak at a spin studio in Hamilton, Ont., saw at least 85 people infected and prompted the city to announce new, enhanced guidelines for gyms and fitness centres including mandatory masking. "The gym followed all the guidelines: they had distancing, they did hygiene, they had people wearing masks before and after," Marr said, "but if it were just all large droplets, then the distancing and hygiene would be sufficient — but obviously, it wasn't."

The US just reported more than 100,000 new Covid-19 infections, the most cases in a single day since pandemic's start

Dr. Scott Gottlieb says actual number of new daily U.S. Covid cases is ‘at least half a million’

Right now, 8:15, Friday night; I just got back from walking my dog. Walked past 2 people standing on the sidewalk smoking.
Of course, you cannot wear masks when smoking cigarettes.
The reason they were smoking outside is because smoking is not allowed in the B&B they were in front of.
So, they could be sharing/spreading any respiratory illness from whatever state they are from to anyone here, or picking up something from a passer-by, and taking it to their home state.
The Health Department and the officials are doing their best, but the public HAS to take this seriously!!

COVID: Sweden's Experiment Didn't Work, Belgium Is A Basket Case, And U.S. Isn't As Bad As We Think

Early in the COVID pandemic, most countries, particularly those in Europe, chose harsh lockdowns to get the coronavirus under control, and they were largely successful. But not all of them. Sweden was the notable exception that implemented a different strategy.

Sweden's idea was, with the exception of a few enforced restrictions, to allow life to go on mostly as normal and to impose only voluntary restrictions. So while European countries were furiously working to quash new infections, Sweden took a more laissez-faire approach. Did it work? There are a couple of ways to answer that question. First, we can compare the second wave in Sweden to the second wave in other countries. Second, we can compare the infections in Sweden to those of its Nordic neighbors, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. By both measures, Sweden's experiment didn't work so well.

But Sweden is a blip on the radar compared to other European countries. Belgium is an absolute basket case, with the worst infection rate on the continent. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Government incompetence appears to play a role. Countries that once had the virus under control, like France, Italy, and the UK, have now completely lost control.



The U.S. (magenta line) clearly had a very bad summer, even worse than Sweden's. But once autumn came, new viral infections in several European countries soared way past those in the United States. In terms of total COVID deaths per 100,000 people, the U.S. isn't doing wonderfully, but it's also not unusual when compared to European countries.

Coronavirus antibodies could last 6 months or more

After months of uncertain speculation, researchers have reported their strongest evidence yet that patients recovered from the coronavirus have a stronger, faster immune response if they’re exposed a second time.

The Rockefeller study included 87 patients with COVID-19, who were tested for antibodies just after one month and again at around six months, by which time their defenses had fallen to only about 20% compared to patients’ peak levels. However, researchers are less concerned with the overall concentration of leftover antibodies because they showed to be especially fortified to combat the disease a second time around.

Scientists call this the immune system’s “memory,” supported by its T- and B-cell anti-viral militias. The two immune cell types work together in their efforts to produce antibodies in the blood, then suppress and kill SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. More specifically, T-cells lead the attack against the virus directly by annihilating infected cells, while B-cells analyze the virus in order to produce antibodies, which gather and trap invaders. Finally, macrophages, yet another critical immune cell, would then come to clean up the mess.

At the same time, the U.K. Coronavirus Immunology Consortium recently posted an immune study of its own on BioRxiv. Its study of 100 people who previously tested positive for the coronavirus showed “robust T-cell responses” six months out. “T-cell responses were present in all individuals at six months after SARS-CoV-2 infection,” read a report on the consortium’s website. “A robust cellular memory against the virus persists for at least six months.”

Why do we have to have threats like this that things won’t go as planned?

I guess the crowds in NY celebrating the election result aren't helping with spreading



But I can understand the sentiment.

Here, the long-predicted collapse of the healthcare system is happening.
40% excess death rate is reported - 40% more people are dying than normally, country-wide.
Some are covid. Others are various conditions that couldn't be treated because of hospitals overload.

We had lockdowns in spring, no excess deaths back then. Relatively normal summer. And now, back-to-school, back-to-work, new infections skyrocket and it's happening - people who could have lived, die.

Need Permission to Leave Your Home

In Greece, you need permission to leave your home. Under a second nationwide coronavirus lockdown in Greece, people will need to text authorities if they want to leave their homes. People will only be allowed to leave their homes for work, physical exercise or medical reasons, and only after sending a text message to authorities. In the texts to the five-digit number, people will have to provide their name, address and the reason why they need to leave their home. When people venture out, they will be required to carry identification and a form detailing their reason for leaving home if they aren't able to text.



Source: Coronavirus lockdown in Greece requires people to text authorities before leaving home

Well I guess I do not need permission to leave my home. We are not in lockdown at least not yet. So today I went to town, swam 20 lapse at the YMCA, ate (outside) at a fine dining restaurant. The weather was warm 75 deg F. Then I went to the theater and watched a movie.

It was a strange film. I might use the word demented. They placed a non-verbal autistic boy in the middle of a scary monster movie. A good way of producing a meltdown in a young child. The film was called "Come Play". Don't see it.

Up and about.
Walking in the shadow of death.
Just me and my N95.

^^ A good reminder that this is worldwide when it feels like it's only your own government imposing lockdowns.