Coronavirus COVID-19 Thread

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - reports from around the world from today, Monday 22nd of February:

- World: 111,606,254 confirmed cases and 2,470,466 confirmed deaths.

- US: CDC says teachers could play an important role in COVID infections in schools following research in the Georgia area "An investigation involving about 2,600 students and 700 staff members of a Georgia school district’s elementary schools showed nine clusters of Covid-19 cases involving 13 educators and 32 students at six elementary schools" following on from research in Michigan which suggested schools had a lower infection rate than their surrounding areas.

- UK: First results from vaccination data suggest a "spectacular" effect on serious illness, however it is cautioned that there are still over 18,000 sick in hospitals, almost as high as in the first wave in March.

- UK: Roadmap out of Lockdown 3 released, in difference to previous easing is very gradual with many disclaimers indicating if cases raise targets will push back or be cancelled.

- Australia: The crowd at the Australian Open boo when a speech mentioned the vaccine rollout, met with criticism around the globe.

- Slovakia: Claims highest current global death rate (relative to population).

- WHO: Sets up compensation scheme for anyone in 92 poorer countries should they suffer serious vaccine side effects caused by the Covax scheme "By providing a no-fault lump-sum compensation in full and final settlement of any claims, the COVAX programme aims to significantly reduce the need for recourse to the law courts, a potentially lengthy and costly process."

- Brazil: COVID-19 claims 89 year old last male member of the indigenous Juma tribe, leaving just his 3 daughters. "...the last male from the Juma people, a living memory of ancestral wisdom and a survivor of an attempt to wipe out his kind. The three daughters he leaves behind are now the only ones left from a people who counted on between 12,000 and 15,000 members in the 18th century."

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Tuesday 23rd of February:

- World: 111,890,818 confirmed cases and 2,478,717 confirmed deaths.

- US: Passes 500,000 deaths.

- UK: 1.1 million face masks found to not meet safety/technical criteria and are withdrawn by NHS.

- UK: Health Minister attempts to rewrite history by claiming there had never been a PPE shortage in the UK, having forgotten about the Royal Air force transport planes they sent to turkey to pick up tonnes of masks and gowns only to have to withdraw the supplies as they were not up to spec.

- EU: Tells Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary and Sweden to lift boarder restrictions as it contravenes the blocs free movement agreement.

- Nigeria: Antibody testing suggests up to 4 million people in Lagos area may have already been infected - more than has been recorded for the whole of Africa.

- Lebanon: World Bank threatens to pull COVID funding as people skip the queue to be vaccinated.

- China: Lifts all lockdowns but retains some restrictions.

- Afghanistan: Begins vaccination program.

- Greece: Doctors in Athens protest and strike to highlight working conditions during the pandemic.

- WHO: Investigation into virus origins indicates China did little to investigate where it came from in the first months of the epidemic.

- Israel: To send "token amount" of surplus vaccines to other countries.

 

[stockish]

So it may finally have happened, after a year of taking all precautions at work and home with daily sanitizing of vehicles and always using Clorox wipes or other sprays to clean anything I used or worked on, I may have gotten down with the sickness.

Rapid test said negative but also took a lab test and should hear back in a couple days. A few people at work I am close to got it and had symptoms on the day we all happen to be present on shift, talk about wrong place at the wrong time!

To celebrate this achievement in not feeling 100%, I give to you Richard Cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!

View: https://youtu.be/SB466XF6iGQ

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

So it may finally have happened, after a year of taking all precautions at work and home with daily sanitizing of vehicles and always using Clorox wipes or other sprays to clean anything I used or worked on, I may have gotten down with the sickness.

Rapid test said negative but also took a lab test and should hear back in a couple days. A few people at work I am close to got it and had symptoms on the day we all happen to be present on shift, talk about wrong place at the wrong time!

To celebrate this achievement in not feeling 100%, I give to you Richard Cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!

View: https://youtu.be/SB466XF6iGQ

Thanks for sharing, what a strange limbo to be in - get better soon!

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Wednesday 24th of February:

- World: 112,401,304 confirmed cases and 2,492,105 confirmed deaths.

- World: Passes 112 million cases, we passed 111 on Sunday meaning another million in the last 3/4 days.

- World: Covax vaccine sharing program delivers first doses.

- US: To distribute 25 million masks across the country.

- UK: Persons on the Learning Disability Register prioritized for vaccination after a Radio presenter was offered treatment before their sister, who then contracted the virus and had to be admitted to hospital.

- EU: Commission President says the Bloc is catching up with the UK's vaccination drive.

- Hungary: Becomes first EU country to administer Chinese Sinopharm vaccine.

- Vaccines: Report suggests Johnson and Johnson single dose vaccine has between 66% to 85% efficiency at preventing moderate to severe COVID infection.

- Denmark: Health Minister indicates people infected with UK variant have a 60% higher chance of being admitted to hospital.

- Senegal: Begins vaccination program.

- Gwyneth Paltrow: Urged by the Medical Director of the NHS to stop spreading misinformation after she suggested Long COVID condition could be treated with holistic therapies such as fasting, herbal smoothies and infra-red saunas. "n the last few days I see Gwyneth Paltrow is unfortunately suffering from the effects of Covid. We wish her well, but some of the solutions she’s recommending are really not the solutions we’d recommend in the NHS."

 

[Jolly_Green_Giant]

Any new information on the effectiveness of the vaccine yet? Can people still contract the virus, carry the virus with it? How important is the booster shot? Stuff like that. I read about the rollouts but havent looked hard enough to find the info id like to see.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Any new information on the effectiveness of the vaccine yet? Can people still contract the virus, carry the virus with it? How important is the booster shot? Stuff like that. I read about the rollouts but havent looked hard enough to find the info id like to see.

Investigations are still ongoing and it depends on which vaccine, however for the top tier 2dose RNA vaccines it looks like high 70's% effectiveness with one shot and 95% with both, and Israel reports drops in transmission so it looks like if people are coming into contact with wild virus, the vaccines has trained their immune systems to kill it dead rather than manage the symptoms - Israel as far as I can work out took a deal with Pfizer to use their vaccine in return for test data like this.

The above is just what I picked up and can remember - there are a few news articles from a few days ago which have early info and data, here's one from off of the UK but it's early days, still a lot of and "suggests" and "indicates" but is a good report of the lay of the land right now:

Covid vaccines do lead to significant fall in transmission, data suggests

The above link is from MSN - remeber MSN? Old Skool!

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Thursday 25th of February.

- World: 112,716,833 confirmed cases and 2,500,770 confirmed deaths.

- World: Passes two and a half million deaths.

- US: California passes 50,000 deaths.

- US: Regulator finds Johnson and Johnson vaccine safe and effective.

- Bahrain: First country to give Johnson and Johnson vaccine approval.

- UK: Threat level lowers as risk of hospitals being overwhelmed falls, Level 5 falls to Level 4. Restrictions remain in place as alert level 5 means there is real risk of system collapse. Level 4 still recognizes that the infection is active and out and about in the community.

- UK: Rail services warn travelers to get used to fewer trains as working-from-home expected to continue and permanently reduce demand.

- EU: Following on from high profile critasism of AstraZeneca from the European Union Commissioner, newspapers find 4 out of 5 Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines not yet used in Europe: "Using data extracted from the European Centre for Disease Prevention Control (ECDC) and other official sources, it is estimated that 4,849,752 of the 6,134,707 doses distributed among the 27 member states have not yet been administered." The bad publicity earlier in the year appears to have shot the Bloc in the foot and hampered their countries ability to get citizens to accept the medication, with the leader of Germany saying “There is … currently an acceptance problem with the AstraZeneca vaccine, AstraZeneca is a reliable vaccine, effective and safe, approved by the European Medicines Agency and recommended in Germany up to the age of 65 years. All the authorities tell us that this vaccine can be trusted. As long as vaccines are as scarce as they are now, you cannot choose what to vaccinate with.”

- Hungary: Prime Minister indicates the country is “facing the hardest two weeks since the start of the pandemic”

- Israel: Data indicates Pfizer vaccine effective in all ages.

- Israel: Introduces a 3 day curfew to prevent groups meeting for religious festival “We can be happy, we can dress up, but we must observe the rules.”

- Ukraine: Begins vaccine program.

- China: Approves two more locally produced vaccines bringing the total available to 4.

- China: “China has never required US diplomatic staff stationed in China conduct anal swab tests.”

 

[Jolly_Green_Giant]

Investigations are still ongoing and it depends on which vaccine, however for the top tier 2dose RNA vaccines it looks like high 70's% effectiveness with one shot and 95% with both, and Israel reports drops in transmission so it looks like if people are coming into contact with wild virus, the vaccines has trained their immune systems to kill it dead rather than manage the symptoms - Israel as far as I can work out took a deal with Pfizer to use their vaccine in return for test data like this.

The above is just what I picked up and can remember - there are a few news articles from a few days ago which have early info and data, here's one from off of the UK but it's early days, still a lot of and "suggests" and "indicates" but is a good report of the lay of the land right now:

Covid vaccines do lead to significant fall in transmission, data suggests

The above link is from MSN - remeber MSN? Old Skool!

Thank you very much Sir. Ill forgive the MSN links since its you!

I haven't gotten mine yet, I'm still waiting for my Aunt to get hers. She's on some sort of list with her medical group to go and get one, but still hasnt gotten a call back as far as I know. I need to get it, and will. I need to get my flu shot also. I think I did read somewhere that you cant get both shots too close together, so ill ask about that when I get either one.


Anyways, keep up the outstanding work Mr. BobFace. The people of TEST appreciate your hard work and dedication to the mission.

I really do love that you're in here every day to give us updates, so thank you.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Thank you very much Sir. Ill forgive the MSN links since its you!

I haven't gotten mine yet, I'm still waiting for my Aunt to get hers. She's on some sort of list with her medical group to go and get one, but still hasnt gotten a call back as far as I know. I need to get it, and will. I need to get my flu shot also. I think I did read somewhere that you cant get both shots too close together, so ill ask about that when I get either one.


Anyways, keep up the outstanding work Mr. BobFace. The people of TEST appreciate your hard work and dedication to the mission.

I really do love that you're in here every day to give us updates, so thank you.

Good to hear your close to being able to get one, and no problem on the Catharsis Corner, I'm only repeating what I'm seeing so all Glory to the journalists, if they didn't report it I wouldn't be able to parrot it

 

[Vavrik]

Anyways, keep up the outstanding work Mr. BobFace. The people of TEST appreciate your hard work and dedication to the mission.

I really do love that you're in here every day to give us updates, so thank you.

You've hit the nail on the head. For me his updates have been a bit of a godsend. In my job we can get buried in the statistics and not see the forest for the trees. This is one of the parts of the forest I get to look at every now and then, but NaffNaff's updates keep me up to date.

Good to hear your close to being able to get one, and no problem on the Catharsis Corner, I'm only repeating what I'm seeing so all Glory to the journalists, if they didn't report it I wouldn't be able to parrot it

Shush, NaffNaff. You're a saint.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

You've hit the nail on the head. For me his updates have been a bit of a godsend. In my job we can get buried in the statistics and not see the forest for the trees. This is one of the parts of the forest I get to look at every now and then, but NaffNaff's updates keep me up to date.


Shush, NaffNaff. You're a saint.

You're both very kind, just don't rely on me for anything close to accuracy I am part of TEST for a reason

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Friday 26th of February:

- World: 113,207,169 confirmed cases and 2,511,767 confirmed deaths.

- World: Passes 113 million cases, we passed 112 million on Wednesday meaning another million cases in the last 2/3 days.

- US: Head of CDC warns the encouraging falling numbers of infections may be stalling and leveling off with infections picking back up, and that restrictions should remain in place. Reports suggest more infectious variants may be the cause.

- UK: Officials indicate although the vaccination progress is excellent if we let our guard down now we'll wreck the progress made so far, and to continue following restrictions - with part of the message aimed at those who've also had a vaccine. “My key message tonight is, 'look this is going very well but there are some worry signs that people are relaxing, taking their foot of the brake at the exact wrong time'” ... “Do not wreck this now - it is too early to relax. Just continue to maintain discipline and hang on for a few months.”

- Philippines: Signs an immunity law absolving vaccine makers from responsibility if shots give people adverse reactions.

- Ivory Coast: Receives first shipment of Vaccines from Covax, the second country to do so.

- Germany: Investigation launched into accusations of bribe taking for government face mask contracts.

- Germany: Berlin school children given the option to repeat the school year.

- Finland: To close recreational facilities in city of Helsinki and surrounding area to combat rise in cases.

- Czech Republic: Reports big surge in new cases.

 

[Montoya]

- Israel: Data indicates Pfizer vaccine effective in all ages.

- Israel: Introduces a 3 day curfew to prevent groups meeting for religious festival “We can be happy, we can dress up, but we must observe the rules.”

This is interesting to me, even with the massive success of getting the population inoculated, they are still not going back to 100% pre-COVID normalcy.

If Citizencon is planned for August, what can we expect to see happen?

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

This is interesting to me, even with the massive success of getting the population inoculated, they are still not going back to 100% pre-COVID normalcy.

If Citizencon is planned for August, what can we expect to see happen?

Only 50% of the population of Israel have had at least one dose, only 35% have had both doses.

They are a long way from having treated the whole population yet, estimates are between 70% and 90% needing immunity to have "herd" immunity where infections have a hard time hitting vulnerable people.

 

[SoloFlyer]

This is interesting to me, even with the massive success of getting the population inoculated, they are still not going back to 100% pre-COVID normalcy.

If Citizencon is planned for August, what can we expect to see happen?

Wait, if they do Citizencon this year it is only going to be for @August? That's not fair!

 

[Radegast74]

This is interesting to me, even with the massive success of getting the population inoculated, they are still not going back to 100% pre-COVID normalcy.

If Citizencon is planned for August, what can we expect to see happen?

I believe the issue in Israel is that some highly Orthodox groups are not getting the vaccine and also are not following any precautions (like masks, social distancing).

There was an article in CNN a couple days ago that indicated about 1/3 of the US military is refusing the vaccine (because it is being given under an "emergency use authorization" and hasn't been officially approved, they cannot force people to take it...yet).

One-third of military service members have opted not to receive Covid-19 vaccinations | CNN Politics

One-third of US military service members eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccination have opted not to, defense officials said Monday as they announced the Department of Defense is nearing 1 million vaccinations delivered.

www.cnn.com

I'm collecting and collating our [REDACTED] system data, and it appears that again, about a third of our staff are refusing the vaccine. This is troubling, as I don't see how we can get back to "normal" until about 80% - 90% or so are vaccinated. On top of that, large numbers of unvaccinated people will help create and spread these variants we keep hearing about.

 

[Vavrik]

Low acceptance of vaccines is normal. In the US, even the flu vaccine is only ~40-45% accepted. But the acceptance rate isn't all that much different elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately most of these people don't realize COVID is not going to care what they believe.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

I saw a couple days ago the Oxford teams are looking at making the vaccinations available in other application methods such as pill or nasal spray, which should help with people scared of needles or microchip implantation...

Oxford team looking at possibility of creating vaccine pill, MPs told

Covid-19 vaccines may be given in pill form in the future, a University of Oxford scientist has said.

www.standard.co.uk

As for the rest declining, I suspect people will always find a way of convincing themselves something isn't worth it, and when enough people do take the medication and levels drop away to almost nothing, the response will not be "oh, the vaccine did work after all" but "See, it went away on its own." - Then again, if you have 100% take up, there will always be a risk unforeseen complications cause permanent issues. It may be why kids are not being included in most places plans vaccination plans right now...?

I like to think side effects can go both ways - negative and positive. If they accept the fear of negative side effects with no proof, they'll have to accept the hope of potential positive side effects with no proof too... If it turns out one of the vaccines stops the aging process and everyone who took that medication is now immortal, the anti-vaxxers are going to look pretty damned stupid. And old. They'll look really old. For a while.

Lets start thinking up some possible made up positive side effects of COVID vaccines and see if that can get some of the Nope Brigade to jump on the waggon:

Oxford/AstraZeneca: Heightened ability to learn quickly and apply lessons learned long term / Develop a great ability to mimic accents.
Pfizer/BioNTech: Faster all round cognitive abilities enabling faster thinking / Become really good at cooking.
Sinovac: Prefect recall of all personally experienced events / Able to predict the weather to a 90% accuracy.
Moderna: Ability to understand and describe any concept in a way anyone will understand / Become really tidy around the house, but it's like really quick and effortless.
Novavax: Only need two hours sleep a day giving you back 5 hours a day every day to do whatever you want in / Get great timing, especially when it comes to punchlines when telling jokes.
SputnikV: Become really empathic to the point people think your psychic / Pour the perfect bath temperature every time.
Johnson and Johnsen/Jassen: Better vision in low light to the point you don't need to switch on the lights in the evening anymore / Never forget anyone's Birthday/Anniversary/Special occasion again to the point it seems like its instinct.

 

[Fastball]

I received the first dose of Pfizer vaccine yesterday. The only reaction I have is soreness around the injection site. It goes away with movement. Through my job we receive weekly covid tests (mandatory for all employees and contractors). I'm looking forward to being exempt from the weekly testing requirement come mid-March, which oddly enough will be the anniversary of my last day in Canada as i left the country on the day the border was closed. Former US expat working in the oil sands...