Coronavirus COVID-19 Thread

[NaffNaffBobFace]

...missing his own widely announced Freedom Day on July 19th... so he'll be out just in time to see the initial spike in cases if one happens...

I'm guessing it's going to look a bit like this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCdRFMp8Xwo

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Monday 19th of July:

- World: 190,600,596 confirmed cases and 4,092,565 confirmed deaths.

- World: UN report advises global job losses effected women the hardest.

- World: Stock markets around the world slide as concerns grow on rising cases around the globe and the potential for recovery to be stifled.

- UK: Almost all legal restrictions removed in England, country now operating on guidance rather than obligation.

- UK: Clubs reopened at one minute past midnight, with scenes described to have been like New Years Eve.

- UK: In face of "Pingdemic" of millions of people having to isolate having been in close contact with confirmed cases, Government draws up new rules to exempt close contacts of confirmed COVID sick from having to self isolate replacing it with daily testing if they have critical job roles, such as those in public transport and health care.

- UK: Breaking news from the UK's top Pandemic scientist, and it 'aint great: "In terms of the number of people in hospital who’ve been double vaccinated, we know it’s around 60% of the people being admitted to hospital with Covid."

- US: Issues travel warning to citizens not to go to the UK.

- US: Cases are now confirmed to be climbing in every one of its 50 states.

- US: Los Angeles reintroduces public face masks indoors as cases climb.

- France: Holocaust survivor responds to anti-vax protestors who compared their omission from lockdown relaxation because they didn't have a vaccine to Nazi extermination of Jews in the 1940's: “You can’t imagine how much that upset me. This comparison is hateful. We must all rise up against this ignominy. I wore the star, I know what that is, I still have it in my flesh, it is everyone’s duty to not allow this outrageous, antisemitic, racist wave to pass over us.”

- Indonesia: Sees record high new daily deaths.

- Bangladesh: Sees record high new daily deaths.

- Thailand: Sees record high new daily cases.

- Isle Of Man: Sees record high new daily cases.

- Brazil: Approves booster-shot trials of AstraZeneca vaccine.

- Europe: Medicines regulator to investigate immunosuppressant drug Kineret for use in patients with COVID complication pneumonia at risk of respiratory failure due to its blocking ability of a chemical which leads to lung swelling and damage.

- Iran: New lockdown on capital city as cases spike.

- Australia: Victoria lockdown to continue after 5 day circuit-breaker failed to bring Delta variant cases under control.

- Australia: To deport Universal Contrarian Katie Hopkins who was due to take part in a VIP series of Big Brother following her public outbursts from quarantine hotel that the pandemic was a hoax and that she planned to escape or otherwise tamper with the mandated quarantine stay. Many in the UK request she spend a few weeks in prison prior to being returned to the country.

 

[Bambooza]

I'm guessing it's going to look a bit like this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCdRFMp8Xwo

reminds me of this.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWP41MXLMGY

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Tuesday 20th of July:

- World: 191,099,159 confirmed cases and 4,099,677 confirmed deaths.

- India: Data reveals 4 million deaths over average in the country - The official death toll stands at 414,000.

- France: Virus cases grow 150% in one week at the hands of Delta. "...we’ve never seen that, neither with Covid [the original form], nor the British variant, nor the South African or the Brazilian one.”

- US: Delta now accounts for 80% of new cases. It is now the dominant variant in the US.

- UK: Almost 1 quarter of all school children now out of school due to Pandemic related reasons such as self isolation.

- UK: Ex-senior aide Dominic Cummings (who drove to Durham while infected with another infected person in the height of first lockdown) reveals more nuggets about time in the group of officials battling COVID-19 in the UK, including that the Prime Minister thought it was only killing the over 80's saying "get covid live longer" as he thought it was only people who had lived over the average life expectancy in the UK who were being killed by it (ignoring the fact that even if that were true, which it isn't, the elderly built the country he's now in charge of - insolence in the extreme) and wasnt willing to sacrifice the economy for them, that he didn't believe the National Health Service could be overwealmed by cases, and that he resisted every single lockdown and considered it a mistake to have allowed the first one as it set a president he didn't personally want to take or follow. Astounding claims which if true... well, who knows. Probably nothing. "Let the bodies pile high" and all that, the Prime Ministers tailor surname must be Teflon.

- UK: Business secretary says in interview it's personal choice whether you self isolate if you get pinged by the Track and Trace app because it's just advisory and it's not a legal requirement (which is correct, it's not).

- UK: Government reacts urgently to say no that's not the case you must self isolate if you get pinged as a close contact of someone who tested positive, but rightly point out further to that if you are called directly by the track and trace service and spoken to you are legally required to self isolate, BUT:

- UK: Government opens self isolation exemption scheme to submission by private businesses to keep economy moving...

- Libya: UN advises it is highly alarmed at the sudden spread of COVID in the country saying there has been "a 270% increase in cases in the west, 480% in the south and 50% in the east of the country".

- Iran: Sees record high new daily cases.

- Vietnam: Nikes key trainer (sneaker?) manufacturing factory hit by staff shortages due to COVID, threatening supply.

- Mexico: Authorities find fake doses of remdesivir on sale online and in a private hospital near the US boarder.

- Bhutan: Having given out first doses to its population of 770,000 in just two weeks, moves on to second dose stage.

- Australia: Police arrest man who escaped from quarantine hotel by tying together bed sheets and descending 4 stories.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Wednesday 21st of July:

- World: 191,687,762 confirmed cases and 4,122,219 confirmed deaths.

- US: Sees largest Life Expectancy fall since World War 2 declining by 1.5 years.

- US: Delta variant climbs, now accounting for 83% of new cases.

- US: Announces: “We face a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and the only way to stop it is to expand vaccination,”

- India: Records over 45,000 cases and 4,300 deaths due to Black Fungus infection. It appears to have taken advantage of COVID weakening victims, going from extremely rare to not so rare.

- Australia: Half the country's population, 13 million people, now in lockdown.

- Italy: 5 fold increase of cases in Rome linked to Euro 2020 celebrations.

- Vaccines: Pfizer/Biontech to start making vaccines in South Africa.

- Tunisia: Military to take on the countries COVID response following the sacking of the Health Minister.

- Thailand: Sees record high new daily cases.

- Algeria: Stares down the barrel of an oxygen shortage as cases climb.

- Uganda: 800 people conned in fake vaccine scam.

- UK: British Petroleum has to close some filling stations following staff shortages due to 'Pingdemic' as other shops and services closes or suspended due to staff self isolating issues.

- UK: Leader of the main opposition political party self isolates after their child tests positive for COVID-19.

- UK: Government unveils yet another three part slogan to coax the citizenry into doing what is wanted: "Keep life moving". Critics point out the inappropriate vagueness of the phrase as the 150,000+ people who have died and the 4 million+ people suffering from Long Covid are finding it very difficult to be alive or indeed move at the current point in time.

 

[Bambooza]

- US: Sees largest Life Expectancy fall since World War 2 declining by 1.5 years.

- US: Delta variant climbs, now accounting for 83% of new cases.

- US: Announces: “We face a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and the only way to stop it is to expand vaccination,”

Not sure why we are stressing so much over the unvaccinated. While they do pose a slight risk to the vaccinated the studies continue to show it's very small and so they are really only harming themselves and those who follow their philosophy.

 

[Radegast74]

Not sure why we are stressing so much over the unvaccinated. While they do pose a slight risk to the vaccinated the studies continue to show it's very small and so they are really only harming themselves and those who follow their philosophy.

The answer is, by way of metaphor, is "a rising tide lifts all boats." If we can get everybody on board with getting vaccinated, we an end the mutations that keep cropping up that keep making this virus more virulant and contagious. The mutations definitely impact the vaccinated. If we could get *everybody* vaccinated as rapidly as possible, mutations would not get a chance to take root, and the virus would really be just trivial to us.

Don't forget there is always going to be a segment of the population (up to 5%) that can't get vaccinated...those with suppressed immune syndromes, under going treatments that suppress the immune system, *infants*, etc.

In a nutshell, people not getting vaccinated have a negative impact on us all, and not just themselves.

Philosophically, as a society, we also should be trying to help those who are making decisions based on short-sightedness or ignorance (or due to the mendacious statements of politicians or media figures trying to further their own agendas), but that quickly gets us into a political discussion. The above reasons are good enough to keep addressing "vaccine hesitancy."

 

[Bambooza]

The answer is, by way of metaphor, is "a rising tide lifts all boats." If we can get everybody on board with getting vaccinated, we an end the mutations that keep cropping up that keep making this virus more virulant and contagious. The mutations definitely impact the vaccinated. If we could get *everybody* vaccinated as rapidly as possible, mutations would not get a chance to take root, and the virus would really be just trivial to us.

Mutations even in a vaccinated population are possible as the vaccine itself is not 100%. But even outside of that the virus is zoonotic thus any hope of ending the virus mutations or removing this strain from the planet is impossible. In fact, is not the virus mutations within a species that is generally problematic. Virus mutations within a species generally lead to the virus being more infectious but less lethal, it's when it jumps species that viruses typically pick up new characteristics that increase their lethality. We really have to look no further in the virus subfamily to see SARS-CoV-1 first identified in 2003 and MERSr-C0V first identified in 2012. Both of which are believed to have a natural reservoir in bats. And given how many positive cases have come back from pets and zoo animals being infected that zoos are starting to vaccinate their animals.

So no your argument does not hold up to any sort of scrutiny. While immunization does help to reduce the chances of a severe antibody reaction to the virus, those who got covid and recovered also have an immunity to the virus. The other aspect is that the virus spread will lead it to be very much like the common cold in that it will come and go in seasonal waves and like Influenza will lead to the deaths of thousands yearly.

Don't forget there is always going to be a segment of the population (up to 5%) that can't get vaccinated...those with suppressed immune syndromes, under going treatments that suppress the immune system, *infants*, etc.

There is indeed a segment of the population that can't get vaccinated for this or any other of the many diseases out there and so have had to modify their activities accordingly even before covid.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

those who got covid and recovered also have an immunity to the virus

Which varient?

It has been observed people who had one varient, for example Alpha, are now catching Delta which suggests you'd need to catch multiple if not all variants to have a broad specrum immunity - last one I heared about was Lambada which might mean you need to catch it 12 times to get the same wide spectrum coverage as a vaccine can give you. You are correct vaccines are not 100% which is why we must partake of mask wearing and social distancing while the embers of the pandemic still glow, but even when they are not totally effective against a certain variant they are shown to be partially effective while still keeping a lid on the others, and they can be modified to complete their coverage such as is happening with the AZ and Beta varient right now.

And while we're talking about it, how long does naturally aquired immunity last? It isn't infinate, people have been reinfected by the same varient within months of recovering from a first infection... With a vaccine when it becomes apparent to science that immunity is wearing off, a booster can be applied and immunity reinforced especially if the virus has mutated in that time and side-stepped the previous naturally aquired immunity, hence the 'Flu vaccine drive every year... For naturally aquired COVID, you just have to wait until you catch it again I assume?

And what of catching COVID naturally? We have heared headlines about rare side effects of vaccines, but "rare" is the crux of that sentence and once side efects are know they can be monitored for. The same number of people are still getting blood clotting from the AZ and J&J vaccines, but now we know about it the number of people dying from it has become minimal because it is survivable if detected and treated which is happening right now - whereas with COVID-19 there is a 3% chance of dying which climbs to 10% and more as you get older until the point if it's prevelent in the area it's the main cause for deaths over a certain age group in the unvaccinated... but not in the vaccinated. The vaccines have been shown to segnificantly reduce the number of prople dying from this virus, even in the elderly who may have had a 50%+ risk before.

And beyond just dying, there is a 40% chance of Long COVID no matter what age you are as shown in a recent study of 19 to 49 year olds who have the same previlence as the over 50's, which can cause permanent internal organ like lung scarring and even brain damage which you will have to run the gauntlet of suffering each and every time you catch COVID naturally, which may be once a year, for the rest of your life. 40% is practically a 1 in 2 chance. You feelin' lucky?

Just as with the Bubonic Plague, thereputics will come along which will make a diagnosis go from a potentially life threatening condition to a course of COV-be-gon or whatever brand name they come up with for it. How many people die between now and then is entirely down to what we as the citizens of the world are willing to do to keep ourselves and each other safe right now. Vaccination is one part of a raft of measures which have to be taken and it is by far the most potent tool in the kit - rather than passive measures it is the first that takes the fight to the cellular level and equips your body with a weapon to strike back with rather than a defence to hide behind and prey it doesn't breech. Masks. Social Distancing. These things are to stop it from getting to you. Vaccination is being handed a cricket bat while the zombies are hammering on the door and being told you must remove the head or distroy the brain (sean of the dead reference there). Other stuff that'll help I'm sure we'll realise sooner or later too but until that point don't be a pacifist about this. Tool up and take the fight to the pathogen and buy our species time to find the theraputics which will put a bullet in COVID-19 for good.

 

[Vavrik]

Not sure why we are stressing so much over the unvaccinated. While they do pose a slight risk to the vaccinated the studies continue to show it's very small and so they are really only harming themselves and those who follow their philosophy.

Because unlike in the US, most of the world's unvaccinated have not had a chance to be vaccinated yet. It is not their decision.

 

[Bambooza]

Because unlike in the US, most of the world's unvaccinated have not had a chance to be vaccinated yet. It is not their decision.

Even better by those who don't want to be vaccinated they free up the available supply to those who do. Outside the ethical question of forced vaccination or anything medically forced there is also the logical question of let's not worry about those who might choose for their own reasons not to be vaccinated and instead continue to work towards vaccinating everyone who does want to.

Which varient?

It has been observed people who had one varient, for example Alpha, are now catching Delta which suggests you'd need to catch multiple if not all variants to have a broad specrum immunity - last one I heared about was Lambada which might mean you need to catch it 12 times to get the same wide spectrum coverage as a vaccine can give you. You are correct vaccines are not 100% which is why we must partake of mask wearing and social distancing while the embers of the pandemic still glow, but even when they are not totally effective against a certain variant they are shown to be partially effective while still keeping a lid on the others, and they can be modified to complete their coverage such as is happening with the AZ and Beta varient right now.

And while we're talking about it, how long does naturally aquired immunity last? It isn't infinate, people have been reinfected by the same varient within months of recovering from a first infection... With a vaccine when it becomes apparent to science that immunity is wearing off, a booster can be applied and immunity reinforced especially if the virus has mutated in that time and side-stepped the previous naturally aquired immunity, hence the 'Flu vaccine drive every year... For naturally aquired COVID, you just have to wait until you catch it again I assume?

And what of catching COVID naturally? We have heared headlines about rare side effects of vaccines, but "rare" is the crux of that sentence and once side efects are know they can be monitored for. The same number of people are still getting blood clotting from the AZ and J&J vaccines, but now we know about it the number of people dying from it has become minimal because it is survivable if detected and treated which is happening right now -

Sort of. There seems has also been observed and in many ways expected a diminished severity with the variant infections. It's also the same result with several of the vaccines (RNA ones seem to manage better against variants which is rather exciting for the future of vaccine research and the future of viral infections in general) So while they might not have as fast of an immune response to varients as those who have the RNA vaccine they still have a sufficient response and have a similar reaction as they would to the many varients of Influenza which while killing 60k a year in the USA is, for the most part, ignored and people show up to work and school clearly sick. While a flu shot is offered yearly in the USA there are still a lot who simply don't get one and even those who do find its yearly effectiveness questionable (this is what's so exciting about RNA solutions, as we no longer have to pick the variant we think will be prevalent for a general region but can pick a common binding site for all varients we are seeing in the wild).

It is still unknown how long the memory cells and T helper cells retain patterns for activation on the covid virus and even with these antibodies for the covid it's not like immunity prevents you from being infected, it just speeds up the immune reaction to the virus and thus a smaller window of virus and immune response damage is incurred and the body is less impacted.

whereas with COVID-19 there is a 3% chance of dying which climbs to 10% and more as you get older until the point if it's prevelent in the area it's the main cause for deaths over a certain age group in the unvaccinated... but not in the vaccinated. The vaccines have been shown to segnificantly reduce the number of prople dying from this virus, even in the elderly who may have had a 50%+ risk before.

No, it's 3% overall and that number has been questioned as being to high. The breakdown by age shows that the risk is almost non-existent in those under 20 and those over the age of 65 accounts for 81% of the deaths. (I believe I posted graphs showing the age impact on deaths and how the yearly death totals compared to previous years)

And beyond just dying, there is a 40% chance of Long COVID no matter what age you are as shown in a recent study of 19 to 49 year olds who have the same previlence as the over 50's, which can cause permanent internal organ like lung scarring and even brain damage which you will have to run the gauntlet of suffering each and every time you catch COVID naturally, which may be once a year, for the rest of your life. 40% is practically a 1 in 2 chance. You feelin' lucky?

I have not come across any sort of percent chance of long-term effects from the covid infection. But like any cold, the lingering impact of the infection will be based upon the immune response the virus load, and any underlying medical conditions. High fevers have always had a negative impact on the brain which is why drinking plenty of water and taking a fervor reducer is common practice. It's the same impact things like heat stroke have and its impact is more permanent than other effects of the infection. Most of the other side effects are common of severe infections and were also seen in colds like H1N1. Most of the effects are gone by 4 to 6 weeks after infection with some of the lung effects taking upwards of 6 months (similar to the amount of time it takes for the lungs to heal after smoking). But studies are showing a direct correlation between the severity of the cold the physical shape of the individual and the length of recovery. Those being in shape and or having a faster immune response to the infection have had a quick recovery. One has to factor in that a vast majority of the world's population is out of shape and overweight.

Just as with the Bubonic Plague, thereputics will come along which will make a diagnosis go from a potentially life threatening condition to a course of COV-be-gon or whatever brand name they come up with for it. How many people die between now and then is entirely down to what we as the citizens of the world are willing to do to keep ourselves and each other safe right now. Vaccination is one part of a raft of measures which have to be taken and it is by far the most potent tool in the kit - rather than passive measures it is the first that takes the fight to the cellular level and equips your body with a weapon to strike back with rather than a defence to hide behind and prey it doesn't breech. Masks. Social Distancing. These things are to stop it from getting to you. Vaccination is being handed a cricket bat while the zombies are hammering on the door and being told you must remove the head or distroy the brain (sean of the dead reference there). Other stuff that'll help I'm sure we'll realise sooner or later too but until that point don't be a pacifist about this. Tool up and take the fight to the pathogen and buy our species time to find the theraputics which will put a bullet in COVID-19 for good.

I would not compare the Bubonic Plague to Covid as there is a world of difference between the lethality of them. Covid as scary as it has been to so many is just a slightly elevated cold when compared to true plagues like Bubonic and even things like smallpox, measles, black death, yellow fever, polio, Spanish flu. Even Aids has killed more than 35 million vs 4 million for covid.

Oh, I am all for vaccines even when one of my daughters started having seizures after her first round of immunizations at 1 year old. While it's hard to say the vaccines caused the seizures and delayed talking or triggered an underlining genetic mutation or had no correlation to the seizures and was nearly a coincidence we may never know. Even still I feel this risk was far better than the possibility of her getting any of the diseases it's crafted to protect them against. My issue is not with the crafting of the vaccine or the offering and highlighting the many advantages of the vaccine (should always be fully transparent and include the risk factors, not lying by omission) but when we step over the line and start demanding people do something to their body. As a society, we have been very vocal advocates of my body my choice and whenever that has been crossed even in the pretense of doing good has always lead to horrific acts of brutality.

And I will say it again. There is no eliminating Covid or its many variants like Covid19 even if the whole world was fully vaccinated with a 100% effective vaccine the virus will come back with a novel strain and reinfect people. It's in the animal population like so many other viruses. We need to get over our fear and move on. Yes, it was scary and yes it's a great wake-up call but it really was not even close to the plagues of yore and we should be thankful. We should also be excited by the reality that our fear leads to a new kind of vaccine which has the potential to cure a lot of ailments. In some ways, it's always entertaining how fear drives huge jumps in technology.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

In some ways, it's always entertaining how fear drives huge jumps in technology.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

The World Wars forwarded technology by leaps and bounds, something which isn't worth investing in becomes a turning point of a war and 50 years later those advancements in Radio and Computer technology mean we all have wireless telephones with more computing power than an office block full of boffins in our pockets.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Thursday 22nd of July:

- World: 192,254,427 confirmed cases and 4,131,153 confirmed deaths.

- Vaccines: New study suggests J&J vaccine less effective against Delta and Lambada variants than the original variant.

- US: Doctor reports on the tragedy that is dying patents dying from COVID asking for vaccination "It's too late".

- US: Officials in Michigan County gave themselves $65,000 bonuses with Federal COVID relief money.

- UK: A record high 600,000 pinged by Track and Trace app to alert people they had been in the presence of a confirmed COVID case and needed to self-isolate last week.

- UK: For the age group of 20 to 29 year olds, case rate climbs to a record high 1,155 per 100,000 people.

- UK: Nurses pay rise offer of 1% earlier in the year has been raised to 3% to "recognise their sacrifice and commitment during the pandemic". As the UK government has had their pay on hold since 2008 under austerity measures, unions and staff were hoping for more like 12.5% to 15% to bring them back in line with where they should have been had the 2008 global recession not occurred.

- UK: Women in Quarantine Hotels to receive same gender guards following spate of 16 sexual harassment reports.

- EU: 200 million Europeans now fully vaccinated.

- EU: Medical regulator adds rare nerve disorder to J&J vaccine side effects after 108 cases recorded world wide.

- EU: Data indicates the Bloc has only donated 3% of the doses pledged to COVAX vaccine sharing initiative.

- Africa: To distribute 6 million J&J vaccines to 27 countries next week.

- Argentina: Issues official complaint to Russia over delay in the delivery of Sputnik V vaccines “the entire contract is at risk of being publicly cancelled”.

- China: Refuses WHO request for second phase of Origins investigation which wants to audit labs in Wuhan area so the investigation can move past the lab leak theory and get on with finding out where it actually came from. If it wasn't a lab.

- France: Sees protests from unvaccinated persons criticising the scale of restrictions they will have to live by while vaccinated persons shall be exempt.

- Peru: Criminal ring busted after charging up to $21k per bed at a state-run COVID hospital.

- Lebabon: Hospitals warn fuel scarcity coming close to causing a disaster: “Hospitals are unable to find fuel oil to power generators during power outages of at least 20 hours a day,”

 

[Vavrik]

Peru: Criminal ring busted after charging up to $21k per bed at a state-run COVID hospital.

I was half expecting something about the Lambda variant. We still don't have enough information on it, e.g. whether it can outcompete the delta variant. It is present in the US currently with small numbers, but was first detected in Peru.
Also... just a stray thought: This naming structure, after the Greek alphabet is for the birds. What happens when we've used up all the letters in the Greek alphabet? Use Russian letters next?

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

I was half expecting something about the Lambda variant. We still don't have enough information on it, e.g. whether it can outcompete the delta variant. It is present in the US currently with small numbers, but was first detected in Peru.
Also... just a stray thought: This naming structure, after the Greek alphabet is for the birds. What happens when we've used up all the letters in the Greek alphabet? Use Russian letters next?

I'm hoping the lack of info on Lamba is a sign it is not got or is going to get a strong enough foothold to be able to study in depth.

I'm also wondering what happened to Delta Plus? Was that just a more potent Delta or did that turn out to be Lambada?

Good question on the alphabet, there are hundreds of mutants out there and any of their linage may become the next variant of concern so this must have been factored... I'm hoping at some point they choose to use hieroglyphics:

"Gary not at work today?"
"Naa, he's off sick with the 'Rona."
"Damn, get well soon Gary. Which version, Delta?"
"Shifty looking bird."
"Oooooh, he's gonna be on the toilet for a week with Shifty looking bird! Lucky it's not Profile of a guy with zig-zag arms though!"

 

[Bambooza]

I was half expecting something about the Lambda variant. We still don't have enough information on it, e.g. whether it can outcompete the delta variant. It is present in the US currently with small numbers, but was first detected in Peru.
Also... just a stray thought: This naming structure, after the Greek alphabet is for the birds. What happens when we've used up all the letters in the Greek alphabet? Use Russian letters next?

Typically they go to just using numbers. I am honestly surprised they have not already and am wondering why not.

 

[Vavrik]

Typically they go to just using numbers. I am honestly surprised they have not already and am wondering why not.

Late last year and early this year, the WHO changed the way they designate VOI, VOC, and VOHC so the names are standardized. When we talk about Alpha, Beta, Gama, Delta etc. there is typically no further variant identifier, because each variant on the lists is unique. It's a more unambiguous way to reference variants being watched globally.

The national and regional methods of identification and lineage designation are still valid ways, but there are conflicts in the way they're interpreted. This just removes that ambiguity.

BTW Typically is underlined above because it is not necessarily a hard and fast rule, it's just the goal.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

COVID Catharsis Corner - Reports from around the world from today, Friday 23rd of July:

- World: 192,844,025 confirmed cases and 4,139,997 confirmed deaths.

- UK: 1 in 75 people in the country has COVID-19, a worse rate compared to this time last week when it was 1 in 100.

- UK: Number of hospitalised cases climbs to highest level for 4 months at 4,401.

- UK: An official government scientific adviser warns that the government is attempting to get as many people as possible infected with COVID, with rhetoric on personal responsibility a ploy to shift blame for the pandemic from the people that run the country to the public who put lent them their vote and put them there: “What we are seeing is a decision by the government to get as many people infected as possible, as quickly as possible, while using rhetoric about caution as a way of putting the blame on the public for the consequences,” “It looks like the government judges that the damage to health and healthcare services will be worth the political capital it will gain from this approach,” going on to say this was previously contemplated but appears to be a more viable strategy now the vaccination program has made the death rate less impactful.

- UK: Expands self isolation exemption after some supermarket shelves went empty to food chain warehouse staff. A captain of the food industry commented: "This is a bit late in the day because a lot of damage has already been done across the network which is going to take some catching up on,"

- UK: Following drastic surges new daily cases, they are down for fourth day in a row but still above 35k.

- US: Orders 200 million more Pfizer doses for booster shots.

- US: Two Florida hospitals report record high number of COVID patience.

- US: Only 83% of the countries Olympians are vaccinated, leaving 100 official competitors at the event more at risk of catching, carrying and passing on the virus.

- WHO: States all countries must work together on Origin investigation and it is not a blame-game or reason to point fingers.

- Indonesia: Sees record high new daily deaths.

- Japan: Opening ceremony of the Olympics occurs in front of a crowd of no more than 1000 spectators.

- Australia: Clothes firm Lorna Jane fined 5 million Australian Dollars for claiming that their clothing stopped the "transfer of all pathogens" which, unsurprisingly, it didn't. "... [Suppliers] led us to believe the technology behind LJ Shield was being sold elsewhere in Australia, the USA, China, and Taiwan and that it was both anti-bacterial and anti-viral. We believed we were passing on a benefit to our customers.”

- Australia: New South Wales, the most populated state, announces a state of emergency as cases continue.

- New Zealand: Suspends travel bubble with Australia.

- Slovakia: Protesters clash with police as lawmakers discuss easing of restrictions for vaccinated persons only.

- Tanzania: Announces intention to run a Vaccination program, in stark contrast to the original denial of the pandemics existence for the first year of the crisis.

 

[Bambooza]

Late last year and early this year, the WHO changed the way they designate VOI, VOC, and VOHC so the names are standardized. When we talk about Alpha, Beta, Gama, Delta etc. there is typically no further variant identifier, because each variant on the lists is unique. It's a more unambiguous way to reference variants being watched globally.

The national and regional methods of identification and lineage designation are still valid ways, but there are conflicts in the way they're interpreted. This just removes that ambiguity.

BTW Typically is underlined above because it is not necessarily a hard and fast rule, it's just the goal.

Ah, I found it. So they are still using the scientific names but have asked for the common name for the COVID-19 variants to use the Greek Alphabet instead of the geographical location of the first recorded patent. Nothing wrong with that. This is simply following the request WHO made back in 2015 in trying to have the common name be picked to generate less negative stigma by whoever first reports it. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about the possible stigma of the variant names as it was just helpful in tracking the spread.

WHO issues best practices for naming new human infectious diseases

WHO today called on scientists, national authorities and the media to follow best practices in naming new human infectious diseases to minimize unnecessary negative effects on nations, economies and people.

www.who.int

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 variants

All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, change over time. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus’ properties. However, some changes may affect the virus’s properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance of...

www.who.int

 

[Radegast74]

Ancient viruses dating back 15,000 years found in Tibetan glacier | CNN

Scientists have discovered previously unknown viruses dating from 15,000 years ago in ice samples taken from a glacier in the Tibetan plateau.

www.cnn.com

In before scientists discover the "Godzilla" virus KEKW