Coronavirus Updates

[Casey Pelous]

Death toll up to 17 (I heard 19 on NPR this morning), so I think this topic warrants a thread of its own.

Washington Post: Chinese cities cancel New Year celebrations, travel ban widens in effort to stop coronavirus outbreak

God, this seems like a decade ago.

ETA: It was January 23, 2020

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Financial Times: Stark link between obesity and Covid deaths revealed Broken link now fixed.

Provides an explanation for otherwise inconsistent death rates and rates of hospitalisation in different countries -- apparently they cease to look so inconsistent once you correct for relative obesity levels.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Financial Times: Stark link between obesity and Covid deaths revealed

Provides an explanation for otherwise inconsistent death rates and rates of hospitalisation in different countries -- apparently they cease to look so inconsistent once you correct for relative obesity levels.

for some reason this Evernote link sends me to a login screen while the link in your most recent post does not.

safari on iOS.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

for some reason this Evernote link sends me to a login screen while the link in your most recent post does not.

safari on iOS.

Fixed. Thanks for catching it.

 

[bubblesort]

A dutch scientist has come up with a better way to test for corona than the nasal swab. You get into an airlocked chamber and scream. I mean, I've been doing that since this all began, but I'm usually watching the news when I do it, and I don't have an airlock. Screaming makes me feel a lot better than poking my brain with a q-tip!

Scream, not swab: Dutch inventor hopes he discovered new COVID test

A Dutch inventor has come up with what he hopes could be a potentially faster and easier method to screen for coronavirus infections.

www.reuters.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Covid: UK scientist says ‘substantial’ degree of mortality inevitable in future

Sage professor says death toll will reduce over time and life will ‘get back to normal’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sid]

A dutch scientist has come up with a better way to test for corona than the nasal swab. You get into an airlocked chamber and scream. I mean, I've been doing that since this all began, but I'm usually watching the news when I do it, and I don't have an airlock. Screaming makes me feel a lot better than poking my brain with a q-tip!

Scream, not swab: Dutch inventor hopes he discovered new COVID test

A Dutch inventor has come up with what he hopes could be a potentially faster and easier method to screen for coronavirus infections.

www.reuters.com

I don't know, stepping into a booth where someone else just screamed around....
If you are not infected, this sure makes the risk you are infected after the visit a lot higher IMHO.
Cleaning the booth completely after every visit is costly and time consuming.
I would prefer the swab test.

Maybe a device like they use for alcohol traffic tests might be an idea.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

NHS may face a million long Covid patients after pandemic

Health service under pressure to care for significant number of patients with ongoing debilitating symptoms

www.theguardian.com

'There’s a lot of nasty stuff': the people living with long Covid

Sufferers say they have had little specialist help despite NHS England setting up dedicated clinics

www.theguardian.com

 

[Romana]

The COVID relief book is getting delayed for like this :


Tubbyville's amendment failed, as it should.
They hate trans folk me than they want to save lives. Yeah, on brand.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Interesting thread -- I wonder what the teachers here, past and present, make of it

 

[Rose Karuna]

A dutch scientist has come up with a better way to test for corona than the nasal swab. You get into an airlocked chamber and scream. I mean, I've been doing that since this all began, but I'm usually watching the news when I do it, and I don't have an airlock. Screaming makes me feel a lot better than poking my brain with a q-tip!

Scream, not swab: Dutch inventor hopes he discovered new COVID test

A Dutch inventor has come up with what he hopes could be a potentially faster and easier method to screen for coronavirus infections.

www.reuters.com

Honestly, I'd rather have the swab as I'm not sure I could get into an air locked chamber. I have some serious claustrophobia and can't even do an enclosed MRI without them knocking me out. I mean, I just can't do it. //shivers

 

[Eunoli]

New Randy Rainbow! (and the Robinettes)

 

[Eunoli]

New Randy Rainbow! (and the Robinettes)

Also, just in the realm of "oh, that's cool" - I just saw Sredni's tweet reply to the original post.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Soen Eber]

Financial Times: Stark link between obesity and Covid deaths revealed Broken link now fixed.

Provides an explanation for otherwise inconsistent death rates and rates of hospitalisation in different countries -- apparently they cease to look so inconsistent once you correct for relative obesity levels.

Haven't read this yet, but I just read regular use of the diabetes drug Metformin reduces the mortality rate by non-trivial amounts. Too lazy right now now to find my source but I'm sure it's easy to find. You'll still face an 11% mortality rate with Metformin but it's quite a drop down still.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Romana]

 

[Sovereignty]

 

[Sovereignty]

Just a meaningless quibble, they confuse the disease COVID-19 with the virus SARS-CoV-2 in the video. The antibodies attack the virus, not the disease (which seems to involve the body attacking itself thereby producing the most lethal and long term effects after the initial viral infection). They also leave out the T-cell formation stimulated by the vaccine which takes longer to occur, but I understand wanting to make things simpler for that vid.

The people on TWIV often complain about people ignoring T cell response in the news including medical-type people, not just journalists. Apparently, it's harder to collect and interpret data on that. So much easier to measure antibodies though that creates worries about falling antibody levels at the time when T cells should be the agent leading to longer lasting immunity.

It gets complicated. (sigh)

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Michael Rosen, a much-loved British author and children's poet, was taken ill with Covid-19 right at the beginning of the pandemic, this time last year, and spent 48 days in intensive care.

Michael Rosen: 'This book is about what it feels like to nearly die'

The poet, broadcaster and children’s author contracted Covid-19 a year ago and spent 48 days in intensive care. His new collection of prose poems attempts to make sense of that time

www.theguardian.com

This is his account of his experience

'I am not who I was': Michael Rosen on surviving Covid – extract

In this exclusive extract from his new book Many Different Kinds of Love, the author writes about his urgent diagnosis, days in hospital and returning home

www.theguardian.com

A doctor is standing by my bed
asking me if I would sign a piece of paper
which would allow them to put me to sleep
and pump air into my lungs.
‘Will I wake up?’
‘There’s a 50:50 chance.’
‘If I say no?’ I say.
‘Zero.’
And I sign.