[marvin4242]

Good study on highest risk places for Covid. The article is bloated, here is the essence:

"Certain venues — places of worship, full-service restaurants and gyms — disproportionately contributed to infections. In Chicago, for instance, 10 percent of sites accounted for 85 percent of predicted infections."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/10/coronavirus-restaurants-gyms-hotels-risk/

[marvin4242]

Not news but confirmation of the impact of the vaccine efficacy from a very respected and trusted expert in the field. It may help with our feeling of dread as our cases in the US have jumped 60% in one week due to our complete failure to address this problem.

This will fade IF enough people are willing to get and have access to vaccine in the US (which in itself is an open question). Unfortunately as OldPilot and many others point out the after effects for those who will get sick won't simply disappear. I am going to say that the US national response to this challenge has been a near disaster and I will never get over my shock. I would have never expected that so many of us would live in such delusion and denial at such great expense in lives and pain to others. To me denial of this problem and focus on financial and "freedom" aspects smacks of a kind of narcissism and lack of empathy I find truly frightening and repugnant. A co-worker was talking about "freedom" in the same breath he told me his son, a military pilot, got sick a couple of months back and has not recovered enough cardiovascular capacity to be cleared to fly again. And most likely will not be for months to come if ever. He was one of the lucky ones, he will recover.

So here are the words of Dr Fauci after my little rant above. Quote from Guardian below.

When asked by ABC News’ Robin Roberts whether the country was headed toward a national lockdown, Fauci said he would like to “stay away from that” because “there is no appetite for locking down.”

Fauci added, “I believe that we can do it without a lockdown. I really do.”

Robins also asked Fauci, who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, what he would say to those suffering “Covid fatigue.”

Fauci replied, “Help is really on the way. ... The cavalry is coming here. Vaccines are going to have a major positive impact.”

[xyzcf]

I totally agree 1000%!

Each individual can make a huge difference. Probably the hardest thing is to STAY AWAY FROM ANYONE WHO DOES NOT LIVE WITH YOU.

No social gatherings, fewer trips to the grocery stores, watch church services on the internet...do everything you can to avoid contact with other people, don't go inside anywhere if you can avoid it.

Living totally alone, this is really hard. I am losing long time friends because they continue to get together in groups of many different people...refusing to believe that you can make a difference.

I am less optimistic than marvin, our numbers are way too high. We did however back in the spring flatten the curve..we can do it again.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be really tough people.

I think of this as what my parents did during WWII..they sacrificed many things for the good of others..now is our time to do the same.

[Nas]

Not news but confirmation of the impact of the vaccine efficacy from a very respected and trusted expert in the field. It may help with our feeling of dread as our cases in the US have jumped 60% in one week due to our complete failure to address this problem.

This will fade IF enough people are willing to get and have access to vaccine in the US (which in itself is an open question).
I'm already dismayed and concerned by how many people I know who have said, "I'm not going to be the first one to get that vaccine."  Distrust of vaccines needs to be overcome (which of course will take no small effort.)

Unfortunately as OldPilot and many others point out the after effects for those who will get sick won't simply disappear. I am going to say that the US national response to this challenge has been a near disaster and I will never get over my shock. I would have never expected that so many of us would live in such delusion and denial at such great expense in lives and pain to others. To me denial of this problem and focus on financial and "freedom" aspects smacks of a kind of narcissism and lack of empathy I find truly frightening and repugnant.

Ditto, times a billion.  First, the after effects are something that aren't talked about enough.  I am extra scared of getting sick, as someone already dealing with health issues, because the thought of late effects of this virus is terrifying.
 And I also don't want to have to live with the thought that I didn't do everything I could to prevent someone else from getting sick and/or experiencing long term effects.

Second, the cognitive dissonance occurring here is frightening.  I know many people who can see, or at least say they can see, the adverse effects of the virus but continue to do things that put themselves and others at risk, as if they've convinced themselves that even though they know the virus is dangerous, they're somehow both immune to getting sick and incapable of spreading it to anyone else.  Someone I've always known to be an extremely intelligent person texted me last Thursday evening absolutely panicking that she had symptoms of Covid (she's been out constantly to indoor restaurants, live music events, and inviting near-strangers into her home through the entire pandemic).  Then texted me Saturday announcing - not asking- that she was bringing over champagne to celebrate Biden's projected victory.  Then got bent out of shape when I told her it was too risky, acting as if I was condemning her for her lifestyle choices.

A co-worker was talking about "freedom" in the same breath he told me his son, a military pilot, got sick a couple of months back and has not recovered enough cardiovascular capacity to be cleared to fly again. And most likely will not be for months to come if ever. He was one of the lucky ones, he will recover.
This is just frightening.

So here are the words of Dr Fauci after my little rant above. Quote from Guardian below.

When asked by ABC News’ Robin Roberts whether the country was headed toward a national lockdown, Fauci said he would like to “stay away from that” because “there is no appetite for locking down.”

Fauci added, “I believe that we can do it without a lockdown. I really do.”

Robins also asked Fauci, who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, what he would say to those suffering “Covid fatigue.”

Fauci replied, “Help is really on the way. ... The cavalry is coming here. Vaccines are going to have a major positive impact.”

I totally agree 1000%!

Each individual can make a huge difference. Probably the hardest thing is to STAY AWAY FROM ANYONE WHO DOES NOT LIVE WITH YOU.
No one is doing this, and the message isn't strong enough, unfortunately. 


No social gatherings, fewer trips to the grocery stores, watch church services on the internet...do everything you can to avoid contact with other people, don't go inside anywhere if you can avoid it.

Living totally alone, this is really hard. I am losing long time friends because they continue to get together in groups of many different people...refusing to believe that you can make a difference.

I am less optimistic than marvin, our numbers are way too high. We did however back in the spring flatten the curve..we can do it again.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be really tough people.
This scares me because everyone I know has plans to travel and treat the holidays as "business as usual."

I think of this as what my parents did during WWII..they sacrificed many things for the good of others..now is our time to do the same.

I do believe, as Fauci says, help is on the way.  But at least where I live,  people know they should be taking precautions and are choosing not to, which is why they're saying one thing and doing another.

[xyzcf]

But at least where I live,  people know they should be taking precautions and are choosing not to, which is why they're saying one thing and doing another.

One strong example I can think of that "explains" why people  are not listening to public health's messages is smoking. I was a heavy smoker, I knew it was bad for me but I continued to smoke long after I understood the risk I was taking. I was a nurse and we used to smoke on the units in our conference rooms. Eventually, I quit because I was pregnant and did not want it to affect my baby.

Smoking however is a strong physical addiction....perhaps that is true of the need for human socialization.

People who are obese and refuse to change their diet or exercise is perhaps another example.

People think, it will not happen to me.

I was thinking back to my nursing training and public health laws. I goggled this:

What is the legal basis for public health in the United States?
Definition. The legal basis of public health is rooted in the population's rights to health, safety and life. As the population is the sum of its individual members, it stands for the sum of the interests and rights of these individuals.

Unfortunately there does not seem to be any enforcement of these laws. There really are not any fines or imprisonment for disobeying......and I am rather shocked at how many people don't care about others but only their own need to see their friends and family. Even at the risk of infecting those they love.

It was evidenced in the election results...the number of people who refuse to believe science...I think people lack critical thinking skills to judge truly what is the right thing to do in a situation that we never had to fight before in our lifetime. A situation that is responsible for countless needless deaths that did not have to happen. 242, 000 deaths in the US and growing everyday.

[Nas]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/12/covid-social-gatherings/

[marvin4242]

One small study I saw that is interesting. Apparently low dose aspirin given to people who are suffering from Covid-19 reduced the rate of ventilation by around 40%. It was a small scale study but it has basis in theory. If micro-clotting from immune response is part of the cause of the damage to heart and lungs aspirin is a light blood thinner and may help.

I honestly think the circuit breaker shutdowns in UK/EU, basic adherence to science and policy, and vaccination will bring this to an end. It is interesting to note that numbers are already turning around in UK after one week of a 4 week lockdown. Now the wave that follows will go through the hospitals, I hope it doesn’t cause an overload.

I deeply fear its too late for us to act now to stop this wave in the US. The wave of hospitalizations that will follow our current wave (which in itself is still only on the rising part) may simply crumble a lot of hospitals. Specially in remote and rural areas where the positivity is through the roof and they simply don’t have the resources like major cities (in my area) have.

[marvin4242]

@OldPilot and anyone else who may be interested. Someone mentioned this place that is focusing specifically on long covid (long term symptoms, treatment and support).

https://www.gwdocs.com/specialties/primary-care/covid-19-recovery-clinic/

COVID-19 Recovery Clinic
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY CLINIC OFFERING SPECIALIZED TREATMENT FOR PATIENTS RECOVERING FROM COVID-19

[marvin4242]

And even more information and results from studying Long Covid. A highlight from article:

Preliminary data from the first 200 patients to undergo screening suggests that almost 70% have impairments in one or more organs, including the heart, lungs, liver and pancreas, four months after their initial illness.

“The good news is that the impairment is mild, but even with a conservative lens, there is some impairment, and in 25% of people it affects two or more organs,” said Amitava Banerjee, a cardiologist and associate professor of clinical data science at University College London.

“This is of interest because we need to know if [the impairments] continue or improve – or if there is a subgroup of people who could get worse.”

Another reason to now pretend its ok to spread and/or to get the virus if it can be avoided.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/15/damage-to-multiple-organs-recorded-in-long-covid-cases

[xyzcf]

I listen to medical personal begging for us to take steps to slow down the spread of COVID. They are exhausted and under such stress and personal danger..it does not have to be this way.

2 things that struck me today:

The US has 4 % of the world's population and 20% of the world's COVID cases.....20% of the world's COVID cases and only 4 % of the world's population...something is terribly wrong.

Dr. Fauci repeated this morning and I have heard it from several other sources that there should be enough vaccine available for the general population by April 2021.

There is such hope in the near future but so many needless deaths will occur before then as people continue to deny how real and how dangerous this pandemic is.

And may I say, the lack of cooperation from the white house at this moment in time is beyond comprehension. We need the present COVID task force to work with and share information with the incoming government. To wait another 67 days before there is cooperation and openness is sheer suicide.