Coronavirus Discussion

[AsymDoll13]

26 minutes ago, StormBirdRising said:

Today, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden, tested positive for COVID-19 on a rapid antigen test. He is fully vaccinated and has been boosted twice.  

 

I'd had the 2 vaccines and 1 booster before I caught it the first time in January. It just makes it less likely to be really bad and require things like hospitalization. For me, it was like a bad cold. 

[purpledragonclaw]

We're seeing more breakthrough cases now that Omnicron is so transmissible, I really hope they make second boosters available for everyone. Hopefully Dr. Fauci will be fine, I'm glad he's vaccinated and boosted, it should decrease the severity of his covid case.

[Lagie]

My dad was double vaccinated and double boostered and still got Covid, from his wife who was double vaccinated and single boosted. The vaccines don't prevent you from getting it, but they do make it less severe. They are both fine now and had a fairly easy time of it.

 

We still have really high positivity rates.

 

87 new cases Tuesday (28.5% positivity), 83 of those on my island for a new total of 35,464 cases overall. 23 people in hospital, none in the ICU. Three more deaths takes that total to 815.

[Astreya]

@casprrr

I hope you'll recover ASAP!

 

@StormBirdRising

I hope that Dr.Antony Fauci will be fine again very soon, too!

 

@Lagie

It's good to read that your Dad and his wife got well through their Covid infections. My Mom got her second booster about two weeks ago (I think - time seems to fly atm). Unfortunately I couldn't get the second booster yet as the doc didn't want to risk it so close after my pulmonary embolism and due to my anticoagulation meds. I guess I might wait for the new vaccines which are optimised against the Omicron variant. (IIRC Moderna are almost finished with theirs.)

 

In Germany, the Covid cases rise markedly, too. We already have numerous violet area (7-day incidence over 500) again, and even some over 1000:

 

By now, about 75.9% of the German population have been vaccinated at least twice, but 22.4% are unvaccinated.

 

The number of PCR tests is sinking despite the rising number of infections, and the positive quote is currently at 28.8%.

 

At least the number of patients needing intensive care (668) and artificial respiration (233) went down in the last weeks, although this will obviously change again with the rising infection numbers.

 

Omicron variant B2 causes the majority of infections here, but B5 already was detected in 10% of the Covid cases, tendency rising fast.

 

Source: https://www.n-tv.de/infografik/Die-wichtigsten-Daten-zur-Corona-Pandemie-article23355688.html

Edited June 16, 2022 by Astreya

[StormBirdRising]

@Astreya   Yes,  Dr Fauci has made the full recovery  👍

[Astreya]

@StormBirdRising

That's great to hear.

 

Sadly there are so many people who don't recover fully even when they survived this drat virus. E.g. in Germany it is estimated that between 7.5% and 41% of adults with only mild Covid infections and 37.6% of those who were hospitalised suffer from long Covid, which is really concerning. [Source]

 

Currently, the number of daily Covid infections in Germany rises again, and we are back to 80 000+ by now:

 

Grey are the absolute numbers, red is the rolling 7-day-average [Source]

 

As there is currently a positive quota of 41.8% in the PCR tests, the dark number is expected to be much higher.

 

Nonetheless, the majority of people don't wear masks anymore, not even in shops.

 

The number of people in intensive care (grey curve) is slowly rising again. Fortunately the number of those needing artificial respiration (red curve) is still manageable:

 

[Source]

 

Edited June 26, 2022 by Astreya

[Lagie]

Our hospital numbers have gone up to almost as high as the previous peak, the difference this time being that no one is in the ICU.

 

21 cases (in 99 tests... 21.2% positivity), 19 on my island, for a new total of 35,902 cases. One more death takes that total to 817.

[AsymDoll13]

Friend's dad took a test today (yay for take home kits), and he's negative. Just he's been feeling a bit strange the last couple of days. But then again, he also has heart issues, so checking was a good idea. ^^

[BlackMagicRose]

Well, let's see, I had Covid back in mid-January and here it is 5 and a half months later and I am still fighting with shortness of breath and extreme exhaustion. About a months and a half ago I had Norovirus and wound up in the ER for it because I spent about 24 hours vomiting nothing but green and yellow bile about every 15 minutes. I vomited so hard that I had petechial hemorrhaging around my eyes and looked like I had been slapped. So, that set me back just that much more. I am fully vaccinated and have the first booster on board and will be due for booster #2 in October. Covid is a NASTY bug. My teeth are cracking and chipping and breaking (part of that is medication related since about every medication I am on weakens teeth) but Covid apparently restricts blood flow to your teeth and gums. I am taking part in a study and the amount of different problems Covid can cause and the damage it can do is absolutely unreal. I am one f the people that is known as a "long hauler" because I still have symptoms months later. My cousins wife/girlfriend had the cough for well over a year. Anyway, take care and stay well everyone and if you are sick or struggling I hope you heal quickly. Sending Love & Light from Oregon 💗

[purplehaze]

@BlackMagicRose So sorry to hear that you are still dealing with the symptoms after all this time.

That is one very good reason not to take this virus lightly, folks!

Even vaccinated and fully boosted, I continue to wear a mask in public places. I get "looks" sometimes, but I would rather get those than get Covid!

[Astreya]

@BlackMagicRose

I'll send you lots of positive energy in hopes that you will manage to overcome this drat virus in the near future!

 

In my neighbourhood, there is one woman who contracted SARS-CoV-2 about a year ago and she still needs additional oxygen to get by. And another neighbour who got it in the beginning of the year still is short of breath, too.

 

I really can't understand those who make light of this bug, particularly as we have no idea yet about any real long-term effects (for such see for example SSPE or herpes zoster that show up several years after the initial infection), particularly as there have already been patients with repeated flaring ups of their Covid-19 disease where it is deemed possible that the virus is able to hide somewhere within the body.

 

Some relevant texts:

- "How long does COVID-19 linger in your body? New report offers clues."

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/persisting-coronavirus-could-drag-out-covid-19-symptoms

- "Coronavirus ‘ghosts’ found lingering in the gut"

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01280-3

- "Coronavirus Can Persist for Months After Traversing Body"

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-26/coronavirus-can-persist-for-months-after-traversing-entire-body

 

Here are some more scientific reports:

- "On the whereabouts of SARS-CoV-2 in the human body: A systematic review"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7679000/

- "Is the brain a reservoir organ for SARS2‐CoV2?"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7280610/

- "The big challenge of SARS-CoV-2 latency: testes as reservoir"

http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0016-38132020000400324
- "Long COVID or Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC): An Overview of Biological Factors That May Contribute to Persistent Symptoms"

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.698169/full

- "Gut as viral reservoir: lessons from gut viromes, HIV and COVID-19"

https://gut.bmj.com/content/70/9/1605

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Astreya

[BlackMagicRose]

The main problem I am finding with people not taking it seriously here in the US is because Trump poo pooed it off as nothing. So, majority of the Trump supporters I know absolutely refuse to vaccinate. My sister is one of them. So her daughters aren't vaccinated and this is with having a member of the family that WORKED on the Moderna vaccine. It just boggles the mind. It's insane that people think it's a government conspiracy and that if you get vaccinated you are being micro-chipped and all sorts of nonsense. I am just tired of being sick and tired....LOL. With this bug it just causes such a wide range of symptoms and damages that I don't think we are going to know the full scope of implications for a very long time. Anyway, thank you for the well wishes everyone!!!

[LadyMadonna]

We have our 4th booster in just over one hour's time.  Keeping everything crossed that it will have minimal (if any) side effects.  My husband and I both had COVID in March, but neither of us were particularly unwell and have no apparent lasting symptoms from the experience.   We were both fully  vaccinated, so probably have that to thank.

[Lagie]

7 hours ago, LadyMadonna said:

We have our 4th booster in just over one hour's time.

Hope it goes smoothly!

4th booster? That's a lot of boosters.

 

Our mask mandate comes to an end October 1st. There will be much rejoicing from many people, but given our positivity rate is still between 8 and 14 %, my mask will be staying on.

[purpledragonclaw]

I and my family are getting the bivalent boosters next week! I may bundle my flu shot in with it, I'm almost due for that too.

 

My mask is staying on until further notice, especially with a new subvariant of a subvariant of Omnicron out there, and flu season getting ready to ramp up. It will be my second booster, I never qualified for the additional booster dose.

[BlackMagicRose]

Been a while since I have checked in. Hope you all are doing okay and staying well!!! I am almost 9 months post Covid and I am STILL struggling with several problems. Exhaustion and just no energy to do anything, getting extremely winded and short of breath just walking from one room to another room of the house or outside, brain fog and memory problems like I can't stay focused, my teeth cracking and breaking and chipping and I need dentures now, also getting more frequent headaches and body aches like it's kicked my chronic pain (I have 3 or 4 kinds of chronic pain) and fibromyalgia into high gear. This is one hell of a scary bug because it causes such a wide range of symptoms and it seems to hit everyone differently. I need to get my flu shot and second booster but I wanted to make sure I get the updated booster. So far my son Kian only got Covid the one time right before I did and has no lingering problems or symptoms. My Dad has managed to keep from getting it despite being around Kian and I both when we had it. It's just such a scary illness because it can cause so many long-term problems. I am scared I will never feel 100% again and also afraid that it did permanent damage to my lungs and brain. It's even made my skin kind of weird and more dry. I really wish people would take it seriously instead of blowing it off and saying "Oh...it's not that bad. No worse than the flu." Etc. I am sorry but normally the flu doesn't usually do long-term or permanent damage. Anyway, stay safe and healthy everyone. Love & Light 💗

 

[Lagie]

On 9/25/2022 at 2:40 PM, BlackMagicRose said:

I am almost 9 months post Covid and I am STILL struggling with several problems.

Wow. I'm sorry you're going through this. *hugs*

 

Yesterday was our first day without the mask mandate. I was very surprised that maybe 90% of the 80+ customers in my shop were still wearing theirs. Mine stayed on, as did one of my other volunteer's. The other three went unmasked. Our hospitalizations are climbing again, more in the ICU, and the positivity rate's at 14%.