Lunchtime pandemic reading.
Standard disclaimer: this is a roundup of informative pieces I've read that interest me on the severity of the crisis and how to manage it. I am not a qualified medical expert in ANY sense; at best I am reasonably well-read laity. ALWAYS prioritize advice from a qualified healthcare provider who knows your specific medical situation over advice from people on the Internet.
This is also available as an email newsletter at https://lunchtimepandemic.substack.com if you prefer the update in your inbox.
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Something's up in China. "According to the situation of epidemic prevention and control in our city, in order to effectively control the risk of the spread of the epidemic, and effectively protect the lives and health of the general public, the Municipal Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters decided to carry out three rounds of nucleic acid testing for all employees across the city. The relevant matters are hereby announced as follows:
1. Nucleic acid testing of all employees in the city
The city's personnel completed each round of nucleic acid testing for all employees in accordance with the requirements of "must be tested and no one will be left behind". Citizens are requested to pay close attention to the nucleic acid testing time in the area, participate in nucleic acid testing at different times according to the notice of the community in the street and take personal protection, and return to their residence immediately after the test.
2. Offices and institutions work from home
All government agencies and institutions at all levels in the city, except for the staff who undertake epidemic prevention tasks, work from home or become community volunteers, report to the community where they live, and fully participate in community epidemic prevention work and community services.
3. Non-urban security enterprises stop operating or work from home
Except for public service enterprises such as water, electricity, fuel oil, gas, communications, sanitation, grain, oil, meat and vegetable supply that guarantee citizens' lives and the basic operation of the city, as well as the supply enterprises in Hong Kong, all enterprises will work from home and suspend production and business activities. Except for supermarkets (including farmers' markets), pharmacies, medical institutions, and catering enterprises (which only provide express delivery services) that meet the basic needs of citizens, all other business premises and stores will be closed.
4. Stop all non-essential flows and activities
In addition to ensuring the city's operation and the transportation of goods and goods to the port, the city's buses and subways will be suspended. The city's community communities, urban villages, and industrial parks implement closed management. All personnel in the city will not leave Shenzhen unless necessary. If there are special needs, they will leave Shenzhen with a 24-hour nucleic acid negative certificate.
5. Guaranteeing the supply of citizens' home life
Market supervision, commerce and other relevant departments and supply guarantee enterprises ensure sufficient supply of daily necessities and stable prices. Each district, street, and community has established a dedicated service guarantee team, set up a warm-hearted service hotline, and responded to citizens' demands in a timely manner.
The above measures will be implemented from March 14th to 20th, and will be dynamically adjusted according to the situation of epidemic prevention and control.
Thank you for your support and understanding!"
Source: https://ishare.ifeng.com/c/s/v006LBcjcBx5P--xcc--HYZv1mk8FDl1bRJGiivgHPYm-_g--enqKX1uH8FpSa4kJI2aLfNHV7WLYfQWyvDMxaCizZ4flg____?spss=np&channelId=&aman=d7Ibc8idd5naac1aecS98aA614H916G925ud097bd1
Commentary: The above was translated by Google Translate. Shenzhen - a city of 12 million people - is under lockdown again. Early indications suggest it's Omicron BA.2, which has stronger immune escape properties. There are also confirmed reports that China is adding hospital capacity and that the province of Jilin - home to 24 million - is also under lockdown.
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Meanwhile, Europe's next wave has begun. Nations like Austria, the Netherlands, and Switzerland are seeing sharp increases in cases.
Source:
Commentary: COVID isn't over. The next wave has begun in many locations and BA.2 is picking up steam. Combine that with waning immunity for many folks, and we've got a recipe for another wave in any place where restrictions have been abandoned.
I still haven't taken my mask off. And the way things are going, I probably never will again in public places. I'm still not eating out in restaurants - takeout only.
What happens in Europe now has been happening in the USA 4-6 weeks later. Stay ahead of the curve and keep your mask on. When 5 months have passed since your last booster, go and get another one if it's available.
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COVID-19 can infect T lymphocytes. "SARS-CoV-2 induced marked lymphopenia in severe patients with COVID-19. However, whether lymphocytes are targets of viral infection is yet to be determined, although SARS-CoV-2 RNA or antigen has been identified in T cells from patients. Here, we confirmed that SARS-CoV-2 viral antigen could be detected in patient peripheral blood cells (PBCs) or postmortem lung T cells, and the infectious virus could also be detected from viral antigen-positive PBCs. We next prove that SARS-CoV-2 infects T lymphocytes, preferably activated CD4 + T cells in vitro. Upon infection, viral RNA, subgenomic RNA, viral protein or viral particle can be detected in the T cells. Furthermore, we show that the infection is spike-ACE2/TMPRSS2-independent through using ACE2 knockdown or receptor blocking experiments. Next, we demonstrate that viral antigen-positive T cells from patient undergone pronounced apoptosis. In vitro infection of T cells induced cell death that is likely in mitochondria ROS-HIF-1a-dependent pathways. Finally, we demonstrated that LFA-1, the protein exclusively expresses in multiple leukocytes, is more likely the entry molecule that mediated SARS-CoV-2 infection in T cells, compared to a list of other known receptors. Collectively, this work confirmed a SARS-CoV-2 infection of T cells, in a spike-ACE2-independent manner, which shed novel insights into the underlying mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2-induced lymphopenia in COVID-19 patients."
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-022-00919-x
Commentary: Think about that for a second. COVID-19 can infect the immune system's cells itself. That's like saying a fire can burn fire extinguishers.
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A reminder of the simple daily habits we should all be taking.
1. Wear the best mask available to you when you'll be around people you don't live with, even after you've been vaccinated. Respirators are back in stock at online retailers, too. Wear an N95/FFP2/KN95 that's NIOSH-approved or better mask if you can obtain it. If you can't get an N95 mask, wear a surgical mask with a cloth mask over it.
2. Verify your mask's NIOSH certification here: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/usernotices/counterfeitResp.html
3. Get vaccinated as soon as you're able to, and fulfill the full vaccine regimen, including boosters. Remember that you are not vaccinated until everyone you live with is vaccinated. If you received an adenovirus vaccine (J&J/AstraZeneca), consider getting an mRNA single shot booster (Pfizer/Moderna) if available. If it's available, choose Moderna as your first choice for both vaccine and booster, Pfizer as your second choice. However, remember than any vaccine is better than no vaccine.
4. Wash/sanitize your hands every time you are in or out of your home.
5. Stay out of indoor spaces that aren't your home and away from people you don't live with as much as practical. Minimize your contact with others and avoid indoor places as much as you can; indoor spaces spread the disease through aerosols and distance is less effective at mitigating your risks.
6. Aim to have 3-6 months of living expenses on hand in case the pandemic gives another crazy plot twist to the economy, or you know, a global war breaks out.
7. Replenish your supplies as you use them. Avoid reducing your stores to pre-pandemic levels in case an outbreak causes unexpected supply chain disruptions.
8. Ventilate your home as frequently as weather and circumstances permit, except when you share close airspaces with other residences (like a window less than a meter away from a neighboring window).
9. Masks must fit properly to work. Here's how to properly fit a mask:
10. If you think you may have been exposed to COVID-19, purchase a rapid antigen test. This will detect COVID-19 only when you're contagious, so follow the directions clearly. https://amzn.to/3fLAoor
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Common misinformation debunked!
There is no basis in fact that COVID-19 vaccines can shed or otherwise harm people around you.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-covid19vaccine-reproductivepro-idUSL1N2MG256
There is no mercury or other heavy metals in the Pfizer mRNA vaccine.
Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/09/1013538/what-are-the-ingredients-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine/
There is no basis in fact that COVID-19 vaccines pose additional risks to pregnant women.
Source: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2104983
There is no genomic evidence at all that COVID-19 arrived before 2020 in the United States and therefore no hidden herd immunity:
Source:
There is no evidence SARS-CoV-2 was engineered, nor that it escaped a lab somewhere.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/01/29/experts-debunk-fringe-theory-linking-chinas-coronavirus-weapons-research/
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/anthony-fauci-no-scientific-evidence-the-coronavirus-was-made-in-a-chinese-lab-cvd/
Source: https://www.smh.com.au/national/are-we-ignoring-the-hard-truths-about-the-most-likely-cause-of-covid-19-20210601-p57x4r.html
There is no evidence a flu shot increases your COVID-19 risk.
Source: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/04/no-evidence-that-flu-shot-increases-risk-of-covid-19/
Source: https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa626/5842161
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Disclosures and Disclaimers
I declare no competing interests on anything I share related to COVID-19. I am employed by and am a co-owner in TrustInsights.ai, an analytics and management consulting firm. I have no clients and no business interests in anything related to COVID-19, nor do I financially benefit in any way from sharing information about COVID-19.
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A common request I'm asked is who I follow. Here's a public Twitter list of many of the sources I read.
https://twitter.com/i/lists/1260956929205112834
This list is biased by design. It is limited to authors who predominantly post in the English language. It is heavily biased towards individual researchers and away from institutions. It is biased towards those who publish or share research, data, papers, etc. I have made an attempt to follow researchers from different countries, and also to make the list reasonably gender-balanced, because multiple, diverse perspectives on research data are essential.
This is also available as an email newsletter at https://lunchtimepandemic.substack.com if you prefer the update in your inbox.