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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Commentary: Life in the Roiling 20s - which is what I've decided this decade is - continues to confound us. As new challenges emerge (like the Russian invasion of Ukraine), we still haven't conquered our existing challenges, like COVID-19. All those masks and stuff you've stocked up? KEEP USING THEM. Keep your supplies topped up. Keep exercising great caution because it's warranted. The pandemic, much as I wish it were, is far from over.
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Multiple hotspots developing. "When South Korea, a model country for the pandemic, has >400,000 new cases in a day, leading the world per capita, you take notice. Tests 4X the US with <1/6th the population. BA.2 is 26% as of this week's report.
Very high 2-shot vaxx 87%, 3-shot 63%. The pandemic isn't over."
"BREAKING: South Korea reports 621,328 new coronavirus cases, by far the biggest one-day increase so far, and a record 429 new deaths"
Source:
Source:
Commentary: BA.2 is making strong strides worldwide. I strongly advise you to remain masked up and get your boosters every 5 months.
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COVID-19 spreading in hospitals. " So, if I need to goto a hospital, I want to be safe and know I won’t be cross-infected. Yet, 20% of #COVID19 hospitalization today are **acquired in hospitals** after arrival! This is up 5x from ~4% in Jan. All HCWs need #N95–Yet CDC still does not require it! 🧵
2) Let this sink in— Some hospitals are asking patients and visitors to remove their N95 masks when they enter. 😱
The hospitals claim they're following @CDCgov guidelines. For many public health advocates, that's exactly the problem!!!
3) A recent POLITICO analysis found that more than 3,000 patients were infected with Covid each week in January, during the Omicron wave.
4) Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease specialist who advises the Biden administration, said there is “no doubt” that the lack of the more-protective face masks contributed to those grim totals. He warned @CDCDirector — nobody responded.
5) Advocates for those with disabilities and the immunocompromised have pleaded with the administration to recommend N95s for everyday use indoors. **The CDC declined to do so*** and acknowledged in January that cloth masks provide less protection than surgical masks or N95s.
6) The CDC also waited until January before telling Americans they could use N95s without harming the health workers who need them.
“The CDC has been years behind on the science,” said Osterholm."
Source:
Commentary: Like MRSA and other healthcare infections, COVID-19 has lodged itself in the healthcare system. If you need to be in a healthcare environment, mask up with the best mask available to you and if someone tells you to remove your mask, find a different healthcare provider.
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Vaccination has changed how rapid tests work. Now symptoms show up BEFORE you are contagious. Test, test, test!
"IMPORTANT:
RAPID TESTS DO WORK WITH OMICRON
"But why are some people staying negative in the first days they have symptoms??"
This is expected. Symptoms don't = contagious virus
This is literally a reflection of the fact that vaccines are doing their job!"
Source:
Commentary: This is an important twist in how we detect COVID-19. If you're fully vaccinated and boosted, the day after you start to feel sick, do a rapid test.
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The next USA wave appears to be blossoming in the USA Midwest. Multiple wastewater surveillance sites showing 1000% increases in Illinois and Ohio.
Source: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance
Commentary: a 10x increase - which is what a 1000% increase is - indicates that the disease has found fertile new grounds, either by being able to evade immune response or a new population that's previously escaped infection. Mask up!
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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.