[Beaver101]

Why?
It isn't like we have a dangerous virus running around.

... has the pandemic been "officially (this excludes you)" declared over? Has it been degraded to an epidemic? How about an endemic? Answers are NO.

Do you wear a mask during flu season?

... Don't know about anyone else but I will FOR SURE knowing what I know now. Especially on "infectious" "respiratory" diseases which include the flu, the cold and obviously Covid.

 

[MrMatt]

... has the pandemic been "officially (this excludes you)" declared over? Has it been degraded to an epidemic? How about an endemic? Answers are NO.

No, because that's not how it works.

It's not currently a significant public health problem, a new virus/variant might be, but COVID19 itself, nope.
We have all sorts of dangerous diseases out there, but when they aren't a risk, we ignore them.

 

[Beaver101]

No, because that's not how it works.

.... then how does it work? You might consider joining WHO. If that's too ambitious, try the CMO's spot as I'm still waiting for a plan for Ontario's surgical/hospital back log problems caused by the pandemic.

It's not currently a significan public health problem, a new virus/variant might be, but COVID19 itself, nope.

... ain't that being reactive than proactive? Is this typically how management do things these days?

 

[MrMatt]

It's not currently a significant public health problem, a new virus/variant might be, but COVID19 itself, nope.

... ain't that being reactive than proactive? Is this typically how management do things these days?

Well yeah, if it isn't likely to be a problem, you don't worry about it.
I put away my snow shovel, because its 30° and I'm not too worried about a snowstorm.

 

[HappilyRetired]

National incident declared after UK health officials detect polio virus in London sewage samples

Hopefully this is just contained in the UK, London specifically.

Coincidentally, they have let in 10's of thousands of migrants over the last few years from 3rd world countries while having no data at all on their lifetime vaccination history.

But, let me guess...you think that factual comment about unknown medical history is somehow racist.

 

[Beaver101]

Coincidentally, they have let in 10's of thousands of migrants over the last few years from 3rd world countries while having no data at all on their lifetime vaccination history.

But, let me guess...you think that factual comment about unknown medical history is somehow racist.

... complain to Boris then. I don't live in the UK.

 

[HappilyRetired]

... complain to Boris then. I don't live in the UK.

I don't live in the UK either, I was just pointing out a fact.

Hopefully the open border at Roxham doesn't introduce another unwanted disease into Canada, or maybe it already has.

 

[james4beach]

Why?
It isn't like we have a dangerous virus running around.
Do you wear a mask during flu season?

We do have a dangerous virus running around. It's dangerous because it's still quite new and we don't really understand some of the side effects of disease, such as long COVID (which appears to include brain impairment) plus damage to children's livers, another possible side effect. The most recent study on the children's liver problems suggested a link to COVID infection. Remember that some of these kids need liver transplants.

So first of all, the virus is dangerous. It's all relative of course, but this is more dangerous than a standard cold & flu.

Second, it's continuously circulating at far greater levels than what we get with influenza. The flu is also dangerous by the way, and kills people too, but the flu season is rather limited to about 4 months. COVID on the other hand, is circulating very broadly and has not settled into a seasonal pattern.

Not sure why you have trouble grasping this @MrMatt . In June, do you ever recall everyone's families coming down with cases of the flu?

You are taking COVID too lightly, IMO. It does cause organ damage, including to heart / lungs / brain / liver in some % of cases. It kills some % of cases. And it's absolutely more dangerous than the flu, which itself is quite dangerous.

It's circulating at greater levels than the flu, and continuously circulating in all seasons.

 

[HappilyRetired]

There are also a lot of side effects showing up related to those who took the vaccine. Myocarditis is well documented (which my nephew contracted immediately after getting the shot). SADS...sudden adult death syndrome is now an issue. We might only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.

 

[MrMatt]

Second, it's continuously circulating at far greater levels than what we get with influenza.

And it's been doing this for THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

Not sure why you have trouble grasping this @MrMatt . In June, do you ever recall everyone's families coming down with cases of the flu?

Yes, almost every time.
Was yours the magical family where they didn't spread it to each other?

It's circulating at greater levels than the flu, and continuously circulating in all seasons.

I know, that's what Coronaviruses do.

 

[james4beach]

And it's been doing this for THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

SARS-CoV-2 did not circulate for thousands of years. It's a novel virus.

We don't fully understand the disease. It appears to harm some people's vital organs, even children's organs.

This is not equivalent to common cold/flu that we have become accustomed to. It's dangerous because it's NEW and not fully understood. It takes some time for us to get up to speed to the point where it's OK to let it circulate like this.

In a year or something, and once medicine gets up to speed a bit more, I'll have no concerns. But at the moment, all of my doctor friends (and docs I know span ages 30 to 70) all say the same thing to me --- try to avoid catching this, because we don't really know what's going on with it, and some % of people get it really bad.

Every doctor I know has told me to try to avoid catching it. Most of them seem to be really careful too. They haven't thrown up their hands and said "well no problem, I'll let my whole family catch it"

 

[MrMatt]

SARS-CoV-2 did not circulate for thousands of years. It's a novel virus.

It's just one of the most recent variants of the coronavirus.
Bit more lethal, acts a bit differently at times, but it's basically a Coronavirus, and for the most part it's acting exactly how we expect a coronavirus to act.

I think some people want to stay in emergency mode a bit longer.

An honest question for your doctor friends, are they putting their lives on hold and locking themselves away, or have they gotten on with their lives?

 

[james4beach]

An honest question for your doctor friends, are they putting their lives on hold and locking themselves away, or have they gotten on with their lives?

I don't understand why you're so caught up on this "living your life" thing and "emergency mode" thing.

I've been living my life since 2021 and just about everyone I know has as well. We just take more caution to adapt to circumstances. These doctors are careful to wear masks in high risk environments, but they are travelling, socializing etc. As I am as well.

There are some things my doc friends aren't doing. They are not joining large crowded gatherings, not inviting many guests over to their houses. When they have family members who show symptoms, they stay away from them. That's just smart and it's what everyone should be doing.

This isn't a binary thing. You don't either take COVID seriously or just go back to doing stupid behaviours. There's such a thing as nuance... live your life, while taking precautions and adding extra safeguards.

MrMatt you have a very extreme view of this situation. You're still talking about "emergency mode". Nobody is saying there's an emergency, nobody is saying to lock yourself up or not live life. What people like me are saying is to take more precautions and have more safeguards, and have some public health policies which help curtail the spread of disease.

The Public Health measures are necessary (IMO) because people are too stupid to do it themselves. This is an infectious disease, so another person's stupidity impacts me.

 

[damian13ster]

Well, for you 'living life' is different than for others.
Respect that and continue living your life and butt out from others' lives

 

[Beaver101]

Well, for you 'living life' is different than for others.
Respect that and continue living your life and butt out from others' lives

... that's oxymoron(ic) talk about telling others to "respecting how they live life" when accusing others of wanting to continue living in an emergency mode. I would not be the least surprised if I walked the street, you would be the type to ridicule my masking, if not tearing it off.

As for telling others to "butt" out, don't tell me you have never seen/consulted a (medical) doctor in your life. And that you own the air on this planet.

 

[TomB16]

BA.5 is starting to spread in the US like an activating Clarence Thomas sleeper cell.

BA.5 is out competing BA.2. The BA.2 peak looks to have lasted about 7 weeks in the UK so BA.5 should bring added immunity at least as fast.

So, I have stopped worrying about getting BA.5 before fall.

 

[Money172375]

Never heard of this…. A COVID prevention drug now available.

There’s a COVID-prevention drug that can protect vulnerable patients. Doctors say not enough people know about it

Evusheld, authorized for people with weakened immune systems like transplant patients, is in some Ontario hospitals. Patients call it “life-changing.”

www.thestar.com

 

[james4beach]

Today I received two more texts from friends who've just caught COVID.

One of them believes they caught it at a concert event.

 

[TomB16]

From what I can tell, North American statistics lag base reality quite a bit. When it is announced we have our first BA.5 case here, we have probably had BA.5 for a while and it is spreading fast.

I think we are well into a BA.5 wave but it's tough to tell because hospitalizations are not going up. Hospitalizations are expected to go up a bit but not like previous waves. There will be a few more deaths also but, again, low numbers compared to previous waves.

This should be our first look at endemicity.

 

[Beaver101]

From what I can tell, North American statistics lag base reality quite a bit. When it is announced we have our first BA.5 case here, we have probably had BA.5 for a while and it is spreading fast.

I think we are well into a BA.5 wave but it's tough to tell because hospitalizations are not going up. Hospitalizations are expected to go up a bit but not like previous waves. There will be a few more deaths also but, again, low numbers compared to previous waves.

This should be our first look at endemicity.

... and just where do you propose to do that? Are we, the "public" supposedly to be doing those medical experts jobs' now? In doing own research, studying and drawing conclusions from whatever data you propose to search at/for. If so, then I WANT my tax dollars BACK!