Coronavirus Pandemic

[NorthWay]

Norway is now at over 5000 new cases per day.
Which is just a number, but I sat thinking about it a little: That is 50000 in ten days (not even Christmas by then). That is a lot. That is 500000 in three months, or every 12th Norwegian. That is ...unreal, just looking out of my window I should then have 2-3 next to me.
You can't escape.

That was then. Now: 15000 / 150000 / 1200000 / 5th / ¬10. I am beginning to understand how you can get a reality distortion field a la Jobs if you don't want to handle reality.

[Foozwah]

Just checking in from Australia to note that while there was light at the end of the tunnel here a few months ago, it got bait-and-switched from the light of a new day dawning to the proverbial "light of the oncoming train" and it's all pretty much fucked here now.

For roughly two years of our Labor state government followed the science, ignoring everything the federal (LNP - conservatives) government mandated (which followed whatever big business wanted), which led to us defeating at least four major outbreaks and getting back to literal Covid-zero each time.

But now, in my state on average about 1 in every 30 people currently has Covid.

Basically the (also LNP- conservative) NSW state government (whose premier is a literal Opus Dei motherfucker that has no problem with our infection and death rates because hey, "suffering is good for the soul") opened up completely, got overrun with cases, they spread over the border to us, and after an attempt at another lockdown to beat it, it seems a combo of Omicron and a general lack of will on the part of too many people to do the right thing anymore has fucked us, and so we have (at a state gov level) totally opened up too.

Which would be fine (or as fine as it is anywhere else... which admittedly isn't that great) except that it seems that in the same way the feds didn't procure enough vaccines last year, this time they haven't procured enough RAT tests. So while we read of them basically being given away free in the UK, etc. here they cost a fortune - if you can actually find one to buy. Which you can't.

So now despite there being no more lockdowns here (and zero political will to ever do it again, I suspect) businesses are tanking left right and centre, as a significant proportion of the public is now so wary that they are effectively self isolating. I'm probably fairly typical, in that I am once again working from home, go out to buy a take away coffee twice a day as some kind of "treat", and once a week buy supplies from the supermarket late at night when there's fuck-all other shoppers there.

(And even that's getting harder, as now supply chains are breaking down and deliveries to stores just aren't being made.)

And that's it. No more eating out. No more discretionary spending. No more cinema. No more going to gigs. So all these are open/happening, but we're staying away in droves. Because we can't use a RAT before, or after, to try and mitigate the possibilities. I'd love to get to a live gig, but it's just not worth it for the health risk to myself and my family.

On top of that, all schools are going back in about two weeks' time, but in the last two years there's been no preparation, and kids 5-11 only became eligible for vaccination a week and a half ago, and then vaccines ran out anyway, so at this rate every school is going to be a superspreader venue within a month, with half or non-vaccinated kids likely to then bring home Covid to their families, who will then have to isolate, tanking the workforce and economy and defeating the government's stated purpose of pushing to open the schools to "free up workers and boost the economy" before as many precautionary measures as possible could be enabled to, you know, do it properly.

We are fucked.

Our prime minister, Scott Morrison, is a fundamentalist christian from a bullshit prosperity church who is so fucking dumb, so blind to reality, that his main brain fart for today was that, as supply chains grind to a halt, to advocate for changing the law to allow children to drive forklifts in warehouses, to make up the shortfall in workers.

Children driving forklifts. Next stop, chimney sweeps, guv'nor.

It'll never happen, and because he is a sociopathic liar, tomorrow he will claim that he never suggested any such thing, and the MSM (heavily dominate by Murdoch and the rest of the right) will paper over the cracks and the largely brain-dead voting public will have no idea about any of it.

I tell you, Morrison could give Johnson a run for his money in the "useless sack of shit masquerading as a human, let alone a PM" stakes.

Less than a month ago we only had to wear masks in very limited close-quarters indoor settings. Three weeks ago I was happily going to the cinema.

Now, because of a half-vaccinated population, no RATs and no fucking leadership from the top (last week the PM told us from the cricket to "take wickets in Omicron", whatever the fuck that means. The week before that he told us we just had to "stare down" Covid to beat it...) a significant proportion of the population is infected, our medical system is overrun, our supply lines are broken, our businesses that had managed to survive til now are failing, and we're looking at mass infections of children under the age of 12 starting in about a fortnight.

And you wouldn't know it if you read most of the papers or watched the news. Because the MSM is STILL covering for the government.

This has been an incoherent and badly structured rant on behalf of me wondering what the actual fuck. On Saturday I am taking my family down the coast to bush camp, swim in the sea, maybe do a bit of surfing, and try and avoid contact with pretty much the rest of humanity for a week, as a sort of "last hurrah" before it all gets, barring some kind of miracle, even worse.

Fingers crossed I'm just being overly pessimistic, but given we are literally being governed by idiots, I hold little hope.

[KlaxonCow]

Yeah, I had to go into the office to meet with some clients and a work colleague just told me how "mild" Covid can be.

His wife caught Covid - Omicron, presumably - just before getting her jab. So she had both the vaccine and the real cirus at the same time.

She called out in distress to him, with chest pains, and then her arm went numb, then the other arm, then the legs. Then she started fitting, before going so limp, he thought she'd actually died.

Called for an ambulance. Three hours minimum.

So, fuck that, he drove her to the hospital himself. Except that they both had Covid - they were self-isolating - and so he could only walk her to the door and then had to leave. Sitting outside in the car park, no idea whether she'd live or die.

It was a blood clot. They managed to dissolve it. If he'd waited 3 hours for an ambulance, then she'd likely be dead. What about people who don't have cars, so are reliant on an ambulance?

So much for being "mild".

(Oh, and so much for blaming AZ for blood clots. This was Moderna and Covid itself.)

Granted, there is the extenuating circumstances that she had both the vaccine and the virus at the same time - but, like, "but for the grace of God, go I". That could have been any of us, couldn't it? You might well pick up Covid on your way to or from the jab centre.

As has always been the case - I know from having "mild" symptoms at the beginning - that the word "mild" is very much a relative term. "Mild" compared to pneumonia."Mild" compared to blood clots and death. "Mild" compared to previous variants, that bereaved over 120,000 families,.even before Omicron showed up.

"Mild" in those relative senses. But, like, not at all "mild" in absolute terms.

[PFVA]

Europe Map
Combined indicator: 14-day notification rate, testing rate and test positivity, updated 20 January 2022

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/ ... e-movement

[gilesgoat]

Granted, there is the extenuating circumstances that she had both the vaccine and the virus at the same time - but, like, "but for the grace of God, go I". That could have been any of us, couldn't it? You might well pick up Covid on your way to or from the jab centre.

I may have had "a similar thing" given that we got the 3rd booster just before Xmas and gave me "an absolute heck of a reaction" ( TERRIBLE bones/muscles aching for 4 days in a row, luckily it did last only 4 days but was REALLY painful - Moderna ), I think it was 20th Dec. or 18th can't remember, "a few days before xmas" ..

Then 23th I started to have "a really BAD sore throat" .. cause "we did not need to go anywhere" we were already "sorted" I decided not to move out "just in case" but anyway did not need to go anywhere so no big deal ..

Spent the whole xmas time "feeling quite a bit like crap" and with this sore throat/dry coff that turned at some point into "fuckload of mucus coming down my throat" almost the point "I can't breathe at night" quite distressing, no fever, no anything like that but "not a very good feeling".

In fact I was a bit worried but "if it does not get any worse it will pass" also knowing the fact that "even if it'd be Covid unless I am super bad they'd tell me to isolate/stay home" .. so I did ..

Then .. Ox tests positive .. funny thing he was "completely asymphtomatic" almost "nothing at all to report", you would have never told "he could have anything" ..

I do two PCR tests .. all negative .. and I am feeling like super crap ..

So we self-isolate for another 10 days .. we took PCR tests again .. both negative this time ..

Sore throat and such went away after about 20 days or so .. it took quite some time to go back to normal again !

What the fuck to say ?

Well FIRST OF ALL "if WE got it , SO isolated/careful/masks/disinfectants/going out very litte/being in an isolated area" .. then "there's no hope, everyone will get it !" .. really "what else more can you do ? Live in a decontamination room ?" ..

We keep hearing people getting positive for Covid and so on ..

So yeah "it is spreading" .. and "yes mild" IF you are LUCKY .. COULD be worse ...

[edit] - and well yes yeah, we had to wait in a room for at least 30 mins "where hell knows how many others before us" .. even if we were 2 metres away it was still a room where hundreds of people passed by to get a booster ...

[KlaxonCow]

I may have had "a similar thing" given that we got the 3rd booster just before Xmas and gave me "an absolute heck of a reaction"

Yes, I remember you telling us at the time, and it was definitely extreme stuff. Way beyond normal "side effects" that you'd expect.

Then 23th I started to have "a really BAD sore throat"

Okay, I am not a doctor and so forth. But, yeah, that surely sounds like Covid.

Because, like, the vaccines go into your arm. Nowhere near the upper respiratory system. They're just spike proteins - nothing else - and don't target anything. Vaccine side effects are entirely your body's immune reaction to the spike protein / being jabbed.

It's a non-sequitur. A jab in the arm should not be giving you a sore throat.

On the other hand, Omicron is absolutely known to target the upper respiratory system - ear, nose and throat - and that is, in fact, why it's believed to be "milder" than previous variants, as it's staying in that ear, nose and throat area and is not going deeper into the lungs as much.

So, you know, a bad sore throat completely fits Omicron symptoms, while not really making much sense as a vaccine side effect - why would the immune response be targeting the throat, when the jab was nowhere near there and doesn't have any obvious path there either?

I am not a doctor and this is not a medical diagnosis. But, well, you see what I'm saying, yeah?

So I agree with you that, from the sounds of it, something similar possibly happened to you. That you might have picked up Omicron on the way to the jab centre - so your extreme reaction was because your immune system was dealing with both at the same time.

(Because, of course, vaccines are preventative, not curative. If you have Covid, the jab doesn't get rid of it. It just adds to it. So you end up with twice as many "intruders" for the immune system to deal with.)

In which case, well done to your immune system. As that could have been very nasty indeed - as I say, my work colleague's story about his wife brought that into focus for me (she's only 37, by the way).

The consolation there, though, is that your immune system just got accidentally "super-jabbed" by the experience.

(And now I, unfortunately, have one more person who can back me up on the "NOT just a little 'flu" and "when you've got symptomatic Covid, you KNOW you've got Covid - it's very unmistakably different to a 'flu or a cold, even if it externally shares similar symptoms, but it internally feels like 'death' warmed up".

I mean, yes, it's endemic. Possibly everyone will get it eventually. But, like, you just DON'T want to be in any rush to do so, trust me. And, indeed, if Omicron is the start of this disease getting "milder" then it makes abundant sense to catch it later, rather than sooner. If this "milder, less deaths" trend continues with future variants, then you want to wait around for those. When Covid actually eventually does become closer to "just a little 'flu". That's when you want to catch it, if you must catch it at some point.)

[KlaxonCow]

Also:

the real cirus

That, of course, should read "the real virus"

Sorry, I was thumb typing on my phone from work. I have a proper keyboard now.

[gilesgoat]

Also:

the real cirus

That, of course, should read "the real virus"

Sorry, I was thumb typing on my phone from work. I have a proper keyboard now.

To be honest it wasn't as bad as the last time years ago we got "a real flu" - that to be honest that was only some months before Covid got known to the world and there's still "doubt" about what could have been - but yes the sore throat was REALLY BAD, PAINFUL, and "all dry" including the nose.

No swelling of anything MAYBE lightly some lymph node but I don't think even that .. but pain .. lot of pain .. especially when trying to swallow stuff if was like "someone was stabbing me in the throat".

No fewer, no temperature change, nothing, maybe a bit of "guts discomfort" .. at SOME point, after some days .. I had a "partial shutdown of my taste buds" .. was funny because it was "partial" .. some flavours where there, some not, the way I realised "something is odd" was in the morning while making tea.

It's like "phooey there's no sugar in my tea, I forgot to add it !" .. add more sugar .. "is this sugar spoiled ????" .. then I tried eating a spoonfull of sugar and "OMG IT TASTES OF NOTHING !" ..

BUT SOME flavours were there, IIRC I could taste salty but not sweet, lot of things seems like "1/2 out of flavour" .. did last .. can't remember .. apporx 4 days .. then it returned back ... thankfully did not last very long ..

Still I wasn't sure if it was Covid or not but I definitely was worried.

But it terms of "bad" it actually wasn't "so totally destroying" like that flu we got 2 years ago that in terms of "physical destruction" was worse.

Anyway also maybe because all the jabs and such, maybe we "got it lightly" .. but yeah .. still "better to avoid getting it if you can".

The overall experience wasn't nice.

[tufty]

And, indeed, if Omicron is the start of this disease getting "milder" then it makes abundant sense to catch it later, rather than sooner.

No, it makes abundant sense not to catch it at all. Even Omicron is potentially fatal, and just because Omicron happens to be less violent than Delta, it doesn't mean that the next variant will be. The next variant, if there is one, will have to somehow sidestep Omicron-induced immune responses, that's pretty much sure. But that's also *all*. It might kill everyone it infects, it might make their farts smell like violets. We don't know.

[Little stoned kiwi]

My farts smell delicious already.

[merman]

I'd be less worried if daily cases weren't levelling off at around 100k, admittedly.

That’s roughly 5000 suffering from long COVID for years.
That’s another 100 deaths.

PER DAY with 100,000 cases.
And the Government themselves admit cases will be rising and spreading because schools are still open.

Releasing the restrictions now means putting the NHS under extreme pressures during what is usually one of its busiest months.

[PFVA]

Here it seems that everybody is getting Covid too. I have lost count of how many people around here have tested positive between Christmas and now.

It seems to be milder or the vaccination of so many has helped because we have less people in the hospitals and less people in intensive care and needing respirators. The big problem last year that lead to so many deaths was not enough respirators for all that needed it and they had to decide who would get them and for how long. And it's that what people still fear. We have more cases, and even if a lower % of them need respirators if that number gets too high the same thing might happen.

This is not over yet, but with time vaccines may get better, medications may get better, and people may start building more immunity to it by having it or being exposed to it. They may also be able to find out why some people don't have any symptoms when they get it. There has to be a reason.

Note: And today they decided that those who are positive for Covid will be able to vote on the elections but they will have to do it between 6:00 and 7:00pm, wear FFP2 masks, and they cant't go by public transportation. I live less than 100 meters from the polling station.

[snaff]

https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transpar ... 0todec2021

Death rate is very low for people without other conditions. Those numbers even include overweight people.

Long COVID is linked to insulin resistance which most people can fix themselves.

[KlaxonCow]

Long COVID is linked to insulin resistance which most people can fix themselves.

Do you have links to sources and data? Or is this just your own personal opinion from something you read on Facebook?

[Dio]

I'd be less worried if daily cases weren't levelling off at around 100k, admittedly.

That’s roughly 5000 suffering from long COVID for years.
That’s another 100 deaths.

Both those numbers will continue to trail down over time as unvaccinated people are either 'vaccinated' by the virus or die, just as they did in the second half of last year. It about 2x as many cases to generate a given death rate in December (even pre-Omicron) as it did in July.