An ornate wooden memorial for Britain’s COVID-19 victims has been intentionally set alight in front of more than 10,000 people in Warwickshire.
A group of seven torchbearers including a reverend, and some of the people who worked on the structure, were specially selected to set the structure ablaze.
The 20m-high (65ft) wooden monument, called Sanctuary, was then burned to the ground just a week after it opened.
It had been a tribute to those who died after testing positive for coronavirus.
Artist David Best, who is known for large-scaled intricately carved structures at Burning Man Festival in the Nevada Desert, designed the memorial, along with independent arts company Artichoke, which produced Sanctuary…
Covid was vanishing last Memorial Day.
Now, the United States is recording more than 100,000 infections a day — at least five times higher than this point last year — as it confronts the most transmissible versions of the virus yet. https://t.co/5RXtvqBepB
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 28, 2022
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GENEVA, May 28 (Reuters) – Countries around the world on Saturday adopted an initial U.S.-led reform of the rules around disease outbreaks, known as the International Health Regulations (IHR), the United States said…
The breakthrough – amendments to Article 59 of the IHR that will speed up the implementation of reforms – came after early opposition from Africa and others was overcome this week. read more
The changes sought by Washington, and backed by others such as Japan and the European Union, mark a first step in a broader reform of the IHR, which set out countries’ legal obligations around disease outbreaks, expected to take up to two years…
Shanghai takes further steps towards reopening, Beijing eases COVID curbs https://t.co/4Xhz4DLAGE pic.twitter.com/Epl2OVlhQG
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 29, 2022
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Use of Pfizer Inc’s (PFE.N) COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid spiked this week, but some doctors are reconsidering the pills for lower-risk patients after a U.S. public health agency warned that symptoms can recur after people complete a course of the drug, and that they should then isolate a second time.
More quarantine time “is not a crowd-pleaser,” Dr. Sandra Kemmerly, an infectious disease specialist at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, told Reuters. “For those people who really aren’t at risk … I would recommend that they not take it.”
Use of Pfizer’s Paxlovid, authorized to treat newly infected, at-risk people in order to prevent severe illness, has soared as infections have risen. More than 162,000 courses were dispensed last week – compared with an average of 33,000 a week since the drug was launched late last year, according to government data. Biden administration officials have pushed for wide use of Paxlovid, which the government purchased and provides free.
But higher use has also come with more reports from people who say their symptoms eased with Paxlovid only to return a few days after finishing a five-day regimen of the pills…
The CDC also said it is unclear whether cases of rebound symptoms have anything to do with Paxlovid, or are simply part of the natural trajectory of COVID-19. The agency did not flag any specific concerns about health effects.
“COVID historically has had this sort of stuttering course – people will feel better one day and then feel worse the next day, but I can say we haven’t seen these rebound symptoms with other COVID treatments,” said Vijayan, referring to therapies such as monoclonal antibodies…
“There’s so much more baseline immunity around. There’s still a lot of infections, but they’re not nearly as severe,” Northwell’s Farber said.
He estimated the rate of Paxlovid-related COVID rebounds at around 10% – higher than the 3-4% rate cited by Pfizer in its trials of the drug.
Jason Gallagher, an infectious diseases expert at Temple University’s School of Pharmacy, said the rebounds do not detract from the drug’s utility. “It prevents you from going to the hospital … if you become symptomatic after you stop taking it, that stinks, but the overall drug was a success,” he said.
Continually updating research on SARSCoV2's genome can boost disease surveillance. Indeed, genome analyses might strengthen global disease monitoring & aid preparedness for new variants, according to a new study https://t.co/sqsRBAgf8I pic.twitter.com/BoVJVuBFPn
— delthia ricks 🔬 (@DelthiaRicks) May 28, 2022
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Preamble 1: Conferences are really important in science. They are where we become inspired, collaborations are forged, and spirits are lifted. Virtual conferences don’t come close to realizing these benefits. 2/8
Conference attendees have some agency over risk of COVID exposure – eg decisions about masking, attending specific sessions, dining alone etc. But some things are out of your control, & you may wish to know key details to understand risk before deciding to attend: 3/8
1. What is the conference vaccination policy? 2. What is the mask policy? Is masking mandatory or optional during lectures, in poster hall, etc? 3. How will organizers be monitoring and improving ventilation of venue (lecture/poster/dining halls etc)? 4/8
4. Where does dining occur? Don’t assume. At my meeting, outdoor dining was not allowed (specifically for conference attendees) 5. Will on-site testing be available? 5/86. What is the attitude of organizers AND the venue towards COVID and mitigating risk? If the resort staff won’t make accommodations because they believe COVID is over, that’s a red flag. 6/8Other considerations include incidence of COVID at the time of the meeting (hard to predict for most of us), and risks associated with exposure during transit (affected by policies of the airlines etc towards masking, vaccine requirements etc 7/8Ultimately everyone will need to make personalized decisions based on the perceived risks/benefits Hopeful this thread can help potential attendees to seek the information necessary to inform these decisions 8/8
God. I don’t know about others, but I for one find it hard not to despair when I hear that even scientific conferences can’t be bothered to take COVID seriously any more. I am in and out of doctors’ offices and occasionally the hospital, and it’s hard not to feel like it’s only a matter of time before I get it again… and again… and again…
Via Reddit
https://i.redd.it/1ji0pthhac291.jpg
Any of the usual suspects still pushing the ‘China Lab’ lie? Haven’t seen much along those lines lately; been swamped by new waves of b.s?
Britain has a strange definition of “rebirth.”
@mrmoshpotato: Maybe “rebirth” in the sense of the famous dinner scene from Alien?
I had planned to go into the grocery store this morning for the first time since early March. Then I read that last tweet about the conference and decided to order online for curbside pick up instead. Still too much COVID around here to risk it.
Re the conference, I’d have been asking questions before I made my reservation, because I’d have envisioned all those situations I’d been avoiding, like lecture rooms and halls with dozens or hundreds of people. Would they require masks, or what?
And of course, would there be outdoor dining facilities? The notion that they wouldn’t even *allow* outdoor dining would have been a deal-breaker for me.
Of course, I’m just 19 months from retirement (but who’s counting?) so I don’t exactly need to go to conferences for professional advancement anymore. So it’s easy for me to say that.
Malaysia’s Ministry of Health reported 1,645 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, for a cumulative reported total of 4,502,579 cases. It also reported two deaths for an adjusted cumulative total of 35,660 deaths – 0.79% of the cumulative reported total, 0.80% of resolved cases.
There were 25,218 active cases yesterday, 166 fewer than the day before. 930 were in hospital. 34 confirmed cases were in ICU; of these patients, 17 confirmed cases cases were on ventilators. Meanwhile, 1,809 more patients have recovered, for a cumulative total of 4,441,701 patients recovered – 98.6% of the cumulative reported total.
1,644 new cases reported yesterday were local infections. One new case was imported.
The National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) administered 17,578 doses of vaccine on 28th May: 7,554 first doses, 8,829 second doses, and 1,195 booster doses. The cumulative total is 70,896,708 doses administered: 27,969,283 first doses, 27,048,334 second doses, and 16,093,145 booster doses. 85.6% of the population have received their first dose, 82.8% their second dose, and 49.3% their booster dose.
I have three doses of Paxlovid to go and another 5 days of masking in the house with my bride present. It’s our anniversary and the only thing I was able to order on Amazon was a fun pop up card but it’s shipment is delayed! The Paxlovid killed the sore throat but it also has killed any interest in eating aside from simple refueling. I’m going to suggest we just delay the anniversary stuff a week.
Oh yea, travel, I’m missing a graduation celebration in LA for two nieces and we decided a month ago not to go. They were n to able to schedule until then and airfares were insane already. In our funky, hipster, faculty type hood EVERYONE is on the road and many went to Europe. Lots of them already have had covid and they are not stupid people but they judged it to be worth it to go. Athens is so nice when everyone leaves!
@lowtechcyclist
Also too, a new thing hotels have instituted is to NOT clean rooms daily. FSM only knows with what infrequency common areas are also neglected.
“Housekeepers struggle as US hotels ditch daily room cleaning”
https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-travel-united-states-b629be28a45ed4243ea9ee73439ad827
We’re having that conversation. I thought they decided all that shit about “hard surfaces” hold the virus was wrong and you didn’t need to be decontaminating stuff constantly. Now the CDC “guidelines” for quartile are back to it??? What the fuck-over?
@NotMax
Yeah, the not-cleaning-daily thing has been going on for a while. Since the start of the pandemic. It’s thrown me off, I don’t know if I should tip for housekeeping any more.
A significant change in trend, if it holds: while hospitalizations and deaths are still rising, the 7 day average of cases in the US is *down* 2% from 110,000 one week ago to 107,500 today. Cases are still rising sharply in a band of States from Alabama to Arizona and north through all of the Mountain States, but flat to declining everywhere else in the North, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Pacific Northwest.
@New Deal democrat: while we Yankees are finally getting weather that makes you want to be outside, the reverse is happening in the Sun Belt, so that part of the regional shift makes sense.
I don’t have a clue about the Rocky Mountain states, though.
@New Deal democrat
Where are you seeing data indicating a decline? CovidActNow is still showing a sharp climb in PA, but now they calculate weekly or something,
I’m glad you’re recovering well, @raven. Who has two thumbs, two shots, two boosters, a previous infection and still got Covid the week before last? (Insert selfie of me pointing thumbs at myself here) I’m pretty sure I got it at a wedding; the first event I’ve attended since before it all went down and the only time I’ve taken my mask off indoors for any length of time and that was enough. At least eight people tested positive after the wedding. My consolation is that my symptoms were mild (just a stuffy head cold, no fatigue, no loss of smell or taste or appetite), and that, as my kid and husband didn’t get it (husband also attended wedding), I think I managed to break the chain of transmission. But, oh my God, what a circus of rescheduling our lives thanks to me having to isolate. Thank goodness I didn’t have fatigue because I was juggling our schedules non-stop from my isolation room.
(Also, I took over our kid’s room and his air conditioner stopped working 5 minutes after I turned it on during the heat wave last weekend. That was fun, too. It was a very sticky few days in isolation.)
On 5/28 Mainland China reported 54 new domestic confirmed (21 previously asymptomatic), 161 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 0 new domestic suspect cases, & 0 new deaths.
At Guangdong Province 7 domestic confirmed & 1 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 29 active domestic confirmed & 15 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks. All areas of the province are now at Low Risk.
At Guangxi “Autonomous” Region 1 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 10 active domestic asymptomatic (5 at Fangchenggang, 3 at Baise, & 2 at Chongzuo) cases remaining.
At Hunan Province 2 domestic confirmed cases recovered. There currently is 1 active domestic confirmed case in the province.
Tianjin Municipality reported 7 new domestic confirmed (all mild) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 4 are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine, 1 via regular screening of response workers living in “closed loops”, & 6 via mass screening. The city is no longer reporting recoveries, so I cannot track the count of active cases.
Shandong Province reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 2 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 2 active domestic confirmed cases & 20 active asymptomatic cases in the province.
__ Qingdao did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case in the city.
__ Jinan reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, a persons returning from Shanghai & under centralized quarantine since arrival. 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 9 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city
__ At Yantai there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case in the city.
__ Tai’an reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, a person returning from Shanghai & under centralized quarantine since arrival. 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 1 active domestic & 7 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
__ In the rest of the province there currently are 2 active domestic asymptomatic (1 each at Jining & Heze) cases.
At Shaanxi Province 1 domestic confirmed case recovered. There currently are 5 active confirmed (all at Xi’an) cases remaining.
Hebei Province reported 13 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 10 Langfang & 3 at Handan. There are new clusters at an industrial park at Langfang & a mine at Handan. There currently are 34 active asymptomatic case in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks. 1 industrial park at Langfang is currently at Medium Risk.
Liaoning Province reported 8 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 5 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 3 active domestic confirmed & 102 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
__ Dandong reported 8 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all traced close contacts under centralized quarantine or via screening of residents under movement control. 8 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Jilin Province reported 10 new domestic asymptomatic cases. 7 domestic confirmed & 6 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. As the province does not consistently break down recoveries by confirmed & asymptomatic cases or by jurisdictions, I can no longer track the count of active case counts in the different jurisdictions.
__ Yanbian Prefecture reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Hunchun, found via screening of residents under movement control. There currently are 6 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases in the city
__ Baishan reported 8 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 2 at Linjiang & 6 at Changbai County. Both cases at Linjiang are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. All of the cases at Changbai County were found via mass screening of residents in border villages. 2 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 10 active domestic confirmed & 68 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
__ Tonghua reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, at Ji’an, a traced close contact under centralized quarantine. There currently are 9 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
__ At Changchun 5 domestic confirmed & 3 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered.
Heihe in Heilongjiang Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case in the city.
Beijing Municipality reported 14 new domestic confirmed (2 previously asymptomatic, 12 mild & 2 moderate) & 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all new positive cases are traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. As the city does not break down recoveries by imported vs. domestic cases, I cannot track the count of active domestic cases there. 7 sites are currently at High Risk. 14 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Shanghai Municipality reported 29 new domestic confirmed (18 previously asymptomatic) & 93 new domestic asymptomatic cases, 103 of the new positive cases were already under quarantine & 1 from community screening. As of early 5/29, 24 F1 & F2 close contacts & 3,168 connected persons of the community case have been traced, all have tested negative so far. 2 of 71 environmental samples have tested positive, both from the case’s residence. There were 0 new deaths. 114 domestic confirmed & 1,324 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 1,602 active domestic confirmed (96 serious & 29 critical) in the city. The city is no longer publishing the number of active asymptomatic cases. 5 sites are currently at Medium Risk.
Hubei Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (mild, at Wuhan) case, a person coming from elsewhere & under centralized quarantine since arrival. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed (at Wuhan) & 5 active domestic asymptomatic (3 at Jingmen & 2 at Ezhou) cases remaining.
Jiangsu Province reported 3 new domestic asymptomatic (all at Suzhou) cases, all persons under centralized quarantine since arrival. 6 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. The currently are 7 active domestic confirmed & 22 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in each administrative division, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Anhui Province reported 1 new domestic asymptomatic case, at Xuancheng, a person coming from elsewhere & under centralized quarantine since arrival. 5 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 5 active domestic asymptomatic cases (4 at Huangshan & 1 at Xuancheng) in the province.
Zhejiang Province reported 2 new domestic asymptomatic (both at Hangzhou) cases, both persons under centralized quarantine. As the province does not break down recoveries by imported versus domestic cases, I cannot track the count of active domestic cases there.
At Fujian Province 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 3 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
At Qiannan Prefecture in Guizhou Province there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case remaining.
Jiangxi Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered. There currently are 23 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province.
__ At Yichun there currently are 21 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
__ Shangrao did not report any new domestic positive cases. There currently are 2 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
__ In the rest of the province 1 domestic asymptomatic case recovered, at Fuzhou.
Henan Province reported 2 new domestic confirmed & 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all at Xuchang, all at Changge, all persons under centralized quarantine. 17 domestic confirmed & 45 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 105 active domestic confirmed & 387 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Sichuan Province reported 1 new domestic confirmed (previously asymptomatic) & 4 new domestic asymptomatic cases. As the province does not break down recoveries by imported vs. domestic cases, I cannot track the count of active domestic cases there.
__ Guang’an reported 1 new domestic confirmed (previously asymptomatic) & 1 new domestic asymptomatic cases, the new positive case at Linshui County, a person under centralized quarantine. All areas in the city are now at Low Risk.
__ The rest of the province reported 3 new domestic asymptomatic (1 each at Bazhong, Chengdu & Guangyuan) case, all persons coming from elsewhere & under centralized quarantine since arrival or tested positive upon entry.
At Chongqing Municipality there currently is 1 active domestic asymptomatic case remaining.
At Qinghai Province 3 domestic confirmed & 5 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 6 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining.
Ürumqi in Xinjiang “Autonomous” Region reported 7 new domestic asymptomatic cases, all traced close contacts under centralized quarantine. There currently are 32 active domestic asymptomatic cases in the city.
Yunnan Province did not report any new domestic positive cases. 4 domestic asymptomatic cases recovered. There currently are 1 active domestic confirmed & 1 active domestic asymptomatic cases remaining in the province. As the province does not break down recoveries by administrative divisions, I cannot track the count of active cases in administrative divisions, given the multiple simultaneous outbreaks.
Imported Cases
On 5/28, Mainland China reported 28 new imported confirmed cases (6 previously asymptomatic), 50 imported asymptomatic cases, 0 imported suspect cases:
__ Xiamen in Fujian Province – 12 confirmed cases, all coming from Taiwan
__ Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 3 confirmed cases (all previously asymptomatic), all coming from the US
__ Putian in Fujian Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, no information released
__ Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 6 confirmed cases (2 previously asymptomatic), 3 of the new confirmed cases coming from Taiwan & 1 from Hong Kong; 2 asymptomatic cases, both coming from Singapore
__ Shanghai Municipality – 3 confirmed cases, 1 each coming from Taiwan, Canada & the US; 3 asymptomatic cases, 2 coming from Canada & 1 from the US
__ Shenzhen in Guangdong Province – 1 confirmed case (previously asymptomatic), coming from South Africa; 4 asymptomatic case, 2 each coming from Hong Kong & Indonesia
__ Foshan in Guangdong Province – 7 asymptomatic cases, 4 coming from the UAE, & 1 each from Brazil, Jordan & Saudi Arabia, off flights that landed at Guangzhou
__ Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 each coming from New Zealand & the UK (via Singapore)
__ Jiangmen in Guangdong Province – 1 asymptomatic case, coming from Hong Kong
__ Chongzuo in Guangxi “Autonomous” Region – 1 confirmed & 13 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Vietnam
__ Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from Russia
__ Jiangsu Province (location not specified) – 5 asymptomatic cases, no information released
__ Harbin in Heilongjiang Province – 1 confirmed case, coming from South Korea
__ Jiangsu Province (location not specified) – 3 asymptomatic cases, 2 coming from Laos & 1 from Myanmar
__ Kunming in Guangxi “Yunnan” Region – 3 asymptomatic cases, all coming from Thailand
__ Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 each coming from Japan & Canada
__ Dalian in Liaoning Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
__ Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, no information released
Overall in Mainland China, 252 confirmed cases recovered (17 imported), 1,555 asymptomatic cases were released from isolation (4` imported) & 27 were reclassified as confirmed cases (6 imported), & 12,939 individuals were released from quarantine. Currently, there are 2,929 active confirmed cases in the country (229 imported), 140 in serious/critical condition (all domestic), 16,181 active asymptomatic cases (449 imported), 3 suspect cases (all imported). 192,254 traced contacts are currently under centralized quarantine.
As of 5/28, 3,378.211M vaccine doses have been injected in Mainland China, an increase of 1.058M doses in the past 24 hrs.
On 5/29 Hong Kong reported 237 new positive cases, 37 imported & 200 domestic (71 via RT-PCR & 129 from rapid antigen tests), 0 deaths.
On 5/29, Taiwan reported 76,605 new positive cases, 66 imported & 76,539 domestic (including 244 moderate & 134 serious). There were 145 new deaths (ages ranging from 30+ y.o. to 90+ y.o., actual dates of death between 5/10 – 5/26, 136 having a range of underlying conditions, 75 partially/fully vaccinated).
“Conferences are really important in science. They are where we become inspired, collaborations are forged, and spirits are lifted.”
Freakin’ extroverts. :eyeroll:
I just finished my next-to-the-last semester of my Master’s program this week. This was the first semester where classes were almost entirely in person, and though all students and teachers have to be vaccinated, they dropped the mask requirement halfway through the semester when the infection numbers (temporarily) dipped.
I continued to wear a mask because I’m neither an idiot nor a sociopath. What I found interesting was that in my program seminar, held in a poorly ventilated classroom, where most of the students were at least in their 40’s and several were in their 60’s, I was one of only three students out of eleven still wearing a mask by the end of the semester.
On the other hand, at my student teaching assignment at a campus in Brooklyn, where all of the students were in their 20’s, only one student out of 24 quit wearing a mask.
Nobody got Covid in either class, but it is not surprisingly running rampant through the Manhattan campus.
I went to an office wide retreat a month ago. They sent us at-home tests for pre-travel and every morning we were there. More than a few people tested positive and stayed home. My office has a vaccine mandate for any in-office work, including boosters. These seem like the minimum requirements for a large group meeting to be safe.
@Suzanne: I’m using The NY Times data. Hope that helps.
@lowtechcyclist: yes, the weather explanation could well be part of it, as well as the typical pattern of migration of COVID waves from areas of high population density to lower density.
I had a small scare last week, a day of sniffles and feeling icky. I popped a couple zinc ( my MO from the Before Times whenever I felt like I was coming down with anything) and was just fine the next day. So I’m going to assume the best; ie, not Covid.
Plus I’m developing allergies to pollen or something, so have spent a few days sneezing like crazy. Since sneezing is, SFAIK, *not* associated with Covid, those don’t put me on high alert.
I got COVID after a conference in New Orleans 3 weeks ago. Coincided with Jazz fest. Few (including me) were wearing masks – big mistake. I took a full course of Paxlovid. I did feel better for awhile then had a rebound starting Wednesday. I’m doing better today – halfway to normal. My sister is having a similar experience. I’m my case it’s largely been dry cough (to the point of muscle soreness), sore throat but no fever. Unpleasant and I’m very tired especially at the end of the day. I don’t have any particularly original ideas. Get vaccinated, definitely wear masks if you’re going to be around large crowds especially indoors.
I have been at a gaming convention in S.F. area, and the precautions have been decent, but hard to feel it will be fully preventive.
Enforced mask wearing, except when eating is O.k., but it still is rolling the die.
Any good gamer knows the dice will kill you eventually.
But worth it to see buddies seen last 2 to 4 years ago? I have to say yes so gar, but we don’t know yet the true results.
Well I got Covid this past week from circumstances that were quite predictable (crowds, lots of hugs and shouting). It’s so much better to get it now than 2 years ago. 3 shots and a course of Paxlovid (obtained without issues from my local CVS after my doctor’s office called it in) and this has been like a moderately bad cold. Better than the Lyme disease I got a few years ago. I would still take more precautions if I were traveling internationally or had some kind of big event scheduled, (could have gotten another booster), but I don’t regret going out. Husband and son are negative so far. Both vaxxed and husband is boosted. If everyone were vaccinated and had easy access to treatment, Covid would be like a standard cold/flu for most people.
I spent yesterday afternoon at the Baltimore SF convention, and as with WorldCon in December, if you’re going to be around people, science geeks are the best. (Better than actual scientists, apparently.) Vaccination was required to attend and was checked, masking was required and everyone was masked. We had a delicious takeout dinner on a friend’s front porch (the Helmand, yum!)
Nonetheless, a friend who was there tested positive this morning. Blech.
Vaccines with current recommended boosters for your age and conditions and one way masking with a KN95/N95 are still pretty damn effective against getting infected. Part of that is because how symptomatic you are is dose dependent and masks reduce the dose of virus you inhale.
We in the healthcare field couldn’t do our work with patients without these guidelines otherwise we’d all be sick. Lots of inpatients without masks due to breathing issues and tons in my outpatient clinic with flimsy procedure masks that they simply cannot stop pulling down during a visit. Hardly any caregivers/providers are getting this now.
The illness is definitely less horrifyingly severe–I guess if figured out that if it wants to survive you can’t kill every single host– but if you don’t want to spend 5-10 days with a massive sore throat , headache, fever, completely packed sinuses, coughing all day and night and exhausted do the above an you should be good.