Thanks again for speaking truth outwardly. Pulitzer-winning science journalist, Laurie Garrett, wrote books and articles warning of a coming pandemic and not just one, before COVID. She also wrote a book of the falling apart of Public Health. Epidemiologists around the world did the same. We were forewarned even locally. I had a friend that worked as an administrator in a major hospital system here, in Western MA who called me at the very beginning of COVID (pre-vaccine) knowing I was highly immune-compromised many times over between the immune-suppressing Rx I was on for Progressive MS, and the Primary Immune disease I had called CVID, ,etc. He warned me that the "industry" knew that something like this was coming and they were finally and already (pre-COVID) assessing preparedness things like ventilator inventory. My hospital and others were quite short on ventilators. He told me not to come into the hospital as I would not be prioritized for one because of my health issues and because I was over 60 and I would be isolated from my husband and family. Flash forward 4 years and we are living in Disneyland of Denial again, already, as you (and Katelyn Jetalina) have stated. Mostly because pandemics are a political "hot potato" during a scary Presidential Election year and much of society is still in PTSD and dreads the thought of another shutdown, especially the able-bodied, and CEO's. But we can't afford to be such ostriches right now and squander an opportunity to learn.
The final paragraph says it all, for me: "Can we ignore Covid now?” The answer to that is no. We should have been doing a better job with flu in 2019! The goal is to do better than that with all deadly pathogens, not to lapse to our previous lackluster responses."
I am 67 with an autoimmune disorder (IBD). I am fully vaccinated and am one of the last maskers. That said, one month after getting my Novavax shot, I contracted Covid. I am on day 10 of this infection. I took maximum Paxlovid (taking 10 days) along with metformin. It has kicked my ass. This is my second infection (tellingly, no one else who was exposed got it, just me) and it has been truly awful. Turning out to be worse than the flu (which I have had x 2 as an adult). I am truly grateful that I have better immune protection than I did in 2020 but Covid isn't over -- not for us high risk folks anyway.
Anyone besides me feeling uneasy now that the mandatory Covid hospital reporting requirements have gone away? I'm concerned voluntary reporting will either add to a delay or make it harder to detect whether there are new variants that are evading the existing immunity. Case loads are lower right now, but what is the plan if cases start trending up again. How does it help preparedness if the information is only sporadic and not being routinely reported?
Your concern is absolutely merited in my opinion. Reporting has become so imperfect that meaningful comparisons to the past are very hard, if not impossible. I like the fact that this discussion focuses on a VA group and thus we (maybe) can assume similar data collection as in the past. General population figures are much less useful (lagged deaths, reduced hospital reporting etc.) that comparisons are almost impossible. And definitely not in "real time".
This lax reporting is - again my opinion- due to the public authorities wanting to "normalize" society and avoid the political and social threats/backlash to appropriate and responsible provision of information. Politicians also support that approach. Don't rock the boat pretty much says it.
Great to see you make the point that "just like the flu" is not a good thing. An effective intervention for *all* airborne viruses is better indoor air quality. A century ago we took collective action to prevent the many waterborne diseases, then in the first half of the twentieth century we took collective action to eliminate endemic malaria.
How long will it take for us to do the same for diseases that spread via air?
I have a friend who is in complete denial about COVID being like the flu. He was diagnosed with cancer this year. Now that he is considered high risk, it makes me even more upset that he feels this way.
As I just exited on day 8 after a week of “flu like” symptoms which were from I am guessing the latest Flirt version, the hardest part was being isolated from my family. I was continuing to improve after day five but continued to test positive until day 8. Will Covid 19 ever be less contagious? Thankfully no one else in the family got it! So very weary 😩
Thanks again for speaking truth outwardly. Pulitzer-winning science journalist, Laurie Garrett, wrote books and articles warning of a coming pandemic and not just one, before COVID. She also wrote a book of the falling apart of Public Health. Epidemiologists around the world did the same. We were forewarned even locally. I had a friend that worked as an administrator in a major hospital system here, in Western MA who called me at the very beginning of COVID (pre-vaccine) knowing I was highly immune-compromised many times over between the immune-suppressing Rx I was on for Progressive MS, and the Primary Immune disease I had called CVID, ,etc. He warned me that the "industry" knew that something like this was coming and they were finally and already (pre-COVID) assessing preparedness things like ventilator inventory. My hospital and others were quite short on ventilators. He told me not to come into the hospital as I would not be prioritized for one because of my health issues and because I was over 60 and I would be isolated from my husband and family. Flash forward 4 years and we are living in Disneyland of Denial again, already, as you (and Katelyn Jetalina) have stated. Mostly because pandemics are a political "hot potato" during a scary Presidential Election year and much of society is still in PTSD and dreads the thought of another shutdown, especially the able-bodied, and CEO's. But we can't afford to be such ostriches right now and squander an opportunity to learn.
The final paragraph says it all, for me: "Can we ignore Covid now?” The answer to that is no. We should have been doing a better job with flu in 2019! The goal is to do better than that with all deadly pathogens, not to lapse to our previous lackluster responses."
I am 67 with an autoimmune disorder (IBD). I am fully vaccinated and am one of the last maskers. That said, one month after getting my Novavax shot, I contracted Covid. I am on day 10 of this infection. I took maximum Paxlovid (taking 10 days) along with metformin. It has kicked my ass. This is my second infection (tellingly, no one else who was exposed got it, just me) and it has been truly awful. Turning out to be worse than the flu (which I have had x 2 as an adult). I am truly grateful that I have better immune protection than I did in 2020 but Covid isn't over -- not for us high risk folks anyway.
Anyone besides me feeling uneasy now that the mandatory Covid hospital reporting requirements have gone away? I'm concerned voluntary reporting will either add to a delay or make it harder to detect whether there are new variants that are evading the existing immunity. Case loads are lower right now, but what is the plan if cases start trending up again. How does it help preparedness if the information is only sporadic and not being routinely reported?
Your concern is absolutely merited in my opinion. Reporting has become so imperfect that meaningful comparisons to the past are very hard, if not impossible. I like the fact that this discussion focuses on a VA group and thus we (maybe) can assume similar data collection as in the past. General population figures are much less useful (lagged deaths, reduced hospital reporting etc.) that comparisons are almost impossible. And definitely not in "real time".
This lax reporting is - again my opinion- due to the public authorities wanting to "normalize" society and avoid the political and social threats/backlash to appropriate and responsible provision of information. Politicians also support that approach. Don't rock the boat pretty much says it.
Great to see you make the point that "just like the flu" is not a good thing. An effective intervention for *all* airborne viruses is better indoor air quality. A century ago we took collective action to prevent the many waterborne diseases, then in the first half of the twentieth century we took collective action to eliminate endemic malaria.
How long will it take for us to do the same for diseases that spread via air?
This is why I think it’s a good idea to keep wearing masks in public, despite my state getting ready to outlaw them.
I have a friend who is in complete denial about COVID being like the flu. He was diagnosed with cancer this year. Now that he is considered high risk, it makes me even more upset that he feels this way.
As I just exited on day 8 after a week of “flu like” symptoms which were from I am guessing the latest Flirt version, the hardest part was being isolated from my family. I was continuing to improve after day five but continued to test positive until day 8. Will Covid 19 ever be less contagious? Thankfully no one else in the family got it! So very weary 😩