COVID-19 will likely be with us forever. Here's how we'll live with it. (danger, effects)
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As I see it no matter where one lives, city, rural, sticks etc, taking charge of your health is key and number 1 and that goes for all health and throw covid or any flu/virus in there.
I take these "It's gonna be with us forever" articles with a splash of skepticism.
Yesterday, I read an article from last April where an epidemiologist said in no uncertain terms it would take 18 months to develop and manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine. He staked his reputation on it. And he was dead wrong.
Keep in mind that sometimes people have the best intentions but are simply mistaken. And sometimes they just want to get some publicity. Doomsday scenarios are good for that.
We're actually not that far off. True, we have a vaccine. Problem is, there are numerous obstacles to manufacturing enough of it, and getting it to everyone in a timely manner. Some were saying we (the US) would be able to "return to normal" by summer 2021. However, people who work in vaccine manufacturing are saying we really need to be shooting for 2022.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chas863
If people were REALLY concerned about things that could kill them prematurely, then we would have tons of threads about proper diet, nutritional foods, exercise regimens, weight control, and all that stuff. But, nah! That's too boring. It's much more exciting and gives a person a much greater sense of moral superiority to lecture others about mask wearing, social distancing, and vaccinations. I see it here every day on this board.
Uhm dieting is a multi-billion dollar industry, so it IS big. It may not be here on C-D, but I still get plenty of ads on YouTube for these.
Also, we tend to talk about what's trending. The casualties during the Vietnam war, attack on Pearl Harbor, Sept. 11, Hurricane Katrina, etc. (BTW, those put together have caused LESS deaths than COVID-19). They're still big, but makes sense they're not dominating the news anymore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chas863
No one claimed that cardiovascular disease WAS contagious. The point is that there are MANY things that can kill a person, yet you seldom hear anyone express concern about dying from cardiovascular disease even though statistically that's a greater threat to life and health than Covid.
Just don't use that as an excuse to get lax...
"Be careful not to drink and drive". Too many things can kill a person!
"Be sure to hydrate in the summer weather". Too many things can kill a person!
… it still pays to be smart, and take precautions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chas863
BTW, I enjoyed the golf today, got plenty of exercise and fresh air, and was able to socialize with other human beings. I'm sure that pounding that little white ball around the course was great for reducing tension and relieving stress. I figure that was a hell of a lot better for me than sitting on my butt, worrying about Covid, and stressing out about all the problems in the world.
Now I'm having a glass of wine and looking forward to a good dinner. Relax, laugh more often, and enjoy yourself. You'll live longer and enjoy it more.
I'm guessing people are taking things too literally with the "stay at home" stuff. I still take a walk around the block, I go buy groceries when need be. However, I will NOT go to large gatherings, etc.
Last edited by ackmondual; 01-26-2021 at 11:25 AM..
So, if vaccinations are effective, then get your vaccinations and quit worrying about what other people do or don't do. If vaccinations are NOT effective, then why should people who don't want them be forced to get them just to please you? There are plenty of incidents starting to come to light in recent days about SEVERE adverse effects from getting the Covid vaccine. Some of these adverse effects were DEATH. I'd say that's pretty severe!
Last I checked, there was no law mandating you or anyone get a vaccine. And no one is even suggesting that. I will get one as soon as I am able, but I am not in one of the vulnerable groups, so I will patiently wait my turn. Until everyone who wants a vaccine is able to get one, we all need to be good citizens and decent human beings and protect each other.
There are numerous studies showing that mask wearing by the average person does little if anything to stop the spread of the virus. The masks are too porous and too loose fitting in about 99% of the cases to be effective at much of anything. It's about like putting up a chain link fence to keep mosquitoes out of your yard.
Oh, and of course, it's ALL the former administration's fault!
The common cold is not a "covid" virus. That term is used exclusively for the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2: COVID-19.
The virus could attenuate and cause less severe disease as it circulates in the population but there is no guarantee that it will.
You should probably read the original article. It seems you don't understand where the name Covid-19 comes from and how it has a connection to the common cold. Covid-19 stands for CoronaVirus Disease of 2019. Common colds are corona viruses. However SARS and MERS are more deadly illnesses caused by corona viruses. SARS-2-CoV-2 is the official name of Covid-19.
Clearly you have not read the link. The first paragraph says this:
As COVID-19 continues to run its course, the likeliest long-term outcome is that the virus SARS-CoV-2 becomes endemic in large swaths of the world, constantly circulating among the human population but causing fewer cases of severe disease. Eventually—years or even decades in the future—COVID-19 could transition into a mild childhood illness, like the four endemic human coronaviruses that contribute to the common cold.
One day, the pandemic will end. Scientists don't know how that finale will play out but a new model offers a teaser: The deadly SARS-CoV-2 may not totally disappear but instead become a commonly circulating cold virus that just causes some mild sniffles. This model, published Jan. 12 in the journal Science, is based on analyses of other coronaviruses, the majority of which cause only mild symptoms in humans. There are six known coronaviruses that infect humans; four are coronaviruses that are "endemic" or regularly circulate among human populations and cause the common cold.
Last edited by Oklazona Bound; 01-26-2021 at 04:47 PM..
You should probably read the original article. It seems you don't understand where the name Covid-19 comes from and how it has a connection to the common cold. Covid-19 stands for Corona Virus Disease of 2019. Common colds are corona viruses. However SARS and MERS are more deadly versions of corona viruses.
Clearly you have not read the link. The first paragraph says this:
As COVID-19 continues to run its course, the likeliest long-term outcome is that the virus SARS-CoV-2 becomes endemic in large swaths of the world, constantly circulating among the human population but causing fewer cases of severe disease. Eventually—years or even decades in the future—COVID-19 could transition into a mild childhood illness, like the four endemic human coronaviruses that contribute to the common cold.
One day, the pandemic will end. Scientists don't know how that finale will play out but a new model offers a teaser: The deadly SARS-CoV-2 may not totally disappear but instead become a commonly circulating cold virus that just causes some mild sniffles. This model, published Jan. 12 in the journal Science, is based on analyses of other coronaviruses, the majority of which cause only mild symptoms in humans. There are six known coronaviruses that infect humans; four are coronaviruses that are "endemic" or regularly circulate among human populations and cause the common cold.
You said "the common cold is a covid virus". That is not true. Some, not all, colds are caused by coronaviruses. Those particular coronaviruses do not cause COVID-19.
SARS-CoV-2 is the only coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Whether SARS-CoV-2 will attenuate as it circulates in the human population is entirely speculative at this point. There is no guarantee that it will happen.
Not quite. The former is the virus; the latter is the disease caused by the virus. Although in lay usage the latter shortened to "covid" tends to be used for both.
As I said, there have been numerous studies done on the effectiveness of face masks. Most of these studies will tell you up front that the effectiveness of the mask depends largely on how well it is made, how well it fits, and well the user maintains his/her mask.
Really well made and well fit masks that are used once and then disposed of may have an effectiveness of up to 80%. The problem is that the average person doesn't wear anything like that. The average person wears a simple one-layer of cloth mask that has gaps in numerous places. Between wearings, they wad it up and stuff it in their pocket or purse. They MIGHT wash it once a month, if that, and even the process of washing thins out that one single layer of material.
But here is a study that was done if you want some numbers. The article is rather long so I will quote only a few paragraphs from it. The link is at the bottom if you want to read it all. Keep in mind that this study was done with "surgical masks" which are FAR better than the mask you see on most people.
Quote:
A newly released study in the academic journal Annals of Internal Medicine casts more doubt on policies that force healthy individuals to wear face coverings in hopes of limiting the spread of COVID-19.
“Researchers in Denmark reported on Wednesday that surgical masks did not protect the wearers against infection with the coronavirus in a large randomized clinical trial,” the New York Times reports.
“Researchers in Denmark reported on Wednesday that surgical masks did not protect the wearers against infection with the coronavirus in a large randomized clinical trial.” https://t.co/bKOENjCKVq
— J.B. Handley (@GenRescue) November 18, 2020
The study is perhaps the best scientific evidence to date on the efficacy of masks.
To conduct the study, which ran from early April to early June, scientists at the University of Copenhagen recruited more than 6,000 participants who had tested negative for COVID-19 immediately prior to the experiment.
Half the participants were given surgical masks and instructed to wear them outside the home; the other half were instructed to not wear a mask outside the home.
Roughly 4,860 participants finished the experiment, the Times reports. The results were not encouraging.
“The researchers had hoped that masks would cut the infection rate by half among wearers. Instead, 42 people in the mask group, or 1.8 percent, got infected, compared with 53 in the unmasked group, or 2.1 percent. The difference was not statistically significant,” the Times reports.
Dr. Henning Bundgaard, lead author of the experiment and a physician at the University of Copenhagen, told the newspaper the results of his research are clear.
“Our study gives an indication of how much you gain from wearing a mask,” Bundgaard said. “Not a lot.” ...
“The masks are important for someone who is infected to prevent them from infecting someone else,” Dr. Anthony Fauci noted back in March on 60 Minutes. “When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better, and it might even block a droplet. But it is not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is, and often there are unintended consequences; people keep fiddling with the mask and touching their face.”
Fauci would later modify his position, saying he discouraged masks out of concern of a supply shortage. But he was not wrong that mask wearing comes with unintended consequences, such as people touching their faces a lot. (Watch the video below if you doubt this.)
CDC chief Robert Ray Redfield Jr. has gone further than Fauci, declaring in public testimony that “this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine."
However, Redfield’s assertion is not backed up with scientific evidence. As the authors of the Danish study point out, the World Health Organization “acknowledges that we lack evidence that wearing a mask protects healthy persons from SARS-CoV-2.”
The results of the Danish study undermine the assertion from public health officials that wearing a surgical mask can protect individuals from COVID-19 infection, but that’s unlikely to end the mask debate, which has become one of the most vitriolic issues in America today.
It’s worth pointing out, however, that masks were not a divisive issue until governments began mandating their use.
As I’ve said before, reasonable and persuasive cases can be made both for and against the use of masks in the healthy population. But by replacing individual choice with collective mandates, public officials have politicized the issue and polluted the science. For example, scientists have faced retraction demands on research that concluded mask-for-all policies were not based on sound data. Additionally, the Danish study appears to have been delayed because medical journals were wary of its findings.
Few of us—even medical professionals, it seems—are able to answer with any degree of certainty whether masks are an effective form of protection against the coronavirus.
Some see this as a reason to force everyone to wear a mask. Yet in reality, the uncertainty is all the more reason the decision should be left to individuals. ...
Governments forcing healthy people into mask-wearing was always an affront to the rights we hold over our own bodies and our basic human dignity.
It’s also beginning to look more and more like an affront to science.
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