COVID-19 Outbreak Information Updates (Reboot) [over 150.000,000 US cases (est.), 6,422,520 US hospitilizations, 1,148,691 US deaths.] (4 Viewers)

[Saint_Ward]

Basically an upper respiratory infection that won't go away.

I don't think that's possible from the vaccine.

 

[jrdbrn]

I don't think that's possible from the vaccine.

Coincidence I suppose.

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Basically an upper respiratory infection that won't go away.

Sorry to hear. My wife and I are both getting over sinus infections/chest cold. It dawned on me that we haven’t had our seasonal “crud” since the COVID precautions started last year. I’m pretty sure I got it from a coworker and my wife got it from me.

We plan on getting our boosters in the next couple of weeks (Moderna). I’ll give a report on how we make out.

 

[bonnjer]

News - Plant-derived antiviral drug is effective in blocking highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, say scientists - University of Nottingham

A plant-based antiviral treatment for Covid-19, recently discovered by scientists at the University of Nottingham, has been found to be just as effective at treating all variants of the virus SARS-CoV-2, even the highly infectious Delta variant.

www.nottingham.ac.uk

 

[Saint_Ward]

Sorry to hear. My wife and I are both getting over sinus infections/chest cold. It dawned on me that we haven’t had our seasonal “crud” since the COVID precautions started last year. I’m pretty sure I got it from a coworker and my wife got it from me.

We plan on getting our boosters in the next couple of weeks (Moderna). I’ll give a report on how we make out.

Yeah there is a cold going around here. I’ve seen / heard a couple people sound sick. Good thing most folks are masked and washing their hands a lot.

 

[Saint_Ward]

News - Plant-derived antiviral drug is effective in blocking highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant, say scientists - University of Nottingham

A plant-based antiviral treatment for Covid-19, recently discovered by scientists at the University of Nottingham, has been found to be just as effective at treating all variants of the virus SARS-CoV-2, even the highly infectious Delta variant.

www.nottingham.ac.uk

Of course he’s a vet..: lol

But looks interesting

 

[SaintInBucLand]

Coronavirus: How Delta might have evolved towards 'natural extinction' in Japan

The country of 125 million people has fewer active cases than New Zealand.

www.newshub.co.nz

 

[Sun Wukong]

New variant has popped up in Africa, and it's being said to be substantially more heavily mutated than previous variants. The UK has already suspended flights to some African countries. They are really pushing how heavily mutated this one is compared to previous variants.

Omicron: How worried should we be?

Scientists are closely watching a new variant - but there are few clear answers.

www.bbc.com

 

[bonnjer]

New variant has popped up in Africa, and it's being said to be substantially more heavily mutated than previous variants. The UK has already suspended flights to some African countries. They are really pushing how heavily mutated this one is compared to previous variants.

Omicron: How worried should we be?

Scientists are closely watching a new variant - but there are few clear answers.

www.bbc.com

So it looks like we'll get a new Greek code-name for it, but we're going to need more time to figure out a few things about it. As mentioned in the article - what is transmission speed compared to Delta, what is severity compared to Delta, and can it evade immune protections? I would imagine that all of these things will be figured out in the next few weeks. I'd like to know more details about the cases that have already been confirmed, but that's not much mentioned in the article.

 

[Doug B]

New variant has popped up in Africa, and it's being said to be substantially more heavily mutated than previous variants. The UK has already suspended flights to some African countries. They are really pushing how heavily mutated this one is compared to previous variants.

Omicron: How worried should we be?

Scientists are closely watching a new variant - but there are few clear answers.

www.bbc.com

It should be noted that a high degree of mutation, stated without specifics, is a neutral thing. "Mutation", alone, does not mean "gets worse". Almost 100% of the time, a mutation doesn't affect a virus' "fitness" at all.

 

[Sun Wukong]

It should be noted that a high degree of mutation, stated without specifics, is a neutral thing. "Mutation", alone, does not mean "gets worse". Almost 100% of the time, a mutation doesn't affect a virus' "fitness" at all.

A lot of mutation doesn't automatically mean: bad. It is important to know what those mutations are actually doing.

But the concern is this virus is now radically different to the original that emerged in Wuhan, China. That means vaccines, which were designed using the original strain, may not be as effective.
Some of the mutations have been seen before in other variants, which gives some insight their likely role in this variant.
For example N501Y seems to make it easier for a coronavirus to spread. There are others in there that make it harder for antibodies to recognise the virus and might make vaccines less effective, but there are others that are completely new.
Prof Richard Lessells, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, said: "They give us concern this virus might have enhanced transmissibility, enhanced ability to spread from person to person, but might also be able to get around parts of the immune system."

 

[bonnjer]

It should be noted that a high degree of mutation, stated without specifics, is a neutral thing. "Mutation", alone, does not mean "gets worse". Almost 100% of the time, a mutation doesn't affect a virus' "fitness" at all.

Right, but most people don't realize that. They automatically hear the word mutation and associate it with negatives.

 

[Sun Wukong]

We're not just talking some vague concept of mutation. They are concerned about the level of mutation because this is apparently a major evolutionary leap for the virus compared to previous mutations, and many of the mutations are in proteins that have specifically been recognized to be associated with transmissibility and dodging immune responses.

I get skepticism, especially after last summer's "variant crisis of the week" in the media, but the people most concerned about this from the articles I've read are researchers and scientists, many of whom have expressed shock at the degree to which this has mutated and where some of the specific mutations are, as well as how effective our current tools are against something that has changed so much from the original Wuhan variant that much of our research is based on.

Is it time for panic? No, of course not. But this does seem to be significant and many educated people are expressing concern about what it could mean.

 

[SaintInBucLand]

New variant has popped up in Africa, and it's being said to be substantially more heavily mutated than previous variants. The UK has already suspended flights to some African countries. They are really pushing how heavily mutated this one is compared to previous variants.

Omicron: How worried should we be?

Scientists are closely watching a new variant - but there are few clear answers.

www.bbc.com

But heavily mutated is all they can say, there is actually no real information in the article. Just speculation and fear to get clicks. Seems to have worked.

 

[CoolBrees]

Reuter’s. Apparently there is “a constellation of mutations”

S.Africa detects new COVID-19 variant, implications not yet clear

South African scientists have detected a new COVID-19 variant in small numbers and are working to understand its potential implications, they said on Thursday.

www.reuters.com