Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Josquius]

I seem to be seeing a lot of absenses at work due to corona lately

[Tamas]

So, my dad has had an irregular heart rhythm thing diagnosed about 2-2.5 months ago (forgot the term, his heart is stuck in a two fast rhythm due to some signal irregularity), he is actually going to have his heart "reset" via a defibrillator on Friday.

We suspect the thing started quite a while ago as he has been more easy to tire than used to (which we just attributed to age, being slightly over 70), but the symptoms definitely increased in frequency and strength 1-2 weeks after his second Pfizer shot, so it was obviously something in the back of his mind.

His heart specialist dismissed that link when first examining 2 months ago. Since then we have learned that a member of my mother's extended family, a guy almost exactly my father's age had an almost carbon copy of symptoms and timeline. Which made it harder for me to keep convincing my dad that the vaccine had nothing to do with it but I persisted. And anyways he doesn't regret taking the vaccine nor he thinks this suspicion should have any bearing on how the present issue is addressed, so it matters little.

But, he did bring the story of the relative up to his doctor this week during the checkup prior to the "reset" procedure, and the doctor hit quite a different tune than before. He said officially there's no such side effect but he and his colleagues he has been talking to noted a marked increase in such cases the last few months. I guess it could be attributed to people just being more attentive to themselves but I have been reading that Covid can be quite hard on the heart  (Chinese statistics seem to show in young people it may have a far bigger effect than on the lungs) so I wouldn't rule the vaccine can mess with old people's hearts.

[Tamas]

I seem to be seeing a lot of absenses at work due to corona lately

You will see more, Operation Washover is only 5 days away.

[alfred russel]

I just don't get it. Trump was trying to take all credit for the vaccine a few months ago, and now the official GOP stance is to be anti-vaxxer. This people are really confusing.

I don't think this is the official GOP stance. The governor here has encouraged people to get vaccinated, and I think most GOP governors have. Trump has been mostly quiet (to an irresponsible extent) but hasn't been pushing anti vax stuff / did encourage people to get vaccinated. Mitch McConnell, who I guess is sorta the leader of elected republicans these days?, has this as his pinned tweet: "As a polio survivor, I know how important an effective vaccine can be. It is a modern medical miracle that we were able to develop multiple effective vaccines in under a year. I continue to encourage everyone to get vaccinated."

I went to GOP.com to see if they had anti vaxx crap and while it shockingly has no positive agenda on anything/really only asks for money and criticizes democrats, doesn't seem to have anti vaxx stuff. I did a search on the site for vaccine news and it mostly pulled up stuff criticizing Biden for wearing a mask after getting vaccinated which indicates he doesn't trust the science and he should stop wearing a mask. Which I guess if you follow the logic is pro vaccine?

[DGuller]

So, my dad has had an irregular heart rhythm thing diagnosed about 2-2.5 months ago (forgot the term, his heart is stuck in a two fast rhythm due to some signal irregularity), he is actually going to have his heart "reset" via a defibrillator on Friday.

We suspect the thing started quite a while ago as he has been more easy to tire than used to (which we just attributed to age, being slightly over 70), but the symptoms definitely increased in frequency and strength 1-2 weeks after his second Pfizer shot, so it was obviously something in the back of his mind.

His heart specialist dismissed that link when first examining 2 months ago. Since then we have learned that a member of my mother's extended family, a guy almost exactly my father's age had an almost carbon copy of symptoms and timeline. Which made it harder for me to keep convincing my dad that the vaccine had nothing to do with it but I persisted. And anyways he doesn't regret taking the vaccine nor he thinks this suspicion should have any bearing on how the present issue is addressed, so it matters little.

But, he did bring the story of the relative up to his doctor this week during the checkup prior to the "reset" procedure, and the doctor hit quite a different tune than before. He said officially there's no such side effect but he and his colleagues he has been talking to noted a marked increase in such cases the last few months. I guess it could be attributed to people just being more attentive to themselves but I have been reading that Covid can be quite hard on the heart  (Chinese statistics seem to show in young people it may have a far bigger effect than on the lungs) so I wouldn't rule the vaccine can mess with old people's hearts.

Was it atrial fibrillation?

[celedhring]

Our constitutional court has declared that parts of the spring 2020 lockdown were unconstitutionally implemented (in particular the "you can't leave home" part). The government should have declared a state of exception (which requires prior permission by parlament) instead of emergency (which can be declared without, and is validated by parliament afterwards).

[Sheilbh]

My worry is that it evolves to be more damaging to children (esp. younger children) since they're unvaccinated.

Yeah, the only saving grace is that it doesn't cause any severe illness or even symptoms in the under 10 except very rarely. In a sense we got lucky, the next Chinese culinary experiment/ accidental lab leak might not be as kind as this one.

Although apparently the NHS is now preparing for a major surge in respiratory illnesses in infants as a result of lockdown and they're intending to issue RSV alerts to doctors and parents so they know what to watch for in kids - probably seeing what's happened in New Zealand and trying to get ahead of it

[The Brain]

Our constitutional court has declared that parts of the spring 2020 lockdown were unconstitutionally implemented (in particular the "you can't leave home" part). The government should have declared a state of exception (which requires prior permission by parlament) instead of emergency (which can be declared without, and is validated by parliament afterwards).

Will anyone go to jail?

[crazy canuck]

Our constitutional court has declared that parts of the spring 2020 lockdown were unconstitutionally implemented (in particular the "you can't leave home" part). The government should have declared a state of exception (which requires prior permission by parlament) instead of emergency (which can be declared without, and is validated by parliament afterwards).

Is that because there was no emergency which required immediate action - ie it could wait for prior Parliamentary approval?

[celedhring]

I'll expand a little.

The government declared a state of emergency, which is listed in the constitution and allows for the limitation (not supression) of people's rights. This requires no prior parlamentary consent, so it could be enacted immediately. The court has found that forbidding people from leaving their homes except for some listed exceptions (buy food, medical appointments, etc...) was effectively a supression of rights rather than just a limitation, and thus demanded a declaration of state of exception which allows for supression of rights but does require prior consent from parliament. That of course, would have slowed down the response.

It's been a split 6-5 decision (which are rare over here).

[Tamas]

Was it atrial fibrillation?

Yes.

[Jacob]

I'm seeing all sorts of internet meme-age and social media stuff about... is it Tennessee... firing or disbanding the people in charge of rolling out vaccines because they've been encouraging people under 18 to get vaccinations. And Tennessee stopping any promotion of vaccinations of all kinds across the board.

... does anyone here know how true that is? Because if it's true, that sounds absolutely insane.

[The Larch]

I'm seeing all sorts of internet meme-age and social media stuff about... is it Tennessee... firing or disbanding the people in charge of rolling out vaccines because they've been encouraging people under 18 to get vaccinations. And Tennessee stopping any promotion of vaccinations of all kinds across the board.

... does anyone here know how true that is? Because if it's true, that sounds absolutely insane.

Beeb published a news article on that yesterday, it's in the previous page.

Regarding if the GOP is anti-vax or not, let's just say that during CPAC the announcement that the US had missed the deadline for vaccinating enough % of the country against Covid got a cheer, and luminaries such as Boebert and Cawthorn railed against outreach programs for further vaccination. So maybe the whole party is not anti-vax as a whole or as part of their official platform, but their nut wing is certainly vaccine-hesitant as the very least.

[Barrister]

I'm seeing all sorts of internet meme-age and social media stuff about... is it Tennessee... firing or disbanding the people in charge of rolling out vaccines because they've been encouraging people under 18 to get vaccinations. And Tennessee stopping any promotion of vaccinations of all kinds across the board.

... does anyone here know how true that is? Because if it's true, that sounds absolutely insane.

I posted a link yesterday.  What's curious is you even commented on it. 

From reading it I don't think anyone was fired - but Tennessee was banning anything that might be seen as promoting vaccination to children.  Which is all kinds of insane.

[alfred russel]

The nut wing is 100% lunatic and are considerably vax hesitant/skeptic, and they are significant enough to be winning primaries and even elections. But it isn't the party any more than Bernie Sanders/AOC are the Democratic Party.

The GOP is in such disarray at the moment it is hard to say that they are really for anything. They ran the last election without a platform. Their website is devoid of policy and is dedicated to taunting democrats over stupid stuff. I was trying to point out the GOP isn't anti vax by referencing statements from the two leading republicans: the senate and house minority leaders. The senate leader is very forceful in supporting vaccines, but the minority leader in the house is either completely silent or quiet enough it doesn't quickly show up in google one way or the other. Which says a lot.