Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Syt]

[Tamas]

So they care so much about their dying daughter that they are not willing to risk being vaccinated to see her. What scum.

[Berkut]

So he is fighting for his right to put not just his own daughter at risk, but everyone else in that facility and their daughters and sons?

[Josquius]

Poor kid 😔

[Admiral Yi]

As an American I am a little relieved that the US is no longer lapping the field in the covid dumbathon.

[Admiral Yi]

No, it should be a dumbatholon because there are many events.

[Jacob]

No, it should be a dumbatholon because there are many events.

Normally it's a point of pride when we are competitive with the American juggernaut

[Syt]

Are death rates still part of the discussion in the US?

[Admiral Yi]

All the discussion I'm seeing is new vaccines coming, when kids can get them, and legality of mandates.  Virtually nothing about infection, hospitalization, and death.

[DGuller]

The perception lately seems to me that Covid has gone away.  I just checked statistics, and while that isn't quite true, it does seem true that the Omicron wave has come and just about gone. 

The fact that the level of deaths is still at an all-time high has been eye-opening to me, however.  I know that the death wave always comes and goes long after the case wave, but the level of deaths right now seem incompatible with the notion that Omicron isn't that bad.  Seems plenty bad enough still on aggregate.

[Tamas]

The perception lately seems to me that Covid has gone away.  I just checked statistics, and while that isn't quite true, it does seem true that the Omicron wave has come and just about gone. 

The fact that the level of deaths is still at an all-time high has been eye-opening to me, however.  I know that the death wave always comes and goes long after the case wave, but the level of deaths right now seem incompatible with the notion that Omicron isn't that bad.  Seems plenty bad enough still on aggregate.

I think Omicron has given society(ies) enough respite to ignore the excess deaths due to exhaustion. I just don't see how countries could re-establish lockdowns at this stage even if a new more severe variant emerged. In that sense the pandemic is over, even if in terms of lots of people suffering and dying it may have not.

[Sheilbh]

I think Omicron has given society(ies) enough respite to ignore the excess deaths due to exhaustion. I just don't see how countries could re-establish lockdowns at this stage even if a new more severe variant emerged. In that sense the pandemic is over, even if in terms of lots of people suffering and dying it may have not.

Yeah the UK doesn't have excess deaths at the minute - we're within average deaths at this time of year.

The number of deaths in this wave is, as with delta, significantly lower than previous waves. It's the same for mots European countries that are starting to re-open.

The big difference with the US is the lower rate of people who've been vaccinated - especially among the most at-risk groups. I think the gap between US v Western European vaccination rates has probably cost thousands of people their lives.

I think someone did an analysis of this and the US has a significantly higher estimated IFR than Western European countries because of the difference vaccines make. Omicron is milder but it is far, far milder if you've got a widely vaccinated (and boosted) population. If the UK had the same vaccination rate as the US, I think the analysis was, that omicron would have been as bad as the first wave.

It's more frustrating and anger-making because it's by choice.

[Sheilbh]

And relatedly Ireland is getting rid of all restrictions on 28 February and, on the advice of the CMO, dissolving the National Public Health Emergency Team which has been Ireland's covid-specific SAGE.

[viper37]

The fact that the level of deaths is still at an all-time high has been eye-opening to me, however.  I know that the death wave always comes and goes long after the case wave, but the level of deaths right now seem incompatible with the notion that Omicron isn't that bad.  Seems plenty bad enough still on aggregate.

Omiron can be as deadly as Delta for unvaccinated people.

[Syt]

Hey remember that pandemic thing?

There was another car protest in Vienna against Covid measures. Furthermore, for tomorrow there's once again protests scheduled. At the same time, there will be protests in support of Ukraine's fight against the Russian aggressors. Which will be interesting, because the two camps will be diametrically opposed on several things, including Putin.