Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2/Covid-19 Megathread

[Josquius]

A 72yo Dutch Covid patient died after testing positive for 613 days, during which time the virus mutated over 50 times.

Poor guy.
And given the usual covid response is wait it out for a week or two...

[Jacob]

I was never aware of the "behavioural immune system" until now, but it makes sense. And, it turns out, in the US it is impacted by and impacts partisan politics.

Republicans wary of Republicans – how politics became a clue about infection risk during the pandemic

Americans who felt most vulnerable during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic perceived Republicans as infection risks, leading to greater disgust and avoidance of them – regardless of their own political party. Even Republicans who felt vulnerable became more wary of other Republicans. That's one finding from research we recently published in the journal American Psychologist, and it has important implications for understanding a fundamental feature of human disease psychology.

Many Republican politicians and supporters, as compared to their Democratic counterparts, downplayed the threat of COVID-19 to public and personal health and resisted masking and social distancing. These attitudes and actions appear to have turned political affiliation into a new cue of possible infection risk.

This is an example of what scientists call the behavioral immune system at work.

Why it matters
Most people are familiar with the physiological immune system your body uses to fight disease by activating defenses, like fever and coughs, after you get infected.

In contrast, your behavioral immune system tries to help you avoid getting infected in the first place. It scans for observable cues correlated with infectious disease – such as other people's coughs and open sores. Then it marshals feelings, such as disgust, and behaviors, such as distancing, that help you avoid people who might be contagious. These reactions likely occur without conscious awareness or deliberate intention.

Scientists have learned a great deal about this process, but some important questions remain. As psychology researchers, we were interested in how the behavioral immune system could adjust quickly to new cues about infectiousness and changing risks.

How we do our work
Starting in April 2020, shortly after the initial COVID-19 lockdowns started, our team tracked a nationally representative sample of over 1,100 Americans for around eight months. This was a time of great unpredictability, with no vaccine available.

Every eight weeks, we asked participants through an online survey about their motivation to avoid disease and their attitudes toward various groups, including Republicans and Democrats. As COVID-19 infection rates fluctuated over the eight months of our study, we could watch changes in the same person's motivation over time and their evolving views of political partisans.


On the left, people who were more motivated to avoid disease viewed Republicans as especially likely to infect others. On the right, people whose motivation to avoid disease increased during COVID-19 surges viewed Republicans as especially likely to infect others. Ko et al., 2024

We found that Americans who were highly motivated to avoid disease and whose motivation increased as infection rates rose perceived Republicans as posing greater infection risks than Democrats. They also reported more feelings of disgust toward and avoidance of Republicans. These patterns were consistent across respondents' political affiliations, even after controlling for people's strong tendency to favor their own party and dislike the opposing one.

What other research is being done
An unexpected twist lends even more weight to these findings.

Previous research shows that political conservatives tend to be more vigilant about disease than political liberals. This vigilance is a way to protect themselves and their communities from external threats. Moreover, Americans have tended to favor conservatives in elections during disease outbreaks. So the partisan reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in a way contrary to what we expected.

The fact that our respondents used Republican affiliation as a sign of potential infection risk, despite the typical conservative tendencies, reveals how flexible the behavioral immune system can be. It was able to learn and use a new cue of perceived infection risk – in this case, political affiliation – in response to a quickly changing environment. We also saw that the behavioral immune system can adapt to real-world changes in infection risk over time.

https://theconversation.com/republicans-wary-of-republicans-how-politics-became-a-clue-about-infection-risk-during-the-pandemic-231441

[mongers]

Covid -19 wasn't even mentioned in a recent BBC news report about how the NHS was struggling against a wave of winter viruses.

[Tamas]

I am pretty sure I had it about a month ago. Both senses of smell and taste went away for about a week, the only time that ever happened to me previously was when I had (confirmed) Covid. Was not nearly as bad as the first time though, which was, come to think of it, 3.5 years ago.

[mongers]

I am pretty sure I had it about a month ago. Both senses of smell and taste went away for about a week, the only time that ever happened to me previously was when I had (confirmed) Covid. Was not nearly as bad as the first time though, which was, come to think of it, 3.5 years ago.

How times have changed or not; "before the pandemic""post-covid" as a term to describe events seems to be dying out as quickly as the virus? If you see what I mean.

[crazy canuck]

Before Covid is still a very common phrase here. And by the way, Tamas was explaining something that happened to him 3.5 years ago, which was during the pandemic.  I rarely hear people say something like post Covid because we're not actually post Covid and probably never will be.

[Grey Fox]

I use pre pandemic alot, especially when it refers to work space behaviours.

[Sheilbh]

Covid -19 wasn't even mentioned in a recent BBC news report about how the NHS was struggling against a wave of winter viruses.

Covid is still being monitored and it's not very high at the minute:
https://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/respiratory-viruses/covid-19

I think another side of this is hat covid is now basically the only virus - along with flu - that people know. Sometimes people test for it specifically but very often you'll hear people say they probably had it or think they had it recently (this comes up a lot at work). And they could be right, but it could be one of the many other viruses we just don't name.

[Josquius]

Before Covid is still a very common phrase here. And by the way, Tamas was explaining something that happened to him 3.5 years ago, which was during the pandemic.  I rarely hear people say something like post Covid because we're not actually post Covid and probably never will be.

Post - anything isn't something I ever really hear people say.
Maybe when chatting about history or politics online post war?
But not sure people not saying post covid means much.

I've certainly heard people saying during covid and since covid a lot. There does seem to be an air of it being a period in the past. Though of course the disease is still around.

And yes. Think I had it this year but who knows.

[garbon]

I use during covid and since covid to refer to the time of and since lockdowns and vaccines.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah same - I think lots of people talk of since covid because it is different than both before and during. Especially in a work context, they're three very distinct phases.