Continuing coronavirus happenings (Part 4)

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From today’s Toronto :canada: Star.

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she mentions the “dalys” metric – but i do wonder to what extent its possible to sort out cause and effect there.

for instance, the population studied – older male veterans – are also more likely to be living without a permanent living situation than other people their age. that’s a situation where it’d be harder to protect yourself from getting covid. it’s also a situation which causes high blood pressure, fatigue, and increased metal health issues.

i imagine you’d have to very carefully structure your study to sort all that out.

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Hopefully accurate.

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We avoided large end of Summer parties again this year and had a small backyard barbecue instead because of all the “unusual colds” I keep hearing about.

We were very tempted to go to a theater to see the last Indiana Jones movie but we decided to wait for streaming. The timing of the digital release was perfect.

Our barbecue ended with an Indiana Jones drive in bonfire.

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Pirola variant.

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After the FDA received reports of people being hospitalized from taking livestock ivermectin, one of the agency’s particularly viral posts began: “You are not a horse.”
The lawsuit over the posts comes from three doctors, all of whom have faced charges and/or discipline from their respective state medical boards and employers over their ivermectin prescribing. The disgraced trio argues that the FDA’s statements interfered with their ability to prescribe the antiparasitic drug to COVID-19 patients—including some patientsthe doctors had never actually examined, according to allegations by state medical boards.

Can’t have the government interfering with the right to grift! That’s positively unAmerican!! (Well, in the “l’etat ce moi” version of America, anyway.)

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They’ll have to take that up with Congress. Which authorized the FDA’s authority in law.

Good luck with that.

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From this article which prompts a wtf.

“Maybe kids can still go to school with symptoms, as long as they don’t have fevers or as long as they don’t have severe coughing — but they should not be visiting their elderly grandparents who live in a nursing home,” said Leana Wen, a public health professor at George Washington University who’s advocated since the spring of 2022 for most people to return to pre-pandemic life.

https://www.axios.com/2023/09/06/covid-19-school-cases-summer-surge

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:fu: Leanna.

The percentage of people who wear a mask some or all of the time has dropped by half over the past six months, to 15%

15%? Isn’t anywhere near that high here. 1-2% seems more likely, if that. And still see people wearing them wrong. With so many people not wearing them, why the hell are you bothering that facade at all?

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And then there’s this.

Again? Never stopped in the first place.

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Although the COVID-19 numbers are still low relative to other waves of infection, surveillance systems and testing have plummeted to worrying levels, meaning the true burden of the disease is likely underestimated. And the current wave is hitting ahead of fall booster availability, raising concern for those most vulnerable to the virus.

and…

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So, yeah, once again, we shall see…

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:weary: kid has her wellness check in a week or so. I hope she’s able to get the new COVID shot while she’s there. The ped nurses are better at it than the pharmacist

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The new testing wave is pretty close to the original wave at the beginning of the pandemic, I notice… just below, bu ton par with last summer… but still climbing? And aren’t tests harder to find now?

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Yup. That’s why I am concerned. That and the use of home tests that are not reported anywhere. At my office, a significant number of parents are not interested in testing because “it’s just a bug.” Well, yes and no. But the numbers we are working with are faulty and limited. We could be using effluent monitoring, which would be much more accurate but not applicable to admissions/deaths. Most hospitals are still testing on admission, but that is not even universal. We learned nothing and are just setting ourselves up. If not now, then in the future, if not covid, something else. I’m exhausted by the whiplashing and stupid public responses. But I also know this will be, very likely, a rough fall and winter. Retirement cannot get here fast enough.

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Doesn’t that inconsistent testing increase test positivity though? If you only test when someone’s really sick, it’s going to be a higher rate.

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