Continuing coronavirus happenings (Part 4)

[anon15383236]

Science: closing the toilet lid before flushing doesn't prevent aerosolized horrors covering bathroom surfaces

For those who wonder what’s the big deal? The “magnetic toilet seal” website linked to in the article states that fecal-oral transmission of COVID has been proven, & cites a case of COVID transmission between two people who used the same bathroom. So they’re saying the toilet plume can aerosolize Corona virus.

[FGD135]

The magnetic toilet seal website - whose raison d’être is to, surprise, sell magnetic toilet seals - lists a lot of facts that are correct - in the sense of “Well, this is what we think what’s what based on the data and reasoning we have so far. But keep in mind that this bug is still brand new and really weird. A lot of further research is needed.”
So far, so good. (Webdesign not withstanding. Maybe this is how the cool kids are doing it these days.)

But - and this is a big but - then they cap it all off with their closing argument which is, and I quote:

“It’s just plain Common Sense our toilets make Covid-19 airborne! Again….”

I know I shouldn’t skip the peer reviewed by actual experts stage, but I’m willing to bet my air fryer that what we’re looking at here is the waste matter of a cow’s husband.

[BakaNeko]

New COVID‑19 subvariant identified in Brazil

[anon27554371]

Healthcare PSAs and BSAs

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(24)00013-0/fulltext Summary Background COVID-19 survivors may experience a wide range of chronic cognitive symptoms for months or years as part of post-COVID-19 conditions (PCC). To date, there is no definitive objective cognitive marker for PCC. We hypothesised that a key common deficit in people with PCC might be generalised cognitive slowing. https://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(23)00442-3 Highlights …

[anon15383236]

Couldn’t find anything there about whether such sufferers are vax avoidant or not.

[anon27554371]

I have one friend, fully vaccinated since the early days of the pandemic, who now has Long Covid. I realize this is anecdotal.

[anon29537550]

It’s a weird beast. I’m almost 6 months out and still lack hunger cues. Fully vaxxed, and certainly could be worse, but yeah, weird. To the best of my ability to assess, my cognitive functions are still up to snuff, though.

[anon27554371]

The intimations of Long COVID or just COVID-19 per se and possible connections to precipitating the onset of PD are troubling. I get it that we are in early days and quantifying all the wretched things COVID-19 does to the human body but damn.

In a better world, we’d have gotten on top of the pandemic here in the U.S. There were so. many. shenanigans. I blame the for many things but toying with millions of people’s lives–at that time in 2020 and reaching forward to who knows how far into the future–is certainly among the most execrable in his long list of truly awful things he did with malice and forethought.

'Shameful': US virus deaths top 400K as Trump leaves office

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0020731420960345

Estimating the COVID-Related Deaths Attributable to President Trump’s Early Pronouncements About Masks

Robert A. Hahn

Abstract

The goal of this analysis is to estimate the proportion of COVID-19 deaths attributable to President Donald Trump’s early pronouncements about voluntary mask use and his intention not to use masks. Data from available research were used to estimate parameters for the calculation of population attributable risk for COVID-19 deaths reported to date. Assuming Trump’s pronouncement to have caused 25%, 50%, and 75% of the non-use of masks, estimates of Trump-attributable COVID-19 deaths to date would be, respectively, 4,244, 8,356, or 12,202. The effects of presidential pronouncements on health-related matters may have large public health consequences. Pronouncements of national leaders should be based on the best available science.

[anon36155390]

10 Places You’re Most Likely To Catch COVID, According to a Doctor

1. Theme Parks
2. Zoos and Aquariums
3. Movie Theaters
4. Indoor Play Centers
5. Public Transportation
6. Airplanes and Airports
7. Grocery Stores
8. Hospitals
9. Schools and Daycares
10. Fitness Centers

[tcg550]

I should probably put this in the follow up topic but it also makes sense here.

We’ve been working mask free in a huge convention center for going on 3 weeks, the air quality is great but we put masks on to use the bathroom even if it’s very early in the morning and no one is around.

When someone asks why I think I’ll share this article.

Should you flush with toilet lid up or down? Study says it doesn’t matter

[sqlrob]

Study finds Oklahoma leads the nation in long Covid

[Simon_Clift]

Zombie COVID particles. Via Eric Topol

PNAS v121 Number 6
Research Article, Applied Physical Sciences

Viral afterlife: SARS-CoV-2 as a reservoir of immunomimetic peptides that reassemble into proinflammatory supramolecular complexes

Yue Zhang ORCID, Vanthana Bharathi, Tatsuya Dokoshi ORCID, +31 , and Gerard C. L. Wong ORCID gclwong@seas.ucla.eduAuthors Info & Affiliations

Edited by Rosana Collepardo-Guevara, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; received January 14, 2023; accepted October 28, 2023 by Editorial Board Member Daan Frenkel

February 2, 2024

We show evidence that viral peptide fragments from SARS-CoV-2 but not harmless coronavirus homologs can “reassemble” with dsRNA into a form of proinflammatory nanocrystalline condensed matter, resulting in cooperative, multivalent immune recognition and grossly amplified inflammatory responses.

[DukeTrout]

Well, this kind of research should be able to guide therapy for Long COVID. The question is, how many people who have it will refuse treatment because of some bullshit misinformation?

[LurksNoMore]

This virus really is gratuitously nasty.

I can understand why some people imagine it has to be an escaped bioweapon or a nefarious creation of Those People. It’s nonsense, of course; the evolution is more than capable of creating some absolute bastards over the millennia, like HIV or measles or smallpox…

[vermes82]

For so long, you identified as Libertarian. What changed?

I completely have not used the word Libertarian in describing myself since I got an email during lockdown where a person from a Libertarian organization wrote to me and said, “We’re doing an anti-mask demonstration in Vegas, and obviously we’d like you to head it.” I looked at that email and I went, “The fact they sent me this email is something I need to be very ashamed of, and I need to change.” Now, you can make the argument that maybe you don’t need to mandate masks — you can make the argument that maybe that shouldn’t be the government’s job — but you cannot make the argument that you shouldn’t wear masks. It is the exact reciprocal of seatbelts because if I don’t wear a seatbelt, my chances of fucking myself up increase — if I don’t wear a mask, the chance of fucking someone else up increase.

Many times when I identified as Libertarian, people said to me, “It’s just rich white guys that don’t want to be told what to do,” and I had a zillion answers to that — and now that seems 100 percent accurate.

Penn Jillette Wants to Talk It All Out

[KathyPartdeux]

Took long enough.

[Brainspore]

That’s great to hear. Maybe he’ll get some of his Libertarian fans to finally reconsider their views as well.

[anon36155390]

Better late than never.

[tcg550]

Not wearing a mask during COVID-19 health emergency isn’t a free speech...

[Simon_Clift]

My wife and I are still masking up in most indoor settings and are on our 6th or 7th booster shots. Both are a wee bit unusual for Ontario . That said, the latest updates from the wastewater surveillance here are heading in the correct direction.