General Discussion/Q&A on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[lovetravellingoz]

Usually those in HQ aren't in the high risk situations apart from families in the same room such as the family at the heart of the Victorian second wave.

In theory, families in HQ now are meant to be in larger rooms or suites. What the 100% actual practice is I have no idea.

 

[Lynda2475]

Families have received larger rooms (and often 2 adjoining rooms) since the start - rooms in the apartment hotels are prioritised for families too . If one family member tests positive the other members sharing the same room/suite/apartment are at substantially higher risk of getting covid than others at the hotel. Upgrading them to even larger room wont make that much difference as they are breathing the same air, touching the same surfaces (the rooms are not cleaned for the 14 days), and sharing a bathroom.

 

[Flashback]

Mrs FB received her SMS today, so she's booked in her first COVID vaccine jab for next week. I rang the GP to see why I couldn't book my shot still, as I should have been sitting in the same group and it looks like they've messed up and left me out of the group. Appointment on Monday to try sort that out, so fingers crossed.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

The key reason for the larger rooms for families (apart from comfort) is not to protect the family members from infecting each other, as it will not, but rather to keep the viral load in the room/s lower so that there is less transmission risk to the HQ staff at the facility.

Though that is also one of the two main reasons why positive cases in HQ are moved in many, if not now all, jurisdictions to higher grade quarantine facilities. The other main reason is that they are better resourced to monitor and medically treat the cases. If severe they go to a CV19 Ward at a hospital. ie Nebuliser man.

 

[OZDUCK]

The CDC in the U.S is warning about loosening precautions prematurely as the drop in the rate of infections and deaths stalls.

Federal Scientists Plead for Pandemic Controls as Infection Declines Stall (Published 2021)

“Now is not the time to relax restrictions,” the C.D.C. director, Rochelle Walensky, said, pointing to a leveling of coronavirus infections as governors move to lift pandemic restrictions.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Lynda2475]

Use of health hotels to separate positive arrivals isnt new, its been happening in NSW at least since before Victorian 2nd wave (I know SA and WA were much slower to adopt this practice). The health hotels are police supervised and have nursing staff on site 24 hours, but the rooms arent materially different than other hotels.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

No idea what the other states do, but the Health/Complex Care Hotels in Victoria which had been operating since July were upgraded by 1/ selecting hotels partly because of their ventilation system and then 2/ upgrading their ventilation and environmental control systems in late 2020. Engineers and Alfred Health staff reviewed the ventilation at of these hotels and upgrades were made.

They are dedicated to this use. Staff also are trained and operate to higher protocols in addition to the medical and mental health care provided at a much higher level.

One could argue of course that the HQ should be likewise. I would argue as I have for some time that HQ should operated in separate self-contained and self-catered cabins. These can be installed at Avalon and Melbourne Airport, or on brownfield sites close to Melbourne Airport. So all close for staff, and hospitals not too far away.

The Health/Complex Care Hotels should however stay even closer to the hospitals in case escalation of treatment is required.

 

[Flashback]

The CDC in the U.S is warning about loosening precautions prematurely as the drop in the rate of infections and deaths stalls.

Federal Scientists Plead for Pandemic Controls as Infection Declines Stall (Published 2021)

“Now is not the time to relax restrictions,” the C.D.C. director, Rochelle Walensky, said, pointing to a leveling of coronavirus infections as governors move to lift pandemic restrictions.

www.nytimes.com

Otherwise known as the superbowl effect?

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

Otherwise known as the superbowl effect?

You mean the Super Bowl in which Tom Brady lead the winning team....lol

 

[HappyFlyerFamily]

From today, millions of Australians in aged care, universities, schools, pubs and restaurants will have access to a world-first surface spray that kills COVID-19 within 90 seconds.

The Australian-developed disinfectant, called ViroCLEAR, was developed by BioInnovate and fast-tracked for approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) last month.

While other surface disinfectants take as long as ten minutes to kill the coronavirus — with some unable to do it at all — BioInnovate Chair Ross Macdougald said the breakthrough was achieved after exhaustive research in northern NSW.

Product kills COVID in 90 seconds

From today, millions of Australians in aged care, universities, schools, pubs and restaurants will have access to a surface spray that kills COVID-19 within 90 seconds.

www.news.com.au

 

[Pushka]

Son in UK was saying that as schools start to resume there, the kids must be tested for Covid regularly using the test that reads the results in 15 minutes and that families encouraged to do the tests too. First test is on Monday. Then Wednesday and so on.

 

[drron]

Another treatment not showing much effect on treating moderate to severe Covid - convalescent plasma.

NIH halts trial of convalescent plasma in emergency department patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it has halted a clinical trial evaluating the safety and effectiveness of convalescent plasma in treating emergency department patients who developed mild-to-moderate symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).“An independent data and...

dgalerts.docguide.com

 

[drron]

Worried about variants?Then don't read this report.

Welcome to Precision Vaccinations News

Precision Vaccinations News publishes vaccine news patients can trust to make informed immunization decisions in partnership with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

www.coronavirustoday.com

Children with the severe MIS-C complication after Covid 19 have a different antibody response to children with mild disease and adults with severe disease.

Antibody Response Affects COVID-19 Outcomes in Kids and Adults

Doctors can’t reliably predict whether an adult newly diagnosed with COVID-19 will recover quickly or battle life-threatening complications. The same is true for children. Fortunately, the vast maj…

directorsblog.nih.gov

And the NY State legislature is not happy with their Governor.

State Legislature passes bill to curtail Cuomo's pandemic powers

Legislators approved the bill after a rancorous debate that featured a fellow Democrat calling the governor a liar and a Republican mockingly reading aloud passages of the governor's book about leadership amid COVID-19.

www.newsday.com

 

[Flashback]

And....... they're back! Schools reopened in the UK, now we wait......

 

[Pushka]

And....... they're back! Schools reopened in the UK, now we wait......

Yep. Reckon our son will be pleased to stop homeschooling. They will be tested frequently.

 

[drron]

And a dissenting opinion on lockdowns.

This story is no longer available - Washington Times

The Washington Times delivers breaking news and commentary on the issues that affect the future of our nation.

www.washingtontimes.com

Though the things that have the most effect are closing borders,strict quarantine and good contact tracing.Social distancing is important.
Other things have marginal value such as masks.A recent study by the CDC found that at most masks reduced transmission by 1.32%.

Lockdowns have had a severe impact on Paediatric cancer services.

Welcome to Precision Vaccinations News

Precision Vaccinations News publishes vaccine news patients can trust to make informed immunization decisions in partnership with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

www.coronavirustoday.com

Further investigation reveals cardiac and kidney side effects with remdesivir.

Pharmacovigilance analyses outline bradycardia and kidney disorders associated with use of remdesivir for COVID-19 treatment

Using data from VigiBase, the World Health Organization global database of individual case safety reports, one study suggests the use of remdesivir is “significantly” associated with an increased risk of reporting bradycardia and serious bradycardia in patients with coronavirus disease 2019...

dgalerts.docguide.com

Then I have often wondered if the sewage testing is just too sensitive.I can't recall a single case in Australia identified after sewage tests positive.But apparently it does work.

https://www.coronavirustoday.com/covid-19-clues-found-sooner-wastewater

 

[MEL_Traveller]

And a dissenting opinion on lockdowns.

This story is no longer available - Washington Times

The Washington Times delivers breaking news and commentary on the issues that affect the future of our nation.

www.washingtontimes.com

Though the things that have the most effect are closing borders,strict quarantine and good contact tracing.Social distancing is important.
Other things have marginal value such as masks.A recent study by the CDC found that at most masks reduced transmission by 1.32%.

Seems Dr Bhattacharya is popular on Fox shows like Tucker Carlson. Perhaps aligned with the Trump agenda? Dr Bhattacharya says the death toll is no where near as bad as that predicted by the WHO. (Ok, we might not have reached the 3.4% mortality rate predicted by the WHO, but I still think half a million dead in a year is a pretty big number.) He's also appeared via 'politically conservative' outlets in the UK.

Sir Simon Stevens, CEO of the UK's NHS doesn't like the idea of allowing the healthy to go without restrictions in the hope of gaining gain herd immunity, while simultaneously shielding older people... amounts to 'age-based apartheid' in his view. Source: Stanford professor's anti-lockdown movement faces fierce resistance

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Then I have often wondered if the sewage testing is just too sensitive. I can't recall a single case in Australia identified after sewage tests positive. But apparently it does work.

The only local example I can recall was that testing showed Covid active in Gippsland Lakes (Lakes Entrance) and after that red flag it was linked to that a couple from the Black Rock Cluster who had stayed there on there way to Bermagui. Plus local transmission had occurred.

With the Kilmore Cluster the wastewater tests went positive just after the first cases were found. So while it did not alert that were there cases, it confirmed its sudden appearance and supported the suspected timeline.

 

[Flashback]

Feels a bit early for Israel to open up given their current case numbers but there you go.

Israelis raise glass to Pfizer as lockdown ends

With more than half of its adults fully vaccinated, the country is partying like it’s 2019

amp.ft.com

 

[dajop]

Other things have marginal value such as masks.A recent study by the CDC found that at most masks reduced transmission by 1.32%.

Lockdowns have had a severe impact on Paediatric cancer services.

Welcome to Precision Vaccinations News

Precision Vaccinations News publishes vaccine news patients can trust to make informed immunization decisions in partnership with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.

www.coronavirustoday.com

The CDC survey said that mask mandates in the USA only reduced transmission by 1.32%, not masks. It says nothing about the proportions of people wearing masks even when mandated (in the US all the anecdotal evidence suggested even where mandates were in place it didn’t necessarily mean 95% of people wore them (like in Victoria), a much lower % did. There is also evidence that suggested in Kansas in counties that enforced mask mandates, it likewise only reduced new infections by a small amount 6%, but in counties not enforcing the mandate - new cases increased by 100% over the same time.

Fact check: CDC study links mask mandates to slowing COVID-19 infections and deaths

A widely shared post from One America News Network claims that a CDC study found "masks have negligible impact on coronavirus numbers." This is false.

www.usatoday.com

My conclusion - difficult to do these studies and isolate all the different variables!

Likewise with lockdowns - how many ignored lockdown measures? The evidence in Australia would suggest a mix of measures including (importantly ) hotel quarantine plus social distancing plus gathering restrictions plus lockdowns contributed to controlling the first wave and throw in masks that helped with Victoria second wave as well. But IMHO the biggest factor in success was community buy in to the fact that COVID existed and buy in to the idea that measures to control it were needed. In many parts of the world that buy in just wasn’t there.

Also the Lancet article doesn’t specifically state that “lockdowns have had a severe impact...”. The article makes a mention of lockdowns and it is as one of several contributing factors ... “Hospital prioritisation for patients with COVID-19 combined with border lockdowns and restricted public transportation have contributed to delayed childhood cancer diagnoses ....”. Noticeably (but perhaps due to less widespread COViD there was no data in that survey from Australia, NZ. Taiwan, Japan and South Korea (and could tell if there was data from Singapore or not).