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

[drron]

And in a lighter vein some interesting things happening on Indian planes.
First a different way of circumventing India's lockdown.

Indian couple holds mid-air wedding 'to escape Covid restrictions'

The nuptials reportedly took place at the same time as India's official death toll passed 300,000.

www.bbc.com

And of all creatures that could have boarded during the pandemic.

Bat Causes Newark-Bound Air India Flight To Divert

An Air India flight from Delhi to Newark diverted after a bat started flying around the cabin. Here are all the details of the incident.

onemileatatime.com

 

[Lynda2475]

QFs A380s are hosting some interesting passengers whilst parked in the desert

"Qantas engineers maintaining the airline's grounded Airbus A380 fleet in a Californian desert are facing a novel problem: rattlesnakes are making homes in the landing gear."

Qantas Airbus A380 superjumbos: Rattlesnakes cause problems for engineers maintaining planes in desert storage

Qantas engineers maintaining the airline's grounded Airbus A380 fleet in a Californian desert are facing a novel problem: rattlesnakes are making homes in the landing gear.

www.traveller.com.au

 

[Hvr]

Had my flu vacc today. My GP thanked me for having already having my first COVID vacc and knowing the appointment date for the second injection.

 

[drron]

China continues to do well.


But we cant relax something else might come along.

China reports human case of H10N3 bird flu, a possible first

The Chinese government says a 41-year-old man has contracted what might be the world’s first human case of the H10N3 strain of bird flu, but that the risk of large-scale spread is low.

apnews.com

Fortunately this particular mutation doesn't look likely to cause problems.

 

[drron]

An explanation as to why Covid infection may lead to diabetes.

How COVID-19 Can Lead to Diabetes

Along with the pneumonia, blood clots, and other serious health concerns caused by SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 virus, some studies have also identified another troubling connection. Some people can de…

directorsblog.nih.gov

 

[OZDUCK]

I see that the UK has now delayed the easing of their current lockdown for 4 weeks. This is due to the rise of the Delta variant which the article states is "60% more infectious than the Alpha variant .... (which) was previously dominant in the UK" it is also "twice as likely to result in infected people being hospitalised."

Covid: Lockdown easing in England to be delayed by four weeks

Most current Covid rules will remain for four more weeks after 21 June, government sources say.

www.bbc.com

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I see that the UK has now delayed the easing of their current lockdown for 4 weeks. This is due to the rise of the Delta variant which the article states is "60% more infectious than the Alpha variant .... (which) was previously dominant in the UK" it is also "twice as likely to result in infected people being hospitalised."

Covid: Lockdown easing in England to be delayed by four weeks

Most current Covid rules will remain for four more weeks after 21 June, government sources say.

www.bbc.com

Delta being the variant along with Kappa that hit Vic recently.

And yes Delta is on the rise in the UK.




It would also seem that more of the cases are in the unvaccinated.


With Delta the various reports I have recently read have suggested that people need to have both does of the AZ or Pfizer moreso than with the earlier strains for which one dose gave better protection. The latest studies suggest that two doses of AZ/Pfizer give excellent protection against the Delta Strain.

 

[drron]

A new monoclonal antibody treatment for covid delivered by a nasal spray is being trialled.

Could a Nasal Spray of Designer Antibodies Help to Beat COVID-19?

There are now several monoclonal antibodies, identical copies of a therapeutic antibody produced in large numbers, that are authorized for the treatment of COVID-19. But in the ongoing effort to be…

directorsblog.nih.gov

And a limit to the number of people that cando the Haji pilgramage this year.

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

 

[Princess Fiona]

Much angst among us all over when / if Australia comes out from under the doona.
Looking at this you can see the reticence of the government to give us assurances of when it will happen.

Go and get your Vaccine if you are eligible now and you can. Unless everyone does their bit it’s going to be a long time under that doona.

 

[drron]

Just a reminder that Covid testing is not a precise science.This about the gold standard PCR test.

The performance of the SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test as a tool for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in the population

Dear Editor,

www.journalofinfection.com

 

[dajop]

Singapore take on Covid norm from Ministers of Finance, Trade & Industry and Health:

Living normally, with Covid-19: Task force ministers on how S'pore is drawing road map for new normal

It involves vaccination, testing, treatment and social responsibility. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

I do like the government (shock horror) making this point, but recognise the government has a "safe space" (i.e. controlled media) to make such comments without risking attack by the media:

Third, instead of monitoring Covid-19 infection numbers every day, we will focus on the outcomes: how many fall very sick, how many in the intensive care unit, how many need to be intubated for oxygen, and so on. This is like how we now monitor influenza.

 

[eastwest101]

Singapore take on Covid norm from Ministers of Finance, Trade & Industry and Health:

Living normally, with Covid-19: Task force ministers on how S'pore is drawing road map for new normal

It involves vaccination, testing, treatment and social responsibility. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

I do like the government (shock horror) making this point, but recognise the government has a "safe space" (i.e. controlled media) to make such comments without risking attack by the media:

Seems a fitting time to be asking for some good old fact and data supported policy, some cost benefit analysis and some proper coordination between governments, they have been fighting fires and giving press conferences taking credit for the good news to feed the 24 hour media cycle for almost 18 months now, time we started to learn to deal with Covid like adults unless the long term plan is to live under the doonah with no freedoms and no economic activity or interaction with the rest of the world.

Just heard Prof GIgi Foster on ABC radio national's "The Economists" - here is a link to the Q&A episode that pitched her skepticism about lockdowns and calls for data driven policies vs the main eliminationists proponents.

Heated Q+A discussion sees economist deny she is 'advocating for people to die'

As Victoria and New South Wales both face coronavirus outbreaks of sizeable scales, economist Gigi Foster is asked why she is championing the Swedish model, on a heated episode of Q+A.

www.abc.net.au

Remember that this Q&A was recorded in July 2020 so quite a lot of time and several lockdowns have passed since then.

Her recent appearance on the ABC Radio National's The Economists and her comments will ruffle some feathers in the future I predict. Especially years down the track when the social, educational and loss of tourism jobs costs are all counted.

Even Conroy and Rudd at least attempted to justify the NBN on the back of a napkin cost benefit analysis, while in 2020 national cabinet still cant agree on the definition of a hotspot but can spray money around while destroying entire parts of the economy, its like the people on the titanic arguing about what the definition of an iceberg is while the ship lists further into the sea.

 

[drron]

Maybe we need some extra information from CHOs when they give a press conference.
"Now, NIH-funded researchers have discovered a clever workaround to detect more accurately where COVID-19 hotspots are emerging. As published in the journal Science, the new approach focuses on the actual amount of virus present in a positive COVID diagnostic test [1], not just whether the test is positive or negative. What’s even better is these data on a person’s “viral load” are readily available from polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests."

New Metric Identifies Coronavirus Hotspots in Real Time

During the pandemic, it’s been critical to track in real time where the coronavirus is spreading at home and abroad. But it’s often hard for public health officials to know whether changes in the r…

directorsblog.nih.gov

 

[drron]

The USA certainly was hit hard with the possibility that many more had covid without being diagnosed.

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

But they still are getting more optimistic.

 

[Pushka]

Interestingly in a news.com.au article about Singapore's approach to Covid future, 90% of respondents agreed that this is what Australia needs to do. Maybe there's a silver lining in Australia's current stupidity this week.

 

[dajop]

An Alan Jones/Sky News take on Singapore’s change in position linked below. Sentiment OK, but an appalling misrepresentation of where Singapore is at on all this. Only slowly emerging from over a month “heightened restrictions” (in Australia would be called a lockdown, here they carefully avoid that). And the change in sentiment is 100% accurate but as always with the media misrepresents the situation by omission. Alan Jones omitted to say the prequisite for the change in attitude is a certain (high) percentage of the community vaccinated. Until then things remain the same. I also suspect masks will be with us for a while.

 

[33kft]

There's a greater risk here than many acknowledge. Singapore may choose to take this path, and New Zealand may choose to take another. I'd be interested to see how this will coalesce in the future, just as I would have been interested to see how Sweden's policy played out if they had stuck to it, or Israel's (not great right at the moment, but remains to be seen).

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Delta now starting to gain momentum in Fiji as well as say South Africa and the UK. Though the UK has a much higher vaccination rate than the other two and has a markedly lower mortality rate. .

 

[Lynda2475]

UK removing all covid restrictions from 19th July, and moving to a personal responsibility model, basically a retuen to pre covid normal. The world will be watching closely, hopefully case reporting is by vaccine type.

Many Brits annoyed that EU isnt recognising AZ vaccines made outside EU or UK, so all those who received indian made doses (or Australian made) cant currently get EU Vaccine passports. AZ need to apply to have india and Aus production certified.

 

[Pushka]

UK removing all covid restrictions from 19th July, and moving to a personal responsibility model, basically a retuen to pre covid normal. The world will be watching closely, hopefully case reporting is by vaccine type.

Many Brits annoyed that EU isnt recognising AZ vaccines made outside EU or UK, so all those who received indian made doses (or Australian made) cant currently get EU Vaccine passports. AZ need to apply to have india and Aus production certified.

I thought that but then read the decision has been deferred to next Monday. How would one know whether AZ was made in Europe or Australia? I know my first one was made in Europe as it was done before Australia came online but there is nothing that distinguishes it from the second in my health certificate.