The Covid-19 Thread: News, Preparation Tips, Etc

[fluffyforever]

I got Covid probably from being at an airport and on a plane 2x this past weekend. No masks guidelines anymore when traveling on planes or in airports. I’ve been on a couple of trips last year without even getting the sniffles.

Covid for me so far is a really bad headache, body aches, and a bad taste in my mouth. It’s day 3 of symptoms and I now only have the bad taste and a slight headache if I shake my head. Sporadic coughing is not even notable.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

One patient in the trial reported myocarditis after receiving placebo."

Wonder if their magnet arm started acting up on them too.

 

[Kitamita]

Hi Ladies,

I wanted to share my experience at a convention this past weekend in Southern CA. It was packed with vendors (450 booths) and attendees. I would say about 3% of people wore masks . There were quite a few kids and babies there as well - some masked, most not. I spoke to one new mother of a 3-month-old, and none of that family were wearing a mask... One guy was coughing like he had tuberculosis/covid and did not cover his mouth - spittle everywhere .
I wore my N95 and air purifier all day and ate outside or in my hotel room, using hand sanitizer heavily throughout the day. I sanitized my room on arrival and brought my own pillowcase. In the hotel, only some staff wore masks, and maybe 1 or 2 guests that I ran into but everyone else no bueno. Out of 5 of us at our booth, only one other coworker wore their mask sporadically. My boss did not and now has Covid. He is boosted but sounds terrible over zoom. I do feel the precautions I took made a difference as I have no symptoms. So please don't drop your guard because most people are not with it anymore but covid ain't going nowhere.

 

[Everything Zen]

^^^Coming in to say after ASCO at McCormick center this week no one in my group wore a mask except me. I only attended one dinner with three other people and a cocktail reception at our hotel. ASCO was supposed to be a sort of COVID bubble where you had to show proof of vaccine at the convention center and submit to rapid testing if you traveled from out of state recently. Mask wearing was not enforced. It took everything for me to attend and spend the time I did with them because I was uncomfortable but my time was limited. My whole team flew from either the East Coast or the Netherlands and none of them wore masks on the plane. Now my boss’s wife has tested positive on the flight back. So far my boss and the kids are negative Her family is from Bolingbrook so he stayed with her for part of the time and another senior member in leadership that I was met briefly has a really bad cough on our Teams calls. So far I’m feeling fine and just echoing @Kitamita to not be out here slipping.

 

[Ganjababy]

The Morning: Covid and race

View in browser|nytimes.com June 9, 2022​ By David Leonhardt Good morning. The Covid death rate for white Americans has recently exceeded the rates for Black, Latino and Asian Americans.​ Clem Williams, 76, getting her second booster in Durham, N.C. in May.Veasey Conway for The New York Times​ A turnabout​ ​ One of the defining characteristics of the pandemic’s early stages was its disproportionate toll on Black and Latino Americans.​ During Covid’s early months in the U.S., the per capita death rate for Black Americans was almost twice as high as the white rate and more than twice as high as the Asian rate. The Latino death rate was in between, substantially lower than the Black rate but still above average.​ “We’re most vulnerable to this thing,” Teresa Bradley, a nurse in Michigan, told The Times in 2020, after surviving a Covid hospitalization. When she was wheeled through the emergency room, she was pained to see that every other patient she saw there was also Black.​ These large racial gaps seemed as if they might persist throughout the pandemic, especially because white and Asian Americans were initially quicker to receive vaccine shots. Black and Latino Americans, by contrast, had less convenient accessto the shots and many were skeptical of them.​ But these large racial gaps in vaccination have not continued — and as a result, neither have the gaps in Covid death rates.​ Instead, Covid’s racial gaps have narrowed and, more recently, even flipped. Over the past year, the Covid death rate for white Americans has been 14 percent higher than the rate for Black Americans and 72 percent higher than the Latino rate, according to the latest C.D.C. data.​ Data until May 21, 2022. | Sources: C.D.C.; U.S. Census Bureau​ It is a remarkable turnabout, a story of both public health success and failure.​ Bottom up​ ​ The successful part of the story is the rapid increase in vaccination among Black and Latino Americans since last year. Today, the vaccination rate for both groups is slightly higher than it is for white Americans, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s surveys.​ That has happened thanks to intense outreach efforts by medical workers, community organizers and others. In Chattanooga, Tenn., for example, the Rev. Steve Caudle preached about the importance of vaccines: “If it’s the truth, if it’s going to save lives, it should be preached from that pulpit,” he told The Chattanooga Times Free Press. In Imperial County, just north of California’s border with Mexico, health workers took advantage of the medical infrastructure that Obamacare helped create, according to Joe Mathews of Zócalo Public Square.​ One crucial feature of these campaigns has been their bottom-up nature. Local leaders have often designed outreach campaigns to fit their own communities. Rachel Hardeman, the director of the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity at the University of Minnesota, described this approach to me as “centering at the margins.”​ It can be especially effective when doctors and nurses listen to people’s vaccine skepticism and respond respectfully and substantively. Dr. Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, a family physician in North Carolina, has described this attitude as “listening with humility.”​ Why haven’t you heard more about the narrowing of Covid’s racial gaps? I think part of the reason is that many experts and journalists feel uncomfortable highlighting shrinking racial gaps in almost any area. They worry that doing so will somehow minimize the problem of racism and the country’s enduring inequities.​ Certainly, there are important caveats to the Covid story. For one thing, the total death rate remains higher for Black and Latino Americans, because the early disparities were so huge. For another, the unequal nature of underlying health conditions means that a Black person remains more vulnerable on average to severe Covid than a white person of the same age, sex and vaccination status.​ Here are the trends based on age — which still show a narrowing gap, especially in recent months:​ Data until May 21, 2022. | Sources: C.D.C.; U.S. Census Bureau​ Even with these caveats, the larger story remains: Covid has killed a smaller percentage of Black, Latino or Asian Americans over the past year than white Americans. To deny that reality is to miss an important part of the Covid story.​ It also serves as a reminder that rigorous, well-funded public health campaigns have the potential to narrow racial gaps. And there are many stark racial gaps in public health: Traffic deaths, which have surged during the pandemic, disproportionately kill lower-income Americans and people of color. Gun violence, which has also surged, has an even more disproportionate effect. Diabetes, H.I.V., high blood pressure and infant mortality all take a higher toll on Black America.​ With Covid, the country mobilized to reduce the racial vaccination gap — and succeeded. With many other public health problems, a similar focus could probably save lives.​ The partisan factor​ ​ As I mentioned above, the narrowing of Covid’s gaps does involve some bad news: The share of white Americans who have received a Covid vaccine shot has barely budged since last summer.​ The main culprit is politics. Only about 60 percent of Republican adults are vaccinated, compared with about 75 percent of independents and more than 90 percent of Democrats, according to Kaiser. And Republicans are both disproportionately white and older. Together, these facts help explain why the white death rate has recently been higher than the Asian, Black or Latino rate.​ In heavily conservative, white communities, leaders have not done as good a job explaining the vaccine’s benefits — and Covid’s risks — as leaders in Black and Latino communities. Instead, many conservative media figures, politicians, clergy members and others have amplified false or misleading information about the vaccines. Millions of Americans, in turn, have chosen not to receive a lifesaving shot. Some have paid with their lives.​

 

[yamilee21]

^^^ The media started that though, when they began reporting that Covid was affecting blacks and latinos at higher rates. They had the more racist wypipo feeling invincible, even before the conspiracy nuts took over the right-wing world.

 

[Black Ambrosia]

^^^ The media started that though, when they began reporting that Covid was affecting blacks and latinos at higher rates. They had the more racist wypipo feeling invincible, even before the conspiracy nuts took over the right-wing world.

Is that really the media’s fault? People have a responsibility to think and process information. I don’t want the media lying or hiding information because someone too lazy to connect the dots will get it wrong.

 

[yamilee21]

Is that really the media’s fault? People have a responsibility to think and process information. I don’t want the media lying or hiding information because someone too lazy to connect the dots will get it wrong.

I think we talked about it in this thread… it was the way they kept hammering that it was affecting black and latino people more… that was when attitudes started to turn, and people stopped caring as much. Not too long ago, some study came out corroborated that the emphasis on Covid affecting blacks and latinos more did indeed serve to make whites take fewer precautions.

 

[lavaflow99]

Biden drops pre-boarding testing rule for U.S.-bound plane travelers

The Biden administration plans to drop a requirement that forces inbound air travelers from other countries to test negative for the coronavirus.

www.washingtontimes.com

Biden drops pre-boarding testing rule for U.S.-bound plane travelers​

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Passengers get a COVID-19 test at Heathrow Airport in London, Nov. 29, 2021, in this file photo. The Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international air travelers to the U.S. take a COVID-19 test within a day before boarding ... more >


By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times - Friday, June 10, 2022
The Biden administration plans to drop a requirement that forces inbound air travelers from other countries to test negative for the coronavirus.
The rule will be lifted Sunday after pressure from the travel industry to ease up on COVID-19 restrictions. Countries, such as the U.K. and Italy, relaxed their travel rules ahead of the summer travel season.

The testing rule was put in place by the Trump administration and President Biden tightened the rules, requiring a negative test within just one day of boarding. U.S. citizens were included in the rules.

---

The U.S. Travel Association praised the government for making the change, saying it had been a huge deterrent to travel.
“Today marks another huge step forward for the recovery of inbound air travel and the return of international travel to the United States. The Biden administration is to be commended for this action, which will welcome back visitors from around the world and accelerate the recovery of the U.S. travel industry,” association president and CEO Roger Dow said. “International inbound travel is vitally important to businesses and workers across the country who have struggled to regain losses from this valuable sector.”

 

[Black Ambrosia]

Biden drops pre-boarding testing rule for U.S.-bound plane travelers

The Biden administration plans to drop a requirement that forces inbound air travelers from other countries to test negative for the coronavirus.

www.washingtontimes.com

Biden drops pre-boarding testing rule for U.S.-bound plane travelers​

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Passengers get a COVID-19 test at Heathrow Airport in London, Nov. 29, 2021, in this file photo. The Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international air travelers to the U.S. take a COVID-19 test within a day before boarding ... more >


By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times - Friday, June 10, 2022
The Biden administration plans to drop a requirement that forces inbound air travelers from other countries to test negative for the coronavirus.
The rule will be lifted Sunday after pressure from the travel industry to ease up on COVID-19 restrictions. Countries, such as the U.K. and Italy, relaxed their travel rules ahead of the summer travel season.

The testing rule was put in place by the Trump administration and President Biden tightened the rules, requiring a negative test within just one day of boarding. U.S. citizens were included in the rules.

---

The U.S. Travel Association praised the government for making the change, saying it had been a huge deterrent to travel.
“Today marks another huge step forward for the recovery of inbound air travel and the return of international travel to the United States. The Biden administration is to be commended for this action, which will welcome back visitors from around the world and accelerate the recovery of the U.S. travel industry,” association president and CEO Roger Dow said. “International inbound travel is vitally important to businesses and workers across the country who have struggled to regain losses from this valuable sector.”

I don't like the way this sounds but there's no point anymore with it running rampant here though I think testing should be required before getting on all flights since you're confined to the space and people aren't masking. Masking or testing. Ideally both.

 

[lavaflow99]

This is why you don’t want COVID. You just don’t know how your body will react. Some people have zero symptoms, some have mild symptoms and fully recover, some have symptoms for weeks/months/years and some die.

 

[lavaflow99]

Can’t fake these symptoms.

 

[oneastrocurlie]

I don't like the way this sounds but there's no point anymore with it running rampant here though I think testing should be required before getting on all flights since you're confined to the space and people aren't masking. Masking or testing. Ideally both.

Right. The call is coming from inside the house at this point.

 

[BonBon]

This week:

MIL is in hospital in ICU with COPD and shortly before we visited she was moved to CCU (mostly critically ill heart patients).
Called up the nurses about the rules for visiting before flying out. The nurse coordinator says to test as soon as you land and before visiting the hospital.
I thought since the flight was only 1 hr I'd rather test on the day at home instead of having to do it in an airport so me and DH test negative.
On the way to the airport, we received a message from BIL saying he also tested before the flight and showed us 2 positive tests with the question "Is this OK or not OK?"......

The first thing MIL says "who told you to test, you shouldn't have took the test" She says she asked a nurse and you dont have to test to get in, you can still come because everyone has to wear masks.

I freaking out at this point because we were supposed to share a ride, have dinner with elderly family and share a house with BIL and most obviously it's ethically mad to put these ill people in danger. I take the phone as DH is driving and ask " The nurse told you that BIL is allowed to come into the critical care unit with confirmed Omicron?" knowing the answer. She repeats that you dont need to test and it's silly and she doesn't know why we were told that. I say " to protect you and the other ill patients" then I tell DH to take the phone back as my frustration was rising lol. DH asks again about whether MIL mentioned to the nurse that he has an active infection and she admits no, she did not.

BIL contributes that if it was any other flight for holiday he would have travelled anyway, but maybe he shouldn't come to the hospital trip -_-. We pull in and call him and he says he called the hospital to speak to the head nurse and asked if he could come visit with Omicron and she cussed him out Thankfully that was the end of that. Makes me think if that was a normal visit he probably wouldn't have tested and we'd be sitting here infected right now.

Other report

Only 5-10 % of people were wearing masks on the plane.

 

[Lylddlebit]

This week:

MIL is in hospital in ICU with COPD and shortly before we visited she was moved to CCU (mostly critically ill heart patients).
Called up the nurses about the rules for visiting before flying out. The nurse coordinator says to test as soon as you land and before visiting the hospital.
I thought since the flight was only 1 hr I'd rather test on the day at home instead of having to do it in an airport so me and DH test negative.
On the way to the airport, we received a message from BIL saying he also tested before the flight and showed us 2 positive tests with the question "Is this OK or not OK?"......

The first thing MIL says "who told you to test, you shouldn't have took the test" She says she asked a nurse and you dont have to test to get in, you can still come because everyone has to wear masks.

I freaking out at this point because we were supposed to share a ride, have dinner with elderly family and share a house with BIL and most obviously it's ethically mad to put these ill people in danger. I take the phone as DH is driving and ask " The nurse told you that BIL is allowed to come into the critical care unit with confirmed Omicron?" knowing the answer. She repeats that you dont need to test and it's silly and she doesn't know why we were told that. I say " to protect you and the other ill patients" then I tell DH to take the phone back as my frustration was rising lol. DH asks again about whether MIL mentioned to the nurse that he has an active infection and she admits no, she did not.

BIL contributes that if it was any other flight for holiday he would have travelled anyway, but maybe he shouldn't come to the hospital trip -_-. We pull in and call him and he says he called the hospital to speak to the head nurse and asked if he could come visit with Omicron and she cussed him out Thankfully that was the end of that. Makes me think if that was a normal visit he probably wouldn't have tested and we'd be sitting here infected right now.

Other report

Only 5-10 % of people were wearing masks on the plane.

That type is selfishness has been the norm for a while. Thank you for your honesty. People need to know these mindsets and hear these examples. So many people are out here knowing they or their relatives are sick while treating infection like a inconvenience instead of the pandemic that it is, as they place others at risk. I can't tell you how many times I heard at work, while I and they were safe working from home, a parent mention telling their kid to take finals (yes, with their classmates right before they went home) then rest knowing their kid was are positive. There are so many examples where an infected person is told to do what they planned to do, knowing they are positive regardless of who they may infect. If that parent takes the risk, fine, but the selfishness of its impact on others is contemptible. I sure thank you to noticing the lunacy of it all but I am glad you shared it. I hear too many examples that remind me of yours and it hear it from folks who feel comfortable working from home but don't hesitate to do regular stuff once they admit catching it. The type of people who might make small steps that they don't consider inconveniences to avoid it but once they have it there is little to no regard for others.

 

[BonBon]

^ This is disappointing and disturbs me.

A couple of people were trying to suggest I am being over the top by trying to plan things out still, requesting tests and reducing my outings and it was starting to get into my head a little. Witnessing this behaviour has kicked me firmly back into reality.

 

[AtlantaJJ]

Traveling to LA next month, Will be wearing my goofy face shield and mask in the airport and on the plane, and if someone says something to me, they might think I'm kin to Mike Tyson.

 

[Nay]

BonBon, your story reminds me of what we are currently going through. So my MIL, her husband and her sister really wanted to drive to their family home in the country for a two-week vacation. They are all up in age (they're all upper 80s) and this may very well be their last time to go. The drive takes a couple days, and at this stage none of them feel comfortable driving that far. But none of them want to fly because at their age and the way they toddle, that's a total hassle. So my husband offers to drive them and take the vacation with them (which in itself is very generous of his time), and everyone is thrilled. He told them all to make sure they are boosted and he's assuming that they've been pretty careful as far as their day-to-day activities.

Well, he just found out from his mom that her teenage grandson is coming along too. He suggested to his mom that the grandson should definitely be tested before everyone piles into the car for this long road trip. His mom got all offended and told my husband that the grandson has been vaccinated. My husband explained that vaccination doesn't mean you can't spread Covid. My MIL got pissy and said, "Well, I've got a bunch of at-home tests. Why don't YOU take one." Look, lady, we wear our masks religiously and barely ever interact with anyone. And my husband has no problem taking a test. The grandson is out there doing who knows what, but she's mad cause my husband is trying to look out for everyone's well-being. And now that MIL has shown her lack of concern for her own safety or the safety of her octogenarian husband and sister, it makes me wonder if she's even safe to be around her damn self. Sometimes it doesn't pay to try to do something nice for someone.

 

[Evolving78]

@Nay
That trip would have gotten canceled right then and there. They grown, let them figure it out.

 

[Evolving78]

This is like trying to get someone to wear a condom or get tested for STIs before you go there with them.

 

[MamaBear2012]

@Nay
That trip would have gotten canceled right then and there. They grown, let them figure it out.

Why was I saying this same thing as I was reading that? As soon as I realized they weren't on the same page as me about testing, vaccinations, and/or masks, I'd be done. I would hate to be a part of the trip where one of them got sick.

 

[dancinstallion]

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

Can’t fake these symptoms.

OMG I wasn't ready!!! When he said his whole half of his face is paralyzed, he was not kidding!

 

[sunshinebeautiful]

Lawd....

These reports are scary. One of my pregnant coworkers just got over covid. She's due in August. I immediately thought about her with the reports of babies having later developmental delays.

 

[Brownie]

@Nay
That trip would have gotten canceled right then and there. They grown, let them figure it out.

Agree…let the grandson drive them and stay home

 

[dancinstallion]

Israel sees 70% spike in number of seriously ill COVID patients within a week​

Spoiler

"The number of coronavirus patients in serious condition in Israel reached 140 on Friday, marking a near 70% rise since last week, with health experts warning that the current situation was “unstable.”

While Israel has seen rising infection numbers for a few weeks, a rise in seriously ill patients marks a real concern as the country deals with the spread of the new variant BA.5, with experts warning that hospitals may need to reopen COVID wards.

The number was up from 85 seriously ill patients on Friday last week. Some 7,313 Israelis tested positive for the virus on Friday, the Health Ministry said. The reproduction number (R) stood at 1.31 as of Friday.

The figure measures how many people each coronavirus carrier infects on average, with any number above 1 meaning the spread of COVID-19 is increasing. It first began to rise above 1 in mid-May, having stayed below that threshold for nearly two months.

The death toll stood at 10,882, including six fatalities over the past week.
“The data definitely indicates that the disease is active in the community,” immune system expert Prof. Cyrille Cohen of Bar Ilan University told the Ynet news site.
“The thing that determines the policy is not necessarily the number of confirmed patients but the condition of seriously ill patients. We need to understand whether they are experiencing the disease in a more severe way — and whether we will need to get ready to reopen COVID wards this summer,” he added.
Despite the warning, Cohen said it’s too early to know the severity of the variant that mutated from Omicron, known as BA.5, and whether or not it will develop into a new wave.
“We don’t know exactly what this wave will look like and whether we can call it a wave at all,” he said. “We are following the events in Portugal because variant BA.5 is the dominant one there and because its population is similar to Israel in size with many people vaccinated, even more so than in Israel.”
Cohen noted that morbidity and mortality rates rose in Portugal at the same time the BA5 variant started spreading.
“We need to realize that’s going to happen here as well,” he said, urging lawmakers to take action. “It’s an unpredictable and unstable situation regarding COVID. It will take months and even years before there is a significant decrease and we reach a more predictable scenario. But one must also be careful with making estimations,” he added.
Cohen said the effort should be concentrated on “actively encouraging herd immunity among the vulnerable and older population” by “calling people who haven’t received the vaccine and encouraging them to get it.”
He also advised wearing masks in crowded places like on buses and at shopping centers.
On Wednesday, coronavirus czar Prof. Salman Zarka said the new variant BA.5 is quickly gaining traction and is more resistant to vaccines than previous strains.
“The BA.5 strain currently accounts for about 50 percent of patients,” he said. “The strain caused relatively mild illness among young people, but we can see a rise in hospitalizations.”
He said BA.5 was replacing Omicron as the dominant variant, and that it will continue to gain ground.
Israel scrapped its indoor mask requirement in April as infection numbers dropped off sharply. Outdoor masks have not been required since April of last year.
Salman Zarka also said Israelis may soon be able to be officially recognized as COVID-19 patients based solely on a home test, under certain conditions, while at the same time the Health Ministry was working to expand test facilities."]

 

[Evolving78]

Israel sees 70% spike in number of seriously ill COVID patients within a week​

Spoiler

"The number of coronavirus patients in serious condition in Israel reached 140 on Friday, marking a near 70% rise since last week, with health experts warning that the current situation was “unstable.”

While Israel has seen rising infection numbers for a few weeks, a rise in seriously ill patients marks a real concern as the country deals with the spread of the new variant BA.5, with experts warning that hospitals may need to reopen COVID wards.

The number was up from 85 seriously ill patients on Friday last week. Some 7,313 Israelis tested positive for the virus on Friday, the Health Ministry said. The reproduction number (R) stood at 1.31 as of Friday.

The figure measures how many people each coronavirus carrier infects on average, with any number above 1 meaning the spread of COVID-19 is increasing. It first began to rise above 1 in mid-May, having stayed below that threshold for nearly two months.

The death toll stood at 10,882, including six fatalities over the past week.
“The data definitely indicates that the disease is active in the community,” immune system expert Prof. Cyrille Cohen of Bar Ilan University told the Ynet news site.
“The thing that determines the policy is not necessarily the number of confirmed patients but the condition of seriously ill patients. We need to understand whether they are experiencing the disease in a more severe way — and whether we will need to get ready to reopen COVID wards this summer,” he added.
Despite the warning, Cohen said it’s too early to know the severity of the variant that mutated from Omicron, known as BA.5, and whether or not it will develop into a new wave.
“We don’t know exactly what this wave will look like and whether we can call it a wave at all,” he said. “We are following the events in Portugal because variant BA.5 is the dominant one there and because its population is similar to Israel in size with many people vaccinated, even more so than in Israel.”
Cohen noted that morbidity and mortality rates rose in Portugal at the same time the BA5 variant started spreading.
“We need to realize that’s going to happen here as well,” he said, urging lawmakers to take action. “It’s an unpredictable and unstable situation regarding COVID. It will take months and even years before there is a significant decrease and we reach a more predictable scenario. But one must also be careful with making estimations,” he added.
Cohen said the effort should be concentrated on “actively encouraging herd immunity among the vulnerable and older population” by “calling people who haven’t received the vaccine and encouraging them to get it.”
He also advised wearing masks in crowded places like on buses and at shopping centers.
On Wednesday, coronavirus czar Prof. Salman Zarka said the new variant BA.5 is quickly gaining traction and is more resistant to vaccines than previous strains.
“The BA.5 strain currently accounts for about 50 percent of patients,” he said. “The strain caused relatively mild illness among young people, but we can see a rise in hospitalizations.”
He said BA.5 was replacing Omicron as the dominant variant, and that it will continue to gain ground.
Israel scrapped its indoor mask requirement in April as infection numbers dropped off sharply. Outdoor masks have not been required since April of last year.
Salman Zarka also said Israelis may soon be able to be officially recognized as COVID-19 patients based solely on a home test, under certain conditions, while at the same time the Health Ministry was working to expand test facilities."]

So many people act like it’s over..

 

[dancinstallion]

So many people act like it’s over..

Right. It is far from over. People are going to be caught slipping.
I think these new variants B4 and B5 are going to be as severe as Delta because they are multiplying in the lungs like Delta. While Omicron was multiplying before it reached the lungs causing more cases which in turn caused more deaths than Delta but it wasn't as severe.

"Researchers in Tokyo said the new versions of Omicron may be more likely to cause disease than the last, according to a preprint study.5 In lab tests, when unvaccinated people recovered from BA.1 or BA.2 infections, they did not have sufficient antibodies to protect against BA.4 and BA.5, Kei Sato, PhD, a virology professor at the University of Tokyo and lead author on the study, told Verywell in an email.


Sato’s team also found that BA.4 and BA.5 replicated more readily in human lung cells and caused more severe disease in hamsters than BA.2 did. These preliminary findings suggest the risk of BA.4 and BA.5 to global health “is potentially greater than that of original BA.2,” the authors wrote."

 

[lavaflow99]

Geez...... And usually Israel is the first one affected by new COVID issues before we start seeing similar results in the US. Sigh.....

Right. It is far from over. People are going to be caught slipping.
I think these new variants B4 and B5 are going to be as severe as Delta because they are multiplying in the lungs like Delta. While Omicron was multiplying before it reached the lungs causing more cases which in turn caused more deaths than Delta but it wasn't as severe.

"Researchers in Tokyo said the new versions of Omicron may be more likely to cause disease than the last, according to a preprint study.5 In lab tests, when unvaccinated people recovered from BA.1 or BA.2 infections, they did not have sufficient antibodies to protect against BA.4 and BA.5, Kei Sato, PhD, a virology professor at the University of Tokyo and lead author on the study, told Verywell in an email.


Sato’s team also found that BA.4 and BA.5 replicated more readily in human lung cells and caused more severe disease in hamsters than BA.2 did. These preliminary findings suggest the risk of BA.4 and BA.5 to global health “is potentially greater than that of original BA.2,” the authors wrote."

 

[vevster]

So many people act like it’s over..

I had a pedi today. The last time I was at this salon they had plexiglass and U/V disinfecting wands, made you take your temp, use hand sanitizer and mask. All of that is gone except the clinicians wore masks and they used liners in the foot baths.