Very interesting article on how covid is affecting some of the animal populations as well: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/scientists-discover-shockingly-high-rates-of-covid-infections-among-white-tailed-deer?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=newshour&utm_content=1643915367
It has already been noted that Covid-19 has been contracted by our dogs and cats when they owners became sick with it. It is found this deer herd has been going through it.
I have been reading about the past lives of different world leaders lately. My guides are telling me that the current Japanese PM Kishida was the second Tokugawa shogun Hidetada in a past life. Recently, Japan has tightened its borders due to the new cases, especially in the US bases. This is similar to Hidetada when he enacted draconian anti-Christianity laws in Japan.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/japan-border-policy-thousands-foreigners-limbo-82667439
@enkasongwriter I am glad you are getting us to focus on Japan's policy. You have been instrumental focusing on Asian countries and I am grateful to you for that!
But I gently disagree with making false equivalency between a 17th century emperor's xenophobic policies and the current prime minister who is trying to contain an epidemic in a crowded island country. Other countries have also closed their borders. Tokyo is an extremely densely populated city. I didn't think the science was clear on what the correct policy should be. If it is, please send some valid research. It is nearly impossible for science to measure the effectiveness of various border policies. I don't know the Japanese
As for your sense that Japan's PM is actually the reincarnation of the 17th century ruler, I've opened up a new thread on past lives for people to post about the subject.
I want to bump this forum up. Even though cases are dropping in the US, Hong Kong is experiencing a wave.
I have relatives in Hong Kong, where my aunt is unvaccinated, while my cousin is. Did a quick scan a few days ago on my cousin that COVID will not scare her from becoming a doctor, but rather fast track her career and degree.
Schools and businesses in New York are lifting the mask mandates.
Did a quick scan and got that there won't be another COVID spike.
We are seeing a sub-variant of Omicron. Does anyone see how bad it can get?
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/16/health/key-indicator-ba2-wave/index.html
As @enkasongwriter mentioned, yes we are experiencing the new Omicron variant called BA2. It is transmitting much faster that the past omicron. Hong Kong is getting hammered and China is currently having more cases than at anytime since the initial Wuhan area got hit.
BA.2 made up 39% of cases in New Jersey and New York, the week ending March 12, up from 25.4% the previous week, the CDC says. (Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are also included by the CDC in that region's COVID case breakdown.)
In the Northeast (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont), BA.2 accounted for 38.6% of cases, up from 24% the previous week, according to the CDC.
I can confirm that in Germany Omicron BA.2 is the dominant strain and that case numbers here are rising rapidly all over the country. Just a few weeks ago, numbers were falling steadily and now we are hitting record highs again. In spite of this, they are doing away with many of the restrictions that have been in place. Masking in all forms of public transportation is, however, still required.
We are seeing a sub-variant of Omicron. Does anyone see how bad it can get?
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/16/health/key-indicator-ba2-wave/index.html
I'm still checking out Dr. John Campbell's videos on Youtube. Here's what I've gleaned from his recent uploads:
Campbell views Omicron BA.2 as a sort of a "cleanup" mechanism to get the most people immunized without massive increases in deaths and serious illness. Omicron 2 is no more pathogenic than Omicron-1, but it is more transmissible. It's going to get a lot of people who escaped Omicron-1 and previous strains. But most people will not become seriously ill.
The problem now is that there are still many people in the world who either won't get vaxxed, or can't get vaxxed because the vaccine is not available where they live. These populations-- especially in the less developed countries-- can serve as reservoirs for the virus to sit and percolate and mutate to possibly more dangerous forms which can escape to the rest of the world and-- here we would go again with the lockdowns, restrictions, hospital overloads, and greatly increased deaths.
We know that Omicron infection provides good immunity not only to Omicron, but to other, more virulent strains of the virus (like Alpha, Delta, etc). (I do not understand the details but evidently natural immunity is actually more effective than the vaccine because it activates parts of the immune system that the vaccine does not.)
If Omicron 1 and 2 could basically hit everyone while (mostly) not causing severe illness or death, it could mean the end of the pandemic as we know it. Campbell believes the Omicron wave could be the "off-ramp" for the pandemic. And that we are blessed because this "off ramp" is a relatively mild virus that will cause much less pain than if it had been both highly transmissible *and* very deadly.
There will be sickness, there will be lives lost. But that can be mitigated if those who *can* get vaccinated do so-- if they subsequently get Omicron, their symptoms will be milder than those of people who are completely naiive to the virus.
Campbell presents a lot of good data in his videos and I think his reasoning is sound. This isn't an intuitive analysis, but it makes a lot of sense to me.
Here's the latest video if anyone wants to see it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4DH4ws03PY
And one from a few days ago where he explains the value of natural immunity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkjBi7dOTAg
@ana My psyche through quick scans has been telling me that Omicron is the harbinger of COVID as a pandemic. I got a vision that it will mutate into the seasonal flu this coming October.
@enkasongwriter Did you mean to say "endemic" instead of "pandemic"? Because "endemic" would make it more like the seasonal flu...
@ana Thanks for the corrections. I meant to say as a harbinger of the end of COVID as a pandemic.
WHO says that even though deaths are increasing, cases are dropping.
There's good news that COVID deaths and cases are declining.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/global-covid-cases-deaths-declined-week-84209985
Hi all
Is there any thoughts on if China will stop their zero tolerance and also embrace “living with Covid” and if they don’t will that affect China going forward
Chinese Australians in Sydney buying food for family in COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai
Australians under lockdown in Shanghai fear family separation as city reports first COVID deaths
SHANGHAI, April 24 (Reuters) - Shanghai authorities battling an outbreak of COVID-19 have erected fences outside residential buildings, sparking fresh public outcry over a lockdown that has forced much of the city's 25 million people indoors.
Images of white hazmat suit-clad workers sealing entrances of housing blocks and closing off entire streets with roughly two metre-tall green fencing went viral on social media, prompting questions and complaints from residents.
Health workers in hazmat suits have been prying open the doors of elderly citizens testing positive to COVID in Shanghai, China, as part of their ruthless zero-tolerance policy.
Elderly citizens are dragged from their bed in the middle of the night and transported to makeshift government quarantine facilities.
Regards to all
A heads up...I got the second booster on Friday. I choose Moderna because of its reported higher efficacy and because it appears that mixing brands produces slightly better immunity. I know several people who did the same and reported merely "a sore arm" as a reaction. The Pfizer booster gave me a couple of uncomfortable hours but was easy compared to the initial vaccination.
Well, in my case the Moderna booster packed a wallop. I had a night of chills and body aches, uncomfortable but not extreme, followed by a day in bed which was eyes-closed-listen-only mode. I didn't have the energy to even watch anything and today I am extremely low energy and fuzzy.
Had I known how I would react, I might have opted for another Pfizer booster. Anyway, I am reporting in case others are considering the second booster and are switching brands. Allow for some recovery time in case you respond the way I did.
@raincloud I've had three doses of Moderna, the two initial ones plus a booster last November. Pretty huge reactions each time. The worst was the second dose, but the booster was intense too. I do know people who've gotten Moderna and have had minimal or no reactions. It depends, I suppose, but if you're getting Moderna for the first time, plan on taking a day or two off, just in case. Or schedule it before a weekend if you don't have generous sick leave at work.
I would like to bump this forum as COVID cases are rising in NYC with the new Omicron subvariant.
Doctor Fauci tested positive today and has mild symptoms.
I have learned that wedding seating charts can double as contact tracing lists. I am currently notifying 2 different tables from the wedding this weekend that they are close contacts to people who have tested positive for covid.