Coronavirus outbreak - From China to the World.

[EmperorBatman999]

Swabian, it's not just me and my own conjecture. There's a growing consensus among the scientific community that COVID is now an endemic disease, and will likely join the disease biome as another virus like the various Influenza strains. Many of the scientists are optimistic that COVID will likely become less deadly, both as a result of herd immunity, later genetic inheritance of that immunity/resistance, and because less deadly strains will be more likely to survive and reproduce in other hosts compared to deadly ones. Maybe that last theory isn't holding up quite well, as we've seen with Delta that it strikes people of an increasingly younger age.

Regarding the idea of starving the virus out via intensive quarantines: let's review the numbers, I'll be using this graph. Cases have grown globally in a generally steady progression, even despite lockdowns in many countries (this is not, in my opinion, however, a measure of individual nation success: obviously their own specific case-rates tell the story). Naturally, it would have been easier to shut out the 15,000 global cases on February 1st, than the 43,000 cases on March 1st, a month later. You would have to wait only for those 15,000 people to go through the infection to either survival or death, and then open up. At this point, about 20 million people have been infected globally, and it's even less likely that we can bring that number to zero with even the harshest lockdowns. Furthermore, many national publics are against further lockdowns, and it would be politically inexpedient to execute further lockdowns in countries like the United States. Evidently, even the Europeans like the Dutch are taking it well, and I am sure uproar is brewing in Austria over the selective lockdown for the unvaccinated.

Now, I do think some practices were done "wrong" with the entire handling of the pandemic in my country and many others. Firstly, an early lockdown in January and February, commensurate with barring all international travel in and out, was necessary but never seriously considered outside of places like China, Taiwan, and New Zealand. Second of all, we were too quick to drop all safeguards in a rush to get back to full normalcy. The US, for example, should have maintained masked mandates everywhere, and the Biden administration should have held to keeping the border closed and keeping immigration halted. Cultural life should have been obligated to keep occupancy limits even if permitted to reopen, and companies should not have been allowed to force their employees back into the office, especially if working from home remained viable for those industries. We also should not have given the vaccinated a free pass from social distancing, either, as it is clear now that the vaccinated infected can still spread the virus: again, we all should have been obliged to social distance and test regularly for the duration of the pandemic, not just during ebb periods.

[alhoon]

If you disagree with your fellow posters, you should find ways to express it that are not offensive orders. Furthermore everyone has a right to post in this thread whatever his or her education or opinions. If you disagree with their assessments bring facts, not insults. Please be civil.

[Gaidin]

So the nurse's life in America just got a lot more interesting.

[sumskilz]

There's a growing consensus among the scientific community that COVID is now an endemic disease

This is a good infographic:

[PointOfViewGun]

There's a growing consensus among the scientific community that COVID is now an endemic disease

That's not what your link point out. It says that scientists expect COVID to become an endemic disease, not that is an endemic disease.

[Ludicus]

There's a growing consensus among the scientific community that COVID is now an endemic disease, .

Not at all. I wish it was true. On a side note, will we get to herd immunity? very unlikely.The second generation vaccines may be better at preventing transmission.
Edit,
An endemic disease is a disease that is consistently present but limited to a particular region.This makes the disease spread and rates predictable.Examples: Malaria, polio, sickle cell anemia, Schistosomiasis, cholera, measles, African lymphatic filariasis, Leishmaniasis, etc. The word epidemic implies an undue prevalence of a clinically detectable entity within a circumscribed period of time.
----
Even here, (fully vaccinated, 87,6%) recent data from early November suggest an appreciable resurgence of the infection, and we are likely to see the start of the 5th wave... with a relatively small number of deaths. In some regions,the Covid infections have quadrupled. So, the maintenance of a high level of immunological protection for the population must be ensured. Vaccination against influenza and the third dose against Covid-19 is practically completed in nursing homes, and the interval between the second and third dose of the vaccine has been shortened to a minimum of 150 days.
Anyway, I’m not complaining, Europe's most vaccinated capital is heaven for tourists
And the Web Summit 2021 was a huge success, 42,751 attendees from 128 countries.
Stop making excuses to not get vaccinated
---

The first known Covid-19 case was a vendor at the live-animal market in Wuhan, according to Michael Worobey | Ecology & Evolutionary Biology the head of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizon

Here,
Dissecting the early COVID-19 cases in Wuhan - Science
------------
Worebay on Twitter, Michael Worobey (@MichaelWorobey) / Twitter
----------
Peter Jacobs to Aline Chan,
“You can't just say "China totalitarian" and point to stuff from other contexts”.

[swabian]

That's not what your link point out. It says that scientists expect COVID to become an endemic disease, not that is an endemic disease.

Yes, it's pretty obvious.

The talk of it even becoming endemic is way too early. This only delivers arguments for weak willed and careless politicians who don't take it seriously. The vaccine production will have to be upheld and upgraded continuously otherwise this is still extremely dangerous. Calling it "endemic" at this point is pure nonsense and fatalism.

[Ludicus]

Study Finds Link Between Far Right and High Corona Rates-Germany

An interdisciplinary team at the Research Institute for Social Cohesion and a researcher from Munich systematically investigated the connection between the election results and the spread of the pathogen.

The experts’ findings are clear: The higher the number of votes the AfD got in a region in the 2017 election, the faster the coronavirus spread there in 2020.
The researchers say there is no other party represented in the German parliament whose election results correlate so strongly and systematically with coronavirus infection rates. The increase in the amount of COVID incidence correlated most strongly with AfD voters. The researchers described that relationship as being "highly significant.”

The darker the shade of blue on the map to the left, the higher the number of votes for the AfD. The darker the red on the right, the higher the incidence of the coronavirus in the region.

[swabian]

Yes, the AFD is talking nonsense.

What they say is not true. The virus is dangerous and we have to keep fighting it.

[Sir Adrian]

Aside for Berlin, Saxony and part of Thuringia, the map seems to suggest an inverse relation between the number of votes and Covid spread.

[Heathen Hammer]

Nah, its because AfD is more popular in former East Germany, where population is somewhat immune to political propaganda since they lived half a century under a communist dictatorship so can see directly through mass media propaganda efforts.
Basically same reason why people in Hungary and other former Warsaw Pact nations vote in similar fashion.

[Coughdrop addict]

They're so close.

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

A "D" for trying so hard.

[TheDarkKnight]

Two updates:

The militantly unvaccinated coworker I have mentioned before finally caught COVID. It was inevitable since her ALSO militantly unvaccinated boyfriend works at a hospital. She already was out of sick days, so she lost three weeks of pay overall because of being sick and only recently returned (she had two days left before she was moving on to somewhere else). She was begging our boss to ask people to donate sick days to her. It's not only not possible, but why would we do it for someone that we knew was leaving anyway? In any case, her only two days back made it clear that while she has survived she has long haul signs, including being almost constantly dizzy when not sitting or laying down. I hope not getting vaccinated was worth it for her and her boyfriend.

In addition, a person whom I know has lost their way morally and intellectually over the last five years (and whom I used to call a dear friend) has mysteriously been hospitalized with a "viral issue" (her words) and was posting yesterday about soon being able to be discharged if she was feeling better by this morning in terms of her O2 levels and such. There have been no updates since then.

I know how thrilled she was to be able to leave the "commie hell hole" of California last year to move to Utah, which is basically the same as our own county in terms of mask/vaccine situations. She was probably safer in our own county despite it having a horrifically high amount of deaths and cases relative to the overall population.

I'm not sure why she decided to play Russian Roulette with her immune system given her other health issues that I know about, but I can't imagine she's happy with the results.

What can you do

[Cope]

Stop fussing over other people's personal health/medical choices?

[TheDarkKnight]

Amazingly, and I know this may be hard for some people to understand, other people also matter. It's kind of a thing we are supposed to learn and accept when we are younger.

She works around kids, who until only recently could not get the vaccine. One of those kids is immune compromised regardless and has a skin condition that makes it impossible for him to wear a mask without bleeding. The fact that he hasn't gotten sick at all this year is a testament to how many precautions are in the classroom, precautions that this coworker clearly does not care about (and clearly by extension, the kids themselves). We also have another coworker who is about to begin chemo (which of course destroys your immune system).

She had no such restrictions other than her belief in vaccines being the Mark of the Beast, which earned much laughter in the breakroom when she said it out loud because we thought she was joking. She was quite mad that no one took her views seriously (and why would they?).

Her ignorance and malice weakened the whole workplace environment and all the precautions in place for kids like the one mentioned above, much less the others.

Luckily we will be less selfish person without her. Her new job (which she is transferring to without any sick days because of her own personal choices) can deal with her in her weakened state. I doubt she will make it the rest of the year to be honest.

[Cope]

Amazingly, and I know this may be hard for some people to understand, other people also matter. It's kind of a thing we are supposed to learn and accept when we are younger.

She works around kids, who until only recently could not get the vaccine. One of those kids is immune compromised regardless and has a skin condition that makes it impossible for him to wear a mask without bleeding. The fact that he hasn't gotten sick at all this year is a testament to how many precautions are in the classroom, precautions that this coworker clearly does not care about (and clearly by extension, the kids themselves). We also have another coworker who is about to begin chemo (which of course destroys your immune system).

She had no such restrictions other than her belief in vaccines being the Mark of the Beast, which earned much laughter in the breakroom when she said it out loud because we thought she was joking. She was quite mad that no one took her views seriously (and why would they?).

Her ignorance and malice weakened the whole workplace environment and all the precautions in place for kids like the one mentioned above, much less the others.

Luckily we will be less selfish person without her. Her new job (which she is transferring to without any sick days because of her own personal choices) can deal with her in her weakened state. I doubt she will make it the rest of the year to be honest.

The vaccine does not prevent transmission and the virus poses an extremely low risk to children (something like only 0.04% of all C19 deaths in the US are in children). Masks have not been shown to protect the wearer.

[Coughdrop addict]

Two updates:

The militantly unvaccinated coworker I have mentioned before finally caught COVID. It was inevitable since her ALSO militantly unvaccinated boyfriend works at a hospital. She already was out of sick days, so she lost three weeks of pay overall because of being sick and only recently returned (she had two days left before she was moving on to somewhere else). She was begging our boss to ask people to donate sick days to her. It's not only not possible, but why would we do it for someone that we knew was leaving anyway? In any case, her only two days back made it clear that while she has survived she has long haul signs, including being almost constantly dizzy when not sitting or laying down. I hope not getting vaccinated was worth it for her and her boyfriend.

In addition, a person whom I know has lost their way morally and intellectually over the last five years (and whom I used to call a dear friend) has mysteriously been hospitalized with a "viral issue" (her words) and was posting yesterday about soon being able to be discharged if she was feeling better by this morning in terms of her O2 levels and such. There have been no updates since then.

I know how thrilled she was to be able to leave the "commie hell hole" of California last year to move to Utah, which is basically the same as our own county in terms of mask/vaccine situations. She was probably safer in our own county despite it having a horrifically high amount of deaths and cases relative to the overall population.

I'm not sure why she decided to play Russian Roulette with her immune system given her other health issues that I know about, but I can't imagine she's happy with the results.

What can you do

Unfortunately some people have to learn things the hard way.

I have a coworker who was antivax because she "heard things" that it was unsafe and would do all sorts of horrible things to you. She told me she convinced her mother not to get the vaccine. I urged her to reconsider, to ask a real doctor and not some stranger on the internet, but she wouldn't budge.

Last month her mother caught covid.

And after about two weeks of her organs failing one after the other, slipping into a coma, and her body swelling up to where the coworker wasn't sure it was even her until she saw her tattoo, her mother died.

Even though I was proven right, I didn't feel very good about it.

[Morticia Iunia Bruti]

And one of the most common male fear of getting this vaccine is impotence.

Get your priorities right.

[Heathen Hammer]

Provax people obsessing over private healthcare choices of others are so similar to evangelicals who would want to know if woman that lives next to them ever had an abortion. I wonder if former realize they sound as creepy and unhinged as the latter.