• RBG@discuss.tchncs.de
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    5 months ago

    I don’t doubt it is on the rise again but the percentage is probably high because the total number of tests is quite low. There is no blanket testing done anymore, I would assume most tests are being done when you suspect you might have something, so its only logical the percentage is higher than it used to be.

    • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Were they ever blanket-testing asymptomatic people? I didn’t think the antigen tests showed positives until a few days after the onset of symptoms.

      • RBG@discuss.tchncs.de
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        5 months ago

        Maybe blanket-testing is calling it a bit more than what it was but there were countries that required negative tests for certain things, e.g. entering stores or swimming pools. You had to show a negative test no matter if you had symptoms or not, and that result was registered centrally.

      • Irremarkable@fedia.io
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        5 months ago

        Everyone? No, far from it. But many events, some jobs, etc. required a negative test result for entry. There was absolutely far more asymptomatic getting tested then.

      • Danquebec@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        There were times when people were getting tested at the airports. The tests were mandatory. You could know how many people out of how many from a flight from a country tested positive.

    • Nougat@fedia.io
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      5 months ago

      It’s obviously going to be the next annual vaccination, like influenza has already been. I’m waiting for the next formulation to become available before I get my sixth round.

      • mox@lemmy.sdf.org
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        5 months ago

        Annual isn’t enough.

        Pooled estimates of VE of a primary vaccination cycle against laboratory-confirmed Omicron infection and symptomatic disease were both lower than 20% at 6 months from last dose administration. Booster doses restored VE to levels comparable to those acquired soon after the administration of the primary cycle. However, 9 months after booster administration, VE against Omicron was lower than 30% against laboratory-confirmed infection and symptomatic disease.

        https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37133863/

        • Nougat@fedia.io
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          5 months ago

          Oh, yeah, I meant to type “at least” annual. Apparently, my brain thinking about typing that was enough.

        • aramis87@fedia.io
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          5 months ago

          There’s some early evidence that more traditional vaccines (like NovaVax) may create longer protection than the mRNA vaccines (which seem to have more robust but shorter-lasting protectection).

      • BrightCandle@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        So far we have had between 4 and 6 waves a year, each of which is from a different variant. A variant breaks out and within 2 months its infected almost everyone at which point it dies down to become part of the background infections and a new variant takes over. There just isn’t enough time to make a vaccine and roll it out to deal with any of that problem. The vaccines that are getting rolled out now are for variant that disappeared 6 months ago. Nothing we do is going to be very effective against this until the vaccines are a lot more effective against potential future variants or we drastically reduce the number of hosts it gets to replicate in.

    • Kevnyon@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      At first for sure, but after the first… I want to say maybe 8 months, I knew that it’d be declared endemic with how people were just ignoring it in 2021 and pretending like it wasn’t there anymore. That said, I’d be out of a job if those restrictions weren’t lifted, so its not all bad. But certainly can only help yourself, most people don’t do anything and I couldn’t even get a fourth shot, so I’m still waiting for a new round so I can go get my shot.

    • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social
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      5 months ago

      Yes, I work in healthcare and dummies keep getting surprised (or refusing) when they seek treatment for flu-like symptoms and we test for Covid too.

  • Shelbyeileen@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    I’m immunocompromised and still mask indoors. I haven’t been sick at all since 2020 and it’s awesome! Between 40-60% of people have some form of permanent brain damage and 70-80% have long covid problems from Covid. The damage to the body compounds every time a person gest re-infected, so the numbers are terrifyingly high.

    I have a postmortem science degree and it required 4 years of pre-med/pathology. With all that and what we know about the virus, I am honestly not sure I’ll stop wearing a mask indoors until we find a cure or better vaccine. I can’t stand that politicians are trying to ban masks, essentially sacrificing the elderly, disabled, and ill. A government making medical decisions, creating an environment where a person can’t mask up, regardless of if they have cancer and want to stay safe; or if they’re severely sick with something else but need to pick up medication at a pharmacy… it’s dark. It’s fucked up

    • hikaru755@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Between 40-60% of people have some form of permanent brain damage and 70-80% have long covid problems

      Wait what? I’m with you on masking etc., but those numbers seem a bit high, where did you get those from?

      • Womble@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Long covid is generally definied as having any symptoms persisiting greater than 6 (?IIRC) months after first detection, so having a niggling cough that hung around that long would count as long covid. Some form of permenant brain damage is incredibly vague and sounds like it would apply to a night of heavy drinking.

    • cynthorpe@discuss.online
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      5 months ago

      I was very serious about masking, and noticed that for that two years I never even got a cold. Not once did I test positive and I did it once a week for the first year. So, fist bump for taking masking seriously.

  • Fester@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    My anecdotal experience: I’ve seen more people I know get COVID in the last month than I ever have, including myself for the first time since 2020, and it’s weird because it’s been the persistently hottest weather I can recall in my area too. Maybe it’s because more people have been staying inside with AC than usual because of that, but I’m still worried about the colder months this year.

    It’s good that it seems to be less deadly than it was when it was new, thanks to vaccines, but it’s still an awful experience to get it. I had a different symptom every day for a week, and 2 weeks later I still feel fatigued, like I can’t get enough sleep.

    • BrightCandle@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Covid happily spreads outside. A number of the early pandemic super spreader events were outside like football matches. There was a confirmed transmission in Japan over 80metres from an infected jogger to a group standing quite far away so we know it’s airborne and highly contagious even outside. Outside can be quite acidic due to pollution and this helps the virus survive as do particles in the air so there is a balance between the density indoors verses degradation conditions, it’s a complex picture in the research.

      Basic rule, Covid spreads outside since it’s airborne and it can persist in the air for at least an hour. UV light can degrade it faster but it also only takes 7 virons to infect someone and we breath out 1000 with each breath.

    • Deceptichum
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      5 months ago

      Here in Australia, where it’s currently wet, damp, and cold I’ve not seen much Covid if at all in years.

      And I work with children, we get every illness going around.

  • aramis87@fedia.io
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    5 months ago

    This past week, 1.5% of all deaths in America were caused by Covid. And based on past averages, for every death, one hundred people got sick, and ten people will have long Covid.

    • No_Eponym@lemmy.ca
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      5 months ago

      1.5% of all deaths in America were caused by COVID excluding those deaths from acute COVID we didn’t count for various reasons, and also those deaths that were caused by residual COVID damage and happened after the acute phase.

      Excess mortality: “FTFY”

  • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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    5 months ago

    ♻️ People are getting sick every few months. It’s not great all around. We could get lucky evolution hitting a dead end in the immune escape area. Or we have to develop a new vaccine targeting a much more difficult to change part of the virus in order to break this cycle.

    • BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      I don’t know what percentage of people got vaccinated last time, but i feel like next time, it’s not even gonna be a third of that.

      • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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        5 months ago

        This is probably true if the hypothetical vaccines are as effective as the first generation. If they have the kind of effectiveness that prevents infection and that immunity doesn’t fade, I think the response will change. The value proposition changes completely. It goes from - vaccinate so that you don’t get too sick, but you still get sick and you’ll need another shot in 6 months, to - vaccinate so you don’t have to ever think about getting sick from this.

  • lennybird@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Norovirus hit our house hard… I did pretty much everything I could do to prevent getting it. Lasted 2 weeks while rest of family and kids got sick. Even with vigorous handwashing and N95 being up all night with a baby puking on you… Well, I knew it was coming.

    So watch out.THAT is going around, too.