• The Cycling News forum is still looking to add volunteer moderators with. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Coronavirus: How dangerous a threat?

Page 403 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
The ironic part is that the Boston group were scooped on this. A lab at the FDA already did these experiments and published it. And not a peep from Fox news or the Daily mail.


And if anybody remembers the fear mongering about deltacron they would realize that these chimeric strains have been generated in humans through recombination and could not compete with existing strains. These are not dangerous viruses in the grand scheme of things, but 80% kill rate made for a nice clickbaity headline.
 
The virus that have been reduced by covid measures will probably spike for a few years until our bodies remember them. I haven't had the flu since Feb of 2019 (at least not symptomatic)!

As has been established for three years now, I am a mask user for life now. I still don't want to get covid, and the flu could also be tough the first time that I get it again. Flying on a plane=mask, meetings at work=mask, indoor public places=mask. Really, I wish that I would have done it years ago since its a simple way to reduce the chances of getting sick. Although, there might be a balance there too of letting my immune system build. I'm not sure how to play that balancing act though.
 
Rand has been used as a 'source' of information on here several times so here is a quote from him:
"I never ever cheated and I don't condone cheating, but I would sometimes spread misinformation, and this is a great tactic. Misinformation can be very important. That's my advice, misinformation works," said Paul. "So, try to trick your opponents (ed. constituents) into knowing that the test is about something that it's not."

With that in mind and the wording of this next quote, its pretty obvious that Rand doesn't believe it was a lab leak:
“If the lab leak theory were true…" (the quote goes on with him talking about what he would do to the people who funded the lab).
 
  • Like
Reactions: firefly3323
The virus that have been reduced by covid measures will probably spike for a few years until our bodies remember them. I haven't had the flu since Feb of 2019 (at least not symptomatic)!

As has been established for three years now, I am a mask user for life now. I still don't want to get covid, and the flu could also be tough the first time that I get it again. Flying on a plane=mask, meetings at work=mask, indoor public places=mask. Really, I wish that I would have done it years ago since its a simple way to reduce the chances of getting sick. Although, there might be a balance there too of letting my immune system build. I'm not sure how to play that balancing act though.
Not sure I'll be wearing a mask forever and ever while mingling with the general public, but just for now (and seeing as the flu season is coming up) I will continue to wear it while mingling with people I don't know.

Will you be inviting Trick-or-Treaters over this year? I will be, but I will also still be wearing a mask. (The little candy-begging shits should be used to masks by now.)
 
As for whether I'll be wearing or masks has to do with multiple factors. These include time of year, how crowed the place is I'm going to be at, if it's inside or outside, and some other factors.

Last time I had the flu was about 10 years ago. That's the only time in the past about 10 years I didn't get the flu shot. I just got the flu shot today along with the updated Covid shot. Flu shot PLUS masking should keep the risk of the flu and colds to a minimum or at least not a bad case of either one.

Note: I was not actually planning on getting either shot today. I just called my regular drug story/pharmacy to see if they had the updated Covid shot and they do and told me to come in as they weren't busy this morning.

Hopefully next summer my husband and I will be able to enjoy a Durham's Bulls game or two. I likely won't be wearing a mask there. Outdoor stadium. If we go to the fair next year (which we're planning on) likely won't wear a mask. Again outdoors. However, I will have one in a pocket due to some things being inside at the fair and if crowed, likely would put it on for those parts of it.
 
Not sure I'll be wearing a mask forever and ever while mingling with the general public, but just for now (and seeing as the flu season is coming up) I will continue to wear it while mingling with people I don't know.

Will you be inviting Trick-or-Treaters over this year? I will be, but I will also still be wearing a mask. (The little candy-begging shits should be used to masks by now.)
My wife and two neighbors set up an out door 'treat station' in 2020, 21, and are doing it again this year.
 
IMO, it so much better than the repeated doorbell and door opening/closing. I can't see going back to that. Its also much easier on pets.
Think I'll do the same with just leaving the candy out on a table in the driveway like I have been for the past couple of years... while we've had no Trick-or-Treaters during the height of covid I'm sure with the prices right now kids (and their parents) will be more than happy to score some free candy hassle-free. (God knows I don't need to eat any more of it. :tearsofjoy:)
 
  • Like
Reactions: jmdirt and Koronin
Think I'll do the same with just leaving the candy out on a table in the driveway like I have been for the past couple of years... while we've had no Trick-or-Treaters during the height of covid I'm sure with the prices right now kids (and their parents) will be more than happy to score some free candy hassle-free. (God knows I don't need to eat any more of it. :tearsofjoy:)
My wife and the neighbors actually hang out at the treat station so that they can see all of the kids in their costumes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tricycle Rider
My wife and the neighbors actually hang out at the treat station so that they can see all of the kids in their costumes.
I actually kinda miss that part now... seeing kids in their costumes and their parents telling them they can take only one piece of candy. But I like the idea of the doorbell not freaking Toby out each time it rings (his bark is not the most melodious of sounds), so I'll probably just do the table in the driveway thing again.

I like that this year people are decorating a lot more, the Halloween spirit seems to have returned at least. Just a year ago it looked like nobody was in the mood for it. (Understandably so.)
 
The vaccines don't have to fully stop traansmission but they do need to reduce transmission more than what is happening - The scientific theory is fine - Vaccines should give you a lower viral load if infected and therefore reduce transmission - The theory has not worked in practice.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cookster15
I randomly checked the covid stats after some time. I found out in Europe the peak of last wave was mid october and now we are still in decline. I didnt notice this wave and I think media skip it too this time. Also hospitalizations deaths and positives were way lower than previous waves. This fall is very different from 2020 and 2021. It is like pre covid. We truly coexisting with covid now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jmdirt
USA hospitals are more full now than at any point during the pandemic because SC2 is on the rise, but also because other respiratory viruses are are on the rise as well. As has been discussed, this could be a tough winter for respiratory illnesses (hopefully not with a high death count).

Stay safe ya'll!
It's back in our little valley because the whole state and tourist activity brings in the seasonal pool of carriers. Not as bad as years past but even the healthiest naysayers of the past are protecting their fitness investment by more prudent public activity. Weekdays the locals are more likely to be out and about with low densities at bars and ski lodges. Most of the folks I know don't ski after Friday afternoon on weekends or don't go indoors. Chairlifts and bone dry, sub-20 degree breezy weather seems safe.
 
It's back in our little valley because the whole state and tourist activity brings in the seasonal pool of carriers. Not as bad as years past but even the healthiest naysayers of the past are protecting their fitness investment by more prudent public activity. Weekdays the locals are more likely to be out and about with low densities at bars and ski lodges. Most of the folks I know don't ski after Friday afternoon on weekends or don't go indoors. Chairlifts and bone dry, sub-20 degree breezy weather seems safe.
and honestly; I think most people regard the flu spread the same way now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Koronin and jmdirt

"Feng Zijian, an adviser on China’s Covid task force, said this week that the surge could infect 60 percent of the country’s 1.4 billion population — or more than 840 million people. For most Chinese, it will be their first encounter with Covid."
 

"Feng Zijian, an adviser on China’s Covid task force, said this week that the surge could infect 60 percent of the country’s 1.4 billion population — or more than 840 million people. For most Chinese, it will be their first encounter with Covid."

Media is quoting possibly 2 million deaths - Reckon it will end up 5 to 7 million.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Koronin
USA hospitals are more full now than at any point during the pandemic because SC2 is on the rise, but also because other respiratory viruses are are on the rise as well. As has been discussed, this could be a tough winter for respiratory illnesses (hopefully not with a high death count).

Stay safe ya'll!

This is quite surprising. I dont know about whole picture in Slovakia but Covid hospitalizations are at 1/10 of peak in 2021. It is about half of early october 2022. It raised slowly last weeks though. Definitely I noted lot of ill people with respiratory illnes. Flu and common cold viruses are kicking our butts this winter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jmdirt
This is quite surprising. I dont know about whole picture in Slovakia but Covid hospitalizations are at 1/10 of peak in 2021. It is about half of early october 2022. It raised slowly last weeks though. Definitely I noted lot of ill people with respiratory illnes. Flu and common cold viruses are kicking our butts this winter.
I don't think that its surprising to most professionals in the communicable disease field.

I'm still hoping that the daily death count goes below 100 (its bouncing around in the mid 300s), but unfortunately, that will probably have to wait for several months.
 
The Coronavirus May Spread From Corpses, Scientists Report
Family members and health care workers should take precautions, experts said.


Published Dec. 15, 2022Updated Dec. 16, 2022
Like a zombie in a horror film, the coronavirus can persist in the bodies of infected patients well after death, even spreading to others, according to two startling studies.
The risk of contagion is mainly to those who handle cadavers, like pathologists, medical examiners and health care workers, and in settings like hospitals and nursing homes, where many deaths may occur.
While transmission from corpses is not likely to be a major factor in the pandemic, bereaved family members should exercise caution, experts said.
“In some countries, people who have died of Covid-19 are being left unattended or taken back to their homes,” said Hisako Saitoh, a researcher at Chiba University in Japan who published two recent studies on the phenomenon.



“Therefore, I think that it is a knowledge that the general public should be aware of,” he wrote in an email.
Several studies have found traces of infectious virus in corpses for as long as 17 days after death. Dr. Saitoh and his colleagues went further, showing that dead bodies may carry significant amounts of infectious virus, and that dead hamsters can transmit it to live cage mates.
The research has not yet been vetted for publication in a scientific journal, but outside experts said that the studies were well-done and the results compelling.
  • The risk of a live patient spreading the coronavirus is far greater than the potential transmission from corpses, Dr. Saitoh and other scientists emphasized.
If infection from corpses accounted for a large number of cases, “we would have noticed, right?” said Vincent Munster, a virologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.



Still, “If there is an infectious virus, there is always a risk for transmission,” he continued. “I don’t think it’s something which is often addressed.”
In the United States, bodies usually are embalmed soon after death or cremated. But in the Netherlands, where Dr. Munster grew up, as in many parts of the world, family members may wash and dress the bodies.
In July 2020, the Japanese government urged bereaved family members to keep their distance from dead bodies and refrain from touching them — or even viewing them. Officials also recommended sealing corpses in impermeable bags and cremating them within 24 hours.
The guidelines were revised in May 2022 to allow family members to see loved ones who died of Covid, but “in an appropriately infection-controlled hospital room.”
Those guidelines in part prompted Dr. Saitoh to explore what happens to the virus in the body after death.
He and his colleagues looked at samples from the noses and the lungs of 11 people who had died of Covid. The researchers found that high amounts of virus persisted in six of the 11 corpses, even 13 days after death.
“It was surprising that infectious titers were preserved at the same high levels as in the clinical patients,” Dr. Saitoh wrote. “What was most surprising, however, were the results of the animal experiments.”



In those experiments, he and his colleagues found that hamsters that died within a few days of becoming infected with the coronavirus could transmit it to other animals. In people, too, contagion is most likely when a patient dies soon after infection, when the levels of virus in the body are very high, the researchers said.
The team found more virus in the lungs of human corpses than in the upper respiratory tract. That suggests that those who perform autopsies should be particularly careful when handling the lungs, experts said. Dr. Saitoh pointed to a study from Thailand describing a forensic practitioner who appeared to have been infected during work.
Gases that build up after death can be expelled through any orifice in the body, including the mouth, and may carry infectious virus, the researchers said. Embalming or practicing so-called “angel care” — a Japanese ritual in which the mouth, nose, ears and anus are plugged with cotton pads — prevented transmission, they found.
Contagious corpses are not without precedent. Most famously, funeral and burial practices have triggered large outbreaks of Ebola virus in Africa.
But the coronavirus is very different, noted Angela Rasmussen, a research scientist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.
Up to 70 percent of those infected with Ebola die. The figure for those diagnosed with Covid is nowhere near as high — greater than 3 percent in the early days of the pandemic, and something closer to 1 percent or even less now. And the Ebola virus floods every part of the body, so the risk of transmission, even after death, is far greater than might be seen with the coronavirus.
“With Ebola, it’s clearly direct contact with bodily fluids, because there’s high titers of Ebola pretty much everywhere in somebody who’s died from Ebola,” Dr. Rasmussen said.



She was initially skeptical that the coronavirus could spread from dead bodies but found the new studies convincing.
“Most people probably still need to worry a lot more about getting Covid from their living neighbors than their recently deceased ones,” she said.
But they “should be very cautious about physical contact with their loved ones’ remains,” she added.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: jmdirt