I continue to opt out of all conferences, including my own employer's, to avoid a higher-risk environment for #COVID19. But, I feel guilty doing so. I feel as if I'm not supporting our business like others. Yet today, with our big annual conference five days away, I spoke with two people who will be at the conference who today are just 'getting the flu,' and I'm reminded of why I made the decision not to attend.
When it comes to abortion, the GOP insists on states' rights to set laws, claiming national laws or court rulings are Federal overreach.
When states pass sensible gun laws, the GOP is outraged that state governments think they can limit the Second Amendment because every word is sacrosanct.
When it comes to the 14th Amendment's prohibition against elected officials “who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion,” the GOP asserts we should ignore that and let voters decide. (1/4) #VoteBlue
Quick #COVID19 update for #Ireland: Everyone's acting like COVID's gone, but it's not. The number of COVID patients in ICUs as at its highest number in 9 months. The positive rate has stayed above 15% for the 2nd-longest period of the entire pandemic. Risks aren't high, but they aren't low, and repeated infections with COVID can damage brains, hearts, immune systems and more. Be a little careful, please. https://covid19ireland-geohive.hub.arcgis.com/pages/hospitals-icu--testing
The GOP is fracturing in the House (the first time in history that a Speaker has been removed.) MAGA Republicans almost shut down the government out of pure petulance. Trump is in court facing fraud allegations. The judge in another Trump case just issued a gag order on Trump. GOP presidential candidates are talking about invading Mexico. Lauren Boebert is still serving in Congress despite groping and being groped by her date in public. (Al Franken was forced to resign for much less.)
(1/2)
Meanwhile, Biden is meeting with drug companies to negotiate lower drug prices. The US added 187,000 jobs in August. And the inflation rate was cut by much more than half in the past year.
Yeah, but sure, both parties are the same. 🙄
Every primary. Every election. Every race. Be sure to vote. 2024 is an important year. We can have more Republican chaos and Woke theater, or we can have more of what Biden and the Democrats have delivered since 2020.
“Kids are safe from #COVID19.”
NO, THEY'RE NOT.
Study: “The overall excess risk for new-onset conditions after COVID-19 was 78% higher in the exposed than unexposed children. We found significantly higher risks for some new conditions in exposed children, including mental health issues (aHR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1–3.0) and neurological problems (aHR 2.4, 95% CI 1.4–4.1).”
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/apa.16966
I mean, you do you, but I'd rather have the minor inconvenience of breathing through a mask and save myself an illness than take a 1 in 4 chance of having impaired lung function a year later.
“At 1 year of follow-up, 25% of the 349 participants had impaired lung function, including 11%, 22%, and 48% of those with mild, moderate, or severe/critical COVID-19, respectively.”
If you've heard #COVID19 is just like the flu, you were misinformed. Be a bit safer, please.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/1-4-covid-survivors-had-impaired-lung-function-1-year-study-shows
Some will read this and think I'm being alarmist. You may be right, but a growing number of scientific studies tell me I'm not. (And, as far as I've seen, literally no studies suggest repeated COVID infections are benign.) So, we can ignore the hundreds of studies that tell us to be more cautious--that's up to you--but we can't ignore the implications of our actions in the future. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12VbMkvqUF9eSggJsdsFEjKs5x0ABxQJi5tvfzJIDd3U/edit#gid=2023681543
We've had almost four years to learn the risks and demand more of political and corporate leaders to protect the health and wellbeing of people. Instead, after the briefest period of unevenly embracing non-pharmaceutical interventions, we decided that acting normal was more important than having normal health and lifespans.
Some will read this and think I'm being alarmist. You may be right, but a growing number of scientific studies tell me I'm not. (And, as far as I've seen, literally no studies suggest repeated COVID infections are benign.) So, we can ignore the hundreds of studies that tell us to be more cautious--that's up to you--but we can't ignore the implications of our actions in the future. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12VbMkvqUF9eSggJsdsFEjKs5x0ABxQJi5tvfzJIDd3U/edit#gid=2023681543
We've had almost four years to learn the risks and demand more of political and corporate leaders to protect the health and wellbeing of people. Instead, after the briefest period of unevenly embracing non-pharmaceutical interventions, we decided that acting normal was more important than having normal health and lifespans.
We recently lost Jimmy Buffett to cancer, and a growing number of studies suggest COVID suppresses our bodies' cancer-fighting abilities. (We won't know with certainty that COVID is oncogenic for years, and that will happen only if and when many more people are diagnosed with cancer.) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300908423001360
We might see our friends get sicker, but we'd also see famous people get ill as well. Bruce Springsteen, who's had COVID multiple times, has canceled tour dates due to peptic ulcers. Multiple studies have found a strong correlation between COVID infection and long-term gastrointestinal disorders, including--you guessed it--peptic ulcers. https://www.everydayhealth.com/coronavirus/covid-19-increases-likelihood-of-heartburn-bloating-in-the-next-year/
We recently lost Jimmy Buffett to cancer, and a growing number of studies suggest COVID suppresses our bodies' cancer-fighting abilities. (We won't know with certainty that COVID is oncogenic for years, and that will happen only if and when many more people are diagnosed with cancer.) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300908423001360
Another sign COVID is doing long-term damage to many would be that the rates of people currently experiencing Long COVID symptoms would stop declining, even in periods with low COVID infection rates. In fact, from December 2022 to today, we've seen no decline in the percentage of Americans experiencing Long COVID symptoms: 5.8% reported Long COVID symptoms in December 2022, and the same percentage did in July and August 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/long-covid.htm
We might see our friends get sicker, but we'd also see famous people get ill as well. Bruce Springsteen, who's had COVID multiple times, has canceled tour dates due to peptic ulcers. Multiple studies have found a strong correlation between COVID infection and long-term gastrointestinal disorders, including--you guessed it--peptic ulcers. https://www.everydayhealth.com/coronavirus/covid-19-increases-likelihood-of-heartburn-bloating-in-the-next-year/
Another sign that we are doing damage to large shares of the population would also be that disabilities rise to record levels--just like they are today. The level of disabilities had stayed roughly level from 2015 to 2020, but since July 2020 (after the first surge of COVID), we've seen a considerable rise. Today, the number of disabled Americans is 10% higher than at any point before 2020. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=QaRH
Another sign COVID is doing long-term damage to many would be that the rates of people currently experiencing Long COVID symptoms would stop declining, even in periods with low COVID infection rates. In fact, from December 2022 to today, we've seen no decline in the percentage of Americans experiencing Long COVID symptoms: 5.8% reported Long COVID symptoms in December 2022, and the same percentage did in July and August 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/long-covid.htm
Three of Team USA's 12 members have been benched for the FIBA Basketball World because of “illness,” weeks after multiple US Open players struggled because of a “mysterious illness.” Meanwhile, reports of a “yo-yo flu”--an illness people can't beat that keeps coming back--are being reports around the globe. These are signs of chronic infections and damaged immune systems, both of which are hallmarks of COVID infections. https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-ve-been-constantly-sick-why-we-can-t-kick-the-yo-yo-flu-20230907-p5e2v0.html
Another sign that we are doing damage to large shares of the population would also be that disabilities rise to record levels--just like they are today. The level of disabilities had stayed roughly level from 2015 to 2020, but since July 2020 (after the first surge of COVID), we've seen a considerable rise. Today, the number of disabled Americans is 10% higher than at any point before 2020. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=QaRH
What does a world look like where we let #COVID19 rip through the population repeatedly on an annual basis? Where people allow themselves to be infected time and again with a disease that causes chronic damage to our bodies? We don't know, but this is precisely what it COULD look like 🧵 :
Three of Team USA's 12 members have been benched for the FIBA Basketball World because of “illness,” weeks after multiple US Open players struggled because of a “mysterious illness.” Meanwhile, reports of a “yo-yo flu”--an illness people can't beat that keeps coming back--are being reports around the globe. These are signs of chronic infections and damaged immune systems, both of which are hallmarks of COVID infections. https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-ve-been-constantly-sick-why-we-can-t-kick-the-yo-yo-flu-20230907-p5e2v0.html
Masks work. "Our model quantitatively links mask efficacy to reductions in viral load & subsequent transmission risk. Our results reinforce that the use of masks by both a potential transmitter & exposed person substantially reduces the probability of successful transmission, even if masks only lower exposure viral load by ~50%. Slight increases in mask adherence/efficacy above current levels would reduce the effective reproductive number substantially below 1." #COVID19 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-91338-5
Holy crap. I mean, really?!?
“However, the updated #COVID19 booster is not intended for everyone. It’s for people in high-risk groups – those who are age 75 or older, pregnant or immunocompromised, said Offit, who serves on the FDA’s expert panel that reviewed the vaccine companies’ data... The general public should not expect to need to receive the latest COVID booster, Offit said.”
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/your-fall-guide-to-covid-rsv-and-flu-vaccines
From the AMA's What Doctors Wish Patients Knew About #COVID19 Reinfection:
"Each subsequent COVID infection will increase your risk of developing chronic health issues like diabetes, kidney disease, organ failure and even mental health problems.” Evidence “dispels the myth that repeated brushes with the virus are mild and you don’t have to worry about it.... it is akin to playing Russian roulette.”
https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/what-doctors-wish-patients-knew-about-covid-19-reinfection
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