mixed_biscuits
_________________________
The Guardian repping the Tories hard; no wonder Labour's screwed.
They call it COVID 19
- Thread starter polystyle
- Start date
CDC has struggled , then this week
"
By Zeynep Tufekci
Dr. Tufekci is a contributing Opinion writer who has extensively examined the Covid-19 pandemic.
This article has been updated.
A few sentences have shaken a century of science.
A week ago, more than a year after the World Health Organization declared that we face a pandemic, a page on its website titled “Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19): How Is It Transmitted?” got a seemingly small update.
The agency’s response to that question had been that “current evidence suggests that the main way the virus spreads is by respiratory droplets” — which are expelled from the mouth and quickly fall to the ground — “among people who are in close contact with each other.”
The revised response still emphasizes transmission in close contact but now says it may be via aerosols — smaller respiratory particles that can float — as well as droplets. It also adds a reason the virus can also be transmitted “in poorly ventilated and/or crowded indoor settings,” saying this is because “aerosols remain suspended in the air or travel farther than 1 meter.”
The change didn’t get a lot of attention. There was no news conference, no big announcement.
Then, on Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also updated its guidance on Covid-19, clearly saying that inhalation of these smaller particles is a key way the virus is transmitted, even at close range, and put it on top of its list of how the disease spreads.
There was no news conference by the C.D.C. either.
But these latest shifts challenge key infection control assumptions that go back a century, putting a lot of what went wrong last year in context. They may also signal one of the most important advancements in public health during this pandemic.
If the importance of aerosol transmission had been accepted early, we would have been told from the beginning that it was much safer outdoors, where these small particles disperse more easily, as long as you avoid close, prolonged contact with others. We would have tried to make sure indoor spaces were well ventilated, with air filtered as necessary. Instead of blanket rules on gatherings, we would have targeted conditions that can produce superspreading events: people in poorly ventilated indoor spaces, especially if engaged over time in activities that increase aerosol production, like shouting and singing. We would have started using masks more quickly, and we would have paid more attention to their fit, too. And we would have been less obsessed with cleaning surfaces.
Our mitigations would have been much more effective, sparing us a great deal of suffering and anxiety.
Since the pandemic is far from over, with countries like India facing devastating surges, we need to understand both why this took so long to come about and what it will mean."
"
By Zeynep Tufekci
Dr. Tufekci is a contributing Opinion writer who has extensively examined the Covid-19 pandemic.
This article has been updated.
A few sentences have shaken a century of science.
A week ago, more than a year after the World Health Organization declared that we face a pandemic, a page on its website titled “Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19): How Is It Transmitted?” got a seemingly small update.
The agency’s response to that question had been that “current evidence suggests that the main way the virus spreads is by respiratory droplets” — which are expelled from the mouth and quickly fall to the ground — “among people who are in close contact with each other.”
The revised response still emphasizes transmission in close contact but now says it may be via aerosols — smaller respiratory particles that can float — as well as droplets. It also adds a reason the virus can also be transmitted “in poorly ventilated and/or crowded indoor settings,” saying this is because “aerosols remain suspended in the air or travel farther than 1 meter.”
The change didn’t get a lot of attention. There was no news conference, no big announcement.
Then, on Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also updated its guidance on Covid-19, clearly saying that inhalation of these smaller particles is a key way the virus is transmitted, even at close range, and put it on top of its list of how the disease spreads.
There was no news conference by the C.D.C. either.
But these latest shifts challenge key infection control assumptions that go back a century, putting a lot of what went wrong last year in context. They may also signal one of the most important advancements in public health during this pandemic.
If the importance of aerosol transmission had been accepted early, we would have been told from the beginning that it was much safer outdoors, where these small particles disperse more easily, as long as you avoid close, prolonged contact with others. We would have tried to make sure indoor spaces were well ventilated, with air filtered as necessary. Instead of blanket rules on gatherings, we would have targeted conditions that can produce superspreading events: people in poorly ventilated indoor spaces, especially if engaged over time in activities that increase aerosol production, like shouting and singing. We would have started using masks more quickly, and we would have paid more attention to their fit, too. And we would have been less obsessed with cleaning surfaces.
Our mitigations would have been much more effective, sparing us a great deal of suffering and anxiety.
Since the pandemic is far from over, with countries like India facing devastating surges, we need to understand both why this took so long to come about and what it will mean."
Opinion | Why Did It Take So Long to Accept the Facts About Covid? (Published 2021)
The importance of airborne transmission in the pandemic was clear long before the World Health Organization finally began to acknowledge it.
www.nytimes.com
Opinion | Why Did It Take So Long to Accept the Facts About Covid? (Published 2021)
The importance of airborne transmission in the pandemic was clear long before the World Health Organization finally began to acknowledge it.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Van Morrison: Latest Record Project Volume 1 review | Alexis Petridis's album of the week
The veteran bluesman loudly wakes up the sheeple with this boring and paranoid double album, reminiscent of a dinner party with a bitter divorceewww.theguardian.com
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
This seems... sensible?
jamesomalley.substack.com
You don't get extra points for being a COVID catastrophist
The boring reality is that things are getting better and it is okay to admit that
You don't get extra points for being a COVID catastrophist
The boring reality is that things are getting better and it is okay to admit that
jamesomalley.substack.com
This seems... sensible?
You don't get extra points for being a COVID catastrophist
The boring reality is that things are getting better and it is okay to admit that
You don't get extra points for being a COVID catastrophist
The boring reality is that things are getting better and it is okay to admit that
Case by case isn't it
Hey, if one gets the feeling the Gov. is putting something over on the people - that's a societal drag to haver to feel and to deal with.
We didn't get that because for one thing there was a Donnie boy as prez and he just didn't care about anything that was not him / his.
Bad break for us citizens - and almost 100 million dead here alone.
Is 100 million dead a catastophy ?
Well compared to what we used to use as metric - 9/11's approx. 3000 dead -
it blew right by that old number/ feeling.
Would add, it WAS probably a different feeling here in NYC last spring when 500 were dying every day.
Not what the UK experienced.
Still, we see lop sided measures taken.
How many waves by now ( at least 3 with last 2 possibly being the variations that have swept through most of the world ) - ?
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
I know it's been bad, State-side, but I think the death toll was a little lower than 100 million!
Today's er, OfficialToll ( @ NY Times ) 583k - and i think it was IdelRich who may have mentioned the unknown deaths as possibly bringing the total up towards 100 million dead. US from 600k to 100 million ? ... not out of the question here.
For one , as now without quote ' Herd immunity ' the thing may not go totally away to the point where we forget about it.
1 million yes ! tooo many threads going > <
Leo
Well-known member
mixed_biscuits
_________________________
So, what exactly do you ethical geniuses plan to do with those who don't want to, need to, or can't be vaccinated?
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Why are you even asking this? You've already decided we want to put them all in a big prison camp or something, haven't you?
pattycakes_
Can turn naughty
Wonder what the avg ratio is per country for and against vaccines/masks
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Pretty soon we'll have reached herd immunity - I mean actual herd immunity, not the magical kind you were banging on about endlessly a year ago - and then it'll be a non-issue. Good news for those with either a legit medical reason for avoiding vaccines, or an irrational superstition against them.
mixed_biscuits
_________________________
@Mr. Tea You haven't considered it...you're just so desperate to get back to normal (despite vaccinations being far from a panacea) that you'll just ignore the societal consequences.
@pattycakes_ The evidence for vaccines' efficacy is somewhat better than that for masks.
@pattycakes_ The evidence for vaccines' efficacy is somewhat better than that for masks.
mixed_biscuits
_________________________
As for herd immunity, this won't matter: whether it exists or not, scariants will be used to maintain the iron grip of governmental control.
Just watch the long-awaited advent of Great British freedom disappear in a puff of smoke with the non-event of the Indian variant.
Just watch the long-awaited advent of Great British freedom disappear in a puff of smoke with the non-event of the Indian variant.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
You've changed your tune from "cucked libz want lockdowns and mandatory masks forever", haven't you?
Pretty funny to hear you solemnly lecturing about "societal consequences", as if millions of deaths and tens of millions of perhaps permanent disabilities aren't a "societal consequence".
mixed_biscuits
_________________________
You're not concerned about the societal consequences?
Leo
Well-known member
you first. what's your plan for "them".