Coronavirus

[scottf200]

"U.S. airlines are preemptively canceling hundreds of holiday flights, blaming omicron on staffing shortages. "

United Flights canceled: Live 美国联合航空公司 Flight Status - FlightAware
Delta Flights canceled: Live Delta Flight Status - FlightAware
Alaska Flights canceled: Live Alaska Airlines Flight Status - FlightAware

https://twitter.com/x/status/1474189442650935296

https://twitter.com/x/status/1474199109041070083

 

[Tiger]

What's up with Japan and India, are they using a different vaccine?

 

[cwerdna]

Almost everyday my wife has stories about the patients she has seen that day who deny reality and what the latest craziness about COVID is. As soon as they start off on the anti-vax delusions and the crazy cures she shuts them down and tells them to just stop talking. She is as tired of hearing their insanity as she is of hearing me tell her to retire as the money isn't worth the harassment, the aggravation and the potential violence Though if Musk keeps dumping shares we may not be so rich much longer. She keeps saying she loves her job and she's good at it so she won't let them drive her away. Thankfully she has only been verbally attacked, never physically. But that's why she won't even try to discuss vaccination with these people. She does with people who she thinks are persuadable. At some point even she will crack from this. She is starting to think about retiring at least. Anyone know of a place where these nut jobs are in the very small minority?

Along these lines and that of the reddit post, Deflated health care workers and desperate patients clash over alternative Covid treatments is on the front page of cnn.com for me right now.

 

[CatB]

What's up with Japan and India, are they using a different vaccine?

Excellent question, and WaPo doesn’t have an answer yet
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/22/japan-covid-omicron-falling-cases/

tl;dr - a lot of possible theories, but researchers and public health can’t explain why Japan and S Korea have different experiences (similar vax rates, mask culture, etc.) but they are exploring one genetic explanation

A study published this month by Japan’s Riken research institute, the country’s largest scientific research body, found that a genetic feature found in the white blood cells of up to 60 percent of Japanese people mounts an immune response to the coronavirus. The immune response was seen in 80 percent of the people with this genetic feature, and researchers found that it may explain one theory about Japan’s experience with the coronavirus.
This genetic feature, called HLA-A24, is common in East Asian countries and has been found in many countries that have had less severe experiences with the coronavirus, including Japan and Korea. But now, with the diverging experiences of Japan and Korea in the past two months, researchers said they hope to see more work done to find out more about what’s going on.

 

[bkp_duke]

Excellent question, and WaPo doesn’t have an answer yet
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/12/22/japan-covid-omicron-falling-cases/

tl;dr - a lot of possible theories, but researchers and public health can’t explain why Japan and S Korea have different experiences (similar vax rates, mask culture, etc.) but they are exploring one genetic explanation

Bear in mind that virus spreads are not uniform. A multitude of factors have to be taken into account . . . but think of it like a stone being tossed into a glassy lake. You see ripples spreading outward. Now imaging multiple stones at the same time with crossing ripples. Viral propagation geographically is akin to the waves, and those waves pass through different areas at different times.

This is why I always get a chuckle about people in different states saying "Look Florida rates are high!" "Look Florida rates are now low!" It's as much, probably more, about timing than someone's particular political inclination that their favorite or most hated politician did something to make a substantial difference.

 

[madodel]

I saw the University of Edinburgh study mentioned yesterday, but was this preprint South African study mentioned?
Early assessment of the clinical severity of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in South Africa

Conclusion Early analyses suggest a reduced risk of hospitalisation among SGTF-infected (S Gene Target Failure- Omicron) individuals when compared to non-SGTF infected individuals in the same time period. Once hospitalised, risk of severe disease was similar for SGTF- and non-SGTF infected individuals, while SGTF-infected individuals had a reduced risk of severe disease when compared to earlier Delta-infected individuals. Some of this reducton is likely a result of high population immunity.​

 

[EVNow]

What's up with Japan and India, are they using a different vaccine?

In India Omicron cases are picking up - but currently mostly limited to travelers. Like in earlier waves, Omicron wave will probably be late there ...

India uses 2 vaccines - one is similar to the Oxford one, the other is locally designed. No Pfizer/Moderna.

Japan uses Pfizer, Moderna & Oxford.

 

[wdolson]

My partner came across this today. A scientific mistake in the 1950s led to bad expert guidance and COVID spread with few checks.
The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screwup That Helped Covid Kill

I personally am highly allergic to tobacco and am eternally grateful that we don't have it ubiquitous any more, but I believe Japan still have a high number of smokers. The smoke particles in the air may do something with COVID particles to make them less effective. It might be something else cultural.

 

[FlatSix911]

Merry Christmas to all!

 

[JRP3]

@wdolson That was a fascinating read.

 

[dhanson865]

Here’s a liter of secretions from the lungs of my patient today

 

[cwerdna]

Hope these aren't reposts:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1473388642554974208

https://twitter.com/x/status/1474235414839906305

 

[scottf200]

Quote
There is a lot of COVID-19 data out there. Increasingly, I have been focused on the locations where I have family and close friends.

• Displays COVID-19 data for only the locations you select.
• This pages remembers your locations when you come back (using local storage, your locations are never sent to the server).

This is updated daily with the Johns Hopkins CSSE data, which is typically released around midnight Central. (Updated: 12/25 at 06:30am)
EndQuote

==> A project to display COVID-19 data only for the locations that matter most to you. Updated daily. | 91-DIVOC

 

[trus]

This thread's been active for 2 years now, and it contains two different worlds. Wild to think about that.

 

[wdolson]

Hope these aren't reposts:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1473388642554974208

https://twitter.com/x/status/1474235414839906305

I heard about that the other day. Weird, but effective.

 

[JRP3]

Meh, it's at 30% capacity. Going to be fun. And if we test positive, the cruise line flies you home on a private jet. Win win.

I hope you aren't on one of these COVID-19 outbreaks hit 3 cruise ships as Florida breaks record for new cases

 

[JRP3]

Spreading holiday "cheer". I guess we'll find out if Omicron is less deadly in a few weeks.

 

[dhanson865]

Spreading holiday "cheer". I guess we'll find out if Omicron is less deadly in a few weeks.

NY had less waves than the US (looks like they skipped wave 2 and did a better job of reducing waves 3 and 5). But there is no doubt the most recent wave will be a huge one for both NY and the US.

and zooming out further to the world level you see the same 6 waves

 

[scottf200]

"U.S. airlines are preemptively canceling hundreds of holiday flights, blaming omicron on staffing shortages. "

United Flights canceled: Live 美国联合航空公司 Flight Status - FlightAware
Delta Flights canceled: Live Delta Flight Status - FlightAware
Alaska Flights canceled: Live Alaska Airlines Flight Status - FlightAware

Hundreds more flights canceled because of staff shortages

NEWARK, N. J. (AP) — The latest COVID-19 variant is upending holiday plans for tens of thousands of travelers — but it didn't do much damage to holiday shopping. Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19, as the nation's travel woes extended beyond...

nbcmontana.com

Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19, as the nation's travel woes extended beyond Christmas, with no clear indication when normal schedules would resume.

More than 700 flights entering, leaving or flying within the U.S. were called off, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. That figure was down from nearly 1,000 on Saturday. More than 50 flights were already canceled for Monday.

Delta, United and JetBlue have blamed the omicron variant of the coronavirus for staffing shortages that forced cancellations.

"This was unexpected," United spokesperson Maddie King said of omicron's impact on staffing.


Globally, airlines scrapped about 2,200 flights as of Sunday morning, down from more than 2,800 from the day before, FlightAware's data showed. The site does not say why flights are canceled.

 

[daniel]

I do NOT miss the exasperation, frustration, stress, and general misery of travel.