[COVID NEWS] A nasty mutating superbug after the whole human race

By artappraiser on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 3:20pm |

A coronavirus variant first reported in Britain is believed to be potentially 50 percent more transmissible and has spread to over 50 countries. Here’s how it was born.https://t.co/UQ5ZhDLGWK
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 18, 2021

URL:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/health/coronavirus-mutations-B117-variant.html

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excerpts from the above

How Did the Variant Evolve?

A number of researchers suspect that B.1.1.7 gained many of its mutations within a single person. People with weakened immune systems can remain infected with replicating coronaviruses for several months, allowing the virus to accumulate many extra mutations.

When these patients are treated with convalescent plasma, which contains coronavirus antibodies, natural selection may favor viruses with mutations that let them escape the attack. Once the B.1.1.7 lineage evolved its battery of mutations, it may have been able to spread faster from person to person.

B.1.1.7 is estimated to be roughly 50 percent more transmissible than other variants. Federal health officials warn that it may become the dominant variant in the United States by March. It is no more deadly than other forms of the coronavirus. But because it can cause so many more infections, it may lead to many more deaths.

B.1.1.7 has been detected in at least 14 states, but the United States has no national surveillance program for determining the full extent of its spread.

by artappraiser on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 3:24pm

“I want to know,” one twin said, “why did she have Covid worse than me?”

Kelly and Kimberly Standard both had the coronavirus last spring. Kelly was hospitalized for less than a week. Kimberly spent almost a month in critical condition. https://t.co/12cdIe69ia
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 18, 2021

by artappraiser on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 3:26pm

masks indicated here >

Some researchers have also floated the idea that the amount of coronavirus a person takes in may have an impact on the severity of disease, a trend that has been documented with other infections.

“It’s the difference between having your immune system being actually able to squash the infection, or having a much harder time fighting it if all your cells become infected at the same time,” said Juliet Morrison, a virologist at the University of California, Riverside.

Michael Russell, 29, says he wonders if he sniffed up more of the virus than his twin brother, Steven, did this summer, in the days after they gathered with their family for the Fourth of July.

Both brothers began experiencing symptoms shortly after the celebrations ended, around the time Steven headed back to his home in Arlington, Va. The virus saddled Steven with a scratchy throat and a headache — a “light, cold-like” illness, he said.

A few days later, Michael, who was living at home with his parents, came down with much more severe symptoms: a sore throat, chills, shortness of breath and fatigue that relegated him to his bed for an entire day. About two weeks passed before he could smell or taste the cinnamon-dusted popcorn he regularly snacks on.

The twins’ parents came down with bad Covid symptoms as well, so Michael had to isolate with two other infected adults. Hunkering together in the same house may have exposed him to a larger dose of the virus, the brothers said. But, they added, that’s just a guess.

For some twin pairs, there are no obvious explanations for their differing disease course. Marena and Vivian Herr, 17-year-old identical twins in Jackson Hole, Wyo., have spent their entire lives near each other, bonding over their tastes for In-N-Out Burger and Taylor Swift.

“We share drinks, we hang out in each other’s rooms, we have the same friends,” Vivian said. But she and her sister never seem to catch the same sicknesses.

When the sisters both fell ill from Covid the week after attending a Halloween party, their symptoms forked: Marena lost her sense of taste and smell, neither of which have returned in the two months since, while Vivian battled a debilitating flulike illness.

by artappraiser on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 3:30pm

Warp Speed did real good. But I don't think it's sunk in just how little the Trump admin did to prepare for vaccine distribution. They acted like a vaccine would solve the problem for them. But that's not how this works. And now we've wasted so much time. https://t.co/6woZ0LkUc2
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) January 18, 2021

by artappraiser on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 3:32pm

All infections of the new COVID-19 variants in Germany have been related to travel.

There have been 16 reported cases of the coronavirus variant that was first detected in Britain, and four of the variant from South Africa.https://t.co/NN8Z4w7Rf1
— DW News (@dwnews) January 14, 2021

by artappraiser on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 3:36pm

BREAKING: The UK now has the highest covid death rate in the world. A horrifying, heart-breaking, appalling fact that shames our country & our Govt. pic.twitter.com/URqGbu0ate
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 18, 2021

so much for a good National Health Service system being able to control this thing.

by artappraiser on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 3:39pm

^ Czech Republic currently # 2. Sweden way up there. Germany doing no better than the U.S. France and Austria interestingly way down there with Israel.

by artappraiser on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 3:45pm

this other graphic from the Independent is pretty damn scary (BTW the article is free access) and article notes that hospitalizations as well as deaths are higher than the first peak:

by artappraiser on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 4:09pm

Just an assortment from recent Yglesias

Some fun sparring here between DC’s (Black) top public health official and the (white) leading progressive on the Council. https://t.co/cVwJCSFfZb pic.twitter.com/bAdpzqgkbX
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 15, 2021

imo “everyone should wear a mask” is still a good rule just for enforceability reasons when out and about, but we should emphasize to people that if you get the shots all kinds of socializing are back on the table https://t.co/M6e4bcHAjI
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 18, 2021

They came up a little short https://t.co/oSXtvZ7aYv
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 18, 2021

retweeted

Israel serostudy: 98% have sterilizing immunity after second Pfizer shot; they cannot infect others. https://t.co/9vT5OD02xq
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) January 18, 2021

Somehow in epidemiology “we haven’t done a double-blind clinical trial” = “no evidence” but in pediatrics everything is “here’s an observational study with incredibly obvious confounds we made no effort to control for whatsoever.”
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 18, 2021

Just out with Nir Eyal https://t.co/SeTkxLptBl
— Marc Lipsitch (@mlipsitch) January 18, 2021

by artappraiser on Mon, 01/18/2021 - 6:05pm

thread on NYTimes article; not real good news but so far “is not something that we should be horribly freaked out about.”

REINFECTION & VACCINE SENSITIVITY—the concern is now growing very very real. This piece highlights the big S Africa CDC report I shared earlier, where antibodies from previously infected don’t recognize the #B1351 variant in 48% of patients. #COVID19 https://t.co/01WY1I6uYP pic.twitter.com/MrNayZdGU2
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 21, 2021

Sounds to me like we may have to eventually get new, updated vaccines all the time like we do with flu?

by artappraiser on Wed, 01/20/2021 - 8:21pm

Ten US cities with populations of ~400,000

Oakland, CA
Tulsa, OK
Tampa, FL
Arlington, TX
New Orleans, LA
Wichita, KS
Cleveland, OH
Aurora, CO
Minneapolis, MN
Virginia Beach, VA

Pick one & imagine it empty: buildings still there, cars left in the streets, but the people all gone
— Peter Manseau (@plmanseau) January 19, 2021

by artappraiser on Wed, 01/20/2021 - 10:47pm

all on Federal property now have to mask up:

Today, @POTUS issued a mask mandate on federal property, launching his “100 Day Masking Challenge” as part of our efforts to flatten the COVID-19 curve. pic.twitter.com/NLGr6JHB0h
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 21, 2021

by artappraiser on Wed, 01/20/2021 - 11:34pm

NEW: Joe Biden and his advisers are inheriting no #coronavirus vaccine distribution plan to speak of from the Trump administration, sources tell CNN.

"There is nothing for us to rework. We are going to have to build everything from scratch," one source said.
— Ana Cabrera (@AnaCabrera) January 21, 2021

also see

Biden releases national COVID strategy, will order agencies to use Defense Production Act

@ TheHill.com, 01/21/21 05:00 AM EST

by artappraiser on Thu, 01/21/2021 - 1:46pm

HHS retweeted this CDC tweet from inauguration day, 20 hours ago:

One year ago, the first case of #COVID19 in the U.S. was reported to CDC. Cases continue to rise across the country.

The current 7-day average of new cases is 208,548.

Help slow the spread.
Wear a mask.
Avoid crowds.
Stay 6 feet apart.

More: https://t.co/7N3muFMo9i pic.twitter.com/p5XJiqyq65
— CDC (@CDCgov) January 20, 2021

by artappraiser on Thu, 01/21/2021 - 1:50pm

CRUCIAL GREAT NEWS:we're back in the W.H.O. and Fauci will lead the U.S. delegation!!!

Somebody's got to bully pulpit and lead this thing worldwide or we are doomed to keep passing variants country to country!

On his first day in office, President Biden retracted a decision by the Trump administration to withdraw from the World Health Organization. Dr. Anthony Fauci will lead the U.S. delegation.https://t.co/MkWy6kHUgL
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 21, 2021

#UPDATE In a dramatic about-turn, the new US administration on Thursday thanked the World Health Organization (#WHO) for leading the global coronavirus pandemic response and vowed to remain a member state https://t.co/U8MBsiIqRm #AnthonyFauci #Fauci pic.twitter.com/gCdPqgvJTU
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 21, 2021

by artappraiser on Thu, 01/21/2021 - 3:28pm

SCIENCE IS BACK! And not muzzled anymore!

“That’s why you’re going to be hearing a lot more from Dr. Fauci again,” @JoeBiden says.#COVID19
pic.twitter.com/O6F5hjCsxe
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 21, 2021

by artappraiser on Thu, 01/21/2021 - 3:33pm

Biden snaps at AP's Zeke Miller when he asks about the number of vaccine doses he wants to dole out in his first 100 days.

"When I announced it you all said it's not possible. Come on, give me a break, man." pic.twitter.com/YnP1gyjnVX
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 21, 2021

by artappraiser on Thu, 01/21/2021 - 3:37pm

Damn, someone who remembers previous conversations. Time for people to up their game.

by moat on Thu, 01/21/2021 - 3:47pm

First. Full. Day. In. Office. https://t.co/uKuy3sOCdR
— David Slack (@slack2thefuture) January 22, 2021

Day 02: The #BidenPlan

Expect a 20% increase in vaccine production due to the use of the Defense Production Act — @RonaldKlain https://t.co/Qwm3MhG7iv
— Cleavon MD (@Cleavon_MD) January 22, 2021

by artappraiser on Fri, 01/22/2021 - 5:50am

German quarantine breakers to be held in refugee camps, detention centers https://t.co/UY1FwG2oMA pic.twitter.com/sPuOL5QxXZ
— New York Post (@nypost) January 18, 2021

by artappraiser on Fri, 01/22/2021 - 6:01am

[COVID NEWS] A nasty mutating superbug after the whole human race

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