Fully vaccinated people can skip Covid quarantines, CDC says https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/10/health/covid-vaccinated-quarantine-cdc-guidance/index.html People who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus -- right now that means with two doses of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine -- can skip quarantine if they are exposed to someone infected with the virus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. That doesn't mean they should stop taking precautions, the CDC noted in updated guidance. It's just not necessary for them to quarantine. "Fully vaccinated persons who meet criteria will no longer be required to quarantine following an exposure to someone with COVID-19," the CDC said in updates to its web page with guidance on vaccination. "Vaccinated persons with an exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not required to quarantine if they meet all of the following criteria," the CDC added. The criteria: They must be fully vaccinated -- having had both shots with at least two weeks having passed since the second shot. That's because it takes two weeks to build full immunity after the second dose of vaccine. But the CDC says it's not known how long protection lasts, so people who had their last shot three months ago or more should still quarantine if they are exposed. They also should quarantine if they show symptoms, the CDC said. (More at above url)
https://thehill.com/policy/healthca...faults-trump-for-avoidable-coronavirus-deaths Lancet report faults Trump for 'avoidable' coronavirus deaths A report in the British medical journal The Lancet blames former President Trump for an error-filled response to the coronavirus pandemic that it says contributed to 40 percent more deaths compared to other wealthy countries. The report from the Lancet Commission on Public Policy and Health in the Trump Era points to the over 450,000 deaths in the US from coronavirus and says about 40 percent of them “could have been averted” if the US death rate matched that from the other G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom). The 33 doctors and other experts on the commission also make broader critiques, ranging from racism to climate change. They argue that in 2018, 461,000 fewer Americans would have died in the US had the same life expectancy as the other G7 countries. The Lancet, a respected medical journal, has published opinion pieces highly critical of Trump before. In May, it published an editorial calling for Trump not to be reelected, citing his undermining of science at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Americans must put a president in the White House come January, 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics,” the journal wrote then. The commission report published Thursday was written in part by Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein, two doctors who are co-founders of the group Physicians for a National Health Program, which advocates for a single-payer health system in the United States. The report points to a range of actions by Trump on the pandemic that have drawn widespread condemnation from experts, such as undermining messaging on the importance of masks. “Many of the cases and deaths were avoidable,” the report states. “Instead of galvanising the US populace to fight the pandemic, President Trump publicly dismissed its threat (despite privately acknowledging it), discouraged action as infection spread, and eschewed international cooperation.” “His refusal to develop a national strategy worsened shortages of personal protective equipment and diagnostic tests,” it adds. “President Trump politicised mask-wearing and school reopenings and convened indoor events attended by thousands, where masks were discouraged and physical distancing was impossible.”
Caution: 1918 influenza provides warning for potential future pandemic reemergence https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-caution-influenza-potential-future-pandemic.html
A lone infection may have changed the course of the pandemic The number of mutations in the UK variant took scientists by surprise. Now they think its origins may lie in one person, chronically infected with the virus https://www.wired.co.uk/article/chronic-infection-uk-coronavirus-variant One quote... In evolutionary terms, Sars-CoV-2 is a genetic slowpoke. Viruses mutate as they pick up tiny errors in their genetic code when they make copies of themselves, but coronaviruses have evolved an extra trick that makes this copying process more accurate. Coronaviruses have proteins that spot and correct mistakes in their RNA, which slows down the number of errors that accumulate in their genome. Sars-CoV-2 tends to pick up one or two mutations per month – slower than flu or polio but faster than measles. “It was unusual in September to all of a sudden see [a variant] pop up that had 17 [changes],” says Adam Lauring, an associate professor at University of Michigan Medical School who studies the evolution of RNA viruses like Sars-CoV-2. “It suggested that something unusual happened.” (Detailed article at above url)
Not only 30% more infectious, but 70% deadlier. But DeSantis will do nothing to stop it in Florida which has over 1/3 of the cases of this variant in the U.S. New U.K. COVID Strain Is Up to 70 Percent Deadlier, Study Finds Researchers say this new variant may be leading to more deaths than previous strains. https://bestlifeonline.com/covid-strain-deadlier-news/ It seemed we were hearing mostly good news about COVID in 2021, with the rollout of two effective vaccines and the trajectory of new cases headed downward for the first time in months. But then, new variants of the virus emerged and soon, the optimistic tone from doctors and public health officials started to shift. These new strains from the U.K., South Africa, and Brazil created serious concern, with experts initially unsure how transmissible they were, how deadly they were, and how they would respond to the newly created coronavirus vaccines and existing treatments. Unfortunately, new research just confirmed that those concerns were warranted: A study from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) has found that one COVID strain may be up to 70 percent deadlier than previous coronavirus variants. Read on to find out which variant could lead to more pandemic deaths and for more news about the virus, see why Dr. Fauci Says These Are the COVID Symptoms That Don't Go Away. A new study has found that the U.K. strain could be 70 percent deadlier than previous strains. A new study just confirmed that the COVID strain that originated in the U.K., called B.1.1.7, could be far deadlier for those infected by it, The Washington Post reports. According to NERVTAG researchers, this variant is 30 to 70 percent deadlier than previous virus strains. The study's authors concluded that there is significant evidence that B.1.1.7 is "associated with an increased risk of hospitalization and death compared to infection" from other strains of the coronavirus. And for more coronavirus concerns, read up on how The U.K.'s Top Scientist Has a Chilling COVID Warning for Americans. It's also confirmed to be more transmissible. While it was just recently confirmed that the U.K. variant is deadlier—a fear Prime Minister Boris Johnson shared a month ago—experts have long suspected that the U.K. strain is more contagious than others, as well. Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimate that the variant is 43 to 82 percent more transmissible than previous variants. A Jan. 15 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the strain is spreading so quickly that it is projected to become the dominant variant in the U.S. by March. And for more from the leading U.S. health agency, beware that If You're Layering These Masks, the CDC Says to Stop Immediately. The U.K. strain has already spread across the majority of states. The CDC has reported three new variants in the U.S., with B.1.1.7 being the most prevalent. As of Feb. 14, the variant has already resulted in 1,173 COVID cases in 40 states across the country. The only states that have not reported cases of the U.K. variant are Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia. According to the CDC, Florida has the most cases of the U.K. strain with 379. And for more up-to-date COVID news delivered right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. There are four main symptoms associated with this particular strain. If you're worried you may have come down with COVID due to the U.K. variant, you should pay extra attention to your symptoms. A January study from the U.K. government's Office for National Statistics (ONS) analyzed 6,000 COVID patients, discovering that the 3,500 patients who tested positive for B.1.1.7 were more likely to experience four particular symptoms when compared to those infected by other variants: cough, fatigue, muscles aches, and sore throat. And for more COVID red flags to be aware of, know that If You're Over 65, You Could Be Missing This COVID Symptom, Study Says. Additional: Virus variant first detected in the U.K. has been deadlier, study confirms https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...detected-uk-has-been-deadlier-study-confirms/
https://www.dailywire.com/news/cnn-...e-what-the-science-says-due-to-teacher-unions CNN Reporter Blasts Biden Over Schools: Won’t State ‘What The Science Says’ Due To Teacher Unions
Zuckerberg stated, “I do just want to make sure that I share some caution on this because we just don’t know the long-term side effects of basically modifying people’s DNA and RNA. Basically the ability to produce those antibodies and whether that causes other mutations or other risks downstream. So, there’s work on both paths of vaccine development.”
Biden advisor has absolutely no explanation whatsoever wrt why CA, the lock own state, isn't better than Florida a state with NO LOCKDOWNs. Are mask and lockdowns complete bullshiate? Why aren't the numbers in CA tremendously better than FL? Everyone can take the "science says" and shove it were the sun don't shine. The numbers don't lie.