COVID-19 >>"True and Helpful" Covid Information Thread

[Anonymous]

Information is still coming in at a trickle back in Canada..



But, it does seem different than previous variants which gives us some hope..



As more information and data comes in from Canada, I'll post it and I'm sure cc will too.





'It's making people really sick in a different way': How Omicron affects hospital patients

'It can be a milder virus, but it can also be quite severe,' and the only real differentiators are vaccination status, immune status and age



Some Canadian emergency rooms are being walloped by "ridiculous" numbers of people with suspected or confirmed COVID, with symptoms ranging from what essentially resembles a mild cold to, in the unvaccinated and vulnerable, severe COVID pneumonias, frontline doctors are reporting.



Some are arriving in hospital with minimal symptoms, driven there instead by anxiety or a desire to confirm their COVID status, and with having had no clearly communicated advice on what to do if they do get COVID.



"We are still catastrophizing COVID," said Dr. Martha Fulford, an infectious diseases specialist and chief of medicine at the McMaster University Medical Center. "We have somehow made when you have a positive result equal disaster in a lot of people's minds."



Omicron is propagating rapidly, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday. In Ontario, the contagious variant has led to "explosive growth in hospitalizations," though not ICU admissions, a spokeswoman for the province's health minister said in an emailed statement Tuesday. The province has directed its hospitals to call-off non-emergency surgeries and brace for a potential "tsunami" of infections in the coming days and weeks.



But doctors stress this isn't March 2020, when people arrived in hospital extremely sick with gastro symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea, or dangerously short of breath. In New York City, where doctors and healthcare workers served as trailblazers in the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 and where hospitalizations surpassed 10,000 this week for the first time in 20 months , "we aren't seeing as many patients gasping for air," Dr. Craig Spencer, a NYC emergency doctor tweeted this week. "Thankfully the COVID patients aren't as sick. BUT there are SO many of them."



Unlike March 2020, when there were no vaccines, "We're not seeing a lot of admissions for respiratory failure, we're not seeing a lot of patients being put on high-flow oxygen, being intubated" and ventilated, or put on BiPAP machines that deliver oxygen under pressure through a mask, said Dr. Eric Legome, who runs two Mount Sinai Health System emergency sites in New York City. "What we are seeing is people who are being admitted because they are extremely weak, dizzy, a fall risk." Severe lung inflammation was a major issue in wave one, with people suffering respiratory distress and respiratory failure. "That's not so much an issue this time," Legome said. "We're not seeing a huge number of COVID pneumonia and people requiring intensive respiratory support. We're not seeing that very much at all."





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The unvaccinated make up a disproportionate share of the sickest COVID patients, Spencer said. Like earlier waves, some people are short of breath and require supplemental oxygen. "But for most, COVID seemed to topple a delicate balance of an underlying illness,"  he said — diabetics in whom a COVID infection triggered ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal complication.



"It's making people really sick in a different way," Spencer said.



Emerging research suggests Omicron infects and lodges in the bronchi, and less so deep in the lungs, like Delta does, which could explain why it's spreading so quickly but causing less severe disease.



"Of all the patients we have with Omicron, the vast, vast majority are going home," Legome said. Of those hospitalized, "It tends to be the patients who would be admitted otherwise: You're 90 years old, you have underlying pulmonary disease, heart failure, you have a hip replacement, you don't get along well at baseline and then you have Omicron on top of that and you just can't get out of bed. It's that type that we're seeing more of," he said.

https://nationalpost.com/health/we-arent-seeing-as-many-patients-gasping-for-air-how-omicron-is-affecting-hospital-patients">https://nationalpost.com/health/we-aren ... l-patients">https://nationalpost.com/health/we-arent-seeing-as-many-patients-gasping-for-air-how-omicron-is-affecting-hospital-patients

Who doesn't want to put this behind us. I guess the premier of Victoria, the NDP and the democRATs don't. Those of us who aint progs want to move on.

[Anonymous]

Ontario has lost control of the virus. We have so many cases we can't do contact tracing anymore. We can't even keep up with processing all the PCR tests. Yet, it seems like the people have had enough. COVID fatigue is setting in. Pandemic or not, the people appear less willing to go along with restrictions again.

[Thiel]

We have lost control in Manitoba. We have no idea how high the actual case count is. We officially had 1790 cases yesterday, but our real count is likely 16,000 to 17,000 according to our deputy chief public health officer.

Manitoba's actual daily COVID-19 numbers likely 8-10 times higher than reported figures: Dr. Atwal



Manitoba reported 1,790 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday but the true number is likely far higher — as much eight to 10 times that, says Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Jazz Awtal.



"With this Omicron variant, likely for every case we identified, we're missing out maybe eight, maybe 10 cases."



So the number of daily cases could actually be 16,000 to 17,000, Atwal said, underscoring that is an estimate "based on how infectious this [variant] is."



That means daily case counts are no longer the most accurate reflection of the virus's impact in the province because many cases are never reported.



There is also a backlog of 6,800 unprocessed PCR tests from provincial test sites, due to soaring demand.



To ease that backlog, some test sites are giving people rapid tests to take home instead of taking samples for a PCR.



Rapid test results are not entered into the provincial database. Instead, people are told to stay home and isolate.



Hospitalization and intensive care unit numbers are now a much better reflection the pandemic's effect on the population and impact on the health-care system, Atwal said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/covid19-update-pandemic-vaccines-manitoba-atwal-reimer-1.6304655">https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba ... -1.6304655">https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/covid19-update-pandemic-vaccines-manitoba-atwal-reimer-1.6304655

This is startling, but true. We have lost any ability to contain or even track the spread here in in Manitoba. The tools we used in past waves cannot handle the scale. We no longer have any choice. We must give up on daily counts and contact tracing and redirect all our resources on hospitalizations and preventing serious illness.

[cc]

Yes. It is far out of control everywhere now



The only good new is for those vaxxed as they are in general getting much less ill and are far less likely to need hospital  + on average  have a shorter stay if they did need it



That is supported by hospital data (which is very easy to keep track of)  from every province, country and state



All other news is not good

[Anonymous]

Yes. It is far out of control everywhere now



The only good new is for those vaxxed as they are in general getting much less ill and are far less likely to need hospital  + on average  have a shorter stay if they did need it



That is supported by hospital data (which is very easy to keep track of)  from every province, country and state



All other news is not good

I know I still might catch it. Omicron gets around imunity. Especially when I have to operate a locomotive with a conductor sitting one metre away. We have a communal kitchen in the bunkhouse. But, with three doses my chances of catching it and passing it on are reduced. My chances of being a burden on the health care system are really low. It is called being a responsible adult.

[cc]

Yes. It is far out of control everywhere now



The only good new is for those vaxxed as they are in general getting much less ill and are far less likely to need hospital  + on average  have a shorter stay if they did need it



That is supported by hospital data (which is very easy to keep track of)  from every province, country and state



All other news is not good

I know I still might catch it. Omicron gets around imunity. Especially when I have to operate a locomotive with a conductor sitting one metre away. We have a communal kitchen in the bunkhouse. But, with three doses my chances of catching it and passing it on are reduced. My chances of being a burden on the health care system are really low. It is called being a [size=130]responsible[/size] adult.

You got it.  .. "responsible" is the key word on this whole thing



Those arguing against it demonstrate .. every time they speak ..  they are not "responsible" & do not care about others



Amazingly they chose to be "irresponsible" .. and use hokey arguments to support that &  their complete lack of caring  about others

[Anonymous]

Yes. It is far out of control everywhere now



The only good new is for those vaxxed as they are in general getting much less ill and are far less likely to need hospital  + on average  have a shorter stay if they did need it



That is supported by hospital data (which is very easy to keep track of)  from every province, country and state



All other news is not good

I know I still might catch it. Omicron gets around imunity. Especially when I have to operate a locomotive with a conductor sitting one metre away. We have a communal kitchen in the bunkhouse. But, with three doses my chances of catching it and passing it on are reduced. My chances of being a burden on the health care system are really low. It is called being a responsible adult.

I do not mean to be a dick and use your PI against you, but you have posted that you were an alcoholic at one time in your life. If you had developed diabetes or cirrhosis of the liver, using your own words, you would have been "a burden on the health care system." Such reasoning is hypocritical and flawed.

[Anonymous]

Alberta broke its daily COVID-19 record for the second straight day on Wednesday..



The province is reporting 4,869 new cases, up from 4,752 new cases recorded the previous day..



Across the province, hospitalizations increased to 498 (up 28), with 64 of those patients in the ICU (down eight)..



Of those in the hospital, 170 are unvaccinated, while in the ICU, 46 of the 64 patients are unvaccinated..



All of the vaccinated in ICU are senior citizens or immunocompromised.

[Anonymous]

The NCAA released updated COVID-19 guidance on Thursday for winter sports that recognizes athletes with natural immunity from previous coronavirus infection as equivalent to being "fully vaccinated."  

[deadskinmask]

true and helpful covid information -

1. if you are vaccinated and go to the hospital, you do not get automatically tested for covid.... you either need to request a covid test or be showing severe symptoms.... otherwise you are not a 'covid case' by default....



2. if you are unvaccinated, you're automatically tested for covid regardless of what you're admitted for.... they will continue to test you periodically and each positive test is counted as a 'covid case'....



3. if you actually caught covid and thats ALL you caught, theres a less than 2% chance that you would need hospitalization....



4. if you have covid and its a severe case, you still only have a less than 1% chance of dying....



5. these 'safe and effective' vaccines that offer 99% risk reduction (that drops down to 33% in a few months requiring another shot) are based on Relative Risk Reduction.... RRR is just an imaginary figure.... Actual Risk Reduction is the gold standard of efficacy and the 'vaccine' provides less than 1% Actual Risk Reduction....



6. the definition of 'fully vaccinated' has been low-key changed to include the booster (and in somes cases a 4th shot).... in fact, the status of 'fully vaccinated' is about to be dropped entirely and replaced with 'up-to-date'.... some hospitals use these unofficial definitions when determining 'covid cases' vaxxed vs unvaxxed....

its true.... hope its helpful....

[cc]

Alberta broke its daily COVID-19 record for the second straight day on Wednesday..



The province is reporting 4,869 new cases, up from 4,752 new cases recorded the previous day..



Across the province, hospitalizations increased to 498 (up 28), with 64 of those patients in the ICU (down eight)..



Of those in the hospital, 170 are unvaccinated, while in the ICU, 46 of the 64 patients are unvaccinated..



All of the vaccinated in ICU are senior citizens or immunocompromised.

This is absolutely not at  all aimed at you, Fash. I simply want to clarify the methods of comparison of numbers hospitalized



Raw numbers do not  serve well as a comparison as the 2 groups represent drastically  different  % of population. In fact

most provinces are about 9 / 1 in the  vaxxed vs unvaxxed area



Only when displayed as a "per population of basis" do they tell the story. I use "per 100,000" as our province presents them that way (too easy for me)   but per any # of the population gives the same result.  Per any large number of an areas population works equally well



Currently I'm finding results between 10 & 20 times greater for unvaxxed on a per 100,000 basis



Last time I checked it  was 1.2 vs.   17.5 here & likely similar for your and all provinces





I used to track Ontario as it was the first to give numbers for vaxxed and unvaxxed hospitalized  .. but as it gave it in raw numbers, I tired of having to convert them  to "meaningful comparison" numbers

[Anonymous]

Alberta broke its daily COVID-19 record for the second straight day on Wednesday..



The province is reporting 4,869 new cases, up from 4,752 new cases recorded the previous day..



Across the province, hospitalizations increased to 498 (up 28), with 64 of those patients in the ICU (down eight)..



Of those in the hospital, 170 are unvaccinated, while in the ICU, 46 of the 64 patients are unvaccinated..



All of the vaccinated in ICU are senior citizens or immunocompromised.

This is absolutely not at  all aimed at you, Fash. I simply want to clarify the methods of comparison of numbers hospitalized



Raw numbers do not  serve well as a comparison as the 2 groups represent drastically  different  % of population. In fact

most provinces are about 9 / 1 in the  vaxxed vs unvaxxed area



Only when displayed as a "per population of basis" do they tell the story. I use "per 100,000" as our province presents them that way (too easy for me)   but per any # of the population gives the same result.  Per any large number of an areas population works equally well



Currently I'm finding results between 10 & 20 times greater for unvaxxed on a per 100,000 basis



Last time I checked it  was 1.2 vs.   17.5 here & likely similar for your and all provinces





I used to track Ontario as it was the first to give numbers for vaxxed and unvaxxed hospitalized  .. but as it gave it in raw numbers, I tired of having to convert them  to "meaningful comparison" numbers

Old Herman has been on a two week bender, so I aint been following the numbers here in Saskatchewan. I know we are doing better than both of our neighbours for now anyway. I haven't heard about our hospitals getting filled up like they did with the Delta variant. I will start paying more attention next week when my boy is back to his own place and I sober up.

[Blazor]

Alberta broke its daily COVID-19 record for the second straight day on Wednesday..



The province is reporting 4,869 new cases, up from 4,752 new cases recorded the previous day..



Across the province, hospitalizations increased to 498 (up 28), with 64 of those patients in the ICU (down eight)..



Of those in the hospital, 170 are unvaccinated, while in the ICU, 46 of the 64 patients are unvaccinated..



All of the vaccinated in ICU are senior citizens or immunocompromised.

This is absolutely not at  all aimed at you, Fash. I simply want to clarify the methods of comparison of numbers hospitalized



Raw numbers do not  serve well as a comparison as the 2 groups represent drastically  different  % of population. In fact

most provinces are about 9 / 1 in the  vaxxed vs unvaxxed area



Only when displayed as a "per population of basis" do they tell the story. I use "per 100,000" as our province presents them that way (too easy for me)   but per any # of the population gives the same result.  Per any large number of an areas population works equally well



Currently I'm finding results between 10 & 20 times greater for unvaxxed on a per 100,000 basis



Last time I checked it  was 1.2 vs.   17.5 here & likely similar for your and all provinces





I used to track Ontario as it was the first to give numbers for vaxxed and unvaxxed hospitalized  .. but as it gave it in raw numbers, I tired of having to convert them  to "meaningful comparison" numbers

Old Herman has been on a two week bender, so I aint been following the numbers here in Saskatchewan. I know we are doing better than both of our neighbours for now anyway. I haven't heard about our hospitals getting filled up like they did with the Delta variant. I will start paying more attention next week when my boy is back to his own place and I sober up.

No, you should turn off your TV, and ignore the numbers, and live your life to the fullest Herman  ac_dance



Have you not had fun ignoring the numbers?



I ignore them completely. I have fun a LOT. In crowded places. None of us wear masks. Around 250 packed on New Years, around the same at a brewery that was closing down a few days before. This is what I do.



Hell, Im performing tomorrow night!!! Wish you could be there!



We'd have a good time man  ac_dance

[Anonymous]

Despite setting daily records for cases in Alberta, the number of people in ICU's with COVID actually dropped. I don't know what percentage of new cases are now omicron, but the ICU thing tells me it's the majority now.



Also, our premier has finally grown a pair and is demanding True Dope make all treatments, including monoclonal antibodies, the new pill as well as Ivermectin available.

[Blazor]

Also, our premier has finally grown a pair and is demanding True Dope make all treatments, including monoclonal antibodies, the new pill as well as Ivermectin available.

That is GREAT news!!!!!!!