...but Covid is far from being done with us.
News outlets seem to be all feeding off each other with stories about "covid fatigue", plummeting hospitalization rates for the omicron variant, relaxation of masking policies and a general sense that we have done what we can do as a collective to combat the virus and we need to move on and return to normal.
The Atlantic published a piece by Yascha Mounk titled "Open Everything", arguing we were too slow at the onset of the pandemic to adjust to changing conditions to IMPOSE restrictions and now we are too slow to respond to changing conditions to REMOVE restrictions.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/02/end-coronavirus-restrictions/621627/Candidly, this article is probably the dumbest thing I have ever read in The Atlantic. Mounk states...
By this I mean that we should lift all remaining restrictions on everyday activities (which were, in any case, unable to prevent the rapid circulation of Omicron cases this winter). Children should be allowed to take off their mask in school. We should get rid of measures such as deep cleaning that are purely performative. Politicians and public-health officials should send the message that Americans should no longer limit their social activities, encouraging them to resume playdates and dinner parties without guilt.
Since the onset of classic COVID, ghoulish as it may sound, what worried me the most was not DEATH from COVID but LIVING after a non-fatal but severe case of COVID with hospitalization after-effects. Of course, I never thought that 918,000+ people would DIE from a virus for which vaccines were widely available ten months after its onset but the root of my concern is still valid. Only now, it isn't the slightly larger percentage risk of getting COVID requiring hospitalization and emerging with complications from intubation. The real concern is that over 77.6 million people have become ill with the virus and at least 12 million are STILL suffering debilitating issues MONTHS afterwards. This isn't just an abstract, intellectual concern. I have a family member who contracted classic COVID in October 2020, required a two-day hospitalization for dehydration (but no vent) and has suffered uncontrolled heart rate and brain fog ever since. Despite being Pfizer vaccinated (both doses) and Pfizer boosted in early December 2021, a second omicron infection occurred in early January 2022. The omicron case was "mild" but surely did not improve the existing long haul issues.
What remedies exist for these long haul cases? NOTHING. What is known about the root causes of these long haul cases? Next to nothing. Some disturbing trends have been noted, though, in addition to the obvious symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath and brain fog. Namely,
- problems with existing diabetics controlling blood sugars
- problems with non-diabetics controlling blood sugars
- elevated blood clotting, evidenced by sky high levels of D-dimers, a protein produced when the body breaks up blood clots
- cardiac rhythm issues
Results Among individuals who were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2, 32% (27?698 of 87?337) sought medical attention in the post-acute period for one or more new or persistent clinical sequelae, which was 11% higher than the 2020 comparison group. Respiratory failure (risk difference 7.55, 95% confidence interval 7.18 to 8.01), fatigue (5.66, 5.03 to 6.27), hypertension (4.43, 2.27 to 6.37), memory difficulties (2.63, 2.23 to 3.13), kidney injury (2.59, 2.03 to 3.12), mental health diagnoses (2.50, 2.04 to 3.04), hypercoagulability 1.47 (1.2 to 1.73), and cardiac rhythm disorders (2.19, 1.76 to 2.57) had the greatest risk differences compared with the 2020 comparison group, with similar findings to the 2019 comparison group. Compared with the group with viral lower respiratory tract illness, however, only respiratory failure, dementia, and post-viral fatigue had increased risk differences of 2.39 (95% confidence interval 1.79 to 2.94), 0.71 (0.3 to 1.08), and 0.18 (0.11 to 0.26) per 100 patients, respectively. Individuals with severe covid-19 disease requiring admission to hospital had a markedly increased risk for most but not all clinical sequelae.
The long haul rate cited in this study of 32% is even higher than the 15% (12 million of 77 million) referenced earlier. These numbers are confirming that a huge population that contracted COVID from any variant faces a potential LIFETIME of future medical issues, many resembling chronic medical burdens already crippling the US in terms of costs and impairment to individual productivity and quality of life. The variety of long haul symptoms points out something more important. While COVID may spread via respiratory means, the disease itself is NOT limited to the respiratory system. It seems to be capable of attacking the kidneys, pancreas, heart and brain. Anyone contracting COVID and "clearing" without immediate signs of respiratory issues is by no means "clear" of the disease.
Hearing people throw in the towel on masks for children who cannot yet get vaccinated with these statistics available seems to be the ultimate example of intergenerational selfishness. Allowing in-person school without at least the AVAILABILITY of a vaccine for all ages is gambling an entire generation of children's future health for our short-term convenience. It's sadly a very apropos reflection of much that is wrong with America.
WTH
