Ron DeSantis: ‘Don’t Fauci My Florida’ Merchandise Sales ‘Through the Roof’

[The Barbarian]

"Long COVID" is a nebulous term.

Which is why journal articles use more precise language. It's no surprise that those long-term effects are happening to people infected with COVID-19; it happens with infections of other coronaviruses, as well.

There's no doubt that some people experience lingering symptoms as is true of pretty much every virus. But there simply is no evidence that it is occurring in large numbers.

If it happens with even a fraction of the frequency that it happens in other coronavirus infections, there's going to be a public health problem:

Auton Neurosci. 2021 Nov; 235:
Preparing for the long-haul: Autonomic complications of COVID-19
A large number of patients with SARS experienced prolonged fatigue and exercise intolerance long after the acute phase of the illness, with studies reporting that 40% of patients (67% female) still had chronic fatigue nearly two years after infection

Of course, we won't know for sure until a couple of years down the line. It doesn't look encouraging right now.

 

[probinson]

If it happens with even a fraction of the frequency that it happens in other coronavirus infections, there's going to be a public health problem:

There is already a public health problem. There is a mental health epidemic. There are countless routine wellness visits that have been missed. RSV cases are on the rise in children in the offseason. There's the impact on education for many kids who essentially lost an entire year of school.

Public health's myopic focus on COVID is the reason for all of the above. The fear inappropriate content that has been peddled by government, public health and media alike is responsible.

 

[The Barbarian]

There is already a public health problem.

To a degree. We are seeing more and more of the predicted long-term health effects of COVID-19. But if it's like the other coronaviruses, we're going to have millions of people affected. Take the 40% incidence of long-term problems in SARS, and multiply by 35 million infected Americans, and it's a big deal.

My son-in-law lost both parents within two weeks, and became seriously ill himself. So the "fear inappropriate content" story doesn't play so well with me.

 

[probinson]

To a degree. We are seeing more and more of the predicted long-term health effects of COVID-19. But if it's like the other coronaviruses, we're going to have millions of people affected. Take the 40% incidence of long-term problems in SARS, and multiply by 35 million infected Americans, and it's a big deal.

It will likely be peanuts compared to the collateral damage that results from the mitigation measures. But time will tell.

My son-in-law lost both parents within two weeks, and became seriously ill himself. So the "fear inappropriate content" story doesn't play so well with me.

That is tragic and very unfortunate. My sincerest condolences to your son-in-law and all affected by this tragedy.

But public health guidance and policies can't be based on tragic experiences. They must be based on data, and as I showed earlier, less than 30K people in the United States under age of 50 have died from COVID throughout the entire pandemic. That should be a clear indicator that we should have focused protection on the elderly. But unfortunately, we did not. Instead, we abandoned all of our pandemic preparedness plans that encouraged the principles of focused protection and decided to conduct the great masking and lockdown experiment of 2020, with deadly results.

 

[The Barbarian]

It will likely be peanuts compared to the collateral damage that results from the mitigation measures.

Botching the response to the pandemic did have consequences way beyond the additional illnesses and deaths. Looks like the failure of various states to do the right thing may bring back those measures.

But time will tell.

Yep.

 

[probinson]

Looks like the failure of various states to do the right thing...

The funny thing is, while I agree with this statement, I know from our discussions that you and I have very different interpretations of what "the right thing" was.

 

[The Barbarian]

The funny thing is, while I agree with this statement, I know from our discussions that you and I have very different interpretations of what "the right thing" was.

It's not hard to figure out. See what states with yet another surge in infections did. Or didn't do.

And don't emulate them.

 

[probinson]

It's not hard to figure out. See what states with yet another surge in infections did. Or didn't do.

It's past time to stop counting cases, which is not a meaningful metric;

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/07/21/covid-testing-vaccinated/

 

[The Barbarian]

It's past time to stop counting cases, which is not a meaningful metric;

Seems as though it is. There's a fairly good correlation between cases and deaths. Over time, the cases/per death goes up, as you'd expect for a new disease.

But it still tracks.

Assuming one considers deaths a meaningful metric.

 

[probinson]

Seems as though it is. There's a fairly good correlation between cases and deaths. Over time, the cases/per death goes up, as you'd expect for a new disease.

That's just not the case any more. The combination of vaccination and natural immunity results in there not being nearly as many deaths as at the beginning of the pandemic when cases surged. We see this vividly in the data from the UK's latest surge. Despite a spike in the number of cases to the same and even higher levels as the previous wave, the number of deaths was not even close to the same;

Assuming one considers deaths a meaningful metric.

Deaths and hospitalizations are the metrics we should have been using all along.

 

[The Barbarian]

While doctors are saving many more people than they could at the beginning of the pandemic, I notice that an increase in infections still means an increase in deaths.

For example, Florida has recorded the largest number of deaths since the May surge in infections, as daily new cases just hit the highest number since February.
Florida COVID: 2,497,828 Cases and 38,566 Deaths - Worldometer

Because doctors are getting better at treating it, the death toll isn't as bad as it was at the beginning of the pandemic. But more cases inevitably mean more deaths.