We're Losing Track of COVID--and It's Going to Bite Us in the Ass

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:

David Axe
@daxe
COVID cases are going up in many countries as dangerous new subvariants evolve faster and faster. At the same time, individual testing is going down. #covid @thedailybeast

thedailybeast.com
We’re Losing Track of COVID—and It’s Going to Bite Us in the Ass
The collapse of COVID-19 testing around the world may soon force governments to get creative with how they monitor infection rates.
11:29 AM · May 15, 2022

https://www.thedailybeast.com/covid-19-testing-is-collapsingand-it-will-blow-up-in-our-faces

COVID cases are going up in many countries as dangerous new subvariants evolve faster and faster. At the same time, individual testing is going down.

That might seem like a dangerous combination. If authorities can’t accurately keep tabs on where and how fast the virus is spread, they might not be able to help protect vulnerable communities.

Fortunately, there’s one way to track SARS-CoV-2 without relying on drive-through testing sites or testing at pharmacies, clinics or hospitals. More and more, scientists are looking for the virus in sewer water. In our toilet flushes, in other words. “Wastewater seems to be the key to early detection, especially in the context of increased at-home testing and potentially reduced reporting,” Niema Moshiri, a geneticist at the University of California, San Diego, told The Daily Beast.

But there’s a big problem with this wastewater surveillance. Any method of monitoring a global pandemic itself needs to be global. While North America, Europe, Australia and parts of Asia have pretty good wastewater surveillance systems in place, China—the country that’s arguably the most vulnerable to COVID right now—doesn’t.

*snip*

[gratuitous]

1. A whole lot of people are just done with Covid

Covid, however, is not done with us.

[KarenS]

2. yes, indeed....

we still are not being social. still not eating in restaurants. we are old and I am not in good health.

[Tetrachloride]

3. I suggest buying at outdoor veggie carts

[Quakerfriend]

4. Yes, so true.

My young sons who are vaxxed and boosted do not want to hear about it anymore. They have been very good about following all the ‘rules’ until now. They simply don’t want to hear about it at all.

[Skittles]

5. yup

stupid selfish assholes everywhere

[senseandsensibility]

6. That's been true for the entire pandemic

but what seems different to me now is that there is a pressure to not even mention mitigation efforts, especially masking. The corporations control the media, and they know that masks are bad for business.

[Skittles]

7. it's not just places of business

too many people think being unmasked at a wedding is more important than public health

fucking morons everywhere

[senseandsensibility]

9. But don't you think that could be a function

of people not hearing about it anymore? The media isn't covering it even an eighth as much as they used to, and I really believe that they are being pressured by business not to.

[Skittles]

10. I don't have to be told what needs to be done to do the right thing

people either care or they don't care

and there are plenty of even DUers who DO.NOT.CARE.

[LuckyCharms]

21. I've said it before, and I always get shit for saying it...

but I'll say it again.

I'm not saying "most" people, I'm saying "too many" people in this country:

Are weak

Are spineless

View discomfort as something that is impossible to tolerate

Make excuses for not doing the right thing

Are out of their fucking minds

Think they are the only people on the planet

Think they understand what suffering is, but really have no idea

Think that because they are in good health, that everyone else is, and therefore, should act exactly the same as they do

Are unable to do hard things for any period of time

Think that they are experts on something because they read it on Facebook

Are dead stupid

[keep_left]

32. Neoconservative Max Boot, not someone I normally quote, said (in 2020) that...

...if Trump had been President during World War II, we would all be speaking German. Max Boot here was discussing, among other things, Drumpf's incompetent public health response to Covid. (The underlining for emphasis is mine).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/15/if-trump-had-been-charge-during-world-war-ii-this-column-would-be-german/

But even though the war has just begun, the Trumpified FDR is already losing interest. One day he says the war is already won; the next day that we will just have to accept the occupation of France because that’s the way life is. He speculates that mobilization might be unnecessary if we can develop a “death ray” straight out of a Buck Rogers comic strip. He complains that rationing and curfews are very unpopular and will have to end soon. He tells the governors that if they want to keep on fighting, they will have to take charge of manufacturing ships, tanks and aircraft. Trumpy FDR prefers to hold mass rallies to berate his predecessor, Herbert Hoover...

...Trump, by contrast, cannot focus on a single subject for the length of a paragraph. So it is no surprise that he has already gotten bored with a war against the coronavirus that isn’t going his way. He is taking his cues not from FDR but from Sen. George Aiken, the Vermont Republican whose plan for the Vietnam War was summed up as “declare victory and get out.” In Trump’s case, that means getting Americans out of the home whether it’s safe to do so or not...

...Medical experts argue that it’s necessary to dramatically ramp up testing, but Trump has no national plan to do so, and said on Thursday that testing might be “frankly overrated.” “When you test you find something is wrong with people,” he declared. “If we didn’t do any testing, we would have very few cases.”

Where would we be if the country was facing a 21st century Axis? Would we be willing to make the necessary sacrifices? Would we even be willing to plant a victory garden? Today, we can't even get the population to get vaccinated, and many of them would rather listen to internet conspiracy theorists than their own doctors.

[Skittles]

39. I have long known that to be true

but I am so disheartened and disgusted when I see such attitudes on DU

[Hugin]

18. Commercial Real Estate, Entertainment, Dine-in Restaurants, Leisure...

And Travel (read, Oil) have been particularly active in dispelling any lingering mention of an ongoing global pandemic all along.

They are currently all a’twitter about the summer vacation they insist everyone needs.

I don’t remember the last COVID related PSA or mitigation commercial I’ve seen. They were down to one spot late at night on cable. Reminding us we were all together. It never failed to elicit a sarcastic laugh from me. This vestige was down from every break early on. The sad part is back then I naively believed it. I know better now that the YOYO (you’re on your own) variant is in full swing.

Of course the $50 Billion COVID response money stripped from the spending bill didn’t help. That was a bi-partisan move BTW. The Biden/Harris administration was furious. However, the move got very little air in the heavily conflicted mass media.

[JanMichael]

19. They exist on the site too. Freedumb lovers.

They are the "done my best and I've done my part so I'll do whatever I want now" crew. Even though covid doesn't give a s***. And when they end up in the hospital they can impact me. Fuck their feelings.

[Meowmee]

8. Yes and many were like that the whole way through

Leave is the only thing to do really. I am not going to live like this forever because of a bunch of selfish assholes.

Pos rate is up to 9.9% here now up from 6% last week. And those are just statistics for those tested. I am sure many are not even testing much less isolating if ill. A few more were masking the past 2-3 days.

We are still n95 everywhere and social distancing. I went for a beach walk the other day and did not mask, but I had one around my neck if needed. A friend invited us to a future dinner but we are going to do it outside when it can be done. That is the only way I will feel safe but I am still worried about that even though everyone will be fully vax and boosted. I will get my 4th shot this week. I hope I don’t have a bad reaction like last time.


The vaccination rate is a bit higher now but for some only one shot or two. More have at least two now but are not boosted. I am so sick of this crap.

[Disaffected]

14. I recently inquired into volunteering at a

horse & farm animal sanctuary. The place is a small operation essentially run by a semi-retired medical doctor. I asked about their Covid policy and she stated she had been "double vaxed" i.e. no boosters (even though she was eligible for at least one). She also mentioned a volunteer who had not been vaxed at all - apparently he was opposed to vaccination because animals are used in its testing. She tried to explain to him, to no avail, that the greater good was the more basic question etc. but he still volunteers there.

So yes, even doctors can be complacent. I doubt I'll volunteer there myself...

[Meowmee]

15. Sadly this is very common I suspect

That is awful that you can’t volunteer because of this. I hope you can find somewhere else safer. I wore n95 teaching and was ok even with them making it mask optional after 3-4 weeks at which point everyone stopped masking. But who knows how long it will be ok if we get worse strains and then what? Students were required to be vaxed but employees were not and there were religious and medical exemptions allowed. Just so frickin stupid is all I can say.

[Disaffected]

29. You are right - it is much too soon to be sanguine about it.

Yeah, I'd like to volunteer there but can't see myself doing it, at least now.

[keep_left]

33. At my dentist office, they can't even get most of their staff...

...to get vaxxed. The dentists and my hygenist are fully vaxxed and boosted, but most of the others are not. It's hard to believe.

[Disaffected]

34. Same as my dentist office.

Last time I checked anyhow....

[MOMFUDSKI]

11. We come up to Milwaukee for the summer.

I go to do stained glass at a local senior center. They went 'mask optional' now and NOBODY is wearing a mask. I am going Tuesday with my mask on and gathering my stuff and just not returning. It has gotten more crowded this year which certainly doesn't help. I AM DONE.

[Arkansas Granny]

12. I see so many people who think that Covid is over and done with. It's not.

The vaccination rate where I live is still around 50% so I still wear a mask on public transport, avoid crowds and only socialize with friends and family who have been vaxxed.

Since I live in town, I can order groceries and household needs online and have them delivered to my door, a service that I've become very fond of.

Two years and counting without contracting Covid, so I'm sticking with my regimen.

[beaglelover]

13. COVID is never going away. We just need to learn to live with it.

Get boosters every 6 months and live a normal life.

[Meowmee]

16. Some of us can't do that, we are high risk

Please understand that. My father is dead.

[Celerity]

25. So what do you propose? For instance, you cannot perm lock down all people to the level of the ones

who are at super risk. That will never happen.

I am very sorry about your father, btw.

Hugz

Cel

[Ms. Toad]

30. What is with all of the binary thinking around here?

The options aren't "perm lock down" versus do nothing.

For starters:

Return to the prior CDC assessments of community transmission. Virtually the entire US is now listed as safe, when the community level of disease is the same as it was in September, when most universities either went to remote for the start of the school year, or required masks and vaccinations.

Focus not only on preventing immediate dramatic consequences, but also on preventing transmission. Transmission creates variants (We're now on the 3rd omicron variant - and the early data suggests it is escaping the vaccination - more vaccinated individuals are dying than was initially believed.) Preventing transmission is critical not only to protecting the vulnerable among us, but also in preventing the creation of more variants, and preventing the long-term consequences of COVID - even among individuals who had mild cases.

Our leaders should be leading by example - wearing masks - especially in crowded indoor places. Talking about the reality that what we know about the long term consequences will fit in a thimble. Encouraging prevention of transmission - not merely preventing the worst of the immediate consequences.

[Celerity]

31. It was not binary, I simply gave one example that won't happen. I never said it was all or nothing.

[Meowmee]

38. I propose having a proper response which has never happened here

I propose having a proper response which has never happened here- if you have followed it you know that cdc and many others have made numerous huge falsities and blunders and continues to do so. Those have cost people their lives. Which is why I am a long hauler with heart damage and my father is gone. None of that had to happen with a proper response.

Continue masking and mask mandates, mandate vaccination to be in public areas, actually act like you care that your mistakes have murdered over 1 million souls so far.

Stop pretending this is over because you are ok, I don't mean you personally, but you in general. There is a lack of caring on the part of people who feel they don't need to mask anymore which is seen here in many replies.. such as the one I responded to. And bullying of those of us who do care and who do have to.

I find it to be a sign of the many problems that exist here in the us that we see that on this du forum.

I don't want to have to wear a mask forever but because cowardice and not caring and pretending this is over and or nothing more can be done because people are tired of it all is preventing some actual regulations- that is what will happen in the US for me.

We are leaving in part because of this.

[LuckyCharms]

23. Tell that to my brother.

Speak loudly though. He might have trouble hearing you through the urn.

[Captain Zero]

24. money for vaccines was stripped in the last bill; will vaccines be there?

It looks like to me we run out of vaccines right about November of this year, if not sooner.

???

[gldstwmn]

36. They are talking about rationing vaccines so get it while you can.

White House prepares to ration vaccines as Covid funding impasse looms

The government’s funds are running out. Tough decisions may soon present themselves.

A painful and foreboding reality is setting in for the White House as it enters a potentially dangerous stretch of the Covid fight: It may soon need to run its sprawling pandemic response on a shoestring budget.

Just two months after the administration unveiled a nearly 100-page roadmap out of the crisis, doubts are growing about Congress’ willingness to fund the nation’s fight. It has forced Biden officials to debate deep cuts to their Covid operation and game out ways to keep the federal effort afloat on a month-by-month basis.

Among the sacrifices being weighed are limiting access to its next generation of vaccines to only the highest-risk Americans — a rationing that would have been unthinkable just a year ago, when the White House touted the development and widespread availability of vaccines as the clearest way out of the pandemic.

But as the government’s cash reserves dwindle, officials are increasingly concluding that these types of difficult choices will soon have to be made. And they are quietly preparing to shift responsibility for other key parts of the pandemic response to the private sector as early as 2023.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/13/white-house-vaccines-covid-funding-impasse-00032319

[SoonerPride]

28. +1

Get vaccinated and go back to living.

I have zero worries about covid.

None whatsoever.

[beaglelover]

35. Agree 100%

[BSdetect]

17. k&r

[JanMichael]

20. I expect about half of my staff to be out this week and next

But hey covid is over right?

I'll just keep masking up around people I don't know and getting boosters every time I'm eligible. And everybody else can go pound sand and cough as far as I care at this point.

[Johnny2X2X]

22. It's going to bite the unvaccinated in their asses

Get vaccinated, get boosted, go on living. Simple as that. Yeah, being boosted means you're 4 or 5 times less likely to even get Covid than the unvaccinated, but it means you're 80+ times less likely to die of Covid.

For now, at least until it mutates some more, Covid is mostly a problem for the unvaccinated morons. I care zero about them anymore, they're just Darwin Award winner now.

[AntivaxHunters]

26. We are in deed

and it's beginning to amp up all over again.

One thing to keep in mind is that the numbers we have here in the US are absolutely fudged. Remember folks, home tests aren't counted cases and the way Covid is reported was recently changed. The numbers you see being reported now are NOT actual numbers and are much lower than reality.

Mask up!

[Celerity]

27. zero surge here (Sweden) since the Omicron surge ended in early February

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/09f821667ce64bf7be6f9f87457ed9aa

[gldstwmn]

37. Here's what the US looks like as of yesterday:

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=PgjJb00W8EvWw4hqm2JmlQ


CDC link: https://t.co/T6tza0y0lm

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?s=20&t=PgjJb00W8EvWw4hqm2JmlQ

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=PgjJb00W8EvWw4hqm2JmlQ

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=PgjJb00W8EvWw4hqm2JmlQ

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=PgjJb00W8EvWw4hqm2JmlQ

[BannonsLiver]

40. Epic circle jerk thread.

Only thing missing were tweets from the nut job Eric Ding.