COVID brain change like Alzheimer’s: https://www.aol.com/alzheimers-changes-found-covid-patients-190738037-192104012.html . One has to wonder what this means for the “brain fog” reported by many long COVID patients.
Pandemic trajectory uncertain (DUH!): https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/as-us-surpasses-900-000-covid-deaths-the-trajectory-of-the-pandemic-remains-uncertain/ar-AATtJ2N?ocid=hponeservicefeed . Some pandemic “news” just seems lazy. This article is an example. An assistant professor in South Carolina asserts, “We are guaranteed to have another variant surge.” Her argument is that (a) every time a person is infected, the infecting virus mutates a small amount, and (b) these mutations are adding up. As far as I know, (a) is not true; (b) is certainly not true. Mutations are not additive unless they permanently circulate.
So, while I have every expectation that there will be further waves of COVID in the US and globally, that really has nothing to do with the professor’s rationale. There will be further waves, even of existing variants, because US and global vaccination levels are inadequate to control COVID. The emergence of further variants depends on the level of global viral load and the infection of persons with compromised immune systems, where the virus can linger and repeatedly mutate.
Omicron has breached New Zealand: https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2022-02-05/new-zealand-reports-record-243-new-covid-cases . It looks like we will soon find out how much Omicron spreads in a highly vaccinated population. Kiwis (the people, not the bird) have essentially no “natural” immunity because there have been so few COVID infections in the locked-down island. With 93% of adults immunized, we are looking primarily at breakthrough infections here.
One possibility is that this environment could produce variant which has a high ability to evade the protections of vaccination. If that happens, it would be prudent for the world to do a reverse lockdown. That is, no country would allow people from New Zealand to enter, at least until a vaccine targeted to the new variant is produced.
WSJ: We pride ourselves on not thinking things through: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-world-is-likely-sicker-than-it-has-been-in-100-years-11644057003 . There is simply no way the world is sicker than at any time in the past 100 years. Any such measurement would have to consider disease severity. What the experts actually say is that Omicron could infect 40% of the US population in 8 weeks.
Now, we don’t know yet if that will happen. But more importantly, the article itself states, “Not everyone who gets infected gets sick”. The experts estimate that 80% to 90% of infections are asymptomatic. So it may be possible that Omicron is the most infectious virus in 100 years, or ever. But the “likely sicker” headline is inaccurate and sensationalized.
WSJ: Nobody’s watching the Olympics: https://www.wsj.com/articles/bejing-winter-olympics-opening-day-draws-about-16-million-u-s-viewers-43-lower-than-in-2018-11644116908 . I really have no interest this year, in contrast to previous years. Apparently, about half of potential viewers feel the same way. Perhaps it’s because the Summer Olympics, which in my view is more interesting, played out just 6 months ago.
WSJ: But meanwhile, Russia builds capability to invade Ukraine: https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-military-buildup-near-ukraine-grows-heightening-u-s-concern-11644114047 . This continues to look really bad for world stability. Why is the stock market near record highs?