Evil CDC shenanigans, Intrinsic severity of Covid, Do we care about seniors, and more
Bonus return of measles and the Green Party of Canada gets it right
Welcome to the latest issue of the Covid-Is-Not-Over newsletter! Next week will be the anniversary of the first regular issue! I don’t have anything special planned, no schemes or anything to announce. Just more of the same.
Remember this very prescient article from way back in April 2022? The CDC is beholden to corporations and lost our trust. We need to start our own. By the People’s CDC, it’s in The Guardian. With the recent story in the Washington Post (CDC plans to drop five-day covid isolation guidelines), We’re one stage further along the road of public health abandoning people to their own devices.
Through the lens of what’s going on at the CDC, the mini-theme we are exploring this week is how those very public health authorities have abdicated their responsibility to promote, well, public health. The order is coming from their political masters, themselves merely following the marching orders of big business.
Are they actually going to change their Covid isolation guidelines? Probably, but maybe not if enough of a fuss is generated. We’ll see. The People’s CDC item below has ideas around advocating for better policies at the CDC.
Interestingly, the one political party that seems to have a clue is the Green Party of Canada. I link to their announcement below. Will wonders never cease? Perhaps there’s hope for us all yet.
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CDC hides replies referencing the Senate HELP Committee's Long COVID Hearing by Julia Doubleday / The Gauntlet
The failure of the vaccine-only approach has painted politicians into a corner. This administration- and other world governments- can’t begin taking necessary steps toward mitigation without admitting they were disastrously wrong about their pursuit of a herd immunity strategy. So the long-term, society-level effects of constant reinfections continue to compound. Teacher shortages. School cancellations. Record student absences. Record sick days for workers. Staffing crises. Extreme healthcare worker shortages and overwhelmed ERs. Hospital collapse and untenable hospital-acquired infections. Birth defects. Widespread memory and neurological problems. Heart attacks in young people. RSV, Strep A, TB, Candida Auris and now measles outbreaks. Skyrocketing disability numbers and long-term sick leave.
This ship must be turned, or all of the above impacts of endless reinfection will continue to worsen. This is because COVID infection does not confer long-term immunity, carries a high-risk of long-term disability and illness with each infection, and impacts the brain, heart, blood vessels and immune system. Giving it to people again, and again, and again, and hoping these crises lift rather than intensify, will not change our course.
The first step must be honesty with the public about Long COVID; from there, we can begin to work seriously on solutions. As long as the public remains in the dark, believing that COVID is “mild,” “over,” “a cold,” they will believe mitigation- including vaccines- is totally unnecessary. Communicating COVID’s severity is critical to controlling its spread.
Right now, the CDC shows interest in neither.
The US Just Scrapped Its Final Covid Protection Measure by Nate Bear / Do Not Panic
It’s a lie that this change is motivated by what people are or aren’t willing to do. No one is demanding to be put back to work when sick! This is about business interests and greed. This is about greasing the wheels of capitalism with the mucus of covid-sickened bodies.
‘Being realistic’ as an approach essentially signals the end of public health as applied to covid in the US. It is a declaration of defeat.
But the message is even more sinister than this. What Osterholm is essentially saying is that it is ‘unrealistic’ in the current system to save lives and protect people from disability.
The ‘realistic’ thing, we’re being told, is to accept that people must be pushed sickly into capitalism’s buzz saw.
The political logic of ‘what can realistically be achieved’ has paved many paths to fascism. Realism has always been the death of progressive politics.
Call the White House. Join us in opposing CDC proposal to cut COVID isolation time / Experts oppose CDC proposal to cut COVID isolation time / The People’s CDC
The People’s CDC, a watchdog group of public health experts and patient and disability advocates, condemned the US CDC’s announced plan to eliminate guidelines specifying a minimum COVID isolation period. This proposed policy change is counter to medical science. It would signal to healthcare providers that a serious approach to COVID is not needed, though all the evidence shows that COVID is dangerous and too often deadly. Further, it would put the entire burden on the average worker to find a way to negotiate sick time to recover and try to not infect other people. Strong isolation policies, combined with universal paid sick leave, are essential.
“The CDC is again prioritizing short term business interests over our health by caving to employer pressure on COVID guidelines. This is a pattern we’ve seen throughout the pandemic,” said Lara Jirmanus, MD, MPH, People’s CDC member and Clinical Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “We saw similar policymaking for corporations in December 2021 when the CDC changed from 10-day isolation to 5. That came after the Delta Air Lines CEO emailed then CDC director Rochelle Walensky to urge shorter isolation times to reduce ‘disruptions’ of airline operations due to workers isolating and recuperating. Public health policy should put people first, not billionaires. Rather than ending isolation, the US should ensure paid sick leave for all.”
The CDC may be reconsidering its COVID isolation guidance by Pien Huang / NPR
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon drop its isolation guidance for people with COVID-19. The planned change was reported in The Washington Post on Tuesday, attributed to several unnamed CDC officials.
Currently, people who test positive are advised to stay home for at least five days to reduce the chances of spreading the coronavirus to others. The unnamed officials told the Post that the agency will advise people to rely on symptoms instead. If a person doesn't have a fever and the person's symptoms are mild or resolving, they could still go to school or work. These changes could come as early as April. …
Still, even if many people ignore the current guidance, Jessica Malaty Rivera, an epidemiologist and communications adviser to the de Beaumont Foundation, says the federal government's public health advice should be guiding people, and not the other way around.
"It's like saying, well, people aren't really wearing a seat belt, so I guess we can say seat belts don't matter," she says. "That kind of defeats the purpose of providing evidence-based information — that's still the responsibility of public health to do that."
And a change in CDC guidance could make a big difference for workplace policies, public health experts say. If the CDC no longer recommends staying home for a week with COVID-19, workers may be forced to go into work while still sick. They might spread the coronavirus to others.
The CDC may end the isolation period for COVID-19. Some experts think the change reckless by Matt Field / Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Some experts point to the higher risks of COVID compared to the flu—particularly the risk of developing potentially debilitating cases of long COVID, which can leave people chronically fatigued and cause damage to organ systems—as reasons why society should still treat COVID differently than seasonal respiratory ailments. Six percent of survey respondents in the United States reported long COVID symptoms last summer, according to the CDC.
“This is a reckless policy change that will only serve to promote more spread of COVID and long COVID,” Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told CNN. In a statement, a CDC spokesperson said the agency had no updates to the COVID guidance to report. “We will continue to make decisions based on the best evidence and science to keep communities healthy and safe,” the statement said.
Lara Jirmanus, a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School, told the Post that COVID is deadlier than the flu and therefore should be treated differently. Dialing back the isolation guidance “sweeps this serious illness under the rug,” Jirmanus said. A study from last summer found that an infection with the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, carried four times the risk of death that influenza poses.
One little COVID infection is no reason to miss work, says Biden's very science-believing CDC by Julia Doubleday / The Gauntlet
Biden’s CDC no more believes or promotes “the science” than Trump’s before him. COVID is a virus, not a supernatural phenomenon beyond all human understanding. Like all viruses, it can be controlled and reduced with proper infection control protocols. Like all viruses, it can be eliminated from indoor air rapidly with high quality ventilation and filtration. Like all viruses, it cannot infect more hosts when the sick isolate and are paid to stay home from work.
The CDC’s desire to eliminate isolation is yet one more step toward disappearing the virus from public consciousness, because a government that isn’t fighting COVID-19, isn’t losing to COVID-19. If COVID is everywhere, COVID is nowhere. If the other kids at school all have a permanent cough, maybe my kid’s permanent cough is “normal”. So as hospitals remain overwhelmed, staffing shortages worsen, economies buckle, disability and long-term illness hits new records, kids miss school and workers lose their livelihoods, we’ll continue to do nothing more than turn to each other and wonder why.
Stephen Colbert Jokes the CDC’s New Slogan Is ‘JK LOLz’ After Possible COVID Guidelines Change by Ross A. Lincoln / Yahoo Finance
“To quote the four words most often used to cancel vacations: There’s some COVID news,” Colbert joked. “We just learned that the CDC plans to drop its 5-day COVID isolation guidelines What? No isolation? You’ve been telling us for years that we need to be mindful of infecting our friends and neighbors.”
“They also announced this new CDC slogan: JK. Lolz,” Colbert continued.
“One of the reasons why this is such big news is because it’s the first loosening of COVID isolation recommendations since 2021, which is when they told us it was finally okay to leave our personal human hamster balls,” he said.
“So what are the guidelines actually saying? Well, from now on, you’re free to go back to your life if you’re fever-free for at least 24 hours without the aid of medication, and your symptoms are mild and improving,” Colbert continued. “So remember, when you’re riding in the elevator with Todd from accounting, and he’s coughing all the way to the 10th floor, it’s fine. As long as he was worse yesterday
COVID-19 and the pulse oximeter’s beep by Oyedeji Ayonrinde / CMAJ
The intersection of my medical, Black, and patient identities is being tested during my febrile ruminations as I stare intently at the beeping device with flashing numbers. Am I more ill than it appears?
Is the pulse oximeter my potential life saver or a plastic symbol of systemic racial bias in health technology design?
I reflect on Black people who have possibly lost their lives to the reassurance, “Your oxygen sats are ok.” But what other device choices are there? How come it has taken so long to innovate more accurate devices or raise awareness in health curricula and clinical practice?
Critical to our relationships with measuring devices such as the scale, thermometer, glucometer, and the oximeter, is our belief and blind trust that they are reliable. Conversely, unreliable devices can cause mistrust, nurture a sense of deception, threat, or suspiciousness, or leave us feeling frightened and unsafe. For me, the anxiety is both cognitively and emotionally uncomfortable, as well as unsettling. With COVID-19, this possibly increases my illness stress, cortisol, and adrenaline with each rapid heartbeat and laboured breath.
Green Party Calls for COVID-19 Support and Action / Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada (GPC) is calling for a stronger government response to the on-going impacts of COVID-19. The party highlights the need for better infection prevention and improved support for those affected. …
“COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere. We need the Federal Government to provide support to prevent or reduce COVID infections,” says Dr. Jennifer Purdy, Health Critic for the GPC. “They should also assist those who have lasting or serious health issues as a result of infection.” …
The Green Party proposes several actions. Include COVID-19 measures in Bill C-22 to protect essential workers and help those affected by the virus. Rethink mask rules on federally regulated transport, like trains and planes, to reduce the spread of the virus. Invest in healthcare and research to help both new and ongoing COVID-19 cases across Canada. These steps are vital for a strong response to the ongoing threat.
"New disability statistics are emerging from the UK. We're seeing the beginning of a tsunami – economically, in healthcare, and across various sectors," warns Dr. Purdy. "It's crucial that Canada prepares for these risks, as more people exit the workforce or face long-term disabilities due to COVID.”
The Intrinsic Severity of SARS Cov 2 by Anthony J. Leonardi / Easy Chair
One of the most serious errors in assessment of SARS Cov 2 came down to misappraisals of how it causes illness. We have seen the model of harm to tissue move from cytopathic effect to immune-mediated bystander damage. For example, a few publications have shown it is T cell mediated inflammation causing anosmia rather than the virus directly causing loss of smell. Another publication in mice shows that mice without T or B cells actually have no tissue damage. This was congruent with an early paper that found a cancer patient with no T cells and chronic infection had no symptoms or signs on xray but was producing high amounts of virus for a protracted time, at least 30 days. It seems my opinion as published in 2020, that T cells were causing the harm seen in infection, was correct.
Thousands of seniors are still dying of Covid-19. Do we not care anymore? by Judith Graham / CNN
In the last week of 2023 and the first two weeks of 2024 alone, 4,810 people 65 and older lost their lives to Covid — a group that would fill more than 10 large airliners — according to data provided by the CDC. But the alarm that would attend plane crashes is notably absent. (During the same period, the flu killed an additional 1,201 seniors, and RSV killed 126.)
“It boggles my mind that there isn’t more outrage,” said Alice Bonner, 66, senior adviser for aging at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. “I’m at the point where I want to say, ‘What the heck? Why aren’t people responding and doing more for older adults?’”
It’s a good question. Do we simply not care?
How Risky Are Repeat COVID Infections? What We Know So Far by Meghan Bartels / Scientific American
“However you slice it, whatever long-term health effect you look at, the risk [from reinfection] is not zero,” says Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis. “The truth is that, yes, we’re sick and tired of the virus, we’re sick and tired of the pandemic—but it’s still here. It’s still hurting people.” …
“Every time you get infected [with COVID], it does harm to the body in some way,” says Avindra Nath, a neurologist at the National Institutes of Health who has led research on long COVID and other postviral conditions. For example, a pulmonary infection can leave scars in the lungs or trigger blood clots. COVID may also interfere with the immune system itself, he says. Nath notes that the protective sheaths of many viruses include regions that can interfere with the immune system. Separately, one study that followed up with participants after a flu infection found that in about 30 percent of people, the immune system remained somewhat impaired two months later. …
Moreover, COVID has already shown its potential to cause lasting harm in the form of long COVID, which can include debilitating fatigue, breathing problems, difficulty thinking, digestive issues and a wide variety of other symptoms. As of mid-2023 long COVID impacted 11 percent of Americans reporting a previous infection—a notable decline from the previous year. Scientists are still working to determine what triggers long COVID, but it’s clear that people can develop the condition after several infections, not just their first encounter with COVID.
“Each time that you have COVID, you have a chance of having post-COVID condition afterwards,” Rylance says, though he adds that “it’s still fairly unpredictable at an individual level.”
Measles Is Coming Back. We’re Not Prepared by Crawford Kilian / The Tyee
My only criticism of vaccines is that they tend to induce amnesia in the vaccinated. After a healthy generation or two, vaccines begin to seem optional. Then the diseases they protect against come right back.
In the past 60 years North Americans have forgotten measles, though it once infected millions of kids every year, hospitalized thousands and killed about one in every 1,000 cases. According to the World Health Organization, “Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every two to three years and caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year.”
Measles is still a problem in some poorer countries, but it’s now poised to stage a comeback right here in Canada and the United States. That, in turn, will bring a return of many other diseases — because measles has the unusual ability to induce amnesia in the human immune system.
Study Confirms COVID Drove Unaccounted Mortality Surge by Andrew Stokes / Neuroscience News
A new study provides the most compelling data yet to suggest that excess mortality rates from chronic illnesses and other natural causes were actually driven by COVID-19 infections, disproving high-profile claims that have attributed these deaths to other factors such as COVID vaccinations and shelter-in-place policies.
Nearly 1,170,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States, according to official federal counts, but multiple excess mortality studies suggest that these totals are vastly undercounted.
While excess mortality provides an estimation of deaths that likely would not have occurred under normal, non-pandemic conditions, there is still little evidence into whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus contributed to these additional deaths, or whether these deaths were caused by other factors such as health care disruptions or socioeconomic challenges.
Now, a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) provides the first concrete data showing that many of these excess deaths were indeed uncounted COVID-19 deaths.
Beth Hart and Soulshine.
Humans are so flawed, stupid and greedy. I have not yet had covid due to my obsessive approach to self-care but I fully expect to die from it if a nuclear bomb from one of the world despots or climate disaster doesn't kill me first!!! Human-kind! Not!!! Tell me what we each need to do to sway people and politicos.