Agnostic.com

7 10

As another COVID-19 subvariant spreads, the risk of reinfection grows.

America has decided the pandemic is over. The coronavirus has other ideas.

The latest omicron offshoot, BA.5, has quickly become dominant in the United States, and thanks to its elusiveness when encountering the human immune system, is driving a wave of cases across the country.

The size of that wave is unclear because most people are testing at home or not testing at all. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the past week has reported a little more than 100,000 new cases a day on average.

But infectious-disease experts know that wildly underestimates the true number, which may be as many as a million, said Eric Topol, a professor at Scripps Research who closely tracks pandemic trends.

Antibodies from vaccines and previous covid infections offer limited protection against BA.5, leading Topol to call it “the worst version of the virus that we’ve seen.”

Restrictions and mandates are long gone
. Air travel is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels. Political leaders aren’t talking about the virus – it’s virtually a nonissue on the campaign trail. Most people are done with masking, social distancing, and the pandemic generally. They’re taking their chances with the virus.

“It’s the wild West out there,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, an epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis. “There are no public health measures at all. We’re in a very peculiar spot, where the risk is vivid and it’s out there, but we’ve let our guard down and we’ve chosen, deliberately, to expose ourselves and make ourselves more vulnerable.”

[seattletimes.com]

LiterateHiker 9 July 11
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7 comments

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4

I’m wearing an N95 mask if I have to go out, and not socializing at all. However, I AM planning to go visit family for several weeks (driving), which is going to make self-protection more difficult. I’ll be toting alcohol, Clorox wipes and nitrile gloves.

Same here but I am not driving to visit family. I'm done with that trip, I would have high hopes and then it'd go to shit. Ah, let's hear it for dysfunctional families 😈🤣🤣🤣😈.

@silverotter11 I only go visit the ones with whom I keep in contact, so no drama.

3

And it's going wild in the st louis area. But I actually saw a couple folks come out of the grocery store wearing masks over the weekend when I picked mine up. Haven't seen that in months. (pick up here is just a slightly cheaper version of instacart--not delivered)

1

The number of new cases are up in Kittitas County but no one wears a mask. The very few who do are the smart ones😁 - IMHO.
The employee who worked the self check out yesterday at the grocery story was wearing a mask! I use those just so I can get out of the store faster.
The Clinics I use in Ellensburg all continue to require masks 🙂.

Wouldn't it be great if the variants could evolve to target the really stupic people???

@JackPedigo 😈🤣🤣🤣😈TOO funny. Yes, it would be good.

4

I have 5 extended family members with Covid. Two of my kids, their spouses, and my brother in law all have Covid from different sources. And since my BIL has it, my sister is likely to get it too. Sis is early 60s, BIL is later 60s. BIL got it from his sister who decided to drop in on the 4th. One of the kids has kids, and they being cared for by their dad's parents who are in a small town nearby. The parents are retired and seem to think they're tougher than Covid. This could be interesting... However, I'm NOT a happy camper, this is too many people important to my life all being sick at the same time.

2

No effects from any of these are seen in my area. I'm leery and keep on wondering if Covid will again become a problem in the winter. If so, we should all be more aware.

6

I deal with recent travelers for work, and most respect my request for meeting outdoors, distance, and no hugging, but this past week I had clients and their guests who seemed to think social distancing was a foreign custom. They all get emotional after their wedding and want to hug me, but I am still abstaining. Last person I hugged tested positive 3 days later, but I was still good. I make hugs quick and I hold my breath, haha!

I'm testing myself once a week or so, when I've had questionable contact, but the travelers seem oblivious. They are on vacation and don't want to think about covid. So, someone has to - and I guess that's me!

I'm sure that some of the people who know they are positive are traveling and mixing with residents here, and not telling anyone, because they are not giving up attending their friend's wedding, or their own wedding. I just have to keep to my rule - no closeness except family. Gotta protect myself - and others from anything I've breathed.

Thank goodness I like having space and open air around me!

5

Folks are not being wise, and we will all suffer for it. I totally understand pandemic fatigue, but I still mask, distance, and mostly stay the heck at home.

skado Level 9 July 11, 2022

@skado

Me, too. I still wear a mask, distance and mostly stay at home.

People are heedless idiots.

It's sad to be the only person wearing a mask in grocery stores.

@LiterateHiker @skado Same. Mask when I go out for supplies and staying home. I am usually the only one with a mask and I get some strange looks. It's ridiculously selfish that others can't cover part of their face and not potentially kill someone. The pandemic has changed the way I view humanity, I am truly disgusted by most people.

@LiterateHiker Same. Yesterday i did some early shopping and while I am pro union I will use the self check out because the cashiers are no longer masking. The employee that was manning the self check out area was wearing a mask. That made me happy.
Literatel-Hiker and I live on the east side of the Cascades were republicans are the majority.

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