COVID Fatigue

Everyone is sick of COVID, literally and figuratively. With the Trumps' infection it is worth looking at the state of the pandemic. This winter appears to ensure continued spread. Today, we'll examine some new treatments and understandings of the nature of the virus and its disease expression. I'm not a doctor, I'm trained as a soil scientist, so take this as my understanding based on my research and not as advice. The most critical factor is age, something we can't control, however many other factors are... things like: optimizing our health, protecting ourselves and others when out and about, and being aware of best treatments if we become symptomatic. Much of this essay will be review, but there's also some new research and I hope I've put together an organized and logical approach to the pandemic. Let's begin with encouraging news which I rarely hear discussed. Up to 50% of us may have immunity already because of exposure to other corona-viruses.

“Our team also tested uninfected healthy individuals and found SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in more than 50 percent of them. This could be due to cross-reactive immunity obtained from exposure to other coronaviruses, such as those causing the common cold, or presently unknown animal coronaviruses. It is important to understand if this could explain why some individuals are able to better control the infection,” said Professor Antonio Bertoletti, from Duke-NUS’ Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) program, who is the corresponding author of this study.

Red states are now experiencing a rise in SARS-CoV-2 cases. This should not surprise. As states reopen they will provide more vectors for the coronavirus to spread.

At this time, since there is no plan in place, we need every tool to protect ourselves and those around us. Here is a useful reference which explains the risks and how to avoid them. [h/t vtcc73]

A single breath releases 50 - 5000 droplets. Most of these droplets are low velocity and fall to the ground quickly. There are even fewer droplets released through nose-breathing. Importantly, due to the lack of exhalation force with a breath, viral particles from the lower respiratory areas are not expelled. Unlike sneezing and coughing which release huge amounts of viral material, the respiratory droplets released from breathing only contain low levels of virus.

The question for me is, how strategic is this seeming lack of planning.