New covid variant becoming dominant: KP.2

[Muse]

Just for everyone's reference, when you go in a grocery store in Berkeley there's still around 25% of the customers still masking. It's a special group of people in that city.

My plans this afternoon include bicycling up an elevation of 300 feet, then hiking up a sometimes steep trail an additional 800+ feet of elevation, looping back to my bike and stopping on the way home at The Berkeley Bowl, which I will (masked) shop for a single item. Will I keep score to determine the percentage of customers wearing masks? I wasn't planning to do so, but maybe now I will. The horror! MASKED CUSTOMERS! BTW, I've gotten all 8 covid-19 vaccinations available to me and all ASAP. What is more, I have not experienced any hint of sickness since November 2019. I hate being sick. Am I sick of wearing N95 masks? Naw. And nobody looks at me weird.

 

[Charmonium]

I don't go to a lot of places in a given week but I haven't seen masking signs anywhere for months. Some people still do but it's still pretty uncommon.

For the original virus and before the vaccine, of course I would mask. But I'm up to date on my boosters and my personal feeling on this is that IF YOU'RE VACCINATED, it might not be a bad idea to challenge your immune system.

This virus is with us for the duration and I'm not completely convinced that was avoidable. But here we are. I'm just waiting for the first combo flu/covid vaccines.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

In the last 12-months - I've managed 4 Intl flights, multiple 5hr domestic flights, long immigration lines, crowded BART, MARTA, CTA public transit, 6-insanely crowded indoor concerts, off Broadway theatre, and another 20+ outdoor shows.

I have not been sick, let alone had COVID in the last 12-months and had zero boosters.

And nobody looks at me weird...but we all give you maskers the loco side eye.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Posting in a Muse's-Rapidly-Deteriorating-Mental-Health thread

 

[Sukhoi]

My plans this afternoon include bicycling up an elevation of 300 feet, then hiking up a sometimes steep trail an additional 800+ feet of elevation, looping back to my bike and stopping on the way home at The Berkeley Bowl, which I will (masked) shop for a single item. Will I keep score to determine the percentage of customers wearing masks? I wasn't planning to do so, but maybe now I will. The horror! MASKED CUSTOMERS! BTW, I've gotten all 8 covid-19 vaccinations available to me and all ASAP. What is more, I have not experienced any hint of sickness since November 2019. I hate being sick. Am I sick of wearing N95 masks? Naw. And nobody looks at me weird.

Did you wear a mask in public prior to covid if not being sick in general is that important to you?

 

[Greenman]

Just for everyone's reference, when you go in a grocery store in Berkeley there's still around 25% of the customers still masking. It's a special group of people in that city.

I haven't seen anyone wearing a mask in a year and a half, even in the doctors office. I think the guy that did my surgery was wearing a cowboy hat.

 

[WilliamM2]

I haven't seen anyone wearing a mask in a year and a half, even in the doctors office. I think the guy that did my surgery was wearing a cowboy hat.

Must be a horrible medical system there. I've had a few surgeries, all before covid. And all my doctor's, their assistants, anesthesiologist, and the nurses wore masks. My dentist and oral surgeon have aleays worn them as well.

 

[Greenman]

Must be a horrible medical system there. I've had a few surgeries, all before covid. And all my doctor's, their assistants, anesthesiologist, and the nurses wore masks. My dentist and oral surgeon have aleays worn them as well.

Clearly my attempt at humor fell flat.

 

[WilliamM2]

Clearly my attempt at humor fell flat.

I figured it was a poor attempt at humor. But after 4 posts in a row of people making fun of Muse for protecting himself, I figured I'd comment.

And then DD bragging about no vaccines and no precautions anywhere, like his anecdotal evidence means anything.

I'm wondering why anyone has a problem with Muse protecting himself. It's certainly not harming them in any way.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I figured it was a poor attempt at humor. But after 4 posts in a row of people making fun of Muse for protecting himself, I figured I'd comment.

And then DD bragging about no vaccines and no precautions anywhere, like his anecdotal evidence means anything.

I'm wondering why anyone has a problem with Muse protecting himself. It's certainly not harming them in any way.

- I don't personally have any problems with anyone protecting themselves as they see fit. I see people wearing masks around where I live all the time and don't think much of it, maybe that person doesn't want to catch something from someone else or maybe they've got a sniffle and are being courteous to others.

I think the issue here is that Muse started off with an alarmist position, posting a news article and then citing some rando alarmist commentary from it (that was contradicted within the body of the article itself), and then doubled down when called out.

This community isn't particularly gentle with that sort of thing.

 

[Paratus]

In the last 12-months - I've managed 4 Intl flights, multiple 5hr domestic flights, long immigration lines, crowded BART, MARTA, CTA public transit, 6-insanely crowded indoor concerts, off Broadway theatre, and another 20+ outdoor shows.

I have not been sick, let alone had COVID in the last 12-months and had zero boosters.

And nobody looks at me weird...but we all give you maskers the loco side eye.

lol. I’ve done 4 international flights and several theater shows. Caught COVID after not masking after one of the international flights.

Data isn’t the plural of anecdote.

 

[Muse]

In the last 12-months - I've managed 4 Intl flights, multiple 5hr domestic flights, long immigration lines, crowded BART, MARTA, CTA public transit, 6-insanely crowded indoor concerts, off Broadway theatre, and another 20+ outdoor shows.

I have not been sick, let alone had COVID in the last 12-months and had zero boosters.

And nobody looks at me weird...but we all give you maskers the loco side eye.

You are an admirable data point, but that's just you. Read the comments in the OP link, plenty of people have suffered covid infections, many multiple, many have long covid. You look at mask wearers side-eyed, but are foolish to do so.

 

[Torn Mind]

- I don't personally have any problems with anyone protecting themselves as they see fit. I see people wearing masks around where I live all the time and don't think much of it, maybe that person doesn't want to catch something from someone else or maybe they've got a sniffle and are being courteous to others.

I think the issue here is that Muse started off with an alarmist position, posting a news article and then citing some rando alarmist commentary from it (that was contradicted within the body of the article itself), and then doubled down when called out.

This community isn't particularly gentle with that sort of thing.

The "alarmist" commentary of "Nick", to me, seems correct partially and wrong otherwise.

Yes, the virus will continue to evolve, the results are not definitively in the direction of "less severe"; it's a mindless thing that responds to the environment. The less observed severe result may simply be the most vulnerable already being in the grave and the leftovers in the population, even without immunity, are just better resilient at dealing with the disease.

The commentor's lamentation of having a chance to stop the spread of the virus is incorrect, an example of untrained masses misunderstanding things. A misunderstanding in that data collection is a manual human action of observation. If something isn't observed, it's simply lost evidence. This is far better understood in a crime context, where many a murderer are not even identified because the observer is dead and no alternative means were available. But once someone throws out the word "scientist", then there's a magical assumption that data that is not there can be treated as if it was there. There are numerous unreported and unobserved cases from prior to the shutdowns that will never be observed and logged. Third, the virus is affected part of the population "asymptomatically" amongst the population, further killing the possibility of even a reasonable chance it could have been stopped. Because the "system" has a simple standard: "any observable disability to stop you from working. No? Then work bitch".

Also, there is a naive assumption around that authorities are objective. The switch in slant in the government's guidance is partially motivated by costs and revenue. Every COVID test and databased maintained costs money, and with it no longer being an observable public threat(hospitals not overwhelmed, important people like lawyers, judges, politicians, etc all have protection by vaccines), the government has reverted to cutting costs and stimulating commerce to pay for the bills incurred when COVID depressed the demand curves for numerous markets. In the end, government needs tax revenue, and tax revenue comes from commerce. The masses are also dumb and gullible as fuck, even many a Ph.D are blind dummies in following the government because of a fundamental misunderstanding of the actual operation of government.

It isn't wrong that the OP is a selective reader at times and viciously defends poorly formed opinions, but I don't think that applies here.

 

[Geekbabe]

This should get you past the paywall for 14 days, i.e. until May 27, 2024:

There’s a New Covid Variant. What Will That Mean for Spring and Summer?

Experts are closely watching KP.2, now the leading variant.

www.nytimes.com

Tip: a lot of the comments are really good. I especially like this one...

Nick L
Rhode Island
May 11
The virus will continue to evolve very quickly. Evolutionary pressures insure future mutations will be both more transmissible and immune evasive.

The virus will be with us indefinitely. We long ago lost the chance to contain it because too many people refused masks and vaccination.

The virus will not become milder. The only evolutionary pressure is to spread more efficiently. There is no selection pressure on virulence one way or another except some traits that make a virus more transmissible also make infection more severe.

There are many clinical studies showing the latest viral variants are as deadly as ever if not more so:

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1601788/v1

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-34244-2

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00722-z

Repeat infections do not get easier but are more severe with 2-3 times greater risk each time:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36357676/

Prior infection can give some partial immunity to some but for others causes long term damage to the immune system increasing risk from future infections:

https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/covid-19-study-suggests-long-term-damage-immune-system

To stay healthy we need to continue with regular boosters but most of all wear masks in crowded indoor spaces during times of high transmission.

The virus doesn’t care what people believe. As Neil deGrasse Tyson said, ‘The good thing about science is that it’s true, whether or not you believe it.’

8 Replies 120 Recommend

I need to get a booster, problem is I need to plan them around CT scans as the vaccine can cause lymph node swelling. I have had Covid twice and don’t want a third round, this virus raised hell with my lungs & I would prefer not to get it again

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

In the last 12-months - I've managed 4 Intl flights, multiple 5hr domestic flights, long immigration lines, crowded BART, MARTA, CTA public transit, 6-insanely crowded indoor concerts, off Broadway theatre, and another 20+ outdoor shows.

I have not been sick, let alone had COVID in the last 12-months and had zero boosters.

And nobody looks at me weird...but we all give you maskers the loco side eye.

You have not been symptomatic. You have almost certainly had some kind of infection during that time, and COVID is high on the list of probable infections.

 

[Muse]

The "alarmist" commentary of "Nick", to me, seems correct partially and wrong otherwise.
-snip-

The commentor's lamentation of having a chance to stop the spread of the virus is incorrect, an example of untrained masses misunderstanding things. -snip-

It isn't wrong that the OP is a selective reader at times and viciously defends poorly formed opinions, but I don't think that applies here.

He didn't say "stop" the spread, he said "control." Clearly, vaccinations and mask wearing offered control mechanism.

I don't always research things I post very thoroughly. I often figure it's better to present info/links than not, a judgement call. Now, I do very much believe that those who dismiss covid-19 as history or basically like the flu have they heads up their ass.

 

[manly]

- I don't personally have any problems with anyone protecting themselves as they see fit. I see people wearing masks around where I live all the time and don't think much of it, maybe that person doesn't want to catch something from someone else or maybe they've got a sniffle and are being courteous to others.

I think the issue here is that Muse started off with an alarmist position, posting a news article and then citing some rando alarmist commentary from it (that was contradicted within the body of the article itself), and then doubled down when called out.

This community isn't particularly gentle with that sort of thing.

This community is moderate, perhaps even mildly progressive, and mostly tolerates people taking care of themselves as they see fit. We know who the exceptions are.

At any rate, a recent data analysis concludes that Covid-19 is about 35% more deadly than influenza (recall that it was about 5X during the initial wave when nobody had any immunity). That underreps things because Covid-19 also results in more hospitalizations, compared to seasonal flu. Tweet and archived article:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1791087215302348822

LAT - Despite its ‘nothingburger’ reputation, COVID-19 remains deadlier than the flu

 

[VirtualLarry]

Perhaps ironically, my primary care doctor's office called; they're changing my appt. tomorrow to a virtual, because the person that I was supposed to see has COVID.

Don't know about you, but the Dr's offices still require everyone to mask up, too.

 

[Muse]

Perhaps ironically, my primary care doctor's office called; they're changing my appt. tomorrow to a virtual, because the person that I was supposed to see has COVID.

Don't know about you, but the Dr's offices still require everyone to mask up, too.

I had an in-office with my hand doctor 5 days ago. I wore an N95 and the doctor knocks and walks in unmasked and asked me if I wanted him to don a mask and I said "I don't care." I was masked, after all, why should I care? I even wear a mask when I hike, it protects me from allergens. I also find that it suppresses getting a stuffy nose, etc.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Perhaps ironically, my primary care doctor's office called; they're changing my appt. tomorrow to a virtual, because the person that I was supposed to see has COVID.

Don't know about you, but the Dr's offices still require everyone to mask up, too.

Nope! Was just in the Hospital for an optometry appointment up on the 4th floor, bare faced, as was most everyone else. CDPH mandates stopped about 12-months ago.

 

[Greenman]

I figured it was a poor attempt at humor. But after 4 posts in a row of people making fun of Muse for protecting himself, I figured I'd comment.

And then DD bragging about no vaccines and no precautions anywhere, like his anecdotal evidence means anything.

I'm wondering why anyone has a problem with Muse protecting himself. It's certainly not harming them in any way.

I don't think anyone has a problem with Muse protecting himself. He does come across as a little obsessed about covid, and I think that's why a few of us poked a little fun at him.

 

[igor_kavinski]

He does come across as a little obsessed about covid

He has every reason to be concerned and every right to protect himself. COVID infection gets more potentially dangerous the older a person gets.

 

[ArizonaSteve]

After four years I finally picked it up coming back on an international flight. For me it was like a flu and I got past the worst of it in three days. But I am still suffering mild symptoms a week later and will go see a doctor to make sure there isn't some secondary infection.

My wife caught it from me and wasn't so lucky. I had to take her to the ER last night as she was barely able to stand. The doctors kept her there overnight for observation but she is doing better as of this morning.

This stuff is no joke.

 

[igor_kavinski]

This stuff is no joke.

If you don't mind, what is your and your wife's blood group? Group B should be less susceptible to an infection than the others but it is also more likely to have a severe immune response.

 

[ArizonaSteve]

If you don't mind, what is your and your wife's blood group? Group B should be less susceptible to an infection than the others but it is also more likely to have a severe immune response.

Me: A+.
I think she is O+.