05-14-2023, 12:11 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-14-2023, 12:24 AM by danbrotherston.)
(05-13-2023, 09:43 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(05-13-2023, 02:48 PM)plam Wrote: My estimate is that about 8% of people have some form of long COVID (...)
Long COVID is a serious issue. But it sounds like what you are referring to is not the usual, rather severe, long COVID, but the case where the person has not 100% recovered, even after a long time. Is that correct?
And is your estimate of 8% of the total population? 8% of people who had COVID at least once? 8% of infections? 8% of symptomatic infections? Something else? Because, at a glance, 8% is a huge number.
Yup...8% is a huge number...
That should be scary.
And I'm not sure why you think "someone that isn't 100% recovered" wouldn't have long COVID. Just because they aren't literally in a hospital bed unable to move as Dianna the physics girl is doesn't mean that this isn't a problem. In fact, as plam points out, her condition is so acute that its really treated better by our medical systems. It is people with long term chronic conditions (most long COVID) that are really left untreated.
So if 8% of the population has a significant impact on their long term health, lower mental faculties, or limited physical endurance, can you imagine how that will affect our society? Acr2 suggests "keeping healthy" as the solution but some growing percentage of people can no longer maintain their level of physical activity.
But again, I want to bring this back to healthcare, because that is the most poignant example. It is not the case that masks are used effectively. If I walk into an ER in the Netherlands and I believe Canada is the same, I will not be required to wear a mask, nor will my doctor or nurse. Of course, if I'm being operated on, some PPE will be deployed by the staff, that is nothing new and has been that way forever, but we now understand the enhanced risk of transmission of a serious disease in our hospital. When I sit down in the ER because I feel completely drained because I have a "mystery" cough for a week, and I am sitting in the same room with people with other serious medical issues that will make them far more vulnerable to this disease. The fact that our healthcare system would rather protect the feelings of people offended by the idea of being asked to wear a mask than they would the health of the vulnerable people around me that I could kill...is frankly, offensive.
As for the "we're just going to get it again and again so stop caring"...this could not be further from the truth. Not only is how much this disease transmits ENTIRELY within our control, and some very low impact but effective interventions available (masking, ventilation), we also expect medical science to progress. They are as far as I know, still testing muscousal vaccines in Canada which could be much more effective at limiting the spread of the virus. So we are still in a position where COVID could become much less harmful (to those of us smart enough to take vaccines anyway) in the future, ergo avoiding as many infections as possible is still worth it (and frankly, this applies to flu virus as well!)