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Coronamonomania Lives Forever, Part 102

By February 8, 2022Commentary

Well, there is always something to laugh about if you follow politics, politicians and the politically motivated expert class.  Aided by their media goon squad, the current administration and its compadres from the same party in the states are desperately trying to unwind their futile and damaging CV-19 restrictions and pretend like they never really were in favor of them.  Mask mandates suddenly dropping by the wayside, forgetting new vax mandates, maybe even stopping so much testing.  Too little too late to stop the well-deserved electoral slaughter coming for this party, which appears to think that the populace has severe memory loss and can’t see through this blatant course shift.

Here is one more example.  Politico reports that the administration is looking at reporting hospitalizations as truly for CV-19 treatment versus with an incidental positive test, as a way of saying:  see, it’s not really that bad.  After using hospitalizations as a terror tactic for two years.  I will be happy to see the data provided that way but why wasn’t that done all along.  (Politico Story)

And the CDC may be on the verge of a similar revelation in regard to death counts as it releases more detailed data on who actually died because of CV-19 rather than just having a CV-19 diagnosis somewhere in the remote past.  The data is interesting because it indicates once more that a substantial number of CV-19 deaths appear to have little to do with the virus and more to do with other serious health conditions, and it also indicates that deaths from some other causes rose in certain age groups during the epidemic, almost certainly these are lockdown deaths.   (CDC Data)

It isn’t just the US that is having a re-think about CV-19 suppression.  South Korea, long lauded for supposedly using testing and isolation and masks to limit the epidemic is having a hellacious case wave and is giving up on forcing isolation on those who are low risk.  After all, for most people, it is only a cold.  As I have said multiple times, we all end up pretty much in the same place during an epidemic.  (SK Story)

And expect that eventually we will get a flood of research on all the very bad consequences of the pointless suppression efforts.  This study says that putting people out of work and then paying them more for not working, led to more alcohol and drug abuse.  (NBER Paper)

Another study from South Africa, which had the first significant Omicron wave, suggesting that while breakthru infections and reinfections were high among health care workers, prior infection had a more protective effect.  (Medrxiv Paper)

A paper on characteristics of CV-19 hospitalizations post vaccination.  90% of these persons were over age 65 or had serious immune system issues.  52% ended up in the ICU and 15% died.   27% were asymptomatic, which means the hospitalization wasn’t for CV-19 treatment.  (JID Article)

From the semi-good news department, this paper suggests that the lull in influenza cases during the CV-19 epidemic has not resulted in dramatically lower antibody levels against influenza virus, so that we should not expect a big resurgence in future flu seasons.  (Medrxiv Paper)

This research looked at the phenomenon of viral interference or co-infection.  It surveyed the presence and load of multiple pathogens in a sampled population.  Very few examples of viruses facilitating infection by other viruses were found, but one virus limiting infection by another appeared more common.  Rhinovirus was the most common pathogen, followed by bacterial pneumonia, our friend CV-19 and influenza.  (Medrxiv Paper)

And interesting explication of statistical and design issues in vaccine effectiveness trials. (Medrxiv Paper)

 

 

Join the discussion 7 Comments

  • Ann in L.A. says:

    My prediction is that the retrospective review of hospitalizations and deaths will go back only to January 20, 2021 and no further. Everything before that will remain unchanged. It’s a miracle! Biden instantaneously wiped out covid!!

  • Kurt Anderson says:

    saying terror in ‘using hospitalizations as a terror tactic for two years’ is an huge understatement.
    a immediate family member just had PCR test and the lab’s Ct was the ‘CDC recommended 37.5’. watch for CDC to very quietly lower that threshold to less than 30 (20-25ish). then we will for sure know the scamdemic is over, as dems hope to ride the ‘we ended covid’ wave to mid-terms.
    don’t be a sheep

  • Mike says:

    You’ve spent years lamenting restrictions, now the Dems lift restrictions and you malign them? Geez, some people just can’t be pleased!

    Although really, what would you laud? Would Biden have to go on TV and say that COVID was never a serious enough threat to justify any restrictions or mandates or impingements on anyone’s ability to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted? Anything short of that that you’d approve of?

    • Kevin Roche says:

      my criticism, which I think you appreciate it, is at the notion that the “science” has changed, when it has all been political all along and still is now. If the poll numbers hadn’t been in the basement, or even sub-basement, the mandates wouldn’t be ending. And I do think it would be incredibly refreshing and good politics for a politician just once to say they were wrong, they made a mistake, here is why they made the mistake and here is what they will do to ensure that similar mistakes don’t occur in the future.

  • Rob says:

    Mike, the window of opportunity to admit mistakes closed about 9 months ago. By June of 2020 there was ample opportunity to admit mistakes and confess that Covid could be treated effectively early and that here was no need to avoid the doctor until the sickness got too bad to treat. There was ample time to admit in June 2020 that masks only protect a wearer and only for short duration. There was ample time by June 2020 to admit the mistake and encourage people to be outside where Vitamin D is important to the immune system and that transmission is mainly in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation. There was ample time to admit by March 2021 the mistake that the vaccine strategy was overblown and only could be justified for the vulnerable populations (LTC’s, and serious hospital patients). There was ample time to admit there were significant alerts in the VAERS system that further data needed to be collected before declaring the vaccine a panacea for everyone. There was ample time by August 2021 to admit the mistake that the vaccine effectiveness was not likely to work well against variants. There was ample time to admit the effectiveness of natural immunity. In all these cases the opportunity to admit mistakes was ignored and instead they vilified everyone who tried to help them.

    Even now, the lifting of restrictions is being handled terribly – just lifting them would be an admission of error without having to come out and state it publicly – but they can’t even bring themselves to do that. Instead they want to keep some semblance of the restrictions in place by keeping a certain set of untermensch that can be blamed for any future outbreak and want to reserve the right to rreinstate the restrictions and repeat their mistakes as soon as another outbreak occurs.

    To admit a mistake is to apologize and admit that one has learned things, but the only thing these people have learned is that their politcal popularity is waning. The science told them their restrictions were useless month after month and they refused to follow the science. All they follow is their popularity polls and they will not change course without first defining a set of people that can be blamed for the restrictions not working. In short, they have learned nothing. They wanted to be hailed as saviors and their arrogance has caused the majority to hail them as corrupt failures. For some like Kevin this was obvious early, but two years running of the same mistakes has opened the eyes of millions who were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Now the doubt is gone.

  • Justin says:

    Mr. Roche, I am looking at the Minnesota state #s for covid deaths for the week of 1/2/22, I know you’ve seen this but Minnesota Health Department’s own #s show a death count of 78 not fully vaccinated vs 75 of fully vaccinated. Why is that being ignored everywhere, by everyone? Should this not be a huge deal that we are almost 50 – 50 vax/unvax on deaths? Please tell me what I am missing or does deaths not matter anymore? Thanks for any reply.
    https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/stats/vbt.html

    • Kevin Roche says:

      the media in Minnesota decided some time ago to basically be shills for DOH and the Walz administration and they aren’t going to report anything that might reflect negatively on them

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