D&D and the rising pandemic

[Ryujin]

No, but their homeopathic side-businesses might pay.

And you can likely make more as a traveling lecturer to the unwashed masses, than you can as a second rate GP. It's sad but there are evil people in every walk of life, and some are in positions to speak with some authority on a subject, in a way that can do a lot of harm.

 

[Zardnaar]

Damn from the sounds of it I could make my own vaccine. Instead of Sputnik V I'll call it Baltika 7. You can take it orally.



Possible side effects include nausea and headaches. It's Russian.

I'll name my business Quack McQuacker from Scamville NZ.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hey! Baltika is decent enough beer!

Waitaminit…using Baltika to combat Corona? GENIUS!

 

[Zardnaar]

Hey! Baltika is decent enough beer!

Waitaminit…using Baltika to combat Corona? GENIUS!

Scary thing is it's not the worst treatment out there.

In Nigeria or Kongo a faith healer is selling a Covid cure-all laced with petrol. Well it gets prescribed for everything really.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Good news, bad news:

What Rising Covid Cases Could Mean for Investors

In the handful of developed nations that have been able to vaccinate substantial proportions of their population, vaccines may put a stopper on the viruses’ impact. It could also mean a blunted economic effect.

www.barrons.com

The UK is reporting a higher percentage of breakthrough infections in the current wave of cases, mostly due to Delta. However, much as like elsewhere, the breakthrough cases are presenting with milder symptoms and almost no hospitalizations.

U.K. government scientists say that a single vaccine dose is 35% effective at protecting against all symptomatic disease caused by the Delta variant, and two doses are 79% effective. Efficacy against hospitalization is far higher, at 96% after two doses.

Taken together, that suggests that vaccinated people may be contracting the virus in growing numbers, though they are far less likely to experience the worst outcomes from the disease. What’s more, they may be less likely to even know they’re infected.
That could have economic implications as the Delta-induced wave spreads to the U.S.

It was noted by one researcher interviewed for the article that because of the milder symptoms of breakthrough cases, they expect C19 cases are being more undercounted than before- 1 in 10-20 being counted as opposed to 1 in 3-4. Those people may continue to work, shop, etc. normally despite being infected:

That could indicate that this wave may have a more limited economic effect than earlier waves of the virus, as the U.S. economy shifts to a reality in which Covid-19 in a constant, low-level threat.
In some parts of the U.S., however, where vaccination rates are low, this wave may be as bad or worse as any other. In Arkansas, for example, where only 35% of the population is fully vaccinated, hospitalizations are up 77%.

 

[Zardnaar]

Good news, bad news:

What Rising Covid Cases Could Mean for Investors

In the handful of developed nations that have been able to vaccinate substantial proportions of their population, vaccines may put a stopper on the viruses’ impact. It could also mean a blunted economic effect.

www.barrons.com

The UK is reporting a higher percentage of breakthrough infections in the current wave of cases, mostly due to Delta. However, much as like elsewhere, the breakthrough cases are presenting with milder symptoms and almost no hospitalizations.


It was noted by one researcher interviewed for the article that because of the milder symptoms of breakthrough cases, they expect C19 cases are being more undercounted than before- 1 in 10-20 being counted as opposed to 1 in 3-4. Those people may continue to work, shop, etc. normally despite being infected:

Kind of good news. Viruses seem to get less deadly via mutations.

The less deadly more contagious variants are best from an evolutionary pov.

 

[CapnZapp]

Kind of good news. Viruses seem to get less deadly via mutations.

The less deadly more contagious variants are best from an evolutionary pov.

That may be true but can't be read from the quoted reports.

That Delta isn't likely to kill the fully vaccinated does not mean it is less lethal.

In fact, as I understand it is not just more contagious (which all by itself leads to more deaths). It actually is more aggressive.

So much so that some researchers have suggested it should be understood as a new separate pandemic, instead of "just another wave" of COVID-19.

We're just lucky the virus made the same mistake as most D&D villains: attacking with lower-leveled troops first, so the heroes have just enough time to level up before the final showdown.

(Yes that was inexcusably flippant, but we ARE on a RPG board after all...)

 

[Zardnaar]

That may be true but can't be read from the quoted reports.

That Delta isn't likely to kill the fully vaccinated does not mean it is less lethal.

In fact, as I understand it is not just more contagious (which all by itself leads to more deaths). It actually is more aggressive.

So much so that some researchers have suggested it should be understood as a new separate pandemic, instead of "just another wave" of COVID-19.

We're just lucky the virus made the same mistake as most D&D villains: attacking with lower-leveled troops first, so the heroes have just enough time to level up before the final showdown.

(Yes that was inexcusably flippant, but we ARE on a RPG board after all...)

Understandable. I'm assuming the pandemic will last 3 years or so and Covid will mutate to something Les dangerous.

Kinda like the moden flubis the remnants of the last pandemic from 1917-20.

Some of the experts here are saying don't expect a return to the old normal for 5 years.

 

[CapnZapp]

Yeah, well, were not there yet.

That might happen.

Then again, it might not.

 

[Umbran]

That may be true but can't be read from the quoted reports.

And, we wouldn't expect it to, either. That viruses tend to become less deadly is an evolutionary phenomenon. It happens over evolutionary timescales - decades, centuries, and millennia. It is not a thing that happens over a year.

That Delta isn't likely to kill the fully vaccinated does not mean it is less lethal.

In fact, as I understand it is not just more contagious (which all by itself leads to more deaths). It actually is more aggressive.

I don't think "aggressive" is a well-defined biological term in this context.

The Delta variant has a higher rate of transmission than previous strains. Preliminary research I've read suggests this is not due to some improvement in spike proteins or the like. Apparently, the Delta variant does this by keeping itself physically the same, but reproducing more quickly in early parts of the infection. We are all aware that with covid-19, a person can be infectious for a few days before they show symptoms. Apparently, for Delta, the viral load a person can carry in their nasal passages during that asymptomatic period is up to a thousand times higher than with previous strains. During this early period, when people with Delta talk, sing, cough, or sneeze, the droplets emitted are carrying a much larger dose of virus, making infecting someone else more likely.

This explains why the disease symptoms do not seem to be more deadly, and why the vaccines still work. Delta has changed its reproductive pattern, but not changed much else.