Life on the front line.

[baggieal]

Further to your question yesterday baggieal regarding reinfection....
This is our guidance from the HSE here in Ireland.....

HEALTHCARE WORKERS ARE treated as being immune from Covid-19 for three months after first contracting the virus, according to the HSE.
While the exact nature of immunity conferred on those who have recovered from the virus remains unclear, the HSE is telling staff that they can be “considered immune for 3 months from onset of symptoms”.
Guidance for staff, compiled by the HSE and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, was issued on 21 May.

A document published on 13 May, compiled by the Health Information and Quality Authority, sets out the limited results of research into post-infection immunity. The available evidence suggests that there could potentially be antibodies in individuals for one to two years after being infected.
However, the HIQA document states that “it is unclear if reinfection can occur following recovery from” Covid-19.

World Health Organization officials have also acknowledged the limited data available on immunity.

It remains unclear if a person with Covid-19 antibodies is protected from the virus into the future.
Asked whether healthcare staff with immunity could play a significant role in the case of a second wave of the virus, Holohan acknowledged this could be considered:

Thanks Dubs - very interesting! I would bet infections will start to increase again. Pubs near us are being stupid and serving beers in carry out plastic cups so car parks and fields are being turned into beer gardens. Stupid as normal rules are alcohol should be consumed on the premises so seems like this will end in tears. All for things getting back to normal if sensible!

[Dubbag]

Thanks Dubs - very interesting! I would bet infections will start to increase again. Pubs near us are being stupid and serving beers in carry out plastic cups so car parks and fields are being turned into beer gardens. Stupid as normal rules are alcohol should be consumed on the premises so seems like this will end in tears. All for things getting back to normal if sensible!

COVID-19 is losing its potency and no longer clinically exists in Italy, a senior Italian doctor has claimed.

Dr Alberto Zangrillo, the head of Milan's San Raffaele Hospital in the hard-hit Lombardy region, said the new coronavirus has become much less lethal, with newly infected patients having weaker symptoms than a couple of months ago.
The comments caused a storm in Italy, a country that is slowly emerging from one of the strictest lockdowns in the world, with the president of the scientific body that advises the government saying he was "baffled" at the claim.

A study conducted at the San Raffaele hospital found that the number of viruses present in people who tested positive decreased significantly between March and May.
"The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago," Dr Zangrillo told RAI television.
Following the analysis of 200 patients and comparing the viral load present in samples taken with a swab, the virus has "enormously weakened", according to Massimo Clementi, director of the Microbiology and Virology Laboratory of San Raffaele.
Another Italian doctor from a hospital in Genoa has echoed these views.

Lucia Binding
News reporter @luciabinding
Have heard this recently as well.........but with restrictions been loosened everywhere......perhaps it is timely....but if the virus load is weakening...that would be pretty good......lets see!!

[Dubbag]

There is a degree of caution growing around the easing of restrictions after the first wave of C-19 appears to be passing. Here in Ireland we are speeding up our easing of restrictions.....bringing it forward by , in some cases by a month.
Frequently, I read of people calling the virus "Evil" and "Impartial" and the like.....The term "war" and being on the frontline is used a lot, to portray an enemy that is skillfully thinking out its next move against humanity..... WELL IT ISN'T. Its a virus. It has no thought process, no reproduction ability, no food gathering ability.....so much so, that many virologists don't regard it even as a life force. But it is deadly. As more and more people get out and move around, so too will the potential for the virus.
It needs you badly......to remain unclean and uncaring about personnel hygiene and etiquette when coughing or sneezing....it needs you to move about in the Summer months.....it can't go away, it can only remain in the community for now. It is a very successful virus (although it wont know that) in its quickness and ability to reproduce in others.......Now is not the time to let your guard down readers....
Masks are a very important aid but masks WONT wash your hands......Masks can cut the spread of the virus but only if you remember to wash your hands or at least sanitize them after touching your face mask. Anybody not use to wearing a face mask will do this unconsciously all the time. The mask acts like a filter and get dirty very quickly...WASH YOUR HANDS PEOPLE EVEN MORE WHEN WEARING A MASK.
And also...remember...enjoy your Summer...the UK is still in a difficult place...going into unlocking...so remain on your guard.

[Albionic68]

.....Frequently, I read ....the term "war" and being on the frontline is used a lot, to portray an enemy that is skillfully thinking out its next move against humanity..... WELL IT ISN'T. Its a virus. It has no thought process, no reproduction ability, no food gathering ability.....so much so, that many virologists don't regard it even as a life force......

Funnily enough I thought exactly the same when you started the thread, ironic really given it's title 😊 .

[Dubbag]

Funnily enough I thought exactly the same when you started the thread, ironic really given it's title 😊 .

I suppose it is to appeal to your sense of loyalty to country in these extraordinary times. Not to question too much......not to investigate too much...as we are all in this together....
A bit like the other war that is still ongoing...the war on terrorism, or the war on drugs.....lots of draconian laws get passed in "War times"
But it isn't a war...This Pandemic is just us and us only!!

[Dubbag]

I see the social distancing is working out well across the globe....
Been about this morning doing a few little local messages and what have you...Went into the local garden center and was quite amazed (even for my pretty already low standards for humans) that so many people were not even bothering to wear a mask let alone attempt to keep any kind of distance between other customers.
I understand people are fed up and want to get on with there lives? Want to get back to normal or as normal as can be. Beaches packed. Parks packed. Demonstrations and marches for this and for that....Looks like normality has returned alright. Of course, unless it was an enforced closure, there was never going to be any closure or lockdown. So fair enough to give people back responsibility to be cautious...and quite a lot are still shouldering that responsibility...But many are not.
So...it is not my intention to be depressed by this opening up of economies and so forth....but worth mentioning something that appears to be only starting to come to lite about the novel Covid-19 virus. It now appears from growing evidence coming in to scientists in the hospital environment that this little virus seems to work in a strange way....by that it is becoming clear that many people who have been infected do not essentially make 100% recovery after all. While it is early days gathering data from patients...there does seem to be a trend of residual issues surrounding an infected person's health...some months after initial recovery. For many a shortness of breath has continued with what appears to be a reduced capacity of lung function...a little bizarre..others have ongoing headaches....and many are reporting almost chronic fatigue like symptoms...again some months after the initial infection.
So be careful going outside.....this virus was and is not about the death column.....thats for headline writer...A case example would be in the time that this virus has killed just under 500,000 people approximately 1,500,000 children have died of malnutrition or malnutrition related illness. In Ireland we have about 1,500 deaths from Covid-19...but quite a lot more from not having elective surgery and the like..
The virus is doing quite well....in fact it is increasing by roughly a 1,000,000 cases inside a week now from about two weeks a month ago..approximately. More younger people are now being infected now as they see (as we all did at that age) themselves as invincible to it...
Anyway, really do not want to pontificating as I am sure many may think I am...but watch out when out....and stay away from the herd mentality...in fact as I learned from stock market investing....stay well away from the herd!!

[kettering_baggie]

Interesting, I was quite ill back in February with an awful cough, severe breathlessness and great fatigue. It took a long time to clear up and now, whilst I do feel reasonably ok, I still have bouts of breathlessness and fatigue. I have no idea whether I had this virus or something else, I would like to have an antibody test, but I can quite understand that it could take a long time to fully recover.

[Dubbag]

Interesting, I was quite ill back in February with an awful cough, severe breathlessness and great fatigue. It took a long time to clear up and now, whilst I do feel reasonably ok, I still have bouts of breathlessness and fatigue. I have no idea whether I had this virus or something else, I would like to have an antibody test, but I can quite understand that it could take a long time to fully recover.

Ketts....
I'm not sure how it pans out over there but it may still be worth checking with your doctor about that. He may well be quite interested in these after symptoms....
It is so novel that gathering data is the big thing now......clearly a lot more people have been infected then any government figures show......
It is becoming apparent, that many could have been exposed to this before the first case was confirmed.
Even more surprising is the news from Spain...where an initial test on a water sample from the city of Barcelona may have had virus traces as far back as last March!!! It needs further study.......but while a lot of knowledge has been gained about Covid-19...a lot remains unknown to date.
Take care and hope you continue to improve...

[Dubbag]

Our national broadcaster RTE were in my work place here in Dublin showing life on an ICU. They were unintrusive and had full precautions. I believe they made a two part series First part screened last night...just a little flavor off the inside...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjxabjuaNxE

[Dubbag]

Has been in discussions at low level for some time, but now getting more attention.

The World Health Organization has said it will study fresh evidence on airborne transmission of the coronavirus, after an international group of scientists concluded it could spread far beyond two metres.

The WHO said it would put out a new scientific brief within days, rounding up the knowledge about how the virus can be transmitted and ensuring its guidance stays in line with the evidence.

The two-metre physical distancing guideline has been a major factor in the fight against COVID-19.