Europe Is Facing a New COVID-19 Wave and the US is Probably Next

[Hamartia Antidote]

No, their immediate neighbors will be quarantined, ths rule applies to rural areas and villages too.

Well that's life in rural China I guess. I rarely get within 50 feet of my neighbor.

 

[epebble]

Back and forth, back and forth.

When will this end?

When will Tuberculosis, Influenza, Measles etc. end?

Never. Respiratory infectious diseases are difficult to eradicate unlike smallpox and polio. No amount of precaution will prevent you from breathing in air breathed out by other people. Unless you want to be a recluse imprisoned in your own home.

 

[beijingwalker]

Well that's life in rural China I guess. I rarely get within 50 feet of my neighbor.

Even in Xinjiang and Tibet where houses are far away from each other, the areas still get qurantined for close contact cases, why do you try to bring this irrelavant arguement to this thread?

 

[REhorror]

Now I'm kinda glad Vietnam has abandoned zero-covid.
For some reasons, it killed a lot of us last year but now it's nothing.

 

[beijingwalker]

Now I'm kinda glad Vietnam has abandoned zero-covid.
For some reasons, it killed a lot of us last year but now it's nothing.

I also think it's ok for China to totally reopen now, every single confirmed cases in China now are either "mild" or " asympotmatic", no one dies or develops into serious conditions from this much less virulent variant.

 

[REhorror]

I also think it's ok for China to totally reopen now, every single confirmed cases in China now are either "mild" or " asympotmatic", no one dies or develops into serious conditions from this much less virulent variant.

I think there will be massive casualties, kinda like what happened to Vietnam and Japan, and then chinese people will develop immunity and Covid becomes nothing.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Even in Xinjiang and Tibet where houses are far away from each other

Yeah, but your building is probably closer to the building next to you than the neighbors are in Tibet.

why do you try to bring this irrelavant arguement to this thread?

I just wanted to see how China determines how close is too close.

There is no easy answer but I'm just showing how it would seem silly for the US government to quarantine me if my neighbor was ill as I could just argue that how is it that you only quarantine a single building in the city yet the distances between the entrances of city buildings and its neighbors are likely closer than the distance between my front door and my neighbor's front door. So instead of quarantining 1 city building shouldn't you be quarantining at least 3.

 

[beijingwalker]

Yeah, but your building is probably closer to the building next to you than the neighbors are in Tibet.

I just wanted to see how China determines how close is too close.

There is no easy answer but I'm just showing how it would seem silly for the US government to quarantine me if I could just argue that how is that you quarantine a single building in the city yet the distances between the entrances of city buildings and its neighbors are likely closer than the distance between my front door and my neighbor's front door. So instead of quarantining 1 building shouldn't you be quarantining at least 3.

US is not a very good example when it comes to handling this virus, don't try to make yourself a laughingstock here.

 

[Sharma Ji]

Covid still around even ?

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

US is not a very good example when it comes to handling this virus, don't try to make yourself a laughingstock here.

Yeah but nobody in my neighborhood got sick..but somebody in yours did.

 

[beijingwalker]

Yeah but nobody in my neighborhood got sick..but somebody in yours did.

Do you know what "close contact" means?

 

[-blitzkrieg-]

Europe Is Facing a New COVID-19 Wave and the US is Probably Next​

Caroline Kee
Thu, October 13, 2022 at 4:15 AM

Europe is already entering a new wave of COVID-19, according to a joint statement released on Wednesday from the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Control.

"We are unfortunately seeing indicators rising again in Europe, suggesting that another wave of infections has begun," Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, and Dr. Andrea Ammon, director of the ECDC, wrote.

Weekly reported cases in Europe started to rise in September, according to the most recent regional data for Europe from the WHO’s COVID-19 dashboard. During the week ending on Sep. 4, Europe recorded 1.14 million new cases and during the week ending on Oct. 2, weekly cases were just over 1.79 million.

"There is an uptick in most countries in Europe, certainly in Germany and Italy," Dr. Jennifer Lighter, pediatric infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone told TODAY. The new wave may be concerning, but it's not entirely surprising. "We do expect that (COVID-19) will eventually go into an endemic seasonal pattern that would spike in the winter," Lighter added.

However, Europe's fresh wave of COVID may foreshadow what's to come in the U.S.

"We've seen with other waves or bumps that they often start in Europe and then come to the U.S.," said Lighter, adding that this usually happens within two to three weeks.

In addition to cases, COVID-19 hospitalizations have also been on the rise in the last several weeks in Europe, according to Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease physician and professor of public health, epidemiology, and medicine at Yale School of Public Health. These hospitalizations are increasing among people over 65 who are more vulnerable, Ko added.

The omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants still make up the majority of these cases, said Lighter, though other variants are cropping up around the world, such as BA2.75, which is more transmissible and less responsive to antivirals and vaccines. "We're not really seeing the variant BA2.75 take hold yet," said Lighter.

"This wave, I believe, is being driven by increased exposures and contact rates, rather than the introduction of a new variant," said Ko. This is not unexpected, Ko noted, because restrictions like masks and social distancing have been phased out while people are increasingly gathering and traveling and kids are returning to school. "We're releasing ourselves from a lot of those things that kept us protected (during the pandemic)," Ko said.

Low COVID-19 vaccination rates (for both the primary series and boosters), especially among children, are also a problem, Ko added.

"A lot of the factors that are contributing to this wave in Europe are also present here in the U.S. ... so I would be concerned that something like this may already happening here," said Ko.

Only three weeks ago, President Biden stated that the "pandemic is over" in the U.S., TODAY previously reported.

“Emotionally we feel it’s over, but it’s not — 300 to 400 people die every day in the U.S. ... That’s a lot of people, and it’s going to increase again, said Lighter.

"The numbers here in the U.S. show that we’re kind of at the bottom of the curve ... but that doesn’t mean transmission is not occurring,"

"The 'pandemic phase' where our health care system was swamped — we're past that, but we're now in an endemic phase where this virus is going to continue to be with us. ... We need to keep our guard up," Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told TODAY.

Vaccination is crucial, the experts noted, especially among vulnerable populations. "We have the tools to protect ourselves, we just need to use these tools more," said Lighter, adding that only 67% of the population is fully vaccinated. "Only one-third of people over the age of 50 have gotten their second booster, and only half of people over age 5 have gotten one booster," she added.

Because the dominant strains circulating are still BA.4 and BA.5, the updated booster remains effective, the experts added. "The good news is the uptick is with a variant that we actually have a vaccine targeted for," Lighter added.

The updated bivalent booster, which targets omicron variants, is currently recommended for everyone ages 5 and older, the CDC announced on Oct. 12. Earlier in the day, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech’s booster for kids ages 5 to 11, and the Moderna booster for children as young as 6.

It's important to remember that even if these vaccines do not have a a large effect on transmission, they do prevent severe illness, complications, hospitalization and death, Ko noted. That's especially important as we head into winter and other viruses start to circulate at higher levels.

Children's hospitals across the country have already been filling up due to an unprecedented surge in respiratory viruses such as RSV, enterovirus and rhinovirus, TODAY previously reported.

"We’re also anticipating that we’re going to have a very brisk influenza season, so we’re concerned that this will be a twindemic winter," said Schaffner, adding that flu cases are already starting to rise in the US.

So now is the time to get your flu shot, the experts noted, which is recommended for everyone aged 6 months and older. Ideally, you get a flu shot by the end of October, but it can still provide protection if you get it later in the season, TODAY previously reported.

In addition to getting vaccinated, the experts emphasized the importance of mitigation measures like masking, social distancing and staying home when sick.

"People who are older, who have underlying illnesses (like heart disease, lung disease, diabetes) and anyone who’s immune compromised, they should continue to wear a mask when they go indoors or in crowds," Schaffner said.

"A lot of people would like to put COVID in the rearview mirror so to speak. ... We need to be steadfast and be careful," said Schaffner, adding that people who have vulnerable family members or are caring for high-risk individuals should also take extra precautions.

“People are tired of all these restrictions, so the key question is: How much more people (are) willing to do to protect themselves and protect others?" said Ko.

Europe Is Facing a New COVID-19 Wave and the US is Probably Next

Europe is heading into a new wave of COVID cases, per the World Health Organization. The U.S. will likely see a COVID surge in the near future too, doctors say.

news.yahoo.com

So.. so u mean we are not going back to office any time soon.. yayyy.

 

[Han Patriot]

500 people dying is like treating it like the flu deaths now. People are moving on with their lives here, I'm not kidding. So it doesn't matter. If people take the vaccine, they be ok.

Yup and that's on top of flu deaths. Can you tell me how many people die of flu annually in US.

 

[Han Patriot]

Yeah but nobody in my neighborhood got sick..but somebody in yours did.

And ladies and gentlemen, thats the reason why USA had an additional 70k deaths since the Shanghai lockdown began.

 

[aviator_fan]

Stop your BS and smearing Chinas handling on covid, HK is following the Western model to deal the pandemic, they use Western made vaccines by the large and they can only blame themselves for the high death rate. Go mind your own business, Chinas handling is of no concern to you China-haters.

Hey just because your Chinese sensors don't let you get exposed to the outside world, stop making accusing 'BS" accusations. Why don't you go back to a censored 'WeChat'. If you are going to be on this forum then be prepare for a different view point. Otherwise go and worship Xi's 3rd term.


You must know enough English to type here (despite the fact you are lying about your flags): the whole thread is on COVID. So its okay for somebody for somebody with the handle with 'Beijing' to critique the on-set of COVID in Europe, but you are crying like a sissy when the COVID approach in China is brought up.

Its not more of a China hater thing than the title of this thread is a Europe hater thing. Its a set of facts. They don't please you, too bad. This is forum is not the Communist party. Sorry...