CORONAVIRUS INFO PROVIDED BY DR. JIM HARRIS – 2/28/2022

Unless Covid information becomes more vital, I plan to try a less intensive schedule with fewer charts, when I can.

Here’s how to find the C.D.C.’s new pandemic guidelines for your area.

”…Under the agency’s previous criteria, close to 95 percent of U.S. counties were considered high risk. Using the new criteria — new Covid-related hospital admissions, the percentage of hospital beds occupied by Covid patients and new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people — less than 30 percent of the population is in high-risk areas….The CDC’S NEW TOOL (CLICK) allows users to identify their state and then choose their county. That yields a color-coded gauge — green for low risk, yellow for medium and orange for high — along with the relevant guidance. All results offer reminders of the importance of vaccinations and boosters, measures that have kept the Omicron wave from inflicting a far more devastating toll in serious illness, hospitalization and death.

(J. Harris: You will have to specifiy your State and County and you will immediately get your new guide line. Harrison is Yellow at present. This is about as simple as the message can get, if you have a computer. For cell phones, I’d expect an ap soon, but you can enter: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html on your cell phone and get to the site easily. This site is better than nothing, but it is overly simplified for the politicans. It does not account for the vaccination levels in various areas, nor the level of medical care available. Notice on the chart above that Smith/Gregg/Harrison, contiguious counties, have different levels of danger. It does probably beats a snowball [ask a cowboy what that means].)

Association of COVID-19 Quarantine Duration and Postquarantine Transmission Risk in 4 University Cohorts (Audio available)

”Question What is the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission from individuals leaving test-based quarantines of various durations…In this study, in 301 quarantined, positive-testing university students and staff, 40 (13.3%) first tested positive asymptomatically after day 7 following exposure, 15 (4.9%) after day 10, and 4 (1.4%) after day 14. Individuals in strict quarantine tested positive at a lower rate than those in nonstrict quarantine (10% vs 12%; P = .04)….Our study suggests that a substantial number of people may be getting reexposed during quarantine. A strict shorter quarantine may be as effective as a longer more lax one…”

SUPPER SPREADER WEDDING IN MN IN JULY, 2021 (DELTA)

Transmission of and Infection With COVID-19 Among Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Attendees of an Indoor Wedding Reception in Minnesota

”…Question What are the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission among vaccinated and unvaccinated attendees of a large indoor gathering?

”July 2021, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) investigated an outbreak of COVID-19 at a wedding reception with a high percentage of vaccine breakthrough cases…In this cohort study of 75 individuals, nearly half of attendees at an indoor wedding reception who were tested were infected with the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2. Unvaccinated attendees had a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection than vaccinated attendees, secondary transmission from vaccinated attendees to vaccinated and unvaccinated contacts was observed, and the index case was identified as an unvaccinated symptomatic child.This investigation found that outbreaks are possible in highly vaccinated settings. The vaccination rate among respondents (75%) was higher than Minnesota’s statewide vaccination rate (52%)4 at the time of the event….Fully vaccinated attendees had a lower risk of developing symptoms or testing positive, and the only hospitalization was among an unvaccinated adult, supporting previous data showing reduced risk of infection and severe illness among vaccinated individuals…

”Children and those who are unable to be vaccinated should continue to practice masking and social distancing and consider limiting their exposure to large events. Parents of children in age groups eligible for vaccination should consider getting them vaccinated. In addition, the CDC recommends that when community transmission rates are substantial or high, even vaccinated individuals should mask indoors, and some vaccinated individuals may choose to wear a mask at other times, particularly if they have or live with someone who has immunocompromise or underlying conditions. The CDC recommendation for vaccinated individuals to mask while indoors during times of substantial community transmission was not in place at the time of this wedding…

”Vaccination reduces the risk of contracting COVID-19. Additionally, this investigation found transmission to event employees, showing that employees are at risk from the patrons they serve in indoor gatherings. Businesses that host large events should take these risks into consideration when determining which mitigation measures to put into place.”

(J. Harris: Here we have another wedding from Hell. Don’t go out if you’re sick and don’t drag sick kids out of the house. Period.)

AND LASTLY:

If you can’t think of a word, say, I forgot the English word for it. That way people will think you’re bilingual instead of an idiot