Nine key points about COVID

COVID hasn’t moved on from us

Because I love you all (even the people I don’t like), I’m going to keep yelling at you about COVID. Vaccines are essential and you should get every shot you can, but to avoid catching and spreading COVID you must wear a good mask indoors at all times. It’s annoying to me too, but that’s the deal.

From You May Be Early, but You’re Not Wrong: A Covid Reading List:

Over the last few months, there’s been an avalanche of studies telling us that Covid poses a major threat to our health, our lives, and our sanity. The biggest risk now comes in the weeks and months after we recover. Our politicians and media have done a poor job communicating this threat. Instead, they’re doing their best to manipulate information to protect their own political interests. The public has bought into these lies. They want to believe they can return to normal.

The latest studies tell us that’s not possible.

There’s no permanent immunity from this virus. Each time we catch it, this virus attacks our hearts and minds. It weakens us. It tries to kill us. It imprints on us, so a future variant has a better shot next time.

That next time could be a few months later.

Here are the key points:

  1. You can catch Covid multiple times.
  2. Reinfections are common, not rare.
  3. Breakthrough infections are common.
  4. Covid can kill you months after you recover.
  5. It can cause brain damage.
  6. It can cause blood clots and heart attacks.
  7. It doesn’t spare children.
  8. Vaccines help, but only some.
  9. Masks work.

Everyone should know about these studies. I’ve linked to the original articles. I’ve tried to summarize them in clear language. I’ve also linked to summaries written by journalists who still care about the truth.

https://jessicawildfire.substack.com/p/you-may-be-early-but-youre-not-wrong, 11/15/22
simulation results

Quarantine for kids

After screaming into the void for weeks on Twitter about the desperate need for massive testing and rapid social isolation, we are now living that quarantine life. Like many parents I am trying not to terrify my child (and myself), but unlike many parents I will not sugarcoat things. Especially after spending decades talking about how our political leaders are failing us, I am not going to lie about the fact that we are all suffering now because those failures have come home to roost.

I know my child thinks I am going a little overboard with this quarantine business, so showed him a few visuals to help him understand. These were the most helpful things we looked at today.

  1. Washington Post simulator showing the difference in infections between different policies such as partial quarantine and social distancing. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/
  2. The now-ubiquitous #FlattenTheCurve chart show how rapid spread will overwhelm the medical system. This available everywhere, we looked at https://www.vox.com/2020/3/10/21171481/coronavirus-us-cases-quarantine-cancellation
  3. A young man from Wuhan’s TikTok videos that show his experience in Wuhan (start at the last one). https://www.tiktok.com/@danielouyang