Posts Tagged: Covid-19
Covid-19, March 2021
A year ago, I wrote:
“Good news:
+ The mortality rate of Covid-19 is 5 times lower than that of SARS
+ For most people it is no worse than a common flu
+ It seems like only the elderly and especially those who suffer from a previous health condition is at risk
+ The virus is only spreading after a person has become ill and not during the incubation period
Bad news:
– No one is immune to the virus (Of course – because, this is what the main problem is)
– A vaccine will take at least a year to develop”
Well, a year later we have learned a lot. Some “bad news” turned out not to be as bad as we feared. For instance, the vaccin took less than a year to develop. But other things have had to be added to the list. We have learned that not “only the elderly and especially those who suffer from a previous health condition is at risk”, although those are most at risk, of course. Most notable in my view, howevere: Long Covid. I have had Covid but “no worse than a common flu” and without any lingering problem. For that I am very grateful.
Gradually, Then Suddenly
“What’s going to be newsworthy by the end of the year is not technology companies saying they’re embracing distributed work, but those that aren’t. Those who thought this couldn’t work have been forced by the pandemic to do it anyway, and they’ve now seen that it’s possible” (Matt Mullenweg).
“Alas, Zoom’s video conferencing technology is best of breed, and because Zoom is easy to use and the quality is so high, it is exploding in popularity now that the whole world is working and socializing remotely. All of the following can be — and I believe are — true: Zoom is popular, useful, and by their own admission not trustworthy” (John Gruber).
Alas, Zoom is the service I am stuck with to do my work. Yet another reason to wish this situation to be over.
Who is getting sick, and how sick? A breakdown of coronavirus risk by demographic factors
“The new coronavirus is not an equal-opportunity killer: Being elderly and having other illnesses, for instance, greatly increases the risk of dying from the disease the virus causes, Covid-19. It’s also possible being male could put you at increased risk” (Sharon Begley).
Covid-19, March 2020
Good news:
+ The mortality rate of Covid-19 is 5 times lower than that of SARS
+ For most people it is no worse than a common flu
+ It seems like only the elderly and especially those who suffer from a previous health condition is at risk
+ The virus is only spreading after a person has become ill and not during the incubation period
Bad news:
– No one is immune to the virus (Of course – because, this is what the main problem is)
– A vaccine will take at least a year to develop
The big unknowns seem to be, and these are my questions (not discussed in the video), how long will we restrict travel to and from northern Italy and other risk areas? Will we have to wait for a vaccine? Or is there a point when enough people, everywhere, has been infected so that it doesn’t matter anymore? And when is that point reached?
It seems that, ironically, the quicker the population get infected the quicker our problems will be over. Nevertheless,
Stay safe and healthy!
Update: This video address the questions I raise. It turns out that the answer has to do with whether we consider the disease to be an epidemic or a pandemic.