Northern Europe during Pandemic -- Summers 2020 & 2021 & onwards

[Montanan]

A year and a half after Sweden decided not to lock down, its COVID-19 death rate is up to 10 times higher than its neighbors

https://www.yahoo.com/news/half-swed...115500722.html



Sweden has recorded more COVID-19 cases per capita than most countries so far: Since the start of the pandemic, roughly 11 out of every 100 people in Sweden have been diagnosed with COVID-19, compared with 9.4 out of every 100 in the UK and 7.4 per 100 in Italy. Sweden has also recorded around 145 COVID-19 deaths for every 100,000 people - around three times more than Denmark, eight times more than Finland, and nearly 10 times more than Norway.

Had Sweden implemented tighter rules, experts told Insider, the country might have seen a COVID-19 death toll more similar to those Nordic neighbors. "They underestimated the mortality tremendously," Claudia Hanson, an associate professor at Sweden's Karolinska Institute. "Sweden became a dream for many people to think one can do it differently," Hanson added. But in retrospect, she said, "it was maybe not a good idea."

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Pete7

And the UK. Ordered on line, arrives by post in 48 hours, or book into a testing centre.



Pete

No use for flying

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Montanan

A year and a half after Sweden decided not to lock down, its COVID-19 death rate is up to 10 times higher than its neighbors

https://www.yahoo.com/news/half-swed...115500722.html

Sweden has recorded more COVID-19 cases per capita than most countries so far: Since the start of the pandemic, roughly 11 out of every 100 people in Sweden have been diagnosed with COVID-19, compared with 9.4 out of every 100 in the UK and 7.4 per 100 in Italy. Sweden has also recorded around 145 COVID-19 deaths for every 100,000 people - around three times more than Denmark, eight times more than Finland, and nearly 10 times more than Norway.

Had Sweden implemented tighter rules, experts told Insider, the country might have seen a COVID-19 death toll more similar to those Nordic neighbors. "They underestimated the mortality tremendously," Claudia Hanson, an associate professor at Sweden's Karolinska Institute. "Sweden became a dream for many people to think one can do it differently," Hanson added. But in retrospect, she said, "it was maybe not a good idea."

That is a minority opinion not only in Sweden, but all over this region, and the article repeats a lot of false information which is circulated by people (on both sides) attempting to politicize Sweden's pandemic response.

It is well known that serious errors were made in Sweden, as in the UK and many other countries, in protecting people in nursing homes, which is what caused the majority of covid deaths in Sweden. This was confirmed by an government audit of Sweden's pandemic response.

But even with that, and desite an early superspreader event which spread the virus before any measures were taken (unlike in the other Nordic countries), the cumulative death rate in Sweden so far is better than the European average and better than all but a few U.S. states. And better than all but a few developed countries. And in terms of excess death, the picture is even better -- there was no excess death on a demographic scale in Sweden in 2020. This is something I've heard people talking about a lot lately in Denmark and in Finland. This seems to signify that few people in Sweden died who would not have died anyway.

The fact that Sweden had more death than Denmark or Finland doesn't mean that much -- in fact, the difference in cumulative death between Denmark and FInland is similar to that between Sweden and Denmark, does that show that Finland had far better measures than Denmark? Of course not -- there are huge random elements in how this works out. All the more since -- and this is important -- the pandemic measures in all the Nordic countries have been very similar to each other, and in NONE of them was there any lockdown (in the sense of stay at home orders or mass closing of businesses).

So, to prove that you must implement lockdown to avoid mass death, by comparing Sweden, which had less death than the European average, only to its neighbors, is really torturing the facts, particularly since Sweden's neighbors also didn't have lockdown.

In fact, on the contrary, the Nordic experience shows very clearly that you can get through the pandemic very well without lockdown. That doesn't prove that the same approach would work everywhere for every country (although that MIGHT be true), but it does disprove what this article is attempting to establish.

Today Sweden has the lowest infection rate in the Nordic and Baltic region except Latvia, and practically no death -- 20x less than the present death rate in the U.S. Not a single U.S. state today has as low a death rate as Sweden.





I have been cruising in Sweden this summer and the mood there is excellent. People in Sweden feel quite blessed to have gotten through the pandemic as well as they have, and the policies are popular*. Note the growing body of evidence showing the severe and permanent harm done to children by mask mandates and remote schooling. That by itself does not prove that we should never mandate masks or never take children out of school, but it DOES prove that we should carefully weigh how we use these measures, since they have significant cost. So in this part of the world, people are feeling better and better that they managed to get through the pandemic without lockdowns and with a minimum of mask mandates (mostly recommendations) and without taking children out of school for long periods. Avoiding lockdowns not only benefited the economies of the region (which are doing well), but especially, children's development, people's mental health, and public health in general.

Of course it's hard to have a sensible conversation about any of this in parts of the world where it has become a politicized issue. In such societies, one gang thinks all pandemic measures are unecessary and evil, and the other gang thinks that all pandemic measures are a moral necessity, no matter how harsh or how long, and damn the cost, and both sides will say anything and twist any facts to prove the point. Both of these points of view are deeply wrong. I'm really glad these days to live in a part of the world where it's done differently from that, especially during this pandemic.


* And the health chief Tegnell, architect of Sweden's pandemic response, continues to be regarded as a national hero. According to this: Google Translate Tegnell is the 3rd most popular person in the country according to who Swedes would like to drink beer with, ranked above the King.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Of course it's hard to have a sensible conversation about any of this in parts of the world where it has become a politicized issue. In such societies, one gang thinks all pandemic measures are unecessary and evil, and the other gang thinks that all pandemic measures are a moral necessity, no matter how harsh or how long, and damn the cost, and both sides will say anything and twist any facts to prove the point. Both of these points of view are deeply wrong. I'm really glad these days to live in a part of the world where it's done differently from that, especially during this pandemic.

And as someone who's living in a part of the world (US) seemingly consumed by the dumbed down, toxic politics surrounding the Covid issue, I'm grateful to read about other parts of the world where health officials and the citizenry have struggled through while relying on the best available science, as murky as that can sometimes be. Yet, despite the number of times this has been explained and supported by citations to the actual science, some posters still insist on citing misleading information from sources with well known political biases. No attempt to reconcile or debate the information with what's been repeatedly posted, just a copy & paste. Can't see how this results in a meaningful contribution to the discussion.

[Montanan]

Israel finds COVID-19 vaccine booster significantly lowers infection risk

Among people aged 60 and over, the protection against infection provided from 10 days after a third dose was four times higher than after two doses.

A third jab for over 60-year-olds offered five to six times greater protection after 10 days with regard to serious illness and hospitalization.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...?ocid=msedgntp

[CatNewBee]

FDA approval... [emoji108]

Finally happy injecting.

50% have been placebos, so you may be among the lucky winners of the Russian Roulette.

https://rumble.com/vll4b9-fda-approv...regulatio.html

[Montanan]

Additional Caribbean countries set for UK red list as travel experts warn of scramble home to avoid hotel quarantine requirements.
Also, the Balearics and Spain may become red listed


Four Caribbean and African holiday destinations are at risk of UK travel bans being imposed this week, sparking a scramble by holidaymakers to return to avoid hotel quarantine, an analysis suggests.

Jamaica, St Lucia, Dominica and Morocco have seen rising Covid rates that put them on course to be red-listed this week when Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, unveils the new traffic-light ratings for the final days of summer.

The analysis by travel consultancy The PC Agency also indicates Covid rates in the Balearics and Spain are high enough to merit inclusion on a red list.

Paul Charles, the chief executive of The PC Agency, said: “Much of Europe won’t change because the Government would create utter chaos at our borders during the bank holiday weekend and week if they chose to turn some of the most popular countries red, such as Balearics or Spain, and force so many people into hotel quarantine.”

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

FDA approval... [emoji108]

Finally happy injecting.

50% have been placebos, so you may be among the lucky winners of the Russian Roulette.

https://rumble.com/vll4b9-fda-approv...regulatio.html

Let's review the background of this "doctor".

Her comments regarding SARS-CoV-2:

Dr. Jane Ruby states:

“According to a lot of government admission across the globe, there is no virus other than a digital, theoretical abstraction made in a computer from a genomic database. The virus, as we’ve been saying, has never been isolated, purified, sequenced, characterized, or proven to exist.”

Dr. Jane Ruby is a Washington DC health economist and New Right political pundit. She worked as a nurse practitioner at the University of Rochester Medical Center from 1988 to 1994. She received a Master's degree in International Health Economics and Pharmacoeconomic from UPF.
She has no authority to medically treat people as she does not have a science degree.

Her radio and online TV Show, “Dr. Jane’s DC” airs Mon – Fri, 11:00 PM EST on The Exceptional Conservative Network

[CatNewBee]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Let's review the background of this "doctor".



Her comments regarding SARS-CoV-2:



Dr. Jane Ruby states:



“According to a lot of government admission across the globe, there is no virus other than a digital, theoretical abstraction made in a computer from a genomic database. The virus, as we’ve been saying, has never been isolated, purified, sequenced, characterized, or proven to exist.”



Dr. Jane Ruby is a Washington DC health economist and New Right political pundit. She worked as a nurse practitioner at the University of Rochester Medical Center from 1988 to 1994. She received a Master's degree in International Health Economics and Pharmacoeconomic from UPF.

She has no authority to medically treat people as she does not have a science degree.



Her radio and online TV Show, “Dr. Jane’s DC” airs Mon – Fri, 11:00 PM EST on The Exceptional Conservative Network

Sounds fair, so unbiased average person. [emoji6]
Her points are valid, most warnings and side effects just disappered.

More trustworthy than Fauci, who paid for the development of the corona virus.

[Montanan]

When were the earliest cases of COVID in northern Europe?

A Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA resident may be the first person on record to die from COVID-19 in the nation, according to data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the CDC. The medical certifier ruled COVID-19 as the cause on a Jan. 9, 2020, death certificate,

“It conflicts with all of the data we have on COVID cases in Kansas and the region at the time of the individual’s death,” he said. But KDHE’s recently updated COVID-19 dashboard shows the January death reported in Leavenworth County.

Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, said that illustrates COVID was likely circulating earlier than when cases were officially confirmed.

“When we didn’t have a lot of testing, when we didn’t understand the disease, a lot of people probably died from that that we didn’t track because we just didn’t know,” he said. “I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that COVID was circulating in the United States before what we thought.” “I think it’s safe to say that COVID-19 was probably in the United States before December 2019 and it probably did take lives and I think that overall, the COVID-19 deaths are underreported.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/newly-rep...192558736.html

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Montanan

When were the earliest cases of COVID in northern Europe?

A Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA resident may be the first person on record to die from COVID-19 in the nation, according to data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the CDC. The medical certifier ruled COVID-19 as the cause on a Jan. 9, 2020, death certificate,

“It conflicts with all of the data we have on COVID cases in Kansas and the region at the time of the individual’s death,” he said. But KDHE’s recently updated COVID-19 dashboard shows the January death reported in Leavenworth County.

Steve Stites, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, said that illustrates COVID was likely circulating earlier than when cases were officially confirmed.

“When we didn’t have a lot of testing, when we didn’t understand the disease, a lot of people probably died from that that we didn’t track because we just didn’t know,” he said. “I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that COVID was circulating in the United States before what we thought.” “I think it’s safe to say that COVID-19 was probably in the United States before December 2019 and it probably did take lives and I think that overall, the COVID-19 deaths are underreported.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/newly-rep...192558736.html

What is it about Kansas and pandemics?
Sounds like a good place to avoid.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

What is it about Kansas and pandemics?
Sounds like a good place to avoid.

What doesn't kill you mutates.

And if a virus doesn't get you in Kansas, well just wait a bit and a tornado will come along.

The Spanish Flu could have been called the Kansas Flu.

Perhaps Kansas was the place of origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and not Wuhan?

I was born in Kansas and moved to the UK when I was three months old, have yet to be back to Kansas, am now 64 years old.

[Montanan]

Oh joys. One step forward, one step backwards. Have been hoping to not hear this kind of results until much later on in this pandemic.

A new study joins a growing body of evidence that the lambda variant of the coronavirus has evaded the COVID-19 vaccines.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/med...?ocid=msedgntp

Does lambda evade vaccines?
The study — which was not peer-reviewed but published on bioRxiv, https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...08.14.456353v1 which shares preliminary scientific reports — suggests the spike protein of the lambda variant is different than other COVID-19 variants, which makes it easier for lambda to latch onto cells and cause infection.
The scientists reviewed the genetic sequence of the lambda variance and compared it to the spike protein of the original coronavirus mutation, according to News-Medical, which reviews studies and preliminary reports. The study found specific changes that make it easier for the variant to bind to cells.
Specifically, the variant has two mutations within it that can make it evade vaccines, making it less likely that immunity could stop the spread of the virus.

[CatNewBee]

https://youtu.be/ELq3y1D8-rg

Worth watching.

and reading the full text

https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/08/23...vid-19-vaccine

[goboatingnow]

Waning efficacy is no doubt a concern , Israel also administered the 2nd dose very quickly and subsequent data from the U.K. showed significant benefits where longer times existed between doses