A Doomsday COVID Variant Worse Than Delta and Lambda May Be Coming, Scientists Say

A Doomsday COVID Variant Worse Than Delta and Lambda May Be Coming, Scientists Say: The Delta outbreak is going to get much worse, warns Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist who leads the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "The number of intensive-care beds needed could be higher than any time we've seen," he says. He adds that his team's analysis shows that almost every single one of the 100 million unvaccinated Americans who hasn't had COVID-19 yet will likely get it in the coming months, short of taking the sort of strong isolation and masking precautions that seem unlikely in the vaccine-hesitant population.

I've been on vacation for two weeks. I highly recommend camping at the beach on the Oregon coast, but dress warm as the wind on the beach gets nippy when it is only 60 degrees outside.

With a mutating Covid, perhaps all of our vacations will be socially distanced in the future.

The Delta Variant Will Still Kill You

 Idiots on Instagram spread disinformation

Experts pointed out that lower case fatality rates would be expected, simply because so many people have been vaccinated in recent months, whereas the original coronavirus had time to spread and cause severe disease long before vaccines became widely available.�

Maybe we should have criminal penalties for behavior that kills people. Just a thought.

An email I wrote but decided not to send

[redacted], but realized that would just create an endless email chain that wouldn't really solve anything, so rather I'm sending it to you, to think about but hopefully not worry about.  I apologize for placing this minor burden on you, but I guess when it comes right down to it I just need to vent and you have made the terrible, terrible choice of being kind and accommodating.

I realize this is all speculative, and have no idea what to do, but as we move to in-person courses this is something to consider. I understand that online courses are not making, and there's a need for in-person sections.  If (so many IFs) the Delta variant heats up, the school may need to go online for a couple of weeks. 

• Do in-person classes switch to Live Streaming at that point? 
• What if students decide they don't want to come to class because of virus fears?  
• What if students decide they don't want to come to class and blame virus fears?  
• What if I'm teaching in person--do I just not visit my 80-year-old mother for a semester--because even after vaccination she has the antibody levels of an unvaccinated 50-year-old Trump supporter.  

The important thing to keep in mind is that I'm anxious, and thanks to the miracle of the internet I can quickly transfer those anxieties to you.  Thanks!

“I could foresee that in certain parts of the country, there could be a reintroduction of indoor mask mandates, distancing and occupancy limits” in the coming months, said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law.

He said he fears there will be “major outbreaks” in the U.S. this fall, especially in states with low vaccination rates.

“We are heading for a very dangerous fall, with large swaths of the country still unvaccinated, a surging delta variant and people taking off their masks,” Gostin added.

Americans will need masks indoors as U.S. heads for 'dangerous fall' with surge in delta Covid cases (cnbc.com)

One of Utah's proud achievements is being on the top five sites for the spread of the Delta variant:

Utah

Officials have already identified more than 1,100 Delta cases, according to state government data.

"I want to be very, very clear about what everyone of our staff has told me and that is this is not over," said Kencee Graves, the chief medical officer for inpatient services at the University of Utah, in a briefing. "Vaccine is important, is what we need to end this, but the COVID-19 pandemic is not over."

Delta Variant Spreads Fast in 5 States Amid Fourth of July Weekend (businessinsider.com)

Covid: Here's what you need to know the lambda variant

Covid: Here's what you need to know the lambda variant The Lambda variant is mostly in South America and the Chinese vaccine may not work that well against it. Other than that, who knows?

Why The Delta Variant Is So Contagious: A New Study Sheds Light : Goats and Soda : NPR

Why The Delta Variant Is So Contagious: A New Study Sheds Light : Goats and Soda : NPR It finds that the variant grows more rapidly inside people's respiratory tracts and to much higher levels, researchers at the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported. On average, people infected with the delta variant had about 1,000 times more copies of the virus in their respiratory tracts than those infected with the original strain of the coronavirus, the study reported. More evidence for wearing a mask, even if you're vaccinated.

The unvaccinated are going to die as the Delta variant spreads.

>Delta variant’s wild spread raises fears, fresh scrutiny of CDC mask guidance States with low vaccination rates are already seeing a delta surge.: Delta, on the other hand, is estimated to be 50 percent to 60 percent more contagious than Alpha. That is, it may be more than twice as contagious as the original virus. COVID-19 vaccines are, fortunately, still effective against the delta variant, but many experts are extremely anxious about the risk the variant poses to areas with low vaccination rates. Already, some of the states with low vaccination rates and high transmission rates are seeing cases of delta take off. Though the CDC hasn't made any movement on its guidance, health officials in other countries and local US officials have begun reinstating masking and other measures. For instance, Israel, one of the most highly vaccinated countries in the world, reinstated an indoor mask mandate this week. And on Monday, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health urged people to mask up in indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status.

Fears grow over lab-bred flu | Nature

Fears grow over lab-bred flu | Nature From 2011.