WOW—Belgium announces that CO2 meters (of air ventilation) will be required in hotels, restaurants, bars, banquet halls & fitness centers — and required to be **visible** to all customers.
2) CO2 does not cause infections directly per se. but it is a proxy of poor indoor air quality that allows #SARSCoV2 virus particles to build up, which is hard to measure. Thus, CO2 allows a quick and easy way to assess potential chances of virus buildup and infection risk.
4) Ventilation and air disinfection is key to reducing the risk of #COVID19. CO2 monitors just part of that. Here is CDC’s guidelines for indoor air quality for schools.
Troubling—the worst variant to date, the #DeltaVariant is now the new fastest growing variant in US. This is the so-called “Indian” variant #B16172 that is ravaging UK 🇬🇧 despite high vaccinations because it has immune evasion properties. Here is why it’s trouble—🧵. #COVID19
2) We are expecting the #DeltaVariant to continue growing in the US, outpacing all other variants just like it has in India 🇮🇳 and UK 🇬🇧, and become dominant in US by end of July, if not earlier.
Worse than a lab leak? ➡️A microscopic creature revived to life after 24,000 years in Arctic permafrost—“Our report is the hardest proof that animals could withstand tens of thousands of years in cryptobiosis (state of almost complete frozen metabolism)”😳 cnn.com/2021/06/07/eur…
2) “In a new study, the Russian researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine that the critters they recovered from the permafrost -- ground that is frozen year-round, apart from a thin layer near the surface -- were about 24,000 years old.
3) “Stems of Antarctic moss were successfully regrown from a 1,000-year-old sample covered by ice for about 400 years, and a living campion flower was regenerated from seed tissue, likely stored by an Arctic squirrel, that had been preserved in 32,000-year-old permafrost.
“The South may see a #COVID19 surge this summer” as vaccinations lag… needs to get to 70% or more.
“We’re just we’re not even close to that in Southern states,” @PeterHotez said—he foresees a new wave — “we’re so underachieving in terms of vaccination.” nytimes.com/2021/06/07/wor…
2) “To avoid a summer surge, states across the South need to catch up to those in the Northeast which have already gotten at least one dose to 70 percent of their populations, according to @PeterHotez , a vaccine expert at Baylor College of Medicine.
3) In 15 states — including Arkansas, the Carolinas, Georgia and Louisiana — about half of adults or fewer have received a dose, according to analysis. In 2 states, Alabama and Mississippi, it would take about a year to get one dose to 70% at current pace nytimes.com/interactive/20…
3) Also kids often are more likely to be asymptomatic carriers too—and hence undertested as well. And there is no herd in schools if most are not vaccinated.
“Immune escape” in #DeltaVariant. That’s the latest finding - that #B16172 is as bad for antibody neutralization as the Beta variant #B1351 from South Africa 🇿🇦. 1st dose alone very small effect— 2 doses needed, but weakest against Delta. Let’s walk through evidence 🧵 #COVID19
2) first, @chrischirp says “Now we have a dominant variant that is as bad as Beta for immune escape but much more transmissible.” — she says that because Beta #B1351 (green) was previously the worst neutralization variant. Now it seems #DeltaVariant is even worse.
3) The latest Lancet study also found waning neutralization over time, similar to other variants— but the difference is that #DeltaVariant#B16172 starts from a much lower baseline level to begin with.