Thread by @DrEricDing

“NO MORE THAN MERE SECONDS” of exposure in 10-60 centimeters where one man triggers several #DeltaVariant infections with brief “fleeting” contact. Thousands of shoppers at NSW🇦🇺 mass tested. Delta called “near & present danger”.

HT @lizziepearl. #COVID19

2) he “brushed past a man” in his 50’s… who became case #4. Ummm, wow. 👀

3) Like geez, we know #DeltaVariant is basically the fastest transmitting variant to date. But this kind of “fleeting contact” infection is all the more reason for masks and improved ventilation and air disinfection.

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1406692241956118533

4) NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said the Delta variant which is behind this outbreak is a “near and present danger” given the fleeting contact between cases at the Bondi Junction Westfield.

google.com/amp/s/amp.theg…

5) ““It is fair to say that this Delta virus would appear to be a near and present danger to anybody who is in the vicinity,” he said.”

6) Cmon, must be have a one time random event. Right? Wrong! ➡️ “It is the second “fleeting contact” transmission connected to the first case. A woman in her 70s was sitting outside a cafe that the initial case had visited and genomic sequencing of her virus is an exact match” ⚠️

7) No way you say???? Lordy, I hope there’s tapes you say???…. Well guess what, this other fleeting contact case with the woman was **caught on security cameras” of a store. “They never came into contact” at all.

8) Anchor: “they just passed each other in the department store” ⚠️ (see video above)

“This obviously caused some concern” by NSW 🇦🇺 health authorities.

9) I think it’s safe to say #DeltaVariant is now the greatest threat of #COVID19 pandemic in 2021. It is by far the fastest variant known to date. The data complied from 64 countries by @WHO don’t lie. #B16172 is a clear and present danger to the world.

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1405633531695489027

10) #DeltaVariant was formerly known as the “Indian variant” before the new Greek names established. In India, it was estimated by @IHME_UW that there were 13-14 million NEW infections PER DAY during its peak. Let that sink in.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1387909840727678981

11) We’ve also seen how #DeltaVariant has efficiently infected millions in India 🇮🇳 and likely killed ~1.6 million people (estimates by Economist and NYT range from 600,000-4 mil). Let that sink in. That’s mostly from #B16172 - aka Delta. Don’t let this happen to the world.

12) The numbers too staggering? You don’t believe it? Well here is NYT’s analysis. @IHME_UW also estimated over 1 million conservatively as well. This is the same #DeltaVariant now infecting the world. Take it seriously please. And tell your local leaders.
nytimes.com/interactive/20…

13) Why act now? Because #DeltaVariant is soaring across multiple countries of the world. It’s all but certain to dominate the US and continental Europe soon too. Even the head of WHO Europe region admits it.

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1406681179219189760

14) Good news is vaccines mostly work against #DeltaVariant, albeit attenuated (below is the average of AZ and Pfizer vaccines, though 2 dose AZ efficacy itself is actually 60%, not 80%, while Pfizer is 88%). But bad news is 1 dose efficacy is only 30-33%—very poor. Need 2 doses.

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1406691916645797891

15) that said, the #DeltaVariant is trouble. let this sink in - #DeltaVariant is still penetrating for vaccine breakthroughs that 10% of all hospitalized #COVID19 cases in last week was among those with 2 dose + 14 days fully vaccinated (and UK is majority AZ vaccinated)

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1406421721717030916

16) “Dr Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, urged people eligible for vaccination to come forward to receive the jab.
“vaccination is our best defence,” she said, noting two doses provided significantly more protection than a single dose….

17) As Dr Fauci warned recently: “The problem you get into … is that a single dose only provides about ~30% effectiveness [against #DeltaVariant]—so that is really an issue you gotta be careful”, as Fauci tells @nehakhanna_07.

18) 2 doses much better than 1. But one dose only modestly better than none against #DeltaVariant. We need 2 doses for everyone ASAP. Fauci and UK leaders all recognize this.

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1396332689955950594

19) #DeltaVariant is also exponentially growing in distant Alberta 🇨🇦. delta is now everywhere on every continent on Earth. It’s just that infectious.

https://twitter.com/gosiagasperophd/status/1406675505718251520

20) please sign this petition to CDC for urgent #DeltaVariant action. It is by @endCOVID19 & @CovidActionGrp and a “coalition of scientists, public health officials, epidemiologists, health care workers, educators, advocates, parents, & concerned citizens: change.org/p/centers-for-…

21) UPDATE: multiple new locations of exposures added due to more newly uncovered casual contact cases from the same outbreak in NSW. #DeltaVariant is just that contagious. 9news.com.au/national/coron…

22) Mad respect to the NSW public health govt officials. They have now published the full exhaustive list of “casual contact” locations in which every case has been - with precise time and location for each. Wowzers on the comprehensive contact tracing.

health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/cov…

23) Many of you are asking about changing vaccine types amid #DeltaVariant. It’s a tricky topic but many countries are now allowing it. Canada for example…

https://twitter.com/drericding/status/1407023672947265546

24) P.s. is this why Australia 🇦🇺 contact tracing to find fleeting exposure infections is so darn good?

25) Welp… Australia acting finally seriously. But it may be too little too late.

https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1408643298693193732