35 top physicians & scientists urge rapid change of course in corona policy. Warning of the force of the fourth wave "overshadowing" everything that has gone before they say federal and state governments must finally “fully meet their responsibility”.
"The fourth wave of the corona pandemic is building before our very eyes at full power. The daily rate of new cases has reached the highest levels since the beginning of the pandemic – with a continuing rising trend.
4/
"700 people die every week in our country – with a continuing rising trend. Every day of waiting costs human lives. It is time to make an appeal for change.
5/
"We remind the leaders of our country’s federal and state governments of their responsibility for the well-being of the population. As fundamental values, health and human freedom are not in conflict with each other but are mutually dependent.
6/
"To preserve and promote both is the duty of the three democratic powers.
"Various recommendations for action have been clearly communicated over the past one and a half year by ourselves and other scientists but, unfortunately, were only hesitantly, incompletely or not..
7/
"..or not sustainably implemented by the authorities.
"We urgently appeal to those with political duty and authority, at the federal, state and local levels, to assume their full responsibility. That means, first, acknowledging the current reality:
8/
"This virus is going to keep the world in its grip for a while. It will not simply disappear. Even in its "endemic" state, if reached, it will likely continue to cause severe waves of infection unless vaccination rates are significantly increased.
9/
"There will always be a clear correlation between incidence and subsequent numbers of hospitalizations, intensive care patients, deceased and long-term disabled. This may change quantitatively but will never decouple.
10/
"Thus, incidence rates - together with other parameters – remain indispensable as an early warning sign.
"Second, responsibility means sincere, sober and above all coherent communication that places trust in the citizens, while conveying unpleasant truths...
11/
"..and setting clear and consistent behavioral guidelines.
"The fact that such communication and uniform binding regulations are still lacking undermines the relationship of trust between the government and the population,
12/
"..thus damaging trust in other pandemic measures such as vaccination and contributing significantly to the prolongation of the pandemic situation.
"Third, responsibility means awareness of the German and European role in the global pandemic response.
13/
"Finally, responsibility means a pandemic response based permanently and with transparency on the knowledge and tools that various scientific disciplines have developed over the past two years.
14/
"These enable a preventive pandemic policy and prevent the loss of control that would lead to reactive, frantic measures.
15/
Vaccines alone won’t end the Covid pandemic, says New Zealand former PM Helen Clark
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said one of the biggest challenges she’s faced in managing the Covid outbreak was to proactively respond to spikes in cases.
Covid-19 still spreading globally and a “vaccine-only” strategy won’t bring the pandemic to an end, former New Zealand PM Helen Clark said Thursday. “What I would say to the countries ... [that] have been successful with vaccine rollouts is: that won’t do it alone,”
2/
“You must be able to calibrate, bring back in or maintain public health measures relevant to the epidemiological state of the pandemic and your country at the time,” she added.
3/
"People don’t remember the world as it was a hundred years ago,” said Yaneer Bar-Yam. “To live in that world, a world where orphans are common, and children dying is common, and the destruction of society is ongoing because of disease, is very hard for people to imagine.”
2/
"Bar-Yam is an expert in complex systems who has consulted on everything from how Wall Street can better handle market uncertainty to how the Navy integrates new defense concepts. But his greatest impact may be in the area of epidemic disease.
3/
Airborne precautions for schools and workplaces, and the international coalition to implement them. We will livestream the production of a box in real-time as a livestream during the sessions.
Session will cover how the coordinated Covid disinformation network organizes, operates in mainstream media, interacts with policy makers and explain how this results in street level activity.
The World Health Network: a global citizens' initiative
The COVID-19 pandemic has cost more than 4 million lives, left millions of people with persistent symptoms (ie, long COVID), and has devastated societies, ..
..with already disadvantaged communities being hit hardest. The tragedy is that much of this harm was preventable,
2/
..as shown early on by many Asia-Pacific countries that pursued elimination of COVID-19 and protected both their public health and economies. The rest of the world can still work towards elimination.
3/
"Erie County Health Dept investigation..over past three weeks indicates 4 of 10 cases were fully vaccinated.
"Local hospital systems report between 20% and 40% of patients recently hospitalized with Covid-19 also were fully vaccinated.
2/
"The breakdown is similar for Covid-19 related deaths, with 70% of county Covid-19 deaths since early July involving residents who were not fully vaccinated and 30% involving residents who were.
3/
Study points to possible Covid brain damage mechanism:
Covid protein (protease) cuts a protein (NEMO) important in cells forming the walls of small capilaries of the brain (endothelial cells). This results in cell death and loss of capilaries.
"We obtained evidence that brain endothelial cells are infected and that the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 (Mpro) cleaves NEMO, the essential modulator of nuclear factor-κB.
2/
Loss of cells lining the walls of capillaries in the brain makes them unable to cary blood—harming the brain. What is left are called "string vessels" and are found in increased numbers in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's