COVID-19 in Australia 2022

Very desperate but you’d still need a degree.


I had my booster and it was fine, no different to the other jabs.

 

So I'm on what feels like the final day of my infection. It's by far the easiest illness I've ever had to deal with (for me anyway, experiences vary obviously).

Day 1) Slightly runny nose (by "slight" I'm talking a slight dribble every few mins)

Day 2) Cough, but I've now come to realise I never had a cough, it's cause I spent the previous day on a work site filled with dust.

Day 3) Runny nose turned into a blocked nose.

Day 4 - Today) All gone.

And yes it was confirmed via PCR, not RAT. Booster shot a little over a week before infection. Boosters, gotta love em.

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Partner: got her booster on the same day as the infection. All she got was lots of sweating for 48 hours, barely anything else to speak of. Also confirmed via PCR.

What a weird virus.

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Let me repeat: boosters! I'd give it a hug if I could.

 

Good to know. You're right about it being weird. Spoke to a lady today who had had three doses of Pfizer. She contracted Covid and it hammered her. Needed 10 days to recover. The main issue for her was the extreme fatigue.

She said if she didn't have three doses, she was certain she would have required to be hospitalised.

 

This took me by surprise. I did know that "underlying health conditions" could be something simple, a relatively minor day to day issue, that someone gets on with life and lives with ... but nearly 50% of the population are considered to have these "underlying" conditions

'Underlying health conditions' of people who died with COVID-19

To break it up a little further, for those that don't want to read the article ... 11% have asthma, 6% diabetes and 66% of the (over 18 population) are overweight or obese. Also on the list is arthritis and mental health (not sure how they make one more vulnerable)

All of these are considered chronic underlying conditions.

 

From the article.

• Ten had significant heart or valvular disease
• Six had obesity
• Six had chronic lung disease
• Two had asthma
• Seven had diabetes
• Six had significant kidney disease
• Two had significant rheumatological diseases
• Three had other autoimmune diseases
• Four had severe liver disease
• Four had cancer
• Five were significantly immunocompromised
• One had a significant mental health illness
• Four had chronic neurological disorders
• One was on a palliative care pathway pre-COVID diagnosis
• Four did not have any significant underlying health conditions

What's the relatively minor day day to day issue?

 

Heart ... high blood pressure common and usually controlled
Asthma ... common and usually controlled
Diabetes ... common and usually controlled
Arthritis ... common and no idea why it's related to a lung infection disease
Mental health ... no idea why this related to a lung infection disease
Obesity ... very common and usually doesn't stop day to day life

47% of the Australian population have one or more of the "considered as underlying" conditions

And 14% of those who died had nothing considered "underlying"

 

Fair enough on the asthma and mental health but I see no issues with the other health conditions being significant. The article specifically said "significant" heart or valvular disease so it wouldn't be somebody having slightly elevated levels of cholesterol. Obesity is defined as having a BMI of >30.

Raised BMI is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases such as:

• cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke)
• diabetes;
• musculoskeletal disorders (especially osteoarthritis);
• some cancers (including endometrial, breast, ovarian, prostate, liver, gallbladder, kidney, and colon).

For over a decade now the health system and public service has been sounding the alarm that we simply can't keep up with the skyrocketing rates of obesity and associated diseases in Australia. Apart from age one of the highest risk factors for Covid is obesity.

https://www.ipsos.com/en-au/more-third-australians-have-gained-weight-during-pandemic-ipsos-survey

 

Agreed ... sort of. Most of the conditions listed are controlled and allow the person to live an otherwise full life. It was the 47% that hit home ... so for those that pooh pooh'ed about people with underlying conditions being somehow expendable ... that's nearly half of all Australians

Merely being overweight is considered an underlying condition ... apparently I'm overweight, but you'd never know looking at me because I'm very "normal" looking in today's society.

 

Being overweight was not classified as an underlying health condition. It specifically said obesity, which is defined as a BMI of >30.

Overweight and obesity - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
In 2017–18, an estimated 2 in 3 (67%) Australians aged 18 and over were overweight or obese (36% were overweight but not obese, and 31% were obese).

 

Fair enough ... still ... 47% with one or more ...

 

Yeah I wasn't going to get my booster straight away, I thought I'd wait for the 4 month mark. But then the outbreaks started going crazy so I thought well the advice is 3 months now isn't it, why not. I'm so freaking glad I did. Everyone who's spoken to me via video conferencing / Facetime is shocked I have it. They're like...what are you talking about? You look healthier than me!

My girlfriend is the same. I looked at her a few times and thought what the hell is this, let me double check your confirmation SMS that you really got this lol

 

They really know how to trash a weekend read.

'UNPREPARED': Covid pandemic to last '5 to 10 years', experts warn

 

Thankfully it can't affect animals, I'd hate it if I had to be worried about giving it to my pets.

 

Didn’t Covid come from a pet bat?

 

Omicron jumped from humans to mice - and then back again. Alpha was found in minks. Don't be so sure - but still cuddle them