2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

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#2825050 6-Dec-2021 14:07

Sup: ...

It is possible that New Zealand saw fomite transmission earlyish in this pandemic.

...

And then there was the case of the infected lift button, the wheely bin, the woman who worked at the laundry....for a time, those 'out of nowhere cases' were suggestive of fomite transmission.

...

Or airborne transmission from residual infectious aerosols in poorly ventilated spaces (certainly at least in the first two of those cases).

If I recall correctly, back then some were still downplaying aerosol infection?

FWIW, Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2

https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(21)00869-2/fulltext

DS248

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#2825068 6-Dec-2021 14:25

DS248:

@Sup: ...

It is possible that New Zealand saw fomite transmission earlyish in this pandemic.

...

And then there was the case of the infected lift button, the wheely bin, the woman who worked at the laundry....for a time, those 'out of nowhere cases' were suggestive of fomite transmission.

...

Or airborne transmission from residual infectious aerosols in poorly ventilated spaces (certainly at least in the first two of those cases).

If I recall correctly, back then some were still downplaying aerosol infection?

==

FWIW, Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2

https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(21)00869-2/fulltext

Not implying fomite transmission isn't possible, or didn't occur in those cases. Just that there was clear potential for airborne aerosol transmission in at least the first cases mentioned (do not recall enough about the third example to comment).

I do not recall much coverage of the airborne transmission possibility at the time these cases were in the news back in Oct 2020.

Sup

366 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2825087 6-Dec-2021 14:57

Not implying fomite transmission isn't possible, or didn't occur in those cases. Just that there was clear potential for airborne aerosol transmission in at least the first cases mentioned (do not recall enough about the third example to comment).

I do not recall much coverage of the airborne transmission possibility at the time these cases were in the news back in Oct 2020.

And this is the thing. Relative risk is still heavily loaded toward Covid in the air no matter what way you dice it.

The man who touches Covid droplets, then picks his nose with seeded finger, is probably standing near the shedder breathing more in than molecules on a finger tip.

I remember with masks, our infection controls at work taught us that broad use of masks by unqualified folk was a transmission risk.

And we saw this with the WHOs recommendations not to wear masks.

No mask for non staff members with the exception of environments like negative pressure rooms or isolation rooms was the norm.

What I did not appreciate until Covid hit, is that the West was poorly equipped to supply a surge in P.P.E. use by the general public.

Thus making general mask wearing a non option, an actual threat to healthcare.

And the thing that surprised me most of all, was the lack of trial data on the the wearing of masks in general. That one was a shattering revelation from where I sit.

Don't laugh, but our family, when Covid first hit, had very stringent DIY infection control measures (remembering I was waiting for the big one to hit, little was known about Covid, and cases were exponential).

We had a quarantine area in our house for shopping goods, non perishables, with exposure to sunlight. Car keys door knobs etc were cleansed on return from the plague markets. Any food needed immediately got a light hand soap wash (hand wash??? what is that...the shelves were empty). A full shower, clothing laundered. The stuff you would do at work in health care in disease management.

Ah the heady days of an information vacuum.

Now I don't bother.

Now I have food stores for peace of mind/supply chain or a fortnight at home self Isolating and that is it.

Just keep swimming...

DS248

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#2825092 6-Dec-2021 15:03

An interesting computational tour de force with impressive graphics illustrating how the virus survives in the open air as it spreads to a new host.

The Coronavirus in a Tiny Drop.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/12/01/science/coronavirus-aerosol-simulation.html

Sup

366 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2825126 6-Dec-2021 16:23

Mega announcement on that pre order of 60,000 courses of Paxlovid.

Used early it really is a game changer and will massively drop hospitalizations provided we are proactive in terms of our personal responsibility to get tested. Most of the benefit will be to other household contacts, the index case in a household would have a very narrow window to get tested (before day five).

Still...this is a stunning get by Pharmac. Well done all concerned.

Just keep swimming...

wellygary

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#2825130 6-Dec-2021 16:39

Sup:

Mega announcement on that pre order of 60,000 courses of Paxlovid.

Used early it really is a game changer and will massively drop hospitalizations provided we are proactive in terms of our personal responsibility to get tested. Most of the benefit will be to other household contacts, the index case in a household would have a very narrow window to get tested (before day five).

Still...this is a stunning get by Pharmac. Well done all concerned.

Although It is quite time Critical...

Its unlikely to be prescribed until you get a positive test back, so with a up to 48hr return on testing, you could have a little as 3 days to get you self tested after the onset of testing....

"The recommended dosage in adult patients is 800 mg (four 200 mg capsules) taken orally every 12 hours for 5 days, with or without food. Treatment should be started within 5 days of symptom onset."

https://www.fda.gov/media/154418/download

Sup

366 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2825137 6-Dec-2021 16:57

wellygary:

Sup:

Mega announcement on that pre order of 60,000 courses of Paxlovid.

Used early it really is a game changer and will massively drop hospitalizations provided we are proactive in terms of our personal responsibility to get tested. Most of the benefit will be to other household contacts, the index case in a household would have a very narrow window to get tested (before day five).

Still...this is a stunning get by Pharmac. Well done all concerned.

Although It is quite time Critical...

Its unlikely to be prescribed until you get a positive test back, so with a up to 48hr return on testing, you could have a little as 3 days to get you self tested after the onset of testing....

"The recommended dosage in adult patients is 800 mg (four 200 mg capsules) taken orally every 12 hours for 5 days, with or without food. Treatment should be started within 5 days of symptom onset."

https://www.fda.gov/media/154418/download

Agreed. one of the safeguards in the system is the prioritization of alerting patients of a positive result. Obviously for reasons of contact tracing.

How I see these types of treatments, is that they are a helpful option for people who are already health concious and are inclined to follow the health advice.

It also offers an incentive to get tested in the first place. This is the real game changer. At the moment there is little incentive to get tested apart from feeling some communal responsiblity towards peers and to a lesser extent society.

The need to know for your own sake is a weak driver of coming forward in a Kiwi culture context in terms of having proactive attitudes towards their personal health (a generalization based on our laissez faire 'she'll be right' attitudes).

It will be interesting to see how the drug is used in households in terms of prophylactic protection of at risk individuals in the family home.

At the end of the day it comes with a window that has an alert setting in built....the onset of symptoms. Therefore the health messaging remains ever critical to the big picture.

Fortunately we live in one of the more aware societies in the world.

Just keep swimming...

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Scott3

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#2825138 6-Dec-2021 16:58

Today's press conference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpvkV5tlfUk

Wasn't aired on TV 1 / 3 today.

freitasm

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#2825142 6-Dec-2021 17:14

Press release:

New Zealand has secured supplies of another medicine to treat COVID-19, Health Minister Andrew Little announced today.

“In October, New Zealand was one of the first countries in the world to make an advance purchase of a promising new antiviral drug, molnupiravir,” Andrew Little said.

“Today I am pleased to say the national drug-funding agency Pharmac has secured from Pfizer 60,000 courses of another antiviral medicine which, like molnupiravir, can be taken as a tablet and used to stop people with mild symptoms becoming very sick.

“Vaccinations and following the scan-mask-pass routine are still the best ways of stopping the spread of COVID-19, but it’s important we also have a range of medicines to treat those who do get sick.

“Alongside vaccinations, our hospital treatments are already reducing the likelihood of people needing ICU care, with the ICU rate in Auckland dropping to 3 percent of hospitalisations, down from 5.7 percent previously.

“Molnupiravir works by introducing copying errors during replication, which means you are less likely to get a fully functioning virus.

“Pfizer’s antiviral drug, which does not yet have a brand name in New Zealand, also inhibits replication but in a different way, by preventing the cleavage of certain proteins necessary to create a fully functioning virus.

“We’ve made sure Pharmac can continue to secure early access to new and promising COVID medicines as soon as possible, with $175 million allocated for medicines and supply chain costs and another $300 million available for purchasing more Covid-19 therapeutics.

“Both drugs are still subject to approval by Medsafe, but trials look promising and by securing access to both we are doing everything possible to make sure New Zealanders have available medicines that are easy to administer and prevent most people who contract COVID-19 from being so sick they need to go to hospital,” Andrew Little said.

The Pfizer anti-viral is expected to be delivered to New Zealand in April, once approved by MedSafe. Other COVID-19 medicines secured by Pharmac are baricitinib, remdesivir, tocilizumab, and Ronapreve.

DS248

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#2825143 6-Dec-2021 17:18

Sup:

Mega announcement on that pre order of 60,000 courses of Paxlovid.

Used early it really is a game changer and will massively drop hospitalizations provided we are proactive in terms of our personal responsibility to get tested. Most of the benefit will be to other household contacts, the index case in a household would have a very narrow window to get tested (before day five).

Still...this is a stunning get by Pharmac. Well done all concerned.

Yes, great news, especially with possible DNA mutation concerns in relation to molnupiravir, which Pharmac has already ordered (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03074-5).

At least at headline level. Paxlovid appears to be significantly more effective at reducing hospitalisations.

One unknown though is effectiveness in the case of vaccinated people (no data yet), so presumably initially the new antivirals will only be used on unvaccinated people?

Batman

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#2825152 6-Dec-2021 18:03

DS248:

Yes, great news, especially with possible DNA mutation concerns in relation to molnupiravir,

yikes thanks for the heads up i'm not taking this

mattwnz

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#2825154 6-Dec-2021 18:11

Scott3:

Today's press conference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpvkV5tlfUk

Wasn't aired on TV 1 / 3 today.

Thanks. Didn't even know there was one. Pretty poor form from our national TV broadcaster not to show it, doubt many people would even know it occurred.

Oblivian

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#2825155 6-Dec-2021 18:24

I expect it was a crash course one being 4pm on the back of signing the agreement during Monday sitting to shut down any leaks?

tv may not have had time to bother breaking scheduling or finding media fronts. There's been other moh only stand-ups not televised

Can always check health.govt.nz media section. They outline any conferences and if live. Makes it easier than the 'view live' bs media do even when it's by statement

Buster

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#2825157 6-Dec-2021 18:41

I tend to watch them live on YouTube to get the whole thing unless the questions just get too silly.

Handle9

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#2825158 6-Dec-2021 18:45

mattwnz:
Scott3:

Today's press conference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpvkV5tlfUk

Wasn't aired on TV 1 / 3 today.

Thanks. Didn't even know there was one. Pretty poor form from our national TV broadcaster not to show it, doubt many people would even know it occurred.

There are dozens of press conferences by government every week. If there’s sufficient interest it’ll get shown but otherwise it’s a press conference not a public event.

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