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Watsisname
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Thread

04 Dec 2022 12:49

Covid activity is relatively low here at the moment. But what isn't low is influenza. Holy ***. Already double the peak of a typical year (while 2020/2021 were very low due to pandemic restrictions) and rising fast. But we expected this because of how it behaved in the southern hemisphere (especially Australia) first. I'm glad I got my flu shot early...

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midtskogen
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Thread

07 Dec 2022 03:27

Not so much over here in Norway.  So far just an early start compared to 21/22, which was low, and 20/21 was non-existant.  The graph shows weekly new hospitalisations.
x.png
I got my flu shot, but I'm done with covid shots after three of them.
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A-L-E-X
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Thread

08 Dec 2022 07:23

What is it with this triple treat of COVID/FLU/RSV? At least Monkeypox is now gone!
Uptake of the new booster is very low here, around 13%
 
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midtskogen
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Thread

07 Mar 2023 05:29

Covid is not gone, but enough time has passed to evaluate the countermeasures like lockdowns, social distancing, face masks.  The following statistics is interesting.  As we know, Sweden remained largely open.  This does not mean that everything was business as usual, individual common sense could have played a role.  Maybe the trend is that governments simply don't trust their people.
x.png
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Thread

07 Mar 2023 09:11

Timing is important. If you want to judge the effectiveness of lockdowns, we should look at the time frame where lockdowns were the most important factor. That was during spring and summer of 2020. Sweden's excess mortality rate then was higher than almost anywhere else in Europe except Great Britian (which had also gone with a herd immunity strategy with a lot less common sense than Sweden). Sweden's excess mortality rate did not drop to similar or lower levels to neighboring countries until 2021.

Sweden's policy also shifted throughout 2020. Whereas most other countries started to relax measures, Sweden actually intensified them. Sweden had imposed limits on public gatherings to no more than 50 people in spring, and by November they reduced it to only 8. They also banned visits to nursing homes (wise), and secondary schools were closed.

From early 2021 through 2022, the most important factor for excess mortality is the level of immunity within the population from vaccination and prior exposure. On vaccination, Sweden's rate is the 5th highest, behind Portugal, Malta, Belgium, and Italy.
 
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Thread

07 Mar 2023 10:02

Covid is not gone, but enough time has passed to evaluate the countermeasures like lockdowns, social distancing, face masks.  The following statistics is interesting.  As we know, Sweden remained largely open.  This does not mean that everything was business as usual, individual common sense could have played a role.  Maybe the trend is that governments simply don't trust their people.

x.png
The Scandanavian nations seem to be ahead of the rest of the world on every metric-- including Covid!
 
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Thread

07 Mar 2023 10:04

Timing is important. If you want to judge the effectiveness of lockdowns, we should look at the time frame where lockdowns were the most important factor. That was during spring and summer of 2020. Sweden's excess mortality rate then was higher than almost anywhere else in Europe except Great Britian (which had also gone with a herd immunity strategy with a lot less common sense than Sweden). Sweden's excess mortality rate did not drop to similar or lower levels to neighboring countries until 2021.

Sweden's policy also shifted throughout 2020. Whereas most other countries started to relax measures, Sweden actually intensified them. Sweden had imposed limits on public gatherings to no more than 50 people in spring, and by November they reduced it to only 8. They also banned visits to nursing homes (wise), and secondary schools were closed.

From early 2021 through 2022, the most important factor for excess mortality is the level of immunity within the population from vaccination and prior exposure. On vaccination, Sweden's rate is the 5th highest, behind Portugal, Malta, Belgium, and Italy.
It's interesting how on almost every metric that nations are measured by, the Scandanavian nations (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland) lead the pack, whether it's longevity (highest), income disparity (lowest), social mobility (highest), healthcare (highest), literacy rate (highest), happiness index (highest).  They do things right and the people are in accord with their governments.
 
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midtskogen
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Thread

07 Mar 2023 13:37

Timing is important. If you want to judge the effectiveness of lockdowns, we should look at the time frame where lockdowns were the most important factor. That was during spring and summer of 2020. Sweden's excess mortality rate then was higher than almost anywhere else in Europe except Great Britian (which had also gone with a herd immunity strategy with a lot less common sense than Sweden). Sweden's excess mortality rate did not drop to similar or lower levels to neighboring countries until 2021.
Yes, timing is important.  Look at the mortality in 2019 for Sweden:
x.png
It was unusually low, so Sweden likely entered 2020 with an excess of frail people who were particularly vulnerable.  Similarly, Norway had decreased mortality in 2020.  Death isn't so easily cheated, so some displacement must be accounted for.  The lockdowns might influence such displacements.  For instance, it's believed that the lockdowns eliminated the flu season, and mortality decreased, or rather got displaced.

In retrospect I find it difficult to find support for lockdowns having been effective in preventing deaths in the Nordic countries.  Regarding the question on long Covid issues, I suppose we don't really know yet.  That is also something that needs to be investigated.
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midtskogen
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Thread

07 Mar 2023 13:55

It's interesting how on almost every metric that nations are measured by, the Scandanavian nations (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland) lead the pack, whether it's longevity (highest), income disparity (lowest), social mobility (highest), healthcare (highest), literacy rate (highest), happiness index (highest).  They do things right and the people are in accord with their governments.
I'm not so sure about the "accord with their governments" part.  People for the most part comply, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they agree or fully trust the government.

Why was the mortality of Covid low in the Nordic countries, more or less like a regular flu?  Multiple factors I suppose:
* Sparsely populated
* Relatively healthy population
* Decent healthcare
* Respiratory diseases are common and the immune system gets well prepared for these things
* Genetics, which can be related to the above bullet point.  Children have a cold more or less continuously until well into the teens, and child mortality was near 50% until the 1800's, so genes making people vulnerable to respiratory diseases get selected away.
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