And perhaps that’s why a large percentage of people that are exposed don’t contract this virus. It doesn’t really matter - what drives fear is the unexplained reasons why the very smallest of percentages are impacted so gravely. It’s like Russian roulette.
This is one of the biggest mysteries of the whole pandemic - why do some people get super sick and why do others have no symptoms or mild symptoms? If I think back, with all my digging through research reports, I've probably held four different explanations for this situation as "the best we have so far" but none of them have really been convincing. At this point, the best I've been able to get to is "we really have no idea". What is worth keeping in mind, although again it's just "the best thing for today, stand by for changes" is that there are four fundamentally different responses by humans when they encounter the virus. First one, best one is "it doesn't get in the door" - your immune system stops it before it gets a chance to infect you. The second is "begone, foul virus" where you get infected, but in the five or so days between infection and becoming symptomatic, you kill off the virus and you never know it was ever there. The third one is that you get the virus, have mild symptoms and then it's over. The last one is the one that most of the research and media coverage has been aimed at - sufficient symptoms to warrant isolation or hospitalization, some severe enough to bring death. The overriding issue on top of the last two is "long Covid" where symptoms continue after the virus is gone. In the community where I live, this apparently happens in about 1/3 of symptomatic cases, so it's not something to be ignored.
While research has turned its attention to the mechanics of the first two - no symptoms - there haven't been any solid breakthroughs yet. On the second two, there is a theory that's gaining ground - far from being considered reliable - that what separates severe symptoms from mild symptoms is the way the virus attacks your gut. There's lots of data that shows that testing sewage is a good way to assess the disease level in a community, so obviously the virus goes through your gut. But for some people, it produces a similar reaction to Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn's disease and Celiac disease. Your gut starts to leak bacteria and enzymes into your bloodstream and they then join in the attack on your body. Your immune system is fighting a respiratory disease on the air-side of your lungs and a bacterial attack on all of your organs - including your brain - from your blood at the same time. Now again, this is all new science and it could be overturned next week, but it's the best explanation I've seen so far. One thing it does address is "long Covid" where the symptoms are similar to those of long-term gut disorders. And some of those are permanent, so even if you're not afraid of dying from Covid 19, the risk of long term health problems is very real.
One other thought, are DNA samples being collected and logged as part of the state and county funded “free” testing?
I'm terrifically tempted to joke about this, but given how sensitive this is as a topic these days, I'll have to leave aside any humor - I don't know about your state or country for sure, but in most of the western world, it's illegal. I believe there are restrictions on this in the USA, but I'm not an expert on US law.
Remarkably, before the news was designed for ratings, we actually had factual information coming from them (1985ish).
I know - wasn't it great! Back then, the news media saw its role as a "spin remover". Not so much any more.
So the question still goes back to.. apparently COVID19 is a mutation of a prior virus, possibly SARS or is that just a conduit for COVID? and really, how long ha sit been here? and what do we really know about it's transmission?
Yes, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a new, previously unseen variation of a type of virus that's been circulating in human society for decades. It's symptoms are the disease we know as Covid 19. The existing "endemic coronaviruses" circulate on a cycle of about every 8 years, which is roughly how long the body's immunity takes to wear off after the last infection. They produce flu-like symptoms and most people think they're just a bad cold. As far as transmission is concerned, SARS-CoV-2 is about as infectious as measles, which is one of the most infectious diseases known to man. Give it an inch and it'll take a continent.
Is herd immunity really a thing, or do we really want to subject ourselves to a vaccine that is designed to alter our DNA (which I think I'll pass for now.. thanks)
For most diseases, herd immunity is real. The basic form relies on becoming immune after surviving the infection. If enough people in a community have had the infection, or have been vaccinated, the number of people left to pass the disease around is too small for it to prosper and spread. Once the disease is suppressed, it has a hard time coming back. But, as the anti-vax communities have proven with measles, if enough people are susceptible, then those little buggers will rise again and start taking names and kicking ass.
It seems we're no better off then we were in September.. or was it December?.. March?
Worse, actually. For reasons that escape me, the deniers and anti-maskers are bound and determined to make the disease as severe as possible and make it last as long as possible. It's a very strange phenomenon.
In the meantime I was in something like 8 states in a 24 day span around September, some had insanely draconian rules (California) some had almost none, (Georgia). So I wear a mask where it's required, ditch it for my own health whenever possible, and disinfect my hands and things I touch.. a lot, and quit worrying about it.
That's what I've been doing where I live - follow the guidelines and hope for the best.
to that end I shut off my news feeds on the computer and phone (except for Australia which actually carries news on American politics) and go about my life.
Very wise!