Why we should all still be avoiding COVID
For most people, avoiding getting COVID (again) is probably the single biggest thing they can do for their health.
You might say to yourself, “I had COVID and I’m doing just fine”, that’s great. I wish I never heard another story of death or disability from COVID ever again. Unfortunately, not everyone who has COVID is fine. Even people who were fine after their first infection are not fine after their second, third or fourth. There’s no way to know with any certainty who won’t be fine after their next infection.
This is part of a series of posts on COVID. As the media and governments are now sharing very little information on new covid variants, or ways to avoid getting infected (or even encouraging people to catch COVID so they don’t catch COVID), I feel obliged to share the things I’ve learned so that others can make informed decisions about their health.
I’m not a health expert, and none of this is health advice. By all means, apply a healthy dose of scepticism to this, and check the sources I’ve linked against Media Bias Fact Check.
COVID is airborne
This affects how we manage risk. Crowded spaces indoor are particularly high risk and even crowded outdoors events can transmit covid. If you can smell someone’s perfume or their cigarette smoke, then you can inhale their COVID too.
You can get covid again (soon)
As I write this, the latest NZ Ministry of Health stats indicate that 1 in 10 people getting COVID in the last week are getting it for the second time. Experts and many governments now accept that you can get COVID again within 28 days.
Health risks accumulate with each infection
The overall risk of hospitalisation or long COVID (see below) increases every time someone is infected. A recent study found that those who have had two infections have a 1 in 6 chance of requiring hospitalisation. Those who have had 3 or more had a 1 in 3 chance of hospitalisation or long term health impacts.
COVID kills
In the US, COVID is the third leading cause of death. A person’s risk of heart attack and stroke are up to double for the months following a COVID infection.
For those 45 to 55, COVID is the leading cause of death, killing more than twice as many people than any other cause.
To put that in context if you’re an Australian, remember all those shocking road safety ads to get you to slow down/sleep/don’t drink drive? COVID killed around 12x as many people in the last year as road accidents did in 2021.
To be fair, Australians did get an ad about COVID too.
Yes, Omicron kills (kids) too
The Omicron variant of COVID is 6x more deadly than flu in children. One fifth of all child deaths in the US occurred during the omicron surge.
COVID became the leading cause of death in New Zealand for the month of July 2022. This was the same month reinfections with Omicron peaked.
In Australia, COVID killed around 12x as many people in the last year as road accidents did in 2021. Most of those deaths were during the Omicron wave.
New variants set treatments and vaccines back
Letting the virus run through a vaccinated and treated population has created evolutionary pressure on the virus to evade treatment and immunity (natural and vaccinated). Sadly, COVID has risen to that challenge. The next wave could be of variants for which both the vaccine and antivirals are ineffective.
COVID continues to linger and kill after “recovery”
COVID attacks every organ in the body. The virus “burrows itself in parts of the body that are difficult for the immune system to reach”, lingering in the heart, lungs, brain and other organs for over 3 months.
Deaths among working age people in the US are up 40%. People who are seemingly healthy after a COVID infection may suddenly die from strokes and heart attacks.
Young and middle-aged people, barely sick with COVID, are dying of strokes.
COVID disables many people who survive
Between 1 in 4 and 1 in 6 people who get COVID take longer than 28 days to fully recover. 1 in 20 may not recover after 6 months. 1 in 33 will have symptoms that interfere “a lot” with their lives.
People who have had COVID more than once have a higher risk of hospitalisation or worse than people who have only had it once.
COVID causes brain damage, even in mild and asymptomatic cases.
Many health risks elevate for months after getting COVID, including clots, heart attacks, strokes, chronic fatigue and brain damage. Risks for chronic fatigue, clots or lungs may be elevated by up to 50% even for those who weren’t hospitalised. Vaccination seems to offer only slight protection against long COVID, but for several risk factors, being vaccinated appears to offer no significant protection.
Experts warn of a coming “Tsunami of disability” and are urging governments to plan for a future where “millions of survivors are chronically ill”.
