COVID in California: Fauci rues ‘profound’ divisiveness that hindered fight against pandemic
Fauci #Fauci
As community coronavirus levels worsen in the Bay Area, some jurisdictions are triggering automatic mask mandates for settings such as shelters and prisons as required under state law.
The latest emerging subvariants of the coronavirus are better than others at skipping around vaccine immunity — but that doesn’t mean it is useless to get the latest booster, experts say. With infection levels once again climbing to the government’s higher tiers, mask guidance is shifting again, although mandates are not as high and widespread on the agenda these days. Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a message aimed at the next generation of scientists, rued that the fight against COVID-19 “has been hindered by the profound political divisiveness in our society.”
Latest updates:
China faces hospital surge in patients now that restrictions are being eased
Facing a surge in COVID-19 cases since it started easing up on its anti-coronavirus restrictions that confined millions of people to their homes and crushed economic growth, China is setting up more intensive care facilities and trying to strengthen hospitals in preparation for a flood of new infections. President Xi Jinping’s government is officially committed to stopping virus transmission, the last major country to try. But the latest moves suggest the ruling Communist Party will tolerate more cases without quarantines or shutting down travel or businesses as it winds down its “zero-COVID” strategy. The government has called for “full mobilization” of hospitals including adding staff to ensure their “combat effectiveness” and increasing drug supplies, according to state media cited by the Associated Press. Officials were told to keep track of the health of everyone in their area aged 65 and older. It isn’t clear how much infection numbers have increased since Beijing last week ended mandatory testing as often as once a day in many areas. But interviews and social media accounts say there are outbreaks in businesses and schools across the country. Some restaurants and other businesses have closed because too many employees are sick.
Bay Area counties shift into higher COVID tiers, triggering new mask guidance
COVID-19 continues its latest climb across the U.S., now with 14% of Americans in a region classified in the Center for Disease Control’s “high” tier, based on hospitalization and case metrics. Santa Clara County became the first in the Bay Area to slip back into the “high” tier, for which the CDC recommends people wear a high-quality mask or respirator in public spaces and counsels those who are high-risk to consider avoiding non-essential indoor public activities. Four other counties moved from “low” to “medium,” which means under state law that masks are required in specific high-risk settings, such as jails and homeless shelters. Read more about the shifting mask landscape in the Bay Area.
Fauci’s parting words aimed at next generation: Stand up for science
Dr. Anthony Fauci, in an open message to upcoming scientists as he leaves the government stage after a 54-year career, said the COVID pandemic has underscored the importance of investing in basic and clinical biomedical research. “The major successes of the COVID-19 pandemic have been driven by scientific advances, particularly lifesaving vaccines that were developed, proven safe and effective in clinical trials and made available to the public within one year — an unprecedented feat,” he wrote in a New York Times opinion article. In the article that reflected broadly on his career, and his love of science and discovery, Fauci, 81, also wrote, “Other lessons are painful, such as the failures of certain public health responses domestically and globally.” He added that the fight against COVID-19 “has been hindered by the profound political divisiveness in our society. In a way that we have never seen before, decisions about public health measures such as wearing masks and being vaccinated with highly effective and safe vaccines have been influenced by disinformation and political ideology.”
Fauci called it “our collective responsibility” to ensure that good data drives public health policy decisions. As in recent interviews, he urged scientists and health workers to speak out to defend science. Fauci also called it “the privilege and honor of my lifetime” to spearhead the massive global AIDS relief program launched by then-President George W. Bush, an effort that has saved millions of lives with drugs that had been out of reach in African and other poor AIDS-torn regions. It was, he said, “an example of what can be accomplished when policymakers aspire to bold goals, underpinned by science.”
Yes, latest subvariants can stand up to immunity, but boosters do still help some
More than earlier versions of the coronavirus, the emerging BQ.1, BQ.1.1 and XBB subvariants of the omicron strain can evade the immunity gained from vaccination or prior infection. Does that mean it’s useless to get the latest booster for protection? Not at all, experts say. True, the current vaccines are less effective against infection by these new strains, and treatments meant to protect immunocompromised people are jeopardized. But nonetheless, the latest booster is still better than no booster at all. Read more about vaccine boosters and the new strains of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Musk disses Fauci in tweet
A short tweet on Sunday from Elon Musk mocked gender pronoun preferences while skewering Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is about to conclude more than five decades of service as a government scientist, much of it as the nation’s top infectious disease expert. “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” Musk wrote on Twitter, the social media platform he now owns, without specifying any grounds for such an action. Since taking ownership of Twitter, Musk has opened the door to renewed falsehoods and unproven conspiracy theories about COVID-19, with the platform announcing it would no longer enforce its policy against COVID misinformation. Fauci, as head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, and in the Biden administration as the top White House medical adviser also, has led the fight against spread of the virus.