Trump ended COVID19

[Moksha]

The White House science office listed "ending the COVID-19 pandemic" as the top accomplishment of President Trump's first term, even as the U.S. has set records for new daily infections, and numerous hospitals across the country are stretched to their breaking points.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5 ... as-us-hits

Everything Trump touches becomes dishonest.

[Res Ipsa]

He did? Now what am I going to do with all these masks?

[Jersey Girl]

I've never seen so much crap PR in my life. Do they really think we don't know they're lying or do they believe their own delusions? They all suffering from Stockholm Syndrome or something?

[Chap]

I confess that I was hoping that some software glitch on the new board had reversed the order of the thread title ... well, we shall see, shan't we?

[Kishkumen]

I confess that I was hoping that some software glitch on the new board had reversed the order of the thread title ... well, we shall see, shan't we?

That must have been one sweet moment before Trump’s nightmare version of reality reasserted itself with a vengeance.

[Gunnar]

It appears to me that now that Trump has had covid-19 and "recovered" and thinks he is now immune and safe from getting it again, he no longer cares how many other people get sick and die from it. Nor does he care how many of his rabid supporters get it at this point due to his rallies. The rally attendees who are most likely to be persuaded to vote for him, if they were not already so persuaded, are also the most likely to refrain from mask wearing and social distancing, and therefore also most likely to catch the virus. That doesn't matter to Trump because the election is close enough now so that even if the sickest of them eventually die from it, they will almost certainly survive long enough to place their votes. That's all that matters to Trump at this point.

[Jersey Girl]

There's a recent UK study (London?) that revealed waning immunity for those who were infected. He best not be counting his chickens.

[Res Ipsa]

There's a recent UK study (London?) that revealed waning immunity for those who were infected. He best not be counting his chickens.

I think you're referring to the React 2 study. Sadly, it was way, way overhyped in the media. Here's my understanding. The presence of a disease results in the creation of a high level of antibodies. Although different types are produced, the type that confers long term immunity is IgG. After you recover from the disease, the IgG levels falls, eventually plateauing at a lower level. React 2 uses home testing. It also does not follow the same people over time. Instead, it takes a cross sectional sample at different points in time and compares the percentage of people who test positive.

Here's the problem: the plateau level for IgG may be at or below the limits of the test React 2 uses (lateral flow assay). A couple of studies in the US have followed the same people over time and used the more sensitive ELISA test. They found that the IgG levels acted as expected, declining after infection and then plateauing. The differences between these studies and React 2 is the methodology (longitudinal vs cross sectional) and sensitivity of the antibody test (ELISA vs. lateral flow).

Here's a link to an NIH blog entry that discusses the US studies: https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2020/10/2 ... or-months/

None of these studies test for immunity. The immune system is complex and there is much we don't know about it. But the US studies show IgG levels in individuals acting the way they do with diseases that confer immunity. So that's encouraging. The only way to really test for immunity is to assess reinfection rates.

COVID-19 may end up as an endemic disease, with recurrence annually, like seasonal flu. Or periods of several years to decades. There was a good paper in Science about that subject that was published today: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6516/527

[Moksha]

You have to be quite deep into pathological lying to have the White House science office release such a statement. The science office also has to be made up of political toadies with no respect for the truth and unfettered by the influence of real science, per the new Trump Executive Order removing trained people from all policy decisions.

[MeDotOrg]

When asked for a comment, Covid-19 replied "Well call me Jesus, because there's going to be a resurrection."

We are going to have a spike this winter. To manage the crisis, we will in a probability have a lame duck President whose primary concern will be trying to litigate his way into a second term.

I think we are in for dark days ahead.