Coronavirus

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Like I said, I'm very hesitant to recommend supplements. AD brings up good points. Namely, dosing (as well as delivery method) is seemingly a more/less willy nilly guess (while obviously tablets are going to be the main delivery method as injections and/or inhalation won't be used by general public). And, even the strongest proponents of NAC have all stopped short of saying it's something that should be taken regularly.

Without going through all the studies, it seems pretty clear there is *some* benefit and those benefits are largely found in reducing symptoms as well as 'clearing' the lungs. It was, at one point, used in an inhaled form to break up mucus in the lungs. If that benefit is found when taken in tablet form, I have no idea. It's also possible something more effective/easier/cheaper is available, mucinex comes to mind. Regardless, the chemistry supporting NAC's function both as an anti-oxidant and breaker of certain bonds is pretty straightforward.

Not arguing everyone should take it. But, if someone is really struggling with lung congestion enough to worry about long term health, and other medicines have failed, it's a possible tool/asset that is worth discussing. IMO.

Here's a video that really breaks down the chemistry and goes through the studies if you want to spend half an hour going through it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr_6w-WPr0w

[Jocephus]

fwiw

How to Get Your Free At-Home COVID Tests From the U.S. Government
It turns out they will be mailing them out, after all.

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-get-your- ... 1848375992

a commenter mentions the link may be live already and you can place order here

https://special.usps.com/testkits

[Arthur Dent]

Sweet. Done. Now I can get tests just two weeks after my probable COVID infection.

[Jocephus]

guess i shouldn't have bothered

[Arthur Dent]

guess i shouldn't have bothered

?

I appreciate the link, and I really did order some tests. Why not? Just seems like Biden is always doing this stuff in the too late time frame.

[ghostrunner]

Just found out today Anthem is sending them out in 1-2 days, so I ordered a box (2 tests). Might be other insurance companies doing the same. They'll send up to 8 a month.

[GeddyWrox]

[GeddyWrox]

I just signed up at that USPS link. Wonder how fast we'll get them?!

[cardinalkarp]

I just signed up at that USPS link. Wonder how fast we'll get them?!

I think it said they were starting to go out at the end of the month.

[mikechamp]

This is the 1st of 2 articles that I read recently on this topic. Interestingly, they seem to go in slightly different directions. Could it be that we just don't quite have a handle on how this new virus is going to morph and change? Seems plausible to me.

Endemic Covid: Is the pandemic entering its endgame?

Who hasn't let out an exasperated "Is the pandemic finished yet?" or a "When can I just get on with my life?" over the past two years? I know I have. The answer to those questions could be... very soon.

There is growing confidence that Omicron could be hurtling the UK into the pandemic endgame. "We're almost there, it is now the beginning of the end, at least in the UK," Prof Julian Hiscox, chairman in infection and global health at the University of Liverpool, tells me. "I think life in 2022 will be almost back to before the pandemic."

But what comes next? There will be no snap of the fingers to make the virus disappear. Instead, the new buzzword we'll have to get used to is "endemic" - which means that Covid is, without doubt, here to stay. "Endemicity was written into this virus," says Dr Elisabetta Groppelli, a virologist at St George's, University of London. "I am very optimistic," she says. "We'll soon be in a situation where the virus is circulating, we will take care of people at risk, but for anybody else we accept they will catch it - and your average person will be fine."

But Prof Azra Ghani, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, says other people are using it to mean Covid is still around, but that we no longer need to restrict our lives. She thinks we'll get there "rapidly", adding: "It seems like it's taken a long time, but only a year ago we started vaccinating and we're already an awful lot freer because of that."

The only major curve ball would be a new variant that can outcompete Omicron and cause significantly more severe disease.

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59970281