This Physicist Says We Don’t Take COVID Seriously Enough
The pandemic isn't over, and there's still much to fear from the COVID-19 virus.
[Andrew Nikiforuk in The Tyee]
Based on a new, increased baseline in work absences, and excess deaths beyond their baseline before the pandemic, there’s a lot to worry about. But the cumulative effect of repeat infections, and the debilitating symptoms of long COVID, should also be worrying us more.
Among other reasons:
“Because COVID destabilizes the immune system, researchers are now beginning to see a link between repeat COVID infections and rising cancer rates in young people. One study recently found that a COVID infection can accelerate or increase cancer risk, while another study revealed that a COVID infection substantially heightened the risk of six cancers caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus. ”
It’s an existential threat on many levels. And a long-standing belief that children are comparatively less affected is dead wrong:
“A 2024 JAMA study challenged the “misperception” that long COVID is rare in children or resembles that of adults. It reviewed the health outcomes of thousands of children aged between six and 17, both infected and uninfected. It found 10 to 15 per cent of children and adolescents developed long COVID after one infection, a rate similar to that of adults.”
There are lots of people who think shutdowns were unnecessary, or that the pandemic is fully over. I disagree with them in the strongest terms. This article details some of the reasons why.
[Link]
