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Anime Medicine

New York Anime Convention Possibly Infected With Omicron (reuters.com) 170

Posted by BeauHD from the time-to-get-tested dept.
Long-time Slashdot reader Aighearach shares a report from Reuters: President Joe Biden on Thursday laid out his strategy to fight the coronavirus as the highly contagious Omicron spread across the globe with winter coming and hours after the first known U.S. case of community transmission of the variant was reported. [...] In California and Colorado, the patients had recently returned from trips to southern Africa and had not gotten booster doses. The case in Minnesota is the first known community transmission within the United States. The patient in Minnesota had recently travelled to New York City for an anime convention, prompting the city to launch contact tracing to try to contain the spread.

"We are aware of a case of the Omicron variant identified in Minnesota that is associated with travel to a conference in New York City, and we should assume there is community spread of the variant in our city," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said. The person told state health investigators he attended the Anime NYC 2021 convention at the Javits Center from Nov. 19 to 21 and developed mild symptoms on Nov. 22. How many Slashdot readers were there? Have you had a recent COVID test?

As of this writing, CNBC reports a total of five cases of the omicron Covid-19 variant have been confirmed in New York. "Cases were discovered in Suffolk County, two in Queens, one in Brooklyn and one in New York City," the report states, citing Gov. Kathy Hochul.
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New York Anime Convention Possibly Infected With Omicron More

New York Anime Convention Possibly Infected With Omicron

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  • https://www.sbs.com.au/news/do... [sbs.com.au]

    the doctor who discovered it says its mild....

    but have to create mass hysteria.

    • Re:Lucky its mild...go mass hysteria (Score:5, Informative)

      by ShadowRangerRIT ( 1301549 ) on Thursday December 02, 2021 @07:55PM (#62041891)
      It's mild so far. But it's also been spreading largely among the young in countries that are disproportionately young, so cases of any COVID variant are expected to be mild. South Africa is only 5.5% over-65; the U.S. is over 3x that (16.6%), the E.U. nearly 4x that (20.8%) (source [worldbank.org]). And it hasn't been spreading long enough to hospitalize many people (hospitalizations lag new cases by about two weeks; deaths lag hospitalizations by another week or two). It's too new to say anything definite about its mildness (or lack thereof).

    • Re:Lucky its mild...go mass hysteria (Score:4, Informative)

      by PinkyGigglebrain ( 730753 ) on Thursday December 02, 2021 @08:09PM (#62041921)

      So far all the reports, including this one, have involved people who had been vaccinated.

      So it was likely thanks to that vaccination that they had mild cases.

      How bad Omicron will be in an un-vaccinated person is as yet unknown.

      What people don't seem to understand about vaccines and prior infections is they do not make you "immune" to a pathogens in the sense that you can never get infected by them. Vaccines just cause your body to generate anti-bodies for a pathogen without causing the damage to it from a real infection so when you do encounter the real pathogen your body can fight it off before it can infect enough of your cells to make you sick.

      As we can clearly see here the vaccine worked in that the cases were mild, but at the same time it possibly did not prevent the people from being contagious at some point.

      • Re:Lucky its mild...go mass hysteria (Score:4, Insightful)

        by NFN_NLN ( 633283 ) on Thursday December 02, 2021 @08:38PM (#62041989)

        > How bad Omicron will be in an un-vaccinated person is as yet unknown.

        There's (2) camps. Unvaccinated with previous exposure, we'll call those 'natural immunity' and people who have never been exposed to any variant for 2 years, we'll call those the worlds luckiest son-of-a-bitch. For the naturally immune they're better equipped than the vaccinated according to all scientific reports. The latter group I fail to believe even exists anymore.

        • There's (2) camps. Unvaccinated with previous exposure, we'll call those 'natural immunity' and people who have never been exposed to any variant for 2 years, we'll call those the worlds luckiest son-of-a-bitch.

          Thanks for the compliment.

        • The latter group I fail to believe even exists anymore.

          Lmao, with a total of 200M cases, most people on earth haven't been exposed. People still know how to count? I doubt it.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by sodul ( 833177 )

            These are confirmed cases where a test was performed and returned positive. There are likely several unreported cases for each reported case, either because the symptoms were too low to even raise the question or because the tests were pretty bad in the early months.

            I'm pretty sure I got Covid back in November 2018, in California, from a coworker that came back from China. He was coughing a lot for weeks, then I was coughing for months. I went to the ER after my watch alerted on my heart rhythm. I ended up

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by dgatwood ( 11270 )

              These are confirmed cases where a test was performed and returned positive. There are likely several unreported cases for each reported case, either because the symptoms were too low to even raise the question or because the tests were pretty bad in the early months.

              Unfortunately, most asymptomatic cases produce no detectable level of antibodies to protect against further infection, and may not protect against a more serious case later.

              I'm pretty sure I got Covid back in November 2018, in California, from a coworker that came back from China.

              >

              Not a chance. The general consensus is that maybe it had been circulating for a month or two before it rose to the level where it was detected, but certainly not a year.

              He was coughing a lot for weeks, then I was coughing for months. I went to the ER after my watch alerted on my heart rhythm. I ended up with long covid symptoms until I got the vaccine. I have no proof I was infected but that was a lot of coincidences.

              Myocarditis can be caused by a wide range of viruses, from flu to chickenpox. So that doesn't say a lot.

              It is interesting that your symptoms went away after vacci

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by sodul ( 833177 )

                Sorry I meant 2019, not 2018. By November 2019 I think it is well established that the virus was quite widespread in Wuhan.

          • Lmao, with a total of 200M cases, most people on earth haven't been exposed. People still know how to count? I doubt it.

            Are you for real? Wipe the smugness off your face. The idiot in this conversation is YOU.

        • Whether natural or vaccine immunity is better is currently unclear and under investigation. Research so far has come down on both sides of the argument.
          • Do you have a citation that natural immunity is better than vaccine immunity? Because I can certainly find a recent example of the opposite conclusion: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volum... [cdc.gov]

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by NFN_NLN ( 633283 )

              "These findings are consistent with evidence that neutralizing antibody titers after receipt of 2 doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine are high (5,6); however, these findings differ from those of a retrospective records-based cohort study in Israel, which did not find higher protection for vaccinated adults compared with those with previous infection during a period of Delta variant circulation."

              Wow, really consistent results. Best 2 out of 3 then?

            • An Israeli study suggested better protection from natural immunity, although there are a series of caveats on that. I'd have to google for a link.

        • That doesn't make any sense.

          Even your statement was true (it's not) " For the naturally immune they're better equipped than the vaccinated according to all scientific reports." The rest of what you wrote makes no sense.

          First of all, why only two camps? Do you think that once a person is vaccinated it is now impossible for them to develop "natural" immunity on top of what they received from the vaccine? Or that getting vaccinated after recovering from infection can't help on top of that "natural immunity"?

          Th

        • "The data is clear: Natural immunity is not better. The COVID-19 vaccines create more effective and longer-lasting immunity than natural immunity from infection." -- https://www.nebraskamed.com/CO... [nebraskamed.com]. Most of the people I know fall into the group you do not believe exists anymore.

      • No they're not a magic forcefield, but at this point if you're not vaccinated it's your own fucking fault if you get sick enough to need hospitalization.

        The people with weak immune systems know who they are and are welcome to take precautions to prevent exposure. Why the rest of us need to continue to modify our behavior to accommodate them is not obvious until you understand that we live in a gerentocracy: Biden is pushing 80, Fauci is past 80, and Pelosi is Good Morning! SUNDAY Morning!

        • I don't often agree with you, but I do agree that people really should go and get vaccinated unless there is a valid medical reason they should not. Maybe if you live as a hermit on a desert island you get a pass. But it should be a personal choice, I'm just presenting what I believe is the rational option.

        • The people with weak immune systems know who they are and are welcome to take precautions to prevent exposure. Why the rest of us need to continue to modify our behavior to accommodate them is not obvious

          There is still a not insignificant threat to our health care systems. Hospitals at 100% capacity are a problem for everyone. I'm fully vaccinated and not worried about COVID. I do worry about getting the normal standard of care if I am in a car accident or something, and we already have a potential years-long backlog of cancelled procedures because the hospitals were overwhelmed with COVID patients.

          • In the US at least very few hospitals at any time were overwhelmed with covid patients and the majority of backlogs have come from people voluntarily deferring routine care after reading scary stories about hospitals being superspreader sites.

            This is a psychological problem largely orthogonal, and somewhat antiparallel to covid response that has to do with people being sick with covid. Sending the message that people should still be afraid of the medical system will just acrue interest on the debt.

            • In the US at least very few hospitals at any time were overwhelmed with covid patients

              I'll just pretend all the news organizations, hospital administrators and health care professional associations were lying then. I'm sure it is easier to go through life being willfully blind. People do track these things though, so objective data is available.

              https://www.npr.org/sections/h... [npr.org]

              Here in my Canadian province we have a huge backlog of elective procedures that were in no way voluntarily cancelled, but maybe that is the reason our death rate from COVID is less than half of yours.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by NFN_NLN ( 633283 )

        > How bad Omicron will be in an un-vaccinated person is as yet unknown.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        they do not make you "immune" to a pathogens in the sense that you can never get infected by them. Vaccines just cause your body to generate anti-bodies for a pathogen without causing the damage to it from a real infection so when you do encounter the real pathogen your body can fight it off before it can infect enough of your cells to make you sick.

        That's not really true. If you have lots of circulating antibodies for a particular pathogen, you may well not get infected at all. As your circulating antibodi

      • So far all the reports, including this one, have involved people who had been vaccinated.

        So it was likely thanks to that vaccination that they had mild cases.

        How bad Omicron will be in an un-vaccinated person is as yet unknown.

        The same doctor has seen both vaccinated and unvaccinated patients and both groups exhibit comparably light symptoms. But, as she states herself, the outlook might change in the next 2-3 weeks as more cases come to light and relevant statistics become possible.

        She is Angelique Co

    • Re:Lucky its mild...go mass hysteria (Score:4, Funny)

      by Crashmarik ( 635988 ) on Thursday December 02, 2021 @10:33PM (#62042251)

      Doctor Who? Shouldn't he/she have been at his own convention?

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by ufgrat ( 6245202 )

        Apparently, the Doctor has had enough past lives to BE a convention. And they're all female. The Doctor we've known for 50+ years is an aberration, and just a blip in her/his existence. Which didn't start on Gallifrey.

        Chibnall is such a freakin' hack.

        • Those episodes don't exist. Capaldi was the last doctor, Whitaker is a fever dream between regenerations. Maybe we get a ginger Doctor at last.

      • Some of the doctors have their own convention, but the ones from The Animated Adventures of Doctor Who get to hang out with Rias Gremory and the Cat Planet Cuties at the anime convention.

    • but have to create mass hysteria.

      Have you ever been to an amine convention?

      95% of visitors have a "pre-existing condition." (BMI > 25)

      They should be panicking. Slashdot is going to lose a few readers this month.

      If you're reading this from your hospital room, and you haven't been intubated yet, you might want to consider shaving your neckbeard so it doesn't bite the nurse. Don't throw away your chance at partial recovery, act now!

    • Ermagerd! Ermicron!

    • the doctor who discovered it says its mild....

      but have to create mass hysteria.

      The context you're missing is the doctor discovered it in young people. The largest spread of omicron to date has been in South African *schools*. ALL COVID variants have presented mostly mildly in young people.

      You're suffering from sampling bias. Don't be stupid enough to make any judgement about anything this early with such little data.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      https://www.sbs.com.au/news/do... [sbs.com.au]

      the doctor who discovered it says its mild....

      but have to create mass hysteria.

      Nobody competent says it is mild. Experts hope it is less deadly, but at this time nobody knows for sure. Stop peddling your poison.

  • Since we know that Omicron is widely spread in the US, now can we lift the travel bans on African countries? They are essentially punishing South Africa for having a better reporting network than other countries.

    • Check YouTube for compilations of Biden being extremely racist against people of African genetics. The ban may be very satisfying for a man like that.

      The funny thing is Trump got several awards from NAACP while he was a Democrat but you'll hear the opposite from media in both cases. They will harp on racism when it would be so easy to go against his failed policies, broken promises, and moronic staff appointments instead.

      Very tribal people driven by emotions. The above is all verifiable fact but I expect e

    • I would rather the travel bans be extended to include every country and anyone that wants to re-enter the country must sit in quarantine for 3 weeks.

      • I would rather the travel bans be extended to include every country and anyone that wants to re-enter the country must sit in quarantine for 3 weeks.

        And that's going to accomplish what?

        Hint: Nothing.

  • Who cares? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 02, 2021 @07:34PM (#62041841)

    Everyone is going to be exposed to Omicron and or future variants. Get vaxxed and stay healthy or get sick and die. Being scared, obsessing over numbers and clades, thinking you can stop it if only you run away from other people and wear enough masks is little more than manifest delusion.

    • Everyone is going to be exposed to Omicron and or future variants. Get vaxxed and stay healthy or get sick and die. Being scared, obsessing over numbers and clades, thinking you can stop it if only you run away from other people and wear enough masks is little more than manifest delusion.

      While I do not agree with the above, there is a core message within it that I do agree with -- "stick to your guns".

      Some countries have made the decision to "live with covid", right? Presumably, they came to this decision after carefully considering the pros and cons (including the possibility of new variants, right? RIGHT?), and have decided that trying to reach "zero-covid" is either impossible or too costly to achieve, right? So the conclusion is to resume normal and just let covid spread, people who a

    • Everyone is going to be exposed to Omicron and or future variants. Get vaxxed and stay healthy or get sick and die.

      Secret that no-one seems to want to acknowledge - just like with any other virus, a mutation that occurs after soem time is easier to spread, but less harmful.

      Omicron won't hurt most people that much, vaccinated or not. The symptoms in anyone who has known to have it have all been mild. It's not a big deal either way, and in fact may be a huge boon because if a lot of people get it it could b

      • Re: Or you are fine either way (Score:4)

        by kenh ( 9056 ) on Thursday December 02, 2021 @11:35PM (#62042419) Homepage Journal

        No one has died from Omicron, or even been hospitalized yet, but by all means use death threats to justify needlessly revaccinating Americans and preventing third-world people (of color) from ever getting their first dose.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        Secret that no-one seems to want to acknowledge - just like with any other virus, a mutation that occurs after soem time is easier to spread, but less harmful.

        This is a myth. There isn't any special selective pressure for a virus to become less deadly, unless it happens to be one that takes up residence (and remains infectious) for a lifetime.

        It *appears* that this happens not because the virus adapts to become less deadly, but because we adapt to become less susceptible to it. That adaptation happens via i

        • This is a myth. There isn't any special selective pressure for a virus to become less deadly

          Of course there is, if you kill hosts you can't spread. If you spread more quickly but are also more harmful more people will be more careful not to catch you, and you cant spread as fast as other variants that spread more easily but cause fewer noticeable effects.

          A more damaged host also can come into content with far fewer other new hosts.

          Especially out of a place like Africa with low vaccination rates but also l

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

            if you kill hosts you can't spread.

            Sure you can. Rabies is 100% fatal and manages to spread. Untreated AIDS is pretty close, also spreads pretty well. Tuberculosis historically was probably in the 70+% fatal range, and was the leading infectious disease killer, responsible for killing as many as 30% of all the people who have ever lived.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by gweihir ( 88907 )

            This is a myth. There isn't any special selective pressure for a virus to become less deadly

            Of course there is, if you kill hosts you can't spread.

            That is inaccurate. If the infection takes sufficient time to kill (and COVID does), it stops becoming a major factor.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by gweihir ( 88907 )

          Indeed. The only thing a later mutation has is a higher probability is that it kills slower if the original variant killed fast. As COVID does not kill fast, not even that "fitness factor" applies to it.

          There is "hope" among experts that Omicron may be less deadly, but it is a 50:50 thing and there is no good data yet.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

            A bit more refined: if the original variant killed *too* fast.

            Something like HIV spreads slowly so there's a selective pressure for it not to kill you too fast. COVID spreads through the air and has a pretty high R so there isn't really much problem there. Also, after a period of time either your immune system kills it or you get stuck in isolation so there's a pretty hard time limit. There aren't really a lot of people dying on the street, infecting other people until their last gasp, so evolution doesn't

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      I don't think COVID is inevitable. Vaccines can actually prevent you from contracting it and spreading it to other people.

      My government is aiming for herd immunity, but I'm determined not to get it.

      • I don't think COVID is inevitable. Vaccines can actually prevent you from contracting it and spreading it to other people.

        Exposure to COVID is inevitable. Vaccines won't protect anyone from being exposed to the virus. 1/3 of people exposed to covid get it and never even know.

        My government is aiming for herd immunity, but I'm determined not to get it.

        For all you know you've already had it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Evtim ( 1022085 )

        Medics have a way of saying "never". The expression is "when we cure the common cold".

        The prediction that the virus will become endemic (with reduced strength but easier to transmit) was never really a prediction, but a certainty. Simply based on the type of virus and rate of mutation as well as limits in manufacturing and (timely) delivery of drugs, vaccines and working medical procedures.There was an article from Science more than a year ago to that effect, which I linked here, although the post was quick

  • You bought your ticket... (Score:4, Funny)

    by zeeky boogy doog ( 8381659 ) on Thursday December 02, 2021 @08:37PM (#62041987)
    If you choose to get onto a flying plague tube to attend a massive indoors gathering during a pandemic, one must assume that the risk of getting a contagious deadly disease is part of the thrill, n'est-ce pas?

    • For the Chaika: The Coffin Princess fans, probably.

    • >If you choose to get onto a flying plague tube

      I did that. But it didn't seem too bad. Everyone on the plane had been tested in the last 3 days and was also vaccinated (or they were not getting into the country at the other end). Ultimately I figured seeing my 82 year mother while it is still an option was worth the risk. I guess it would have been ironic if I had flown Delta, but I went on United.

    • that the risk of getting a contagious deadly disease is part of the thrill

      When all you know are tentacle monsters with an affinity for girls with short skirts I doubt a deadly contagion will give you much of a thrill.

  • Remember when you were in school and the teacher penalized the entire class because of one person did? Then some smartass in the class talked or did someting and the teacher increased the penalty? And the smartass did something again and the penalty continued?

    Those smartasses are now the anti-vaxxers. Instead of following simple guidelines they've gone out of their way to be stupid and as a result, all of us continue to be penalized.

    Had they gotten their shots and worn masks and done basic preventive measu

    • Re:Whiners remind me of school children (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Mal-2 ( 675116 ) on Thursday December 02, 2021 @08:52PM (#62042037) Homepage Journal

      I think you have misunderstood the intent of that punishment method. The intent was to offload the actual punishment to the crowd. Maybe they couldn't afford to single out the problem (the parents are important maybe) so they let it happen out on the playground. At a somewhat older age, this is how you get blanket parties.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      You describe the scenario where the teacher is at fault, but knew how to manipulate the young and the clueless to hate their peer instead as a form of crowd control. It's actually fitting. Both the way you intend it, and the opposite of it.

    • Bring on the Australian-style quarantine camps, right?

      I saw a 9News report from Australia about the roadblocks and extensive man-hunt to try and find the three people that managed to escape their internment camp... it was amazing.

      Watch it - is this what you think is called for in America, or anywhere?

      • Yikes - here's the link: https://www.realclearpolitics.... [realclearpolitics.com]

        • It's hard to take you seriously when you use loaded terms like "internment camps" for short term quarantine facilities. You're aware we've been using quarantines of individuals to protect public health for over six centuries, right? We did it even before we fully understood germ theory, because it works. If people in quarantine are attempting to leave it early, yes, a manhunt is warranted. Those three selfish assholes could have (mostly indirectly) killed a lot of people by spreading COVID in an area with v

    • Not likely, Delta and Omicron both came from countries with poor availability of any vaccine. Both strains can infect vaccinated individuals and subsequently spread.

  • I'm sure that the Omega Strain will make for much more amusing clickbait.

  • I did share the report, but the summary I proposed was only about the NYC Anime Convention, and asked if Slashdot readers have attended and if they've received a recent COVID test.

  • It is very likely Omicron is a good thing. All the initial reports is that Omicron has less severe symptoms and mortality rate. Just like other extremely deadly viruses over the millennia, such as the Spanish Flu which killed 50 million people (10 times more than COVID has killed globally), COVID will mutate into something less dangerous and probably more contagious. That strain will become dominant, and people who contract it will have better immunity against the more dangerous strains. A strain with a l

  • Hot dates with Corona-chan for everyone!

  • .. by the freakishly enlarged eyes - if you weren't already at an anime event.

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