10 things we thought about the virus a year ago – that was wrong

Covid-19 has been a mobile target from the beginning. Here are some of the early misconceptions that have been challenged by new evidence that has emerged – and sometimes hard experience – along the way.

1. Only the vulnerable are the ‘vulnerable’
At first, the awful, sad phrase “elderly people with a basic state of health” gave some people a false sense of humor, and a way to separate themselves from the danger of the disease. When younger people began to become ill in other countries, some people told themselves that this vulnerability was behavioral – this was due to their social interaction or the dense conditions in did they live.

Now we know better. Older people and those with underlying conditions are more vulnerable to severe Covid disease, but age or lifestyle do not provide immunity of any kind. Among the dead are young people with no basic health conditions. The youngest Irish victim of Covid-19 was just 16-years-old.

2. Children are ‘vectaran’
Messages from pediatricians were circulated on social media in March 2020, in the first weeks after school closures, suggesting that children were “vector-free” with the virus. Children were banned from some shops, leading to calls from a number of supermarket groups to develop “child-friendly shopping guides”.

A summary of the evidence across 18 studies published by HIQA in May and updated in August 2020 found that “reported cases of Covid-19 in children make up a small percentage of confirmed cases… based on evidence with low certainty, child-to-child transmission occurring in an adult or child-to-child setting in housing and education settings, but reported transmission rates for children remain low ”.

Could the now robust B117 variant change this? That is even so obvious. Public health authorities closely monitor fatal returns to schools.

He was opposed to changing the guidelines on mask wear in the early days of the pandemic

He was opposed to changing the guidelines on mask wear in the early days of the pandemic

3. Masks do not work
He was opposed to changing the guidelines on mask wear in the early days of the pandemic. Initially, some of this was due to a global shortage of personal protective equipment. But even as far back as May, when members of the public were asked to wear a mask on public or indoor transport where they could not socially speed, chief medical officer Dr Tony followed Holohan worries about using a face can be seen as a kind of … magic shield ”, a quote from then Health Minister Simon Harris.

There were also concerns that the public would not wear the right mask, and that this could increase the risk.

A key scientific moment came in early June with the change of guidelines on mask wear by the World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease Control. The HSE also began advising people to wear indoor masks from the same time, and wearing a mask became mandatory in August.

This should have happened earlier, says Professor Luke O’Neill, a psychologist at Trinity College Dublin. “As soon as possible [asymptomatic spread] it became clear, wearing a mask became absolutely necessary because then everyone wears a mask and then anyone who can wear it can spread it. Sadly, our administration slipped their heels. I was going on about maybe four to six good weeks before the guide said it. I had seen the science: we had to have masks. “

Therapeutic or temperature scanners began to appear in some workplaces and public places

Therapeutic or temperature scanners began to appear in some workplaces and public places

4. Thermal scanners can detect Covid-19
Temperature or temperature scanners began to appear in some workplaces and public places – as well as international airports – in the early days of the pandemic. But did they offer a false sense of security? An examination of the evidence in September by ECRI concluded that infrared temperature screening was “ineffective”, detecting infection in, at best, only about half of cases. Thermal screening is high cost and resource intensive, and detection rates are low, the report by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) concluded in August.

The jury is still out on the surface of a contaminated surface

The jury is still out on the surface of a contaminated surface

5. Doors are dangerous
In fact the jury is still out on the surface of a contaminated surface. As early as February, the WHO warned that the virus could spread through contaminated surfaces, known as fomites. At the end of March, a major study showed that SARS-CoV-2 could persist on stainless steel and plastic for days. Last October, Deputy Leo Varadkar warned that Covid could be spreading on doorbells and knives, and standard HSE advice states: “You can also get the virus from an infected surface. ”

But recent international evidence suggests that while the virus persists on the surface, transmission through it appears to be uncommon. Contaminated surfaces are not considered a common method by which Covid-19 is transmitted ”, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). So why are we still deep cleaning everything? The answer is that we don’t know enough to rule out fomite emissions.

6. Ventilation is not important
Transmission occurs when infected people spit out large droplets when they cough, talk or breathe. We now know that small particles called aerosols are also important. “Air transmission does not appear to play a major role in the Covid-19 distribution. But it can happen in some situations. For your own protection, keep indoor areas well ventilated, ”says the HSE.

O’Neill was “warning people non-stop” about the importance of early ventilation, he said. “I had a blue face. I was getting slagged off. I went on Claire Byrne Live and said, ‘put a granny by the window,’ and people dug into me to say that. Ventilation is essential. ”

One of the most challenging things about Sars-CoV-2 is that it does not always show up with the symptoms to which it was associated when it first appeared.

One of the most challenging things about Sars-CoV-2 is that it does not always show up with the symptoms to which it was associated when it first appeared.

7. No cough, or Covid
One of the most challenging things about Sars-CoV-2 is that it does not always show up with the symptoms it was associated with when it first appeared in China – dry cough, fever and shortness of breath . Sometimes there are no symptoms.

“One of our biggest problems is that it’s hard to see it coming,” said Dr Martin Cormican, the HSE’s clinical director of infection control. “If you have an infectious disease that has a clear clinical presentation, and people are not infectious until they become ill, that is easier to manage. What we did not know at this time last year was that many people would get a very mild illness. ”

The finding that the virus could have been transmitted by asymptomatic humans sets Covid-19 in addition to its sister viruses, SARS and MERS. “It seems that 50 per cent of people disperse and walk around without any symptoms. Now how the hell is controlling that kind of virus? That made it particularly malicious, ”said O’Neill.

8. Travel is not a major reason
Tomás Ryan, an associate professor in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin, believes it was a great mistake not to restrict travel into the State in the first wave. . “If we had done that, we would have had a very different situation, taking full advantage of the situation on our islands,” he says.

A recent study suggests that the second wave in Ireland has been seeded with versions imported from board. Restrictions on travel and quarantine are even more urgent now to prevent new, more contagious coronavirus mutants that the Covid-19 vaccines may not be as effective against, Ryan believes.

“The priority must be to keep out changes so that we cannot make the mistake of the second wave, which, after we have eradicated the virus, allowed new ones to be admitted, and not making the mistake of the third wave, which let the UK in. ”

The external risk from just walking past someone is low

The external risk from just walking past someone is low

9. The danger to pedestrians
In the early weeks of the virus, some people jumped into oncoming traffic to avoid each other while out walking. In fact, as fresh air spreads and weakens the virus, the risk of just walking past someone is low.

However, there are a small number of reported cases where it spreads out between people who spoke face to face. The HSE warns that “the risk of Covid-19 being caught is low if you go for a walk or a trip and stay away from others. “But you should still keep a distance of two meters between yourself and others, and wear a mask outside where possible,” he says.

Many experts now believe that the virus may never be eradicated, but because of vaccines, we can find ways to live safer alongside it, such as the flu.

Many experts now believe that the virus may never be eradicated, but because of vaccines, we can find ways to live safer alongside it, such as the flu.

10. The vaccine will take it away
Many experts now believe that the virus may never be eradicated, but because of vaccines, better treatment and – fortunately – new, calmer changes are emerging, we will find ways to control it. to live safer alongside it, as we will have the flu.

“Viruses that do not work with the vaccine are more likely to develop rapidly or slowly,” said Dr Cormican. “The vaccine may need to be changed. To me, this virus is unlikely to ever go away. We have not yet eradicated polio myelitis. And we have the vaccine for 50 years. ”

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