4 ms·

Right. If things are already getting postponed during delta, there's no way anyone is going back during lambda.

by Alex3917 5y ago

babyshake 5y ago
Just wait until Omega.
- Cd00d 5y ago
  Well, then we're at the end of this - reason to celebrate!
  - brewdad 5y ago
    Unless only the cockroaches survive.
dragontamer 5y ago
Honestly, Gamma seemed like the most dangerous one to me on paper. I apparently am very wrong on that assumption though. (Gamma was the "P1" variant that was reinfecting cities that were previously infected with COVID19) Alpha of course was the problem (being the first COVID19 variant that was "better" than the original). But only Delta was actually "better" than Alpha. Everyone has completely forgotten about Beta (aka: South Africa variant), despite it being hugely in the news a few months ago. Lambda isn't spreading very much. There's a "Delta-Plus" variant going around, but it seems like "Delta-Plus" is no "better" than the original Delta. -------- We drew the short straw on this one. Back in the 1918 pandemic, the flu evolved into a less-dangerous form. In this COVID19 situation, we got unlucky twice, and the virus evolved twice (first to Alpha, then again to Delta). There's no reason to assume that the virus will continue to "get better", so to speak. Aside from the fact that it did so twice in the past year... the next step it takes forward could be backwards. Evolution cuts both ways, its not always a straight path towards improvement. ----------- EDIT: Looking at the list: Beta, Gamma, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, and Kappa are all "variants of concern" but no one gives a care. Only Delta is giving us issues right now, and only Alpha gave us a major issue before Delta.
- samatman 5y ago
  Random aside: I find it confusing that Alpha is the first variant, rather than the original SARS2 strain. Most 'Greek letter' conversations I've had just ignore this and say "Alpha" when they mean the original. For what it's worth, there is some evidence that Delta is less deadly than the original strain, although by how much is difficult to say, especially with vaccination as a confounding measure.
  - dragontamer 5y ago
    I personally found the B.1.1.7 or B.1.351 nomenclature to be more understandable. This "Alpha" or "Delta" thing is so arbitrary. I don't even know what constitutes a variant of concern (Okay, I know a collection of scientists are sitting around in a committee deciding which variants "deserve" a Greek name... but given all the Greek names that have come out, they seem to have given out too many) Ex: Why are we calling a variant "Delta-plus" ?? Shouldn't it just take the next Greek letter?
- brewdad 5y ago
  > We drew the short straw on this one. Back in the 1918 pandemic, the flu evolved into a less-dangerous form. In this COVID19 situation, we got unlucky twice, and the virus evolved twice (first to Alpha, then again to Delta). Wasn't the second wave of the 1918 pandemic the most deadly?[1] To be sure, the current flu variants are much less dangerous than anything from that time though. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#Deadly_second_wave_of_late_1918 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#Deadly_second_wave...
  - dragontamer 5y ago
    https://www.montana.edu/diseaseecologylab/covid19blog/posts/19979/virulence-evolution-and-sars-cov-2-1918-h1n1-influenza https://www.montana.edu/diseaseecologylab/covid19blog/posts/... I admit that I forgot about the 2nd wave in 1919. But my understanding is that in 1920 or so, the virus mutated again into a less-virulent form, allowing the pandemic to end.

Right. If things are already getting postponed during delta, there's no way anyone is going back during lambda.

babyshake 5y ago

Just wait until Omega.

Cd00d 5y ago
Well, then we're at the end of this - reason to celebrate!
- brewdad 5y ago
  Unless only the cockroaches survive.

dragontamer 5y ago

Honestly, Gamma seemed like the most dangerous one to me on paper. I apparently am very wrong on that assumption though. (Gamma was the "P1" variant that was reinfecting cities that were previously infected with COVID19) Alpha of course was the problem (being the first COVID19 variant that was "better" than the original). But only Delta was actually "better" than Alpha. Everyone has completely forgotten about Beta (aka: South Africa variant), despite it being hugely in the news a few months ago. Lambda isn't spreading very much. There's a "Delta-Plus" variant going around, but it seems like "Delta-Plus" is no "better" than the original Delta. -------- We drew the short straw on this one. Back in the 1918 pandemic, the flu evolved into a less-dangerous form. In this COVID19 situation, we got unlucky twice, and the virus evolved twice (first to Alpha, then again to Delta). There's no reason to assume that the virus will continue to "get better", so to speak. Aside from the fact that it did so twice in the past year... the next step it takes forward could be backwards. Evolution cuts both ways, its not always a straight path towards improvement. ----------- EDIT: Looking at the list: Beta, Gamma, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, and Kappa are all "variants of concern" but no one gives a care. Only Delta is giving us issues right now, and only Alpha gave us a major issue before Delta.

samatman 5y ago
Random aside: I find it confusing that Alpha is the first variant, rather than the original SARS2 strain. Most 'Greek letter' conversations I've had just ignore this and say "Alpha" when they mean the original. For what it's worth, there is some evidence that Delta is less deadly than the original strain, although by how much is difficult to say, especially with vaccination as a confounding measure.
- dragontamer 5y ago
  I personally found the B.1.1.7 or B.1.351 nomenclature to be more understandable. This "Alpha" or "Delta" thing is so arbitrary. I don't even know what constitutes a variant of concern (Okay, I know a collection of scientists are sitting around in a committee deciding which variants "deserve" a Greek name... but given all the Greek names that have come out, they seem to have given out too many) Ex: Why are we calling a variant "Delta-plus" ?? Shouldn't it just take the next Greek letter?
brewdad 5y ago
> We drew the short straw on this one. Back in the 1918 pandemic, the flu evolved into a less-dangerous form. In this COVID19 situation, we got unlucky twice, and the virus evolved twice (first to Alpha, then again to Delta). Wasn't the second wave of the 1918 pandemic the most deadly?[1] To be sure, the current flu variants are much less dangerous than anything from that time though. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#Deadly_second_wave_of_late_1918 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu#Deadly_second_wave...
- dragontamer 5y ago
  https://www.montana.edu/diseaseecologylab/covid19blog/posts/19979/virulence-evolution-and-sars-cov-2-1918-h1n1-influenza https://www.montana.edu/diseaseecologylab/covid19blog/posts/... I admit that I forgot about the 2nd wave in 1919. But my understanding is that in 1920 or so, the virus mutated again into a less-virulent form, allowing the pandemic to end.