On November 21, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a report recommending that masks and social distancing be mandatory or recommended in U.S. public places to prevent injuries caused by the "long new crown".
"Long new crown", that is, the sequelae of the new crown. According to the definition given by the World Health Organization, "long new crown" refers to symptoms 3 months after infection with the new crown virus, and lasts at least 2 months, and these symptoms cannot be explained by other diseases.
The most common symptoms include fatigue, brain fog, difficulty breathing, and memory loss.
On November 22, local time, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the White House, attended the last briefing of his tenure at the White House.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: My final message, which is probably my last message from this podium, is for your own safety, for the safety of your family, please get the latest COVID vaccine as soon as you are eligible to get vaccinated, and protect yourself, your family and your community.
A reporter at the scene asked Fauci how to view the new crown pneumonia pandemic, as a well-known infectious disease expert who has worked in the frontier field for 54 years.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: Neither my colleagues nor I could have imagined the legendary suffering that has occurred in these three years, when 1 million Americans lost their lives. What disturbs me the most is that the strain continues to mutate. We will eventually reach [the day when the pandemic will end] and if we use the means of intervention well, we can reduce suffering. If we choose to go with the flow, we will eventually have the day [the pandemic will end], but we will lose more lives unnecessarily.
CBS believes that Fauci's intriguing answer shows the helplessness of the US epidemic prevention captain in the United States epidemic prevention policy.
As the pandemic enters its third winter, the world has still not been able to truly emerge from the haze of the pandemic. According to ABC, in November, the number of hospitalized patients in nearly half of the states in the United States increased significantly compared with the same period last year.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Omicron BA5 strain, which previously dominated the United States, is being rapidly replaced by its subtype mutants. The report of the CSH laboratory in the United States pointed out that the BQ1 and BQ1.1 mutant strains were 7 times more infectious than the BA5 strain, and had stronger escape. These new subtypes are spreading rapidly in densely populated first-tier cities in the United States.
According to data released by CDC on the 19th, new subtypes have accounted for more than half of the new cases in the United States.
Kate, who lives in Los Angeles County, California, was diagnosed with the Omicron BQ1 strain in early October, her fifth time in nearly three years. Unlike the previous times, Kate's symptoms this time did not subside.
California citizen Kate Harlan: Body aches, coughs, headaches, all these symptoms add up, this strain is really much more powerful. Usually, the condition gets better in two weeks, but this time the symptoms persist and are very intense.
On November 21, the "Long Coronavirus" report released by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) attracted attention.
The report pointed out that the "long new crown" is seriously affecting the public health safety of the United States, and recommended that people in public places in the United States "encourage or force" people to wear masks and maintain social distance to prevent the harm caused by the "long new crown".
According to data released by Johns Hopkins University on November 25, since the outbreak of the epidemic, more than 1.07 million Americans have died of the new crown pneumonia, and the total number of infected people has reached more than 98 million, ranking first in the world. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts that due to the super transmissibility of the new subtype, by the beginning of next year, more than one-third of Americans may be infected with the new crown virus, and nearly one-fifth of infected people may become "long new crown" people.
Jennifer Remy: This medicine is called Funeng Lozenge, it controls my blood pressure, it's antidepressant, it's folic acid, it's methotrexate (immunosuppressive drug), I also take alprazolam (anti-anxiety medication) and prednisone (immunosuppressive drug) when needed, trazodone is to help me sleep at night.
Jennifer Remy was originally a nurse at a hospital in San Antonio, Texas, and her dedication to the hospital has been widely acclaimed for her 30 years. However, in the past two years, she has suffered from the after-effects of the new crown.
At the beginning of 2020, Remy was on the front line of the fight against the epidemic. At the end of that year, Remy was diagnosed with new crown pneumonia, although Remy's symptoms were mild and there was no underlying disease, she was still a marathon enthusiast on weekdays, but to Remy's surprise, she has since fallen into the vortex of "long new crown".
For more than two years, sudden fatigue often made Remy bedridden, dizziness, auditory hallucinations, and memory loss have plagued her life. Remy has not been able to return to work since his diagnosis.
Jennifer Raimi: It makes me sad, I want to be a nurse, but my mind can't keep up, I barely remember the documents I read yesterday.
Remy's husband: It was worse at first, she would babble and use words upside down, no one wanted their spouse to be disabled, no one wanted their loved one to be like this.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a report this week pointing out that the "long new crown" may cause more than 50 conditions and can affect almost all organ systems, including the lungs, heart, brain, etc. Brain fog, headache, dizziness, acupuncture, sleep disorders, etc., are all common symptoms of long new crowns.
Dr. Guterrez: The fatigue symptoms of these patients really affect their lives. Many doctors, many people, want a positive diagnostic test to determine what went wrong, but there are no labs like this variety of labs to detect abnormalities, at least not yet.
Guterrez, director of rehabilitation at the University of Texas in San Antonio, has conducted a lot of research on "long new crown" in the past two and a half years, admitted more than 500 "long new crown" patients like Remy and created the first "long new crown" clinic in the United States. Due to the large number of patients, her next available schedule has been scheduled for April 2023.
Gutrez pointed out that as a sequel of new crown pneumonia, the individualized symptoms of patients are obviously different, and it is difficult to find the root cause of the problem even through a highly accurate examination such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) under the premise of the lack of a clear pathogen.
However, it is worth mentioning that the National Institutes of Health recently found that the new coronavirus has a particularly serious impact on brain nerves. Among those diagnosed with new crown pneumonia, about half of the patients have more or less neurological problems, and this may be one of the main causes of the sequelae of the new crown, whether it is fatigue, brain fog, memory loss or even pins and needles on the skin, all of which are closely related to the brain nervous system.
Nas, director of neurology at the National Institutes of Health: The blood vessels in the brain are damaged, inflammatory cells are found around the brain, we find immune cells in the brain, we also find antibodies attached to blood vessels, and they have attacked blood vessels.
The American magazine Science pointed out that there are three hypotheses about the way the new crown virus invades the brain nervous system.
The first is when the virus directly infects cells of the nervous system. The second is the body's "autoimmune response" that acts on some brain cells, in which case a variety of different symptoms may occur. Once autoimmune cells are activated, they are difficult to shut down. The third may be distal inflammation, such as lung inflammation stimulating brain cells, causing long-term changes in brain cells. In addition, the three invasion methods may occur at the same time, or they may occur sequentially, but they will eventually lead to abnormalities in the nervous system.
Nas: We did anticipate neurological complications from the beginning, and I've been working on viruses since the '80s, when the AIDS pandemic was just beginning, and it's a lot like it was then, and even though the virus has been controlled, a lot of people still have long-term cognitive problems.
Nas, director of neurology at the National Institutes of Health, pointed out that similar to HIV, the new coronavirus will also repeatedly attack the body's immune system, causing the underlying disease of the infected person to deteriorate rapidly. In December last year, for people at risk of severe disease, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urgently authorized the use of the antiviral new crown drug PAXLOVID, and one of the main ingredients of the drug, ritonavir, is a well-known anti-AIDS drug.
In September this year, a number of US media noticed that US President Biden "got lost" and "slipped of the tongue" more and more in public. Because Biden was tested positive for the new crown many times in July and August this year, at the White House press conference in October, a reporter directly asked whether the president suffered from "new crown sequelae".
Reporter: Does the president have to "long crown"? Can you tell us about his recent situation?
White House COVID Coordinator Ash Jia: Regarding the president's situation, I am not his personal doctor, I talk to him and feel that he is fine, I haven't asked him about this, you should ask his personal doctor.
Although White House officials were noncommittal to reporters' questions, recently, Biden has repeatedly said that he will make the fight against the "long new crown" one of his administration's top priorities in the field of epidemic prevention.
CBS pointed out that although the specific cause of the "long new crown" is not clear, it is certain that the "long new crown" is having a very negative impact on the labor market in the United States.
According to the Stanford Center for Economic Policy Research, the United States may lose as much as 4 million labor due to the "long new crown". Harvard University economist Cutler pointed out in his article "The Economic Cost of Long New Crown to the United States" that conservatively estimated that the economic loss caused by "long new crown" to the United States is as high as $3.7 trillion. Among them, about 500 billion yuan comes from increased medical expenditure, 900 billion yuan comes from the decrease in income, and about 2.2 trillion yuan belongs to the reduction of quality of life. This will further weaken the ability of the United States to withstand recession.
Gooda, deputy director of the Stanford Center for Economic Policy Research: The impact of the long COVID is very serious, the fact is that some people can't continue to work, and some people may be able to continue working, but they have to work less.
The 29-year-old Tiffany was originally a waiter at a restaurant in Maryland, and before the epidemic, it was Tiffany's dream to achieve financial independence and have her own home as soon as possible, but now, everything is slim.
Nearly two years after contracting the coronavirus, Tiffany has not been able to return to work. Symptoms such as fatigue, difficulty breathing, and edema have always been with her life. Now, without a source of income, she has to move with her boyfriend and her 14-month-old child to live with her grandmother.
Former restaurant waitress Tiffany Patino: I can't even live at home, I can't even do housework or the most basic things, how do I get to work, how can I keep my job? My previous occupation, I was a waiter, it was manual work, I had to run from table to table for hours, from four o'clock in the afternoon to midnight, I can't do this kind of work now.
According to data released this month by the Department of Labor, job openings in the United States returned to a high of 10.7 million in September 2022. From the data of the past two and a half years, from the peak of the epidemic in the United States in April 2020 to September this year, the overall job vacancies in the United States showed a significant upward trend.
The Brookings Institution pointed out that the US labor market is the biggest fortress against economic recession, and the sense of security brought by employment is the guarantee to promote consumption and drive the economy. Today, the labor force affected by the "long new crown" in the United States is as high as 16.3 million, accounting for about 8% of the total US labor force.
In September this year, the research team of the new crown sequelae of Johns Hopkins University in the United States found that people of color are also the first to bear the brunt of the adverse effects of the "long new crown".
Ethnic minorities tend to have a higher proportion in frontline core positions where the risk of infection is higher, while when it comes to seeking medical care, ethnic minorities face a lack of medical resources, and many cannot even afford to miss work and drive remotely.
According to data released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on November 8 this year, Hispanics, African Americans and Native Americans have higher infection rates, hospitalization rates and mortality rates of new crown pneumonia than whites. And I am afraid that such an inequality trend will also appear among the "long crown" people. Minority groups will suffer more severe from the after-effects of the coronavirus than white groups.
Behind the painful illness lies heavy economic pressure.
U.S. News Anchor: An NBC News investigation found that many people are often denied disability benefits despite being unable to work.
Doctor Guterrez: There are now very many people applying for disability benefits, and "long new crown" is probably the disease diagnosis with the largest number of applicants.
Karen : Before the new crown, I was 30 years old and healthy. I was about to qualify as a paramedic for the fire brigade, and I worked hard for many years and coached football and basketball all over the country, but now I went from being healthy and energetic to being unable to get out of bed and seeking medical care all day.
Karen, a single mother who lost her job in 2021 due to the after-effects of the new crown, has repeatedly applied to the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) for "federal disability social insurance", but has been rejected.
Brian, a 35-year-old bank security guard, has a similar experience to Karen.
Brian: Everyone told me that I would get better after the worst two weeks, but I never got better. My hard-earned savings are running out, I have to support my family and pay rent, and life is really hard.
Earlier this year, Brian's application for long-term disability claims from his insurance company was denied. The insurance company even listed Bryan's driving record in the notice to prove that he was not eligible for a claim.
"Long Covid" patients Brian: I guess they think I'm capable of working because I picked up the garbage in the yard or went out to do something, but what they don't know is that that trip was the only time I went out that week to run errands, and I was saving up to get out. This is probably the hardest part of the "long new crown", you can't make people believe or understand your pain, it's not like you have a broken arm to show people, this is an invisible disease.
The pathogen is unclear and the condition is uncertain, which makes it difficult for the vast majority of "long new crown" patients to get help through medical insurance or social security.
The "long new crown" not only causes physical pain to patients, but also brings serious negative effects on the psychological and spiritual level.
In May, the Survivor Corps, a mutual aid organization of people with COVID, launched a survey on the association between COVID and suicide, and 44 percent of nearly 200 respondents said they had seriously considered suicide. The reason is that these people believe that they are no longer the people they were before they were sick. The torment of the "long covid" symptoms without end prompted them to form suicidal thoughts.
Jennifer Remy: I've always been optimistic, but you keep suffering setbacks, and over and over again, it feels like you're going crazy. I certainly don't want my kids or my grandchildren and husband to go through this, but I've had enough of myself getting worse. I don't want to lose my ability to live, I'm willing to do everything I can to get back to my former working self.
In October, the Hoover Institution released a study on "chronic social distancing," showing that only 42 percent of respondents said they were able to fully return to their pre-pandemic activities.
Bach, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution: Are we now convinced that the "long new crown" is a serious problem? The answer is a clear affirmative.
Source: CCTV News Client