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* Capitol News Illinois…

It’s a faster decline in hospitalizations than at any point in the pandemic, Pritzker said.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said 89 percent of those hospitalizations are in unvaccinated individuals. Approximately 75 percent of the state’s population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, according the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, putting Illinois at the top of Midwestern states.

Ezike said lifting the [mask] mandate does not signify an end to COVID-19, but the latest in the state’s effort to “coexist with COVID.”

“Your actions that you’ve already taken have helped to reduce the amount of virus circulating and it absolutely has saved lives,” she said. “But be clear that COVID is not gone and it won’t be gone on Feb. 28. So, we are going to continue to find ways to live with the virus.”

* The Question: Your suggestions for more ways to “coexist with COVID”? Explain, of course.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:20 pm

Comments

Don’t be reckless. Like crime, etc don’t put yourself in risky situations and be aware of your surroundings. Wear a mask in crowded places if you want. If people don’t like it they can bite you.

Also, when given conflicting medical advice re vaccines, masks, treatments from public health authorities and infectious disease specialists versus advice from social media or Cousin Bob who spent most of high school in detention, go with the former.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:29 pm
When the Pfizer treatment production ramps up, let vulnerable population keep a supply at home. (like IIRC they did with Tamiflu).

Comment by lake county democrat Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:34 pm
Start pumping Xanax into the water supply?

Like the seasonal flu, COVID will be with us forever. Expect your doctor to recommend annual boosters. Expect to see people wearing masks and avoiding crowded spaces.

Do what you want, but please calm down and don’t harangue others who choose a different path. A little more empathy and a lot less childish behavior would be nice.

Keep calm, and de-politicize this virus.

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:36 pm
- Have the mask mandate on mass transit be literally the last non-medical facility mandate to go away. (going back to the office, my train ride was my biggest COVID risk)
- Allow increased hospital/care facility visitation and keep it (masks may be required, perhaps some other limitations, but no-visitors wasn’t the best idea)
- Work to normalize public mask wearing by choice (I work next to a building that has a decent number of interational students living in it, seeing them in masks was before this wasn’t unusual and it isn’t unusual in some parts of the world)
- Have clearly defined metrics for changes in mask standards (you can make it seem less arbitrary)
- Make every restriction have either an explicit review date or end date (make them seem less arbitrary)
- Improve home testing and make the U of I saliva test more common (we use the saliva test at work, works great easy to do)
- Give more testing locations permanent homes and not have them seem like the Christmas Tree lots of healthcare (legitimacy and trust)
- Take a scientific look at the various approaches and see if we can see how effective they were for future guidance without being defensive of a specific approach.
- Accept the fact that there will folks who take it less seriously than you and there is a finite amount that you or government can do about it.

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:38 pm
47th Ward gets it. === de-politicize this virus.==

The best advice I can give is ignore any advice that comes from anyone that doesn’t have MD after their name. And even then do your own research. (Not on social media)

Comment by Bruce( no not him) Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:41 pm
You can’t count on the unvaxed; their narcissism and oppositional disorders won’t allow it. They won’t abide by any Honor System and will make a point of messing with whatever such setup you put out, kicking, screaming and spluttering, just to be “stiggnit”.

I think as soon as it’s warm enough to be practical, there will and should be a lot more outdoor venue opportunities this year, with decent spacing for participants. We have to work around the unvaxed common clay types.

I’d also have more mobile vaxing stations hanging out anywhere people gather.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:41 pm
1. Change the metrics to include monitoring and reporting the amount of COVID detected in wastewater as that may be a more accurate measure than reported COVID cases or case positivity in this phase of significant at home testing.

2. Be prepared for this to come back with a vengeance this fall but pray this has a Spanish flu two-year bad cycle trajectory.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:43 pm
Approach it the same way you coexist with the flu, other illnesses, driving, swimming, biking, flying in a plane, weathering a storm. eating fast food, drinking alcohol etc.

There are risks associated with all, many more deadly than COVID.

Comment by Phenomynous Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:48 pm
Unemployment insurance, paid for mostly with federal dollars, to subsidize worker leaves of absence due to covid (leave it up to the states if they want to use this exclusively for the vaxed, but make the states pay higher amounts for the unvaxed).

More money for childcare (three exclamation points).

The government should mail N95 masks and home tests to everyone on a regular, routine basis, unless they choose to opt out.

Tax credits for businesses and property owners who spend money to clean their internal air (filters, inject outside air, radiated heat, etc.)

A massive public relations campaign urging both N95 mask-wearing and tolerance.

And everything OneMan said.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:48 pm
I’d also add a massive, moonshot scientific program to solve the long-covid issue.

(I started thinking of my little niece Adeline in southern Illinois who still has sharp chest pains weeks after she recovered from the virus.)

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 3:52 pm
Everything Rich said.

Get boosters annually like the flu shot.

People need to also wake up to the high cost and limited access to our private healthcare system. My parents don’t even have a doctor in my hometown, when my father was a kid there were 5.

Those areas are never going to have a business case for more clinics and hospitals, the only way we’ll solve the hospital availability issue is to take profit out of it.

Comment by Excitable Boy Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:00 pm
Weather permitting, opt for outdoor exercise; outdoor dining; and outdoor entertaining of guests at your home (or open the windows). Once the Pfizer treatment becomes readily available, keep in mind that the treatment is time-sensitive. Do not hesitate to take a COVID-19 test once symptoms appear and contact your doctor immediately for a prescription if the test is positive.

Comment by Bourbon Street Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:08 pm
Long covid (PASC) is no joke…I was infected in March 2020…it’s taken me almost two years to recover…mostly…still suffer from brain fog/fatigue…Mast cells seem to be involved…OTC anti-histamines have been suggested in the medical literature I’ve recently read.

I hope your niece recovers soon…What a lovely name Adeline is…It was my Aunt’s name…too.

Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:10 pm
support all scientific endeavors to develop shots that address this and wider viruses. develop better testing mechanisms and test wastewater for indications of infections of all sorts. support all scientific endeavors that develop ways to fight anti biotic resistant infections (biggest problem in India right now is massive overuse of antibiotics especially due to covid…weird….and resistant infections a HUGE problem, could spread elsewhere). encourage wearing masks in public settings as a way to avoid flu and colds as well as covid. in Japan it’s pretty much stayed a permanent thing. continue featuring fashionable masks as a part of attire. encourage annual or twice yearly boosters for flu and covid, as well as shots for older folks for shingles, pneumonia. make the use of vaccinations more normalized by mass publicity. encourage healthy eating and use of herbs and spices which boost immunity, add flavor, and encourage eating vegetables and fish. promote walking, especially outdoors, stay basic on physical activities to not scare folks for whom more extensive exercise is difficult or off-putting in any way. support science.

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:21 pm
Have local health department experts work on PR campaigns encouraging good disease prevention steps: offer information like encouraging hand washing, monitoring for symptoms, stating home when sick, using masks for vulnerable populations. Basically, help individuals to make the best voluntary decisions for themselves

Comment by Donnie Elgin Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:22 pm
Mix the COVID vaccine into the regular flu shot.

Comment by SAP Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:25 pm
Rich, my best to your niece.

To the QOTD,

Start with everything - OneMan - and Rich touted. Start there.

Utilities relief, housing relief for both reciters and homeowners, (note: if the virus impacted these families) and better broadband for remote learning for ALL, when necessary, are my two cents to all that’s up, and already implied, inferred, and written.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:28 pm
Adding to my list and Rich’s list.

I’d also add a massive, moonshot scientific program to solve the long-covid issue. — Boosting this.

Don’t assume the worst in motivations for people who disagree with you about how it was addressed and how it should be addressed. It accomplishes nothing besides making you feel smug. (I have been guilty of this for sure).

A couple of Illinois centric ones

Expand the nursing programs at NIU, UIC, and any other state school that has them. Start by building NIU a dedicated nursing building (the one they have is a re-purposed grade school). Hire more faculty at all of the state nursing schools.

Develop programs that allow students in nursing to spend more time studying in community college and part-time settings before finishing up under a BSN granting program.

Illinois needs to join the multi-state nursing license compact. At least the midwest one.

The nursing shortage is going to get worse, we need to be ahead of it, if for no other reason we will need staff to deal with the long-term health impacts of what COVID did to folks (long COVID, increases in some other health issues).

We need to start on this now, I really wish someone would pick up the ball on the nursing side of this. It’s a good idea and seems to be a political winner.

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:28 pm
- OneMan - showing off his Golden Horseshoe chops, this is his wheelhouse. Great stuff…

Adding more about the challenges of healthcare workers, the continued refinement of shots/boosters… the medical side to the long term, and the health of long haulers… there’s no real “end” anytime soon, it’s more about the works being nimble, and this state being flexible to get us beyond today’s real issues too.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:32 pm
“Long covid (PASC) is no joke…I was infected in March 2020…it’s taken me almost two years to recover…mostly…still suffer from brain fog/fatigue…Mast cells seem to be involved…OTC anti-histamines have been suggested in the medical literature I’ve recently read.”

Similar story here. Working with a rheumatologist right now. I’ve rebuilt my stamina to about 6 hours/day.

Prayers and happy thoughts for Adeline. Youth can only be a blessing in building back to normal.

Comment by Proud Sucker Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:46 pm
I hope we can return to protecting children and their needed vaccinations instead of using them as political pawns by freedom demanding parents. This will ensure all schools can be opened safely and mask free by next fall.

Comment by Wensicia Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:49 pm
The more and better COVID vaccines and drugs we get, the better we will be able to coexist. We are just starting out. Hepatitis C and AIDS have been greatly reduced or eased thanks to improved anti-viral meds. If we can’t eradicate COVID, hopefully a Darwinistic trade-off from Ma Nature is that for easier transmissibility, COVID viruses become less harmful, where it can be like a bad cold or flu at worst for many, and we can live with it like we’ve lived with colds and flus in the past.

Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 4:59 pm
Those who do not get vaccinated have to pay an extra premium for their health insurance.

Comment by Just Me 2 Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 5:00 pm
https://nationalhealthcouncil.org/letters-comments/long-covid-alliance-recommendations-to-the-nih/

Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 6:24 pm
Tons of great suggestions here. I would add there should be encouragement, and perhaps incentives of some sort, to promote installation of improved ventilation systems for businesses, institutions, maybe homes. And there are lots of reasons to work at improving air quality, not just to avoid COVID.

Personally, I’ll continue the same general strategy as last year: mask up indoors, unmask outdoors. Right now we are excited about adding a little patio space in front of the house to lure more friends and neighbors to drop by.

Comment by yinn Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 6:27 pm
-We need better messaging that “living with COVID” doesn’t mean “COVID is over.” That means accepting a rollback to some restrictions if a new variant calls for it.

-Keeping some at-home tests stocked at all times.

-Staying home when you may be symptomatic. I think the days of going back into an office when you’re a little sniffly are done with.

I understand the calls for respect of other people’s choices here, but a lot of false equivalency has crept into COVID messaging in the past few weeks. It’s been largely one side of the political aisle, one party, that has been insisting on ignoring or minimizing the pandemic, and they’re now claiming victory for being right when they weren’t and when they willed Democratic-led responses to the pandemic to fail.

Comment by Hank Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 7:40 pm
-Keep vaccines free and readily available.

-Get COVID boosters mixed with annual flu shots for improved convenience.

-Make sure the new medicinal treatments for COVID sufferers are well stocked locally and nationally. Masks, too.

-Vaccine mandates. Anywhere you already need to show an immunization record–school, summer camp, etc.–you should get a COVID shot, too.

-Keep researching the pan-coronavirus vaccines and treatment of “long COVID.” In the past 20 years, we’ve already seen numerous new diseases pop up–besides COVID-19, there’s SARS and MERS–and we’ll need to be able to address the next one.

To someone who’s fully vaccinated and boosted, COVID is extremely survivable. Once we get vaccines approved for children, coexistence is entirely thinkable. At that point, the unvaccinated can take whatever risks they like and the vaccinated (and their children) won’t have to pay the price.

Comment by Benjamin Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 7:52 pm
The best advice is to avoid the dominant health characteristic of 80% of those admitted to the hospital : don’t have a high BMI.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Feb 10, 22 @ 8:41 pm