May 7, 2020: No Long-Term Studies! -

Rick was in line at the grocery store last week when a guy went off about how that store was going to require everybody to wear a mask, starting this week. 

It's a story not unlike others you have heard or read about, except for the priceless line the guy used in his ranting, to the effect that there have been "no long-term studies." Rick was a dorm counselor in his youth, and he has a superpower when it comes to dealing with immature men, which often includes a genial but don't-mess-with-me use of the word, "Dude...." He has said to raving bigots, "Dude, that's a bit much," and those people have apologized and backed down. I have no idea how he does it. Anyway, to Mr. Long Term Studies, Rick didn't say, "Dude." He just started chuckling and said, in a way that somehow didn't ramp things up, 'You're kidding, right?"

So, it's early days yet, but there's some research coming out that, and I quote: "Nearly everyone who has had the disease — regardless of age, sex or severity of illness — eventually makes antibodies to the virus." This is good. There appears to be a new antibody test (Imperative #5 - Tools!) that has very high accuracy, and people who had-COVID-but-test-negative-for-antibodies are, upon a subsequent testing a week or so later, coming up positive. Yay!

I'll leave you to read more if you want more. (This doesn't seem to be a stand-alone article, but the relevant section appears partway down the page under the heading: 

"A new study finds that nearly everyone..."

I'm tossing this in here because the article included a phrase I haven't seen before, "shield immunity."  It's not herd immunity, our beloved Competing Imperative #1. It's putting immune individuals in high-transmission settings, once people go back to work, and for as long as we are trying to both be somewhat "open" and (beloved Competing Imperative #2) flatten the curve. I am much taken with "shield immunity," today, but there are no long-term studies on how I will feel about it next week.