Slowly but surely, the bureaucracy that imposed restrictive, destructive, and ineffective pandemic policies are quietly dropping the rules as we head into the November election.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has eased its universal masking recommendation for nursing homes and hospital. The only exception would be for facilities in areas seeing high levels of covid transmission.
Earlier in the pandemic, everyone was asked to wear well-fitting masks or respirators in health care settings. Later, exceptions included that visitors could “choose not to wear source control” if they had updated vaccines and were alone together with those they were visiting, CBS News reported. Another exception allowed staff who were up to date on vaccines to unmask when not with patients.With the latest guidance, “updates were made to reflect the high levels of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity and the availability of effective treatments and prevention tools,” the CDC’s new guidance states.Now, masking “remains recommended” during an outbreak among patients or “when caring for patients who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.”
Of course, some “experts” are bitterly clinging to the old rules.
But some questioned the updated recommendations, including Megan Ranney, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. In a tweet, Ranney expressed concern about how the new guidance means “places with substantial transmission can unmask sick patients who haven’t yet been tested for Covid, right next to the elderly, chemo patients, people with pulmonary disorders, & pregnant women.”Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams also shared concerns on Twitter, writing that CDC is making “a recommendation they know will end masking … while also admitting it’s too early to do so.””This nuanced have your cake and eat it too approach hasn’t worked A SINGLE TIME throughout the pandemic,” he added. “People hear ‘no more masks!'”
In other covid news, a new study shows that the vaccines can change the length of a menstrual cycle.
…[A] global study has confirmed that COVID-19 vaccination can lead to temporary changes in cycle length for some people.The study, published in the medical journal BMJ, looked at nearly 20,000 women around the world who self-reported their menstrual cycle through Natural Cycles, an FDA-cleared birth control app.Study participants who were vaccinated reported, on average, a nearly one-day day increase in the length of their menstrual cycle length after receiving their first COVID vaccine shot, and a half-day increase after receiving their second dose.Participants who received both vaccine doses in a single menstrual cycle had a nearly four-day increase in cycle length.
To wrap up this covid update, erectile dysfunction has added to list of common “long covid” symptoms by CDC.
Anyone who experiences health consequences for four or more weeks after a coronavirus infection is now considered to have “post-COVID conditions,” the umbrella term of symptoms of long COVID, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In updated guidance for clinicians, the agency shortened the time it considers post-COVID conditions to be present if recovery does not occur, even though it said some patients may recover within the previous timeframe of 12 weeks.It also expanded the list of commonly reported symptoms to include erectile dysfunction, alongside menstrual cycle irregularities, poor endurance, brain fog, impaired daily function and mood changes. The CDC estimates nearly 1 in 5 adults who ever had COVID-19 currently have symptoms of long COVID.
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