General Wellness

Lessons from the NFL?

If you’ve perused the “Kids Health” section of my website, you know how much I am against sports where there is any chance of head injury. Football, soccer, hockey and other contact sports pose serious risks to the brain development of our kids. The frontal lobe, the part which controls emotions and complex behavior doesn’t even stop developing until your mid 20s. I think mine is STILL developing. The vast majority of head injuries do not occur during games but during practice and a recent study of hundreds of college football players confirmed this. A Harvard study of random retired NFL players in all positions showed that 100% of them had evidence of brain trauma.

All that having been said, what has this last NFL season taught us about Covid-19?

That the basics matter!. Masking, distancing, ventilating, proactive tracing… It works people!!!

Although they have had players and staff who have tested positive during the season, there have only been 3 short hospitalizations with no residual effects. They have had to postpone games, but none were cancelled. They have traced patterns of illness in the communities where their games have been played and, to their best ability, no outbreaks have been linked to games.

What did they do?

First of all, playing outdoors is a big plus. Clearly, there is less transmission with fresh air. This didn’t seem to help the baseball league though. More yahoos I guess.

They have very strict mask wearing policies, although in watching a few games and seeing what goes on, I question how rigid they are about that. Some pretty crappy and poorly worn masks from my perspective.

They have strict eating schedules with rotations of small numbers of players at a time.

They isolate any positive-tested players and they test everyone almost every day.

Small numbers of well separated live fans with no tailgating.

Compared to other professional team sports, they have done pretty well and they have the basic PPE and proper behavior and a well thought out plan to thank for it.

So, on Superbowl weekend, be thankful that they have done all the things necessary to try to resume some semblance of normalcy, despite the challenging times.

 

MASK UP!!! It works. Wear a good one. Wear it correctly. Stop touching it!

DISTANCE.

WASH YOUR HANDS.

VENTILATE. Even opening the window a crack provides some fresh, circulating air.

VACCINATE.

PROTECT YOUR EYES.

GET HEALTHY.

 

As far as the inevitable get-togethers are concerned, consider NOT getting together.

If you do, follow some basics:

• Know your company. Your friends may be responsible, but their teenager may not. Be mindful of the people and the number of people you watch the game with.
• No shared bowls of chips, snacks… Individualize.
• Label beverage glasses to avoid cross contamination.
• Consider a HEPA air filter. They do work.
• Keep a window open and a fan running to keep fresh air circulating. If it’s cold, add on a layer. It’s better to shiver because you’re cold rather than shiver in a week because you got Covid.
• Minimize celebratory cheering/screaming. Interestingly, as part of their attempt to run the olympics this summer, the IOC and Japanese organizers came out with Covid safety recommendations including limiting fan and participant celebrations including no high-fiving, hugging, cheering… It will be weird but hopefully they can pull it off.
• It’s not ridiculous to wear a mask when in an enclosed room. Don’t take offence. We all need to be comfortable. 
• Keep lots of hand sanitizer around and dedicate one bathroom as “public”.
• As much as I can’t stand all the waste this pandemic has generated, consider all disposable plates and cutlery. 

 

Have a great weekend.

Stay Safe.

AC

An even newer S. African variant has appeared on the scene. It appears to be a variant of the previously known S. African variant. What makes these variants so much more infectious is that they bind more tightly to the ACE-2 receptor, the one the SARS-Cov-2 virus attaches to. The body has a much harder time neutralizing it so more of it sticks around and can be spread more readily. It still does not seem to be causing worse disease, but again, it’s all in the numbers. Interestingly, the upcoming J&J vaccine was developed in S. Africa and seems to be at least partially effective against both S. African variants.

The British variant has been positively identified in just about every state in the US but at least the Pfizer vaccine seems to be somewhat effective against it.

As far as the California variant is concerned, it is primarily located in LA county but will soon spread as well. It is thought to account for as many as 50% of the cases accounting for the recent Covid surge in that state. Since it was first identified, there has been very little in the press about it. There are probably more variants developing in the US, given how rampant the disease is here, but just like our poor testing and vaccine roll-out infrastructure has been, genomic testing of Covid samples, meaning that labs look for variations in the genetic code of the virus, is pretty pathetic. We rank 42nd in the world when it comes to genomic testing of Covid samples.

The Brazilian variant has been identified in only a few states this far.

Although the vast majority of Covid cases are still from the original virus or from minor variants, these newer, more infectious forms are on the warpath. They “outcompete” the previous versions of the virus because they spread more readily. People previously infected with SARS-Cov-2 have been newly re-infected with the variant strains, indicating that immune protection may not be that strong after a previous infection.  All this has the CDC very concerned about yet another spike in cases as these variants spread. Just as numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths seem to be plateauing and maybe even reducing a bit, we are on the verge of a worse scenario.

Some good news is that tweaking present vaccines won’t be as difficult as coming up with the new vaccine in the first place. But then again, if people are not willing to take it or if we do not sort out our distribution infrastructure issues, and if people continue not to do the basics (masks, distance…), this pandemic and its impact on our lives will continue.

HOME COVID TESTS. As far as Covid home testing is concerned, there are significant strides in this area as well. These simple, fairly accurate, self administered, inexpensive (less than $25) tests are similar to a pregnancy test. Antibodies to specific proteins are attached to a test strip. If the protein in question is identified in a sample (urine, in the case of the pregnancy test and nasal mucus or saliva for Covid), indicating the presence of a substance, or in the case of SARS-CoV, surface proteins like the spike protein, there is a reaction and a color or strip becomes visible. These tests always need confirmation through a lab, just like pregnancy tests, but at least they provide some information. 

Of course, what you do with that information is also important. If you don’t act on it, it is useless. Despite testing positive the day before, a local family allowed their daughter to compete in a soccer tournament last summer where many college scouts would be appearing. When word got out, everything was immediately cancelled and everyone needed to be tested. 

Home Covid tests are important as they might help normalize life a bit. If people know that today, they are negative for covid, an event they attend in the next few days may be safer for everyone. This is not a guarantee, just a tool which we need to employ intelligently. It might maker attending schools safer, which everyone agrees is imperative for our kids’ mental and academic health.

Acting responsibly based on tests will be part of the picture. It’s not here yet so in the mean time, do all the things we know protect us and those around us:

MASK. Wear a good one. Wear it correctly. Stop touching it.

DISTANCE.

WASH and SANITIZE.

VENTILATE.

VACCINATE.

PROTECT YOUR EYES.

STOP TOUCHING YOUR FACE.

GET HEALTHY.

Stay safe.

AC