All you need to know about COVID19
FACTS NOT FEAR

Covid 19 is a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. SARS-CoV-2 is one of 7 coronaviruses known to man. 1/n

The pandemic is real. Excess deaths were observed in many countries. Not all countries were affected in the same way due to pre-existing immunity, the health status of the population and demographics (the proportion of elderly in the population) 2/n
https://t.co/65elPq3gp5
COVID 19 presents a high risk for the very few and negligible risk for the many.

The infection fatality rate in different age groups:
<19 y, IFR= 0.003%
20-49 y: IFR= 0.02%
50-69 y: 0.5%
>70y, IFR= 5.4%
3/n

https://t.co/r4Dj1YzgWs
Not everybody is susceptible to the virus. If reinfected, pre-existing immunity from related viruses gives protection from developing the disease or from developing serious symptoms.
4/n
“The evidence that a subset of people has a cross-reactive T cell repertoire through exposure to related coronaviruses is strong.“
5/n
https://t.co/wQzeAWkKg5
COVID 19 is less serious than the flu for kids and more serious than the flu for the elderly with comorbidities.
“our data indicate that children are at far greater risk of critical illness from influenza than from COVID-19” 6/n https://t.co/pHnVUzFBLR
During the incubation period for SARS-CoV-2, individuals are pre-symptomatic. They may transmit the virus. When it occurs, it is likely to lead to a milder presentation of the disease due to the low viral load. 7/n
The infectivity of cases lasts 8 days from the onset of symptoms. After that people are no longer infectious. 8/n https://t.co/ExM1lEQPCw
Asymptomatic are not the main drivers of disease. Assuming that the test is a true (+), they might be infected but they present no symptoms most likely due to built up immunity from prior viruses. Secondary transmission is minimal with a low viral load.9/n
https://t.co/0pkCNBhLaX
“In all the history of respiratory-born viruses of any type, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks. The driver of outbreaks is always a symptomatic person.”- Fauci 10/n
COVID 19, like many other viral infections, may rarely be followed by long-term effects, however, for the vast majority of patients, COVID 19 is a mild self-limiting illness with no long-term sequelae. See sequelae of influenza here👇 11/n
https://t.co/xoE7xcFlpM
Long-lasting immunity to SARS-CoV-2 exists. Following infection with SARS-Cov-2 people are protected. If exposed again to the virus, they will not get seriously sick. No need to be concerned about reinfection. Relax! 12/n https://t.co/pGYFo1fU1t
Viral mutations are common to all viruses. Viruses tend to become less virulent and more transmissible over time until herd immunity is reached after which the virus is less transmissible as it becomes an endemic virus. 13/n https://t.co/WsfQjQyla0
Once we stop locking down and messing up nature, COVID 19 will settle into an endemic state where it becomes part of a cocktail of respiratory viruses that live with us. We must learn to live with it. Our species has done this before. We can do it once again. 14/n
Closing down schools harms children educational progress, psychosocial wellbeing and development. 15/n https://t.co/nwGwodCmW4
Children get mostly an asymptomatic or mild presentation. Transmission from children to adults is negligible and not a main driver of disease. 16/n
https://t.co/SJA7Y8ELRL
Opening schools does not lead to an increase in the transmission rate in the community 17/n https://t.co/AyivANLf2m
Teachers don’t have a higher prevalence of infection compared to other professions. 18/n https://t.co/y5JPN1Nysw
“If the COVID-19 hazard sets the new standard for health safety, the country will need to close its schools each year from November until April to guard against influenza.” Scott Atlas 19/n
https://t.co/iVcWnhnjSO
PCR test can not diagnose infectiousness. It can detect chunks of the virus but does not tell if the virus can replicate. Diagnosing a person with COVID 19 based on a (+) test without clinical symptoms is not in line with pre-covid medical practice. 20/n
https://t.co/xxQfQWbrNc
The science behind social distancing rules (the 2 m rule) is absent.
For high-risk individuals:
Avoid closed places and crowded indoor spaces.
Go to the beach, the park or to open markets.
Get some Vit D. 21/n
Masks are ‘safety blankets’.
There is no scientific evidence to support their use in the community.

Feel free to wear them if they make you feel safe. 22/n
https://t.co/WOodjPCt4L
“At present, there is no direct evidence (from studies on COVID19 and in healthy people in the community) on the effectiveness of universal masking of healthy people in the community to prevent infection with respiratory viruses, including COVID-19.” 23/n
https://t.co/zdAsllF1vv
Enforcing masks on children hampers their social development and reading social cues and non-verbal facial expression. It stunts oral expression. It creates a subservient generation who follows stupid rules that adults cannot justify logically. 24/n
https://t.co/CEnEJBTzF6
Transmission from contact with surfaces is not a big deal. Hypersanitization is not necessary and even counterproductive.
Washing hands is a good hygiene practice. Excessive use of sanitizing gels leads to skin irritations. 25/n
Lockdowns haven’t been shown to improve the final outcome of an epidemic. “we do not find significant benefits on case growth of more restrictive NPIs. Similar reductions in case growth may be achievable with less restrictive interventions.” 26/n
https://t.co/BkJsy2jdl1
Lockdowns harm. Economic destruction leads to more deaths. 27/n
https://t.co/L0L1T7UNw9
Health is not about the absence of disease or infirmity. Health consists of physical, mental and social well-being.
Health is about the subjective quality of life and not just the prolongation of life.
Life is about living and not just existing.
It's time to chose life.
28/28

More from Abir Ballan 😊

The corrupt Lebanese government put the country in lockdown to flatten the “revolution”. As a result of the worsening economic situation, many healthcare workers were laid off and now the Lebanese people are paying for it by being denied access to care. 1/n


Here’s what would reduce mortality in #Lebanon:
1) protecting the vulnerable
2) increasing healthcare capacity
3) supporting healthcare workers

All impossible to do in a country that is gasping for dear life. 2/n

And yet the #Lebanese people are being blamed for not following guidelines and not following the rules.
The Lebanese people are not to blame. Wearing masks, social distancing, lockdowns and stupid curfews don’t do anything. 3/n

It is those politicians who transferred their money to Swiss accounts, while #Lebanese citizens can no longer transfer university fees for their children studying abroad, who are to blame.
Stop shifting the blame to the people. 4/n

Public health practitioners like @firassabiad and @petra who have bought blindly into the narrative are reinforcing this displaced scapegoating.
Please be aware of the harm of supporting the government’s narrative. 5/n
A brief tutorial in health education to show you how sound health education models have been used for manipulation instead of creating health awareness during the COVID 19 pandemic. We'll uses masks as an example of a health behavior.
Are you ready to explore? 1/n

The Health Belief Model (HBM) consists of 5 components: perceived threat (lethality + Susceptibility),
perceived benefits,
perceived barriers and
cues to action.

Familiarise yourself with the definition of each concept in this table. 2/n
https://t.co/1tOz1cJFvc


Study this diagram to understand how the components are interrelated. 3/n
https://t.co/iUoaqNkgyP


Now let’s apply this to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Review this diagram to see how the HBM applies to the behaviour of mask-wearing.
“perceived susceptibility appeared to be the most significant factor determining compliance” 4/n
https://t.co/xF6uwUx12N


Part I: The HBM
Increase the perceived threat of a disease
1) increase perceived severity: Confusing the general public with CFR & IFR- 2 indicators that are an order of magnitude apart.
People understood wrongly that the fatality rate of C19 is

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THREAD: 12 Things Everyone Should Know About IQ

1. IQ is one of the most heritable psychological traits – that is, individual differences in IQ are strongly associated with individual differences in genes (at least in fairly typical modern environments). https://t.co/3XxzW9bxLE


2. The heritability of IQ *increases* from childhood to adulthood. Meanwhile, the effect of the shared environment largely fades away. In other words, when it comes to IQ, nature becomes more important as we get older, nurture less.
https://t.co/UqtS1lpw3n


3. IQ scores have been increasing for the last century or so, a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect. https://t.co/sCZvCst3hw (N ≈ 4 million)

(Note that the Flynn effect shows that IQ isn't 100% genetic; it doesn't show that it's 100% environmental.)


4. IQ predicts many important real world outcomes.

For example, though far from perfect, IQ is the single-best predictor of job performance we have – much better than Emotional Intelligence, the Big Five, Grit, etc. https://t.co/rKUgKDAAVx https://t.co/DWbVI8QSU3


5. Higher IQ is associated with a lower risk of death from most causes, including cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, most forms of cancer, homicide, suicide, and accident. https://t.co/PJjGNyeQRA (N = 728,160)