Data collected by the league indicates that COVID-19 is not spreading from asymptomatic players.
COVID-19: A look at the most startling pandemic numbers from 2021.
NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills said in an interview on NFL Network, which is why the new protocols have been put in place. That contradicts what doctors and scientists have been saying since the beginning of the pandemic. “We’ve really not seen this phenomenon that people have discussed, which is asymptomatic people in the facility spreading the virus to others,” Sills said. “As we’ve gone back and looked throughout the entire season, what we’ve seen consistently is when people have symptoms, that’s when they seem to be contagious to others.
And that’s what we’re asking people to come forward and acknowledge those symptoms, because that’s the point at which they’re vulnerable and a point at which they expose themselves to others.”
In response to an explosion of COVID-19 cases last week that forced the
NFL to postpone three games, the league and the NFL Players Association agreed to new protocols, which included putting an end to weekly testing of vaccinated players and beginning random testing. Unvaccinated players continue to be tested daily, but vaccinated players, unless they’re chosen randomly, only get tested when reporting symptoms.
Sills defended the idea of testing less and said the idea that asymptomatic people are not shedding the virus is not something new with the Omicron variant, according to league data.
“Our data has been consistent throughout the season,” he said. “It’s all about symptom recognition and prompt testing. If you think about it, someone might have gotten tested on Monday, had no symptoms, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday they develop symptoms and they thought ‘Well, I must be OK because I just tested negative one or two days ago’ and they wouldn’t get tested for a number of days. Now, under the new systems, they’re coming forward and getting tested right away and getting tested the first time they have symptoms, which again, makes everyone around them safer.
According to league figures, more than 94 percent of the players are
vaccinated and close to 100 percent of the coaches are.
Per the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, there were 46 players who tested positive on Thursday, bringing the total since the start of last week to 320.
Across the United States cases of COVID-19 are on the rise due to
the Omicron variant. By Elizabeth Karpen
According to the NFL’s chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills, the spread
of the virus in the league is due to symptomatic players, not those who are asymptomatic. In an interview with the NFL Network, Sills claimed the
league has not witnessed any verifiable asymptomatic spread this season.
“I think all of our concern about [asymptomatic spread] has been going
down based on what we’ve been seeing throughout the past several months,” Sills told ESPN in a subsequent interview. “We’ve got our hands full with symptomatic people. Can I tell you tonight that there has never been a case when someone without symptoms passed it on to someone else?
No, of course I can’t say that. But what I can say to you is that I think it’s a very, very tiny fraction of the overall problem, if it exists at all.
“Clearly if you want to look at the overall pattern and concern about transmission, it is not being driven by people who have no idea that they are infected, and they are infecting scores of others. This is being driven by people with symptoms and the exposures during that symptomatic period.” This strategy departs from the belief that most public health organizations have shared throughout the pandemic, which emphasized that the asymptomatic should take precautions as well since they could spread the virus, or even not know that they are COVID-19 positive.
Sills claimed that it was because of the testing schedule that some players were spreading the virus and not attributing symptoms to COVID-19 since they had received a negative test in the days prior. “We were seeing people walk around for two or three days and expose others because they didn’t speak up about their symptoms because they had gotten that negative test,” Sills said.
“So, we’re at our best when we’re testing at the onset of symptoms.”
He added the league was able to trace, using genomic sequencing, that 87 percent of positive cases in the NFL came from outside of team facilities. “Asymptomatic transmission inside our facilities just didn’t fit with what we were seeing,” he added.
Despite the surge in positive cases across the US, the NFL and the NFL Players Association finalized an agreement last week that would pause weekly testing for vaccinated players and instead implement a random sampling system across teams and positions. Unvaccinated players will still be tested daily and vaccinated players who experience symptoms are expected to report them and be tested.
Players who test positive are required to isolate for 10 days, but under these new protocols, players who are vaccinated are able to test out of quarantine
as early as the day after their initial positive test based on negative tests and control threshold readings.
Most People Catch COVID This Way, Science Says!!!
We’re two years into the pandemic and COVID isn’t done with us just yet.
Omicron is now spreading rapidly and although cases in some areas are dropping, in some state’s cases are spiking and hospitals are being pushed to the limits again. While experts are still learning about the virus and the variants, doctors know for sure how contagious COVID is and how people can catch it. Dr. Luke Palmisano MD, FACEP, CFL1 Associate Medical Director: Emergency Department Dignity Health California Hospital explains,
“COVID is a virus which is transmitted in little saliva droplets.
It can survive outside of someone’s throat for a few hours. The idea is to not
let one of these little saliva droplets (that you can’t see) get in contact with any mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth/throat/lungs though to a lesser extent anus and vagina can receive infective droplets as well.) ” Eat This, Not That! Health talked to top-ranking doctors who told us how most people get COVID and what we can do to protect ourselves. Read on—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
1. Not Being Vaccinated
According to Infectious disease expert and pioneering scientific researcher
Dr. Serhat Gumrukcu, “With the constant spike in the number of Omicron positive cases, it’s evident that a lot of factors have contributed to the most recent mutation. Some of the top ways people are contracting the virus
are low vaccination rates, and lack of social distancing. Large social gatherings held in confined spaces with individuals who are not 100% fully vaccinated have also led to an increase in COVID-19 cases.”
2. Crowds
LetsGetChecked Executive Director of Epidemiology, Dr. Gwen Murphy, Ph.D., MPH explains, “Coronavirus is very easy to transmit. While the highest risk of you picking up the infection is from contact with someone who is sick, we all know now that you can pick up the infection from people who are not showing any symptoms, or not yet showing symptoms.
In fact, people are MOST infectious in the days before they develop symptoms. The virus will spread in the small liquid droplets (some visible, some not) from an infected person’s mouth or nose when they cough or sneeze, speak, sing or even breathe. You will become infected when you inhale these droplets or aerosols or when they make contact with your eyes, nose or mouth.”
3. Conversations
Dr. Murphy says, “If you are close enough to someone else to be able to have a conversation and hear them easily you can also assume that if they are infected, those droplets are landing on you, whether or not you can see it. Wearing a mask when talking to someone like this greatly reduces the chance that you will pass on the infection, but it does not fully protect you from picking up the virus from someone else. Next time you find yourself talking to someone just take a step back to put some distance between each other which makes it harder for the droplets to transfer from one person to the other.”
4. Confined Spaces
“If you think of a cold morning in winter when we can see our breath
as we exhale — imagine those clouds now, imagine clouds of breath around everyone,” Dr. Murphy states. “Now imagine all of these people together in an indoor space with no open windows — the clouds of exhalation would just hang in the air with nowhere to go.
If you imagine one person in this room who is unknowingly infected, you can see how easily those virus droplets landing on someone else or being inhaled by someone else. Meeting outdoors or keeping doors and windows open means the droplets are less likely to hang in the air and hopefully less likely to land on other people.”
5. Get Vaccinated
Dr. Palmisano says, “Getting a vaccine is a more sophisticated protection.
The idea of a vaccine is to expose the body’s immune system to a small non-infectious part of the virus so it can generate an immune response (antibodies) against the virus. When you then are exposed to the virus after a vaccine you have antibodies ready to neutralize the virus. Here lies the controversy: it is a non-perfect science but works very well. The vaccine can help you not get infected with the virus, but it also extends the benefit if you are exposed enough to get infected where the immune system is primed and ready to fight the virus. The infections of those vaccinated (when they occur) tend to be less severe and milder. This is further complicated by the mutation of the COVID virus, whereas as the small virus changes, the vaccine antibodies might not detect it as well. This is the promise of mRNA vaccines though – they can be changed on a micro-protein level quickly. Look for future boosters to be a touch different molecularly. “
WE ARE ALL ENTITLED to Our Opinion.
My opinion about the vaccine if we went an entire year without contracting
the virus or if we did contract the virus. Why in heaven do we need the vaccine for the Omicron variant. (Mail In 2022 Midterm Ballots)??
Which I heard that 1 in 700 has a reaction to the jab (that’s compounding the problem.) More teens are dying of illegal drug use than of the virus and this POTUS has no problem leaving drugs come through the Southern Border via China. 19 Ways You’re Ruining Your Body, Say Health Experts 🙁
6. Stay Healthy
“By far the most beneficial protection against COVID is to be fit. Eat a natural non-processed, chemical-free diet that has zero refined sugar along with having a good work capacity – meaning to be able to exercise intensely for an extended period of time will give you the best protection against COVID. If you do both of these, your protection is the best,” Dr. Palmisano states.
RELATED: Warning Signs You Have “Too Much Fat,” Say Experts
Here’s When COVID Will End, Predict Experts
By now most of us have pandemic fatigue and just want COVID to stop mutating and go away. “The country’s over with us with this pandemic,” says Dr. Michael Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “The problem is the virus isn’t over with us. It will find you, you can’t on the game clock out on this one.
And even those who are partially vaccinated, with what one time would’ve been at least some protection against the virus will likely yield very little protection against this one, unless you have your full three doses. And so, I think we just have to continue to keep hitting that home. And again, if you don’t get vaccinated, this virus we’ll find you.” While experts are working towards an endemic, how quickly it can happen depends on various factors. Eat This, Not That! Health talked to doctors who reveal their thoughts on when the pandemic will end. Read on—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
1. It Depends on How You Define “End”
Infectious disease expert and pioneering scientific researcher Dr. Serhat Gumrukcu says, “All viruses evolve through several mutations that occur when they travel from host to host. The COVID-19 virus has already been through several mutations, however not all variants have been able to break through the human immune barrier. With an increase in the rate of fully vaccinated individuals — combined with COVID-19 drugs newly approved by the FDA, we might be able to reach an endemic stage with this virus while we also learn to live with it. Hence, there are too many factors at play to guesstimate an exact end date—very similar to the Influenza that appears each year. However, with all the advances we are making with COVID-19 vaccines and drug treatments, COVID might end up being less of a threat in the coming years.”
Want an actual date? Keep reading for the prediction.
2. Variants Will Prolong the Pandemic
LetsGetChecked’s Executive Director of Epidemiology, Dr. Gwen Murphy, Ph.D., MPH states, “A threat anywhere is a threat everywhere and this is what we are seeing now with the omicron variant. As long as coronavirus is circulating somewhere in the world there is a threat of a variant developing which evades the vaccines. So, getting full vaccination cover across the globe has to be a priority. In addition to this we know that vaccinated people can still pick up and transmit the virus, so we need to get used to masking, social distancing and regular testing being part of life for now. There is a way out of the pandemic, but it is not coming soon and, in the meantime, we need to look after ourselves and our communities.”
3. What Can People Do to Help End the Pandemic?
Dr. Robert G. Lahita MD, Ph.D. (aka “Dr. Bob”), Director of the Institute for Autoimmune and Rheumatic Disease at Saint Joseph Health and author of IMMUNITY STRONG (January 5, 2022) says, “Other than getting vaccinated, there’s nothing people can do to help end the pandemic. They should become a vaccine advocate for themselves and others. My prediction is that if you’re not vaccinated, you’re going to get Covid at some point, whether you like it or not.”
4. 2023 Could Be the Year
“I think it will become endemic by 2023, which should be enough time
for us to get more people vaccinated and build our immunity,” Dr. Bob states. “I hope that by 2023, enough people will be vaccinated and build immunity that the pandemic will be able to transition being endemic, like the flu, with yearly shots for everyone and no more masking / other restrictions. I also hope people will continue to learn how their immune systems work and what will / will not make them stronger. As I keep saying, diet, exercise, sex, and stress relief all contribute to a stronger immune system.”
5. What Does the ‘End of the Pandemic’ Really Mean?
According to Dr. Bob, “It means the pandemic will become “endemic” just like the flu. It will still be around with us in some form, but we won’t have to do all of the current precautions like masking and restricting travel.”
6. What Living with COVID Could Look Like
“When Covid is gone, there will be no masks or restrictions,” Dr. Bob explains. “We will have to get a booster shot every year, most likely, just like the flu.
I expect there will be more home tests and a variety of ways to test for Covid ourselves if we come down with symptoms. I think in 2023 they will lift requirements to show vaccine cards in order to enter businesses or travel.”
7. How Omicron and Other Variants Factor into the Timeline
Dr. Bob says, “Omicron spreads 70x more easily than the Delta variant. Symptoms will likely be mild with Omicron, and in general, if you are vaccinated you will experience less severe symptoms with any of the
Covid variants. If you are not vaccinated, you may end up in the hospital
or die – if you catch the more severe variants like Delta.”
8. How to Stay Safe Out There
Follow the public health fundamentals and help end this pandemic, no matter where you live—get vaccinated or boosted ASAP; if you live in an area with low vaccination rates, wear an N95 face mask, don’t travel, social distance, avoid large crowds, don’t go indoors with people you’re not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don’t visit any of these 35 Places You’re Most Likely to Catch COVID.
RELATED: 5 Benefits of Marijuana, Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Dr Sanjay Gupta: Weed 1 – CNN Special Documentary!
Dr Sanjay Gupta: Weed 2 – CNN Special Documentary!
Full CNN Documentary Weed 3 with Dr. Sanjay Gupta!
Full CNN Documentary Weed 4 with Dr. Sanjay Gupta!
Full CNN Documentary Weed 5 with Dr. Sanjay Gupta!
Full CNN Documentary Weed Full 1-3 (2013-2015)
Cannabis and Coronavirus study – Bing Search
PREVIEW: https://vimeo.com/648691043/5332841d5d
Nearly ten years ago, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta set out on a journey and traveled the globe to investigate the medical benefits of medical marijuana. WEED, the original award-winning documentary in the series that premiered in 2015, highlighted the remarkable benefits of CBD
in treating seizure disorders in kids. The documentary led to dozens of state legislatures changing laws granting parents and doctors the ability to use
CBD in treating children.
In Weed 6_Marijuana and Autism which aired on Sunday, November 28th
at 9 pm ET, Dr. Gupta takes viewers on a similar journey. Medical marijuana is known to treat dozens of disorders. In this documentary, Gupta follows several families who have seen the miraculous benefits of the plant on their children struggling with autism. Autism, ASD for Autism Spectrum Disorder, is by definition a wide array of behaviors.
Whether mild or severe, two core symptoms are social communication challenges and restrictive or repetitive behaviors.
In WEED 6: Cannabis and Autism, viewers will meet researchers, doctors,
and families, some of whom are coming out publicly for the first time and
will see in real-time how life-changing the plant can be for them.
35-Year-Old Army Veteran Dies from COVID Complications After Placed on Treatment Waitlist
Your Body on Cannabis (Documentary) – Bing video
Search Results for Cannabis Oil | Cancer Quick Facts (solitarius.org)
BONUS: Best shots from Charlie Woods, John Daly II and more at PNC Championship | 2021