Letter to the editor: ‘Everyone thinks COVID is over. It’s not’

Here’s a letter to the editor written by Sylvia Robine of Mt. Gilead.

I know, everyone thinks COVID is over. It’s not. What’s ended is the government’s support of mitigation (or attempting to control, rather than eliminate, the disease). Tracking cases so we can be aware of new variants and hotspots in order to make informed decisions is over, mask mandates are over, reliable rapid assessment and treatments are over – but the COVID 19 virus is here to stay.

This past week alone cases in Louisiana were up 70 percent, LA County was up 93.3 percent, 45 school districts in Texas closed schools and counties in Kentucky closed schools because so many students, teachers and staff were out. Cases in the U.S. are up 500 percent since the week of June 21, and continuing to rise, while hospitalizations are up 22 percent this week alone.

What we know now is COVID isn’t just the initial acute phase of the more manageable symptoms we associate with a cold or flu. This is a dangerous airborne pathogen that can transmit both presymptomatically and asymptomatically, and it’s estimated that 50 percent of cases are asymptomatic.

Research now tells us there are vast long-term effects including mild and asymptomatic cases and what each infection does to our bodies can have long-lasting effects.

COVID can cause cells to fuse together, creating clumps of nonfunctioning cells, and leaves open space where functioning cells were. Think back to the early X-rays of broken glass lungs we saw. This was caused by lung cells fusing together and leaving holes in lung tissue. We now know COVID can do this to any cell group, any organ in the body – your circulatory system, neurological system, liver, kidneys and brain. This is where “brain fog” comes from. It’s actually brain damage and repeat infections at the rate we are going can prevent the brain from repairing itself; our brains are not elastic enough to keep up with this virus. This is also why blood clotting is causing so many stroke and heart attacks post COVID infections.

COVID is also able to reactivate past viral infections in your body. This is why we are experiencing cluster infections of hepatitis, tuberculosis, shingles, EBV, measles and other diseases we know are caused by viral infections.

COVID damages lymphocytes and depletes CD4 and CD8 cells which assist your T and B cells and in time can destroy immune systems. This is already happening to some of the 10 million plus Americans and 65 million people worldwide who are suffering from Long COVID. Some Long COVID sufferers who were infected early in the pandemic are now dying of infections like Candida and UTIs despite proper medications, because their immune systems can no longer protect them. This happens with AIDS. Were this virus HIV, many people would be diagnosed with AIDS. Sadly, while HIV is typically known to kill in 10-12 years, some Long COVID sufferers are now dying two-three years after their COVID infection.

COVID also destroys mitochondria, which are responsible for providing energy to cells. This is why so many suffer from exhaustion and diseases like ME/CEF. If you’ve had long-term symptoms (racing heart rate, exhaustion, gastroenterology issues) after a COVID infection or developed new diagnoses like MS, fibromyalgia, diabetes, POTS, EBV, vision or hearing loss, or neurological pain, you need to protect yourself from reinfection. No infection is without consequence and increases your chances of Long COVID which can put you on a faster path toward a disabling medical diagnosis.

The media doesn’t seem to be making an effort to share recent research and unless you actively seek it out you will find yourself completely unaware of the consequences others are suffering. Until research provides us with better prophylactics we each need to make the decision how to best protect ourselves, our families and communities from reinfection. N95 masking in large groups and indoor spaces and air filtration with MERV 13 rated filters, along with making wise decisions, are the only tools we have until science advances enough to help protect us. I know no one wants to start masking again, but an N95 has protected many people these past three-plus years.

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Here are links to studies to support my information. Of course, most studies aren’t easily read by those of us not medically or scientifically educated, so in some cases I’ve included a more readable resource as well.

Lasting damage to mitochondria