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A THREAD for Michigan fans that don’t understand the sports shutdown:
Michigan athletics has been paused for 2 weeks because 5 athletes (so far) have tested positive for the B.1.1.7 strain of COVID. It’s between 1.3x and 1.7x more infectious than the orig strain.
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Michigan athletics has been paused for 2 weeks because 5 athletes (so far) have tested positive for the B.1.1.7 strain of COVID. It’s between 1.3x and 1.7x more infectious than the orig strain.
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This increase in infectiousness poses a unique challenge to Michigan athletics because of all the shared spaces, facilities, etc. of each sport. The original COVID protocols in place are not designed for this new variant. The mutations of B.1.1.7 causes it to be more “sticky”.
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Now “sticky” isn’t the absolute best term in this sense. The technical way to describe it is that the spike protein (the hook) underwent a mutation that caused its shape to change which in turn causes the virus to have a higher affinity for the receptors in our cells.
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Because of the higher affinity (the virus binds to our cells faster/easier) it takes less time and exposure to reach the critical viral load that causes our bodies to become sick, infected, and spreaders of the virus.
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As if it couldn’t get any worse, mortality data from the UK is currently being reviewed to determine if B.1.1.7 is also more deadly. Initial reviews are suggesting B.1.1.7 has a strong possibility of being more deadly. But more data is necessary to be conclusive.
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Now the physical virus does not have to be more dangerous in and of itself to cause more death. A virus that is more infectious leads to more people becoming sick. More sick people means hospitals fill up faster. Full hospitals mean people can’t get care they need to survive.
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So long story short, this isn’t the same virus we were dealing with when the winter season started. It’s not the same virus that caused UMich women’s,MSU men’s, or PSU men’s bball to postpone games.
This mutation poses a much more significant risk.
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This mutation poses a much more significant risk.
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Now, there is a wrinkle to this whole scenario. In order to determine if the positive COVID test is due to the variant, the test has to be genetically sequenced and is an additional step above and beyond. I do not know if other schools are sequencing their tests.
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Therefore, UMich might be “doing this to themselves” and (as far as I know) are the only school sequencing their COVID tests.
But the argument should not be “why is Michigan trying to create problems for themselves”.
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But the argument should not be “why is Michigan trying to create problems for themselves”.
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By sequencing their tests, Michigan is doing the responsible thing (leaders and best ya know) to get a handle on the virus. We need to know what we’re dealing with before we can address it. As of 1/22, the US is sequencing only 0.3% of COVID tests, ranking 43rd in the world.
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In closing, yeah I’m hella sad about the shutdown. Michigan sports were absolutely vibing all around. For example, both XC teams can’t compete in the B1G meet and won’t be able to qualify for nationals. Both teams have a good chance to win conference, as well as nationals.
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But to reiterate, this new variant poses a significant risk to everybody, including the athletes we enjoy watching compete. The health and safety of the athletes and the surrounding community needs to come first.
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