More patios, some links

As I’m sure it’s been worrying all y’all, I’m pleased to report that we’ve crossed a couple other restaurants off the summer dining list.

• The food at Sole was quite good, if not outstanding, and the service was quite professional as always. They retain their prize as prettiest patio in Waterloo Region, in my option. And we biked there and back, which is always nice.
  
• However, we deemed The Charcuterie Bar in St. Jacobs a little too far to bike to after work, though it is a good weekend bike trip. Their patio is on the street, but since that’s a street in St. Jacobs, it’s not without charm. This time of year, however, it’s also not without house flies. Not the restaurant’s fault, and we could have moved indoors, but we decided to stay out and swish away the insects.
  
  Their selection of cheese is fantastic; their pates are very good; they have quite interesting wines by the glass and wine flights; and we also enjoyed the non-charcuterie board options like the smoked trout. Only two desserts, but both really great. Quite limited on the hot drinks; like, only peach green tea (which seemed an odd single option)? Nevertheless, recommended overall.

Then I had a bit of SARS-Cov2 information that I wanted to share… More on the good new side of things (relatively speaking).

The more vaccines you get, the lower your risk of Long Covid (PDF link to study)

Finally, there was a significant inverse relationship between the number of COVID19 vaccine doses received and the risk of having Long COVID; individuals receiving
2 or fewer and 3 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were 60% (RR=1.6, 95%CI: 1.3-1.9)
and 40% (RR=1.4, 95%CI: 1.3-1.6) more likely to have Long COVID compared to
those receiving ≥4 doses (Table 2).

Long COVID in a highly vaccinated population infected during a
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron wave – Australia, 2022, medRxiv Preprint

So sign up for that new vaccine out this fall.

In the meantime, masks work best at protecting you, but if / when you… can’t mask (or don’t wanna)? Try nasal spray like BETADINE Cold Defence. Doesn’t work as well as a mask, but definitely better than nothing. Other options are nasal filters, and even CCC-based mouthwash might be of some assistance.

And on the treatment side, studies continue to show that taking Metformin can reduce your risk of ending up with Long Covid. Metformin is a cheap and safe drug, but only available by prescription. It’s usually prescribed for diabetes, but some doctors know to offer it for other conditions as well.