Coronavirus General Discussion

[glennds]

[

Watching tonight's Celtics / Hawks game it looked like the Celtic players and coach were...

Ah, yes. The Woke NBA. We should all follow their lead.

How do you even force yourself to watch that? It's not even sports anymore, it's just a propaganda show. Rating are down so low, they are quaking in their Nike hightops.

Surely you mean Nike kneeltops.
Didn't you get the memo about the name change?

[Tortoise]

Hey dualstow, does double masking actually prevent glasses from fogging up? I've been having to do all my shopping half blind and it's beyond irritating. Not sure I'd trade off not being able to breathe though....one mask is bad enough on that score. Unless I combine it with that plastic gizmo that pug recommended, for lifting the mask off your face. That's just too much facegear to contemplate though.

Luckily I have contact lenses in addition to my glasses, so whenever I go to the store I just wear contacts to avoid the fogging. But if I didn't have contacts, I probably would have considered an alternate solution like putting an adhesive strip on the top part of the mask closest to my glasses, forcing most of the air to go around the sides and bottom of the mask.

[dualstow]

Hey dualstow, does double masking actually prevent glasses from fogging up? I've been having to do all my shopping half blind and it's beyond irritating. Not sure I'd trade off not being able to breathe though....one mask is bad enough on that score. Unless I combine it with that plastic gizmo that pug recommended, for lifting the mask off your face. That's just too much facegear to contemplate though.

I don’t know. It’s just something I’ve heard. I don’t double mask and the wife wears contacts. However, when I get the urge to wear my sunglasses (which are also prescription) in spring or summer, I’ll probably try doubling up to see if it works.

It might be worth trying at home just to see.

[vnatale]

Among some of the other COVID-19 protocol differences that were instituted by MLB:

1) To enhance contact tracing, all individuals covered in the protocol (players, managers and staff) will wear Kinexon devices while on team property or traveling with the team. Any who test positive for the coronavirus must isolate for at least 10 days. A Covered Individual who has been identified as having been in close contact with a confirmed case of COVID must quarantine for seven days and must test negative on the fifth day or later to be cleared. Last year, there was just the requirement of two negative tests 24 hours apart to return from quarantine.

2) Stricter rules govern players, managers and coaches outside the ballpark as well. They can’t attend indoor gatherings of 10 or more people; eat at indoor restaurants, bars and lounges; or go to fitness or wellness centers, entertainment venues or casinos. During spring training, Covered Individuals and their households must quarantine at their homes with the exceptions of outdoor dining, individual outdoor physical activities and a doctor’s visit as well as going to work. Those who violate the Code of Conduct will be subject to pay forfeiture.

3) Specific to spring training, MLB also made changes that allow teams to limit the exposure of players during games. For exhibition games held between Feb. 27 and March 13, the defensive manager may call an inning “complete” before the third out if his pitcher has thrown at least 20 pitches. Games can be shortened to as few as five innings if both managers consent to it until March 13. Starting on March 14, games can be downsized to as little as seven innings. There are no overnight trips for teams during spring training. For road games, players will be encouraged to drive their own cars to avoid the bus � which most veteran players do anyway.

[vnatale]

How Anthony Fauci Survived Donald Trump

The new White House chief medical adviser explains what it was really like to work for an administration that tried constantly to undermine him.


https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... ource=feed

[I Shrugged]

How Anthony Fauci Survived Donald Trump

The new White House chief medical adviser explains what it was really like to work for an administration that tried constantly to undermine him.


https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... ource=feed

This kind of posting links without adding anything to the discussion is called hit and run. I don’t think it’s horrible, but less is more.

[Don]

I got my Pfizer vaccine yesterday. I'm at a higher risk than most because I have cancer. My arm was sore for about a day and I had mild flu symptoms that have already dissipated. It's given me a greater sense of reassurance already.

[I Shrugged]

I got my Pfizer vaccine yesterday. I'm at a higher risk than most because I have cancer. My arm was sore for about a day and I had mild flu symptoms that have already dissipated. It's given me a greater sense of reassurance already.

I have decided that I’ll get vaccinated when I can. Sorry to hear about the cancer. Good luck with it.

[Don]

Thanks!

[pp4me]

Not sure I really want to do it yet but I thought I'd check out the availability in my county (Pinellas, FL). The website where you make an appointment said it was only available to those over 65 which qualifies me but then it said "No Appointments Currently Available". No indication of when that might change.

Meanwhile my wife was required to get it at work so that effectively eliminates the most likely source of me getting the virus.

[vnatale]

My friend lives a mile down the street from me. He is 70 and has cancer. He told me that when he recently checked he is not in the top category in Massachusetts to get the vaccine. The top category is those over 75 plus others.

[Don]

My friend lives a mile down the street from me. He is 70 and has cancer. He told me that when he recently checked he is not in the top category in Massachusetts to get the vaccine. The top category is those over 75 plus others.

That's just horrible. And in a Blue state too.

[barrett]

My friend lives a mile down the street from me. He is 70 and has cancer. He told me that when he recently checked he is not in the top category in Massachusetts to get the vaccine. The top category is those over 75 plus others.

That's just horrible. And in a Blue state too.

Vinny,

Your friend might not be in the "top category" to get vaccinated, but he is still eligible to do so. See here:

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massa ... s#phase-2-

Massachusettes is well into phase 2, correct?

[vnatale]

My friend lives a mile down the street from me. He is 70 and has cancer. He told me that when he recently checked he is not in the top category in Massachusetts to get the vaccine. The top category is those over 75 plus others.

That's just horrible. And in a Blue state too.

Vinny,

Your friend might not be in the "top category" to get vaccinated, but he is still eligible to do so. See here:

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massa ... s#phase-2-

Massachusettes is well into phase 2, correct?

Thanks for this.

It appears that Massachusetts is into phase 2 as he described. But it required two medical conditions while, at the time, he only had one. During our phone call he disclosed that he's been disclosed with another form of cancer so that may now put him in the "top category".

[barrett]

Here in CT the vaccine has been available to those 65 and over since about 2/8. And this timeline was just announced by the governor:

Residents age 55 and older, as well as teachers, will be eligible beginning March 1, according to the state’s new plan. Those groups will be followed by residents aged 45 to 54 on March 26, those aged 35 to 44 on April 12 and those aged 16 to 34 on May 3.

So, depending on availability, I should be able to get both doses done by the end of March and my wife should be done by the end of April. Of course, like every other state at the moment, we have used well over 80% of the vaccine doses that have been delivered.

[vnatale]

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[mathjak107]

Just heard from a former band mate and friend for 40 years

As you know I have a kidney transplant. I take immune suppression medication so my body doesn't reject the kidney. My dr. told me that I would not survive covid because of the suppression medication. I had hurt my back and went to a physical therapist. That is how I got covid. An ambulance took me to the hospital. My oxygen was very low so I was put on a ventilator on December 21st. My wife refused to pull the plug on Xmas day. The next day I improved and came off the ventilator on December 27th. It seems because I have afib one of my medications is eliquis, a blood thinner. It kept the clots from killing me. I was in ICU for almost 3 weeks unable move. I improved with the help of dedicated dr.s, nurses, etc. I am now in rehab. It is my 65th day bedridden but I am improving to the point of using a walker. I hope to be home in 2 or 3 weeks. Thank God for physical therapy. Nobody thought I would survive and I was visited by many dr. And staff who wanted to see the guy who survived. Thank God my wife didn't listen to the drs. Also thanks to the many prayer groups that prayed for me..

[Kriegsspiel]

Modern medicine is the shiznittlesnap.

[vnatale]

A Simple Rule of Thumb for Knowing When the Pandemic Is Over

At some point—maybe even soon—the emergency phase of the pandemic will end. But what, exactly, is that magic threshold?

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/arch ... ource=feed



Some experts were even more conservative. Crystal Watson, a health-security scholar at Johns Hopkins University, suggested a threshold of 0.5 newly diagnosed cases per 100,000 people every day, and a test-positivity rate of less than 1 percent. That would translate to fewer than 2,000 cases a day in the U.S., compared with the current 60,000 or more. We’d also want to log at least one month of normal hospital operations without staff or equipment shortages, she said.

While every proposed threshold remains far below what we’re seeing right now, the researchers I spoke with believe that if vaccine uptake is high enough, those numbers can be reached. Watson suggested a target of 80 percent coverage for populations older than 65, and 70 to 80 percent for everyone else. For the latter, “perhaps 60 percent is more realistic,” she said.

So far, no state has reached those vaccination levels in any population. It is possible, however, that in specific, high-risk subpopulations, targeted efforts could drive vaccination rates to very high levels. Our best example is in long-term-care facilities, which have been linked to 35 percent of total COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. The federal government’s vaccine rollout made residents and staff in these facilities a priority and provided specific funds and operational help to vaccinate these people beginning in December. At the COVID Tracking Project, we’ve seen the share of deaths attributed to long-term-care facilities drop by more than half over the past six weeks, which suggests the vaccines are working.

The large number of Americans who’ve already been infected will also be crucial for reaching transmission-slowing levels of immunity. The CDC estimates that more than 83 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19, far more than the official, confirmed case total of 28 million. Forty-four million Americans have received at least one dose of a vaccine. Even assuming some overlap between the previously infected and the vaccinated, perhaps 100 to 120 million Americans have some level of immunity. That’s roughly one-third of the population.

It could take months for the size of this group to reach a point where the number of COVID-19 deaths a day falls below 100. Until then, we’ll be confronted with a different sort of risk: that, for some, the pandemic feels like it’s over long before it actually is. Just as the country has never taken a unified approach to battling COVID-19, we may very well end up without a unified approach to deciding when it ends. That’s why public-health experts are desperately urging Americans to hold firm even as the pandemic seems to be receding. “We’re lifting mitigation measures too soon,” warned Gounder, the infectious-disease specialist at NYU. “We’re taking our foot off the brake before putting the car into park.” If enough people ignore that message and decide the pandemic is over for them, it may very well put off the moment when we can say that the pandemic is over for everyone.

[pp4me]

You can never be safe enough.....

[vnatale]

You can never be safe enough.....

Love it!

Thanks!

[dualstow]

It shouldn't be funny.....but it's funny!

[pp4me]

It shouldn't be funny.....but it's funny!

This would be a comparable image from the days of my youth during the Cuban missile crisis. The only difference was that in hindsight this really was an existential crisis. In terms of silliness the idea that hiding under your desk will save you from a nuclear blast probably wasn't much different.

No way to know right now but I'm guessing the current existential crisis will make the younger generation more skeptical about existential crises. But like I said, no way to know how these things will play out ....

[dualstow]

Ha! My parents talk about having experienced that. ^ That's some good theater.

[vnatale]

Ha! My parents talk about having experienced that. ^ That's some good theater.

I can tell you directly.

I "graduated" elementary school in Spring 1963. Therefore during the Fall of my last year there (6th grade) was the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I still remember our drills wherein we'd all leave our classrooms and march to the hallways and we we'd bend over with our heads against the walls, covering our heads with our hands.

I do not remember any such drills once we were in junior high school in the Summer of 1963. But then we had the Kennedy assassination not much more than a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Have we had any decade since the 1960s that were so tumultuous and historic?