Coronavirus General Discussion

[Hal]

Meanwhile from "The peoples paradise of Victoria"

On Monday the premier, Daniel Andrews, said he would ask parliament to extend the allowable period for a state of emergency to 12 months, and then renew it, allowing Victoria to remain in a state of emergency until September next year.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... s-concerns

[vnatale]

Officials say some Georgians treat COVID with bleach-like cleaner


https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-pu ... 3NMJCSFZI/

[Tortoise]

California's Governor Newsom is facing two lawsuits over the unconstitutionality of the school lockdowns: One by the Orange County Board of Education and the other by a group of parents.

[Tortoise]

^ Unfortunately you’re probably right about that, but the lawsuits at least send the right message and highlight that not even all government entities in blue states are on board with the lockdowns.

[Hal]

Hilarious Make sure you have the sound on.

https://www.facebook.com/mick.waldron.1 ... =2&theater

[I Shrugged]

Hilarious Make sure you have the sound on.

https://www.facebook.com/mick.waldron.1 ... =2&theater

OMG. Nitwittery.

[WiseOne]

Hey all,

I'm mostly out for the count due to my mother having a new health problem, and family coming into town. Not much time to peruse the form although it's an enjoyable few relaxing minutes of my day....really appreciate all the posts and keep 'em coming!

Funny related story. My brother decided to fly in from California and ignore the quarantine rules, but decided to get a COVID test as obviously he would be horrified to transmit it to my 84 yo, ailing mother. The thing is, all of them now say 7-10 days for a result. Ridiculous!!!! He finally found a private practice in Connecticut that offers a test with results in < 1 hour, so right after landing he drove straight there and got his test. Negative of course.

My sister (the ER doc in MA, afflicted with full on COVID hysteria to the point where she insists that everyone wear masks in the house and eat outside), berated him endlessly over this, he's endangering my mom etc. Then her daughter, who is currently unemployed and enjoying the benefits, decided to come down to NJ for a friend's party and use my mother's house as a convenient crash pad. My brother was up in arms over this for a couple of reasons. So at this point...who is afraid of COVID and how much? I thought the risk is very small given that COVID is long gone in this area, but it's certainly not zero and wow, the logical inconsistency amazes me.

[jalanlong]

Hey all,

I'm mostly out for the count due to my mother having a new health problem, and family coming into town. Not much time to peruse the form although it's an enjoyable few relaxing minutes of my day....really appreciate all the posts and keep 'em coming!

Funny related story. My brother decided to fly in from California and ignore the quarantine rules, but decided to get a COVID test as obviously he would be horrified to transmit it to my 84 yo, ailing mother. The thing is, all of them now say 7-10 days for a result. Ridiculous!!!! He finally found a private practice in Connecticut that offers a test with results in < 1 hour, so right after landing he drove straight there and got his test. Negative of course.

My sister (the ER doc in MA, afflicted with full on COVID hysteria to the point where she insists that everyone wear masks in the house and eat outside), berated him endlessly over this, he's endangering my mom etc. Then her daughter, who is currently unemployed and enjoying the benefits, decided to come down to NJ for a friend's party and use my mother's house as a convenient crash pad. My brother was up in arms over this for a couple of reasons. So at this point...who is afraid of COVID and how much? I thought the risk is very small given that COVID is long gone in this area, but it's certainly not zero and wow, the logical inconsistency amazes me.

Logical inconsistencies. Yesterday I went into a small computer repair shop to pick up a laptop I was having fixed. The two workers came out of the back room and they had obviously been smoking. Smoke was billowing out of the room and they reeked of cigarettes. Once they came out, what is the first thing they do? Put their masks and gloves on of course. Because they would not want to damage their respiratory system by catching COVID right??

I feel like things might be starting to creep towards reopening again here. My son's elementary school is supposed to reopen in 10 days and it appears that they are going forward with that (although I think it might be more from lack of students participating in the Virtual Learning rather than an actual desire to go back). Students are required to wear masks at all times, regardless of any special needs they may have. But at least it is a step in the right direction.

The doggy daycare/boarding place near me has had their lobby closed since March. To drop your dog off you had to park in the parking lot, call them and they would come out...in gloves and masks of course...and you couldn't have your collars on the dogs nor use your own leashes. What on earth is the % chance of catching a virus from a dog collar? In any case they are reopening their lobby on September 1st. Only 2 people allowed in at a time but still, baby steps.

[Cortopassi]

Yeah!

[Mountaineer]

Yeah!

Congrats. You and your daughter must be thrilled and relieved. Good for ND!

+1

[flyingpylon]

Yeah!

Interesting decision given that ND seems to be doing a fraction of the testing done by some other schools.

Indiana University - Bloomington tested almost 34,000 students upon arrival with just under a 1% positive rate. They have begun surveillance testing and will ramp up to testing students once or twice per week. They are building labs that will be ready to process 15,000 tests per day by October.

They have students in residence halls, Greek housing, and of course off-campus but the vast majority of classes are entirely online.

[Maddy]

The lawyer's office where I stopped in yesterday had several signs taped to the front desk that read "This office respects the ADA and HIPAA. Our staff will not be wearing masks." I was glad to see it.

One thing I keep wondering: For those people who insist that the sky is falling (I'm envisioning your sister, WiseOne), has anyone thought to ask them for how long they plan to keep this up? Assuming that the virus is here to stay, are they really prepared to live this way indefinitely?

When do YOU think the hysteria is going to end? When the election is over? When the unemployment benefits stop and people actually get hungry? When somebody claims to have a vaccine? When a true disaster puts this all in perspective? When a news flash comes out that reveals the extent of the corruption behind the hoax? Wish I knew how to create a poll.

[Tortoise]

California's Governor Newsom tweeted his "Blueprint for a Safer Economy" today.

Even businesses in counties with less than 1 daily new case per 100K population will still have required "modifications". Say what?

https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/ ... 16385?s=20

[Mark Leavy]

One thing I keep wondering: For those people who insist that the sky is falling (I'm envisioning your sister, WiseOne), has anyone thought to ask them for how long they plan to keep this up? Assuming that the virus is here to stay, are they really prepared to live this way indefinitely?

That really is the crux of the matter. What is the end game?

The very soon 'vaccine' story is a sop to placate the children. What do the adults believe? It is what it is. Some of us will die. Some of us won't. The crops still need planting. Morituri te salutant.

Mark

[jalanlong]

The lawyer's office where I stopped in yesterday had several signs taped to the front desk that read "This office respects the ADA and HIPAA. Our staff will not be wearing masks." I was glad to see it.

One thing I keep wondering: For those people who insist that the sky is falling (I'm envisioning your sister, WiseOne), has anyone thought to ask them for how long they plan to keep this up? Assuming that the virus is here to stay, are they really prepared to live this way indefinitely?

When do YOU think the hysteria is going to end? When the election is over? When the unemployment benefits stop and people actually get hungry? When somebody claims to have a vaccine? When a true disaster puts this all in perspective? When a news flash comes out that reveals the extent of the corruption behind the hoax? Wish I knew how to create a poll.

I really have no idea. We are six months in and I saw an NPR-Ipsos survey last week that said 60% of Americans would back a 2 week mandatory stay at home order to slow the spread of the virus. If this has gone on for 6 months, I have no confidence it will stop anytime soon.

I used to think that once all of these people who could work from home started to lost their jobs en masse then it might start to change opinions. But I know a few people who have lost their work from home jobs, are running out of money but STILL think that stopping the virus is more important than reopening everything.

I know a lot of people think it will end after the election but Biden says he will shut down everything and make masks mandatory if he is elected so I don't know that the election will cure the problem. I really thought after a month people would want to get back to their daily lives...going to concerts, movies, sporting events. I am flabbergasted that people are willing to hide in their homes in perpetuity. People have lost all sense of risk assessment right now and as each day passes the lives we used to live are becoming a faded memory.

If I had to guess I would say it will end when there is a combination of a vaccine (no matter how effective it actually is) combined with a media that decides to start covering something else. A vaccine will allow the Chicken Littles to breath a little easier and then when the media moves on then it will eventually move to the back of their minds and they will think they "survived" the Black Plague until the vaccine saved them.

I do believe that mask wearing and germophobia may be around for a long time after this.

[vnatale]

The lawyer's office where I stopped in yesterday had several signs taped to the front desk that read "This office respects the ADA and HIPAA. Our staff will not be wearing masks." I was glad to see it.

One thing I keep wondering: For those people who insist that the sky is falling (I'm envisioning your sister, WiseOne), has anyone thought to ask them for how long they plan to keep this up? Assuming that the virus is here to stay, are they really prepared to live this way indefinitely?

When do YOU think the hysteria is going to end? When the election is over? When the unemployment benefits stop and people actually get hungry? When somebody claims to have a vaccine? When a true disaster puts this all in perspective? When a news flash comes out that reveals the extent of the corruption behind the hoax? Wish I knew how to create a poll.

The $600 a week extra unemployment benefits ended July 31, 2020. I know that sometime in the last month Trump has a ton of Executive Orders. Was one of them related to replacing this benefit? Did all of those Executive Orders take effect?

Vinny

[Kbg]

I live in a Red state that isn't crazy like some other states who seemed they wanted to give the bird to COVID just for the sake of political point making.

My state was pretty strict but only where the data supported it in specific counties and it tried to keep as much business open as possible and only laid in rules for close contact types of businesses. Mayors made the calls on mask wearing for their cities/towns, and again, it was pretty much numbers driven stuff in consultation with the local boards of health. Locally a meat packing plant had a major outbreak, the feds told them to stay open the local health board shut them down for two weeks by revoking their business license...and after 14 days, everyone fired back up and the plant is at full capacity. Workers got paid, business got back to business as quickly as possible..win, win for everyone.

I give my governor and state government an A+ in how they handled it. (My one annoyance, no college football this year at my alma mater for which I am a season ticket holder...but I don't have a problem with the decision either. Makes sense to me not to stuff 10s of thousands of people sitting really close to each other for 3-4 hours.)

California is a great example of how not to do it on the "left" coast and Florida is a great example on how not to do it on the "right" coast.

This whole thing really didn't need to be that hard.

[dualstow]

Hey all,

I'm mostly out for the count due to my mother having a new health problem, and family coming into town.

Hoping for the best, WiseOne, and i’m glad you don’t have to travel to see your mom.

[Mountaineer]

My very best wishes to you and your family, WiseOne.

[WiseOne]

When do YOU think the hysteria is going to end? When the election is over? When the unemployment benefits stop and people actually get hungry? When somebody claims to have a vaccine? When a true disaster puts this all in perspective? When a news flash comes out that reveals the extent of the corruption behind the hoax?

This is what scares me. There is no endpoint other than zero COVID cases anywhere in the world, which will never happen in our lifetimes.

The cognitive dissonance continues to amaze me. I know people who have been rabid anti-vaxxers, for example refusing to give their kids the MMR vaccine. These same people are now terrified of COVID to extent of wanting schools and businesses kept closed, mask wearing at all times etc. Yet, measles alone is far more dangerous than COVID, especially to kids. I distinctly remember my brother saying "what's wrong with getting measles? I'd rather have my kid get measles than the vaccine, she'll be sick for a bit and then she'll get over it, what's the big deal?". Even reports of nearby measles outbreaks didn't faze him. Now he says how scared he is of COVID and how he wants to avoid being exposed to it at all costs.

A few numbers to put things in perspective:

Number of US pediatric flu deaths in 2018-2019: 179
Number of US pediatric COVID deaths through August 26, per CDC website: 57 (age < 14)
Number of annual US pediatric measles deaths in the pre-vaccine era: 400-500 (and that was with a much smaller & healthier population than we have currently)

Sure, 57 pediatric deaths is a tragedy. But, there have been tragedies like that for a long time without the need to bring society to a screeching halt. Some schools have been closed for a short time during recent measles outbreaks, but there's this interesting NJ state government guideline that says "The NJ Dept of Health generally does not recommend school closure for outbreaks of infections diseases." Hm.

[Maddy]

WiseOne,

I'm fascinated that your sister, the ER doc, is still caught up in the hysteria, notwithstanding (1) the low mortality statistics in comparison to the seasonal flu and other illnesses that we consider just a part of life, (2) the staggering amount of misrepresentation and flat-out fraud that has been documented in relation to the reported statistics, (3) the ridiculously high incidence of "false positives" that are being generated by the available tests (not to mention the growing anecdotal evidence of people who have received "positive" test results but who in fact were never tested), (4) the fact that approximately half of the people who have died from CoVid were in nursing homes, a large proportion of whom were victims of an intentional "seeding" long-term care facilities by order of the governors in four different democrat-run states, (5) the fact that nearly all of CoVid deaths have involved people with advanced age and/or significant comorbidities, (6) the existence of some very strange and inexplicable coincidences surrounding Anthony Fauci's and Bill Gates' involvement in CoVid gain-of-function research (including their patenting of gene sequences), their involvement in CoVid pandemic simulations only months before the outbreak, and their preexisting financial interest in experimental CoVid vaccines, and (7) the fact that an inexpensive, innocuous, and time-tested drug that has been found by many independent physicians to be an effective treatment for CoVid 19 has been the focus of unrelenting attack by politicians and bureaucrats who, in some cases, have gone so far as to outlaw its use by prescribing physicians. With all this staring us in the face, and with more being revealed every day, I'd be fascinated to know what your sister is saying at the dinner table and what particular evidence she is relying upon.

Wait, I forgot--she won't eat dinner inside.

[Maddy]

The end game? If Bill Gates and DARPA have its way, it's only the beginning.

https://steemit.com/covid/@munkle/perma ... a-approval

[Mark Leavy]

The end game? If Bill Gates and DARPA have its way, it's only the beginning.

https://steemit.com/covid/@munkle/perma ... a-approval

I admit, Maddy, that I am huge Andy Grove acolyte. "Only the paranoid survive". Honestly, though, this will never gain any traction. I think the article may be stretching the facts a bit.

But even if it is dead on to rights, it isn't going to happen. Really.
There are enough people (more than 75% of the US) who will not support this.

Could it happen in my lifetime? Maybe. Keep your eyes open. But I wouldn't bet on it. DARPA does a lot of weird shit that never sees the light of day. A lot of folks (ahem) have used DARPA as an ATM for projects that never see the light of day.

I do appreciate your perspective. A lot to agree with there.

Mark

[whatchamacallit]

Some good news that local news sites are reporting. Cdc reports less than 10,000 us deaths where there was no other cause of death.

https://www.wfla.com/community/health/c ... onditions/

[Maddy]

The end game? If Bill Gates and DARPA have its way, it's only the beginning.

https://steemit.com/covid/@munkle/perma ... a-approval

I admit, Maddy, that I am huge Andy Grove acolyte. "Only the paranoid survive". Honestly, though, this will never gain any traction. I think the article may be stretching the facts a bit.

But even if it is dead on to rights, it isn't going to happen. Really.
There are enough people (more than 75% of the US) who will not support this.

Could it happen in my lifetime? Maybe. Keep your eyes open. But I wouldn't bet on it. DARPA does a lot of weird shit that never sees the light of day. A lot of folks (ahem) have used DARPA as an ATM for projects that never see the light of day.

I do appreciate your perspective. A lot to agree with there.

Mark

I, too, would have never thought this possible. But who would have thought that the governors in a majority of states could take away our basic liberties to the extent they have, and that there would be virtually no push-back? I'm still having a hard time getting my mind around the fact that 95% of the population, even in this conservative small town, is buying the whole mask thing.