Coronavirus General Discussion

[jalanlong]

286DFF9A-A239-428C-9F2B-C4FAECCA86D9.jpeg (95.5 KiB) Viewed 6078 times

[WiseOne]

Looks like JAMA just published a German study showing that schoolchildren shouldn't be forced to wear masks since the evidence supporting it is "weak", and doing so tends to elevate inhaled CO2 to unsafe levels as defined by the German government:

Experimental Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Content in Inhaled Air With or Without Face Masks in Healthy Children

We measured means (SDs) between 13 120 (384) and 13 910 (374) ppm of carbon dioxide in inhaled air under surgical and filtering facepiece 2 (FFP2) masks, which is higher than what is already deemed unacceptable by the German Federal Environmental Office by a factor of 6.

Glad someone was brave enough to publish that! The thing is, all that was already well known for years. It's why OSHA mandates increased oxygen pressure in operating rooms where people are wearing surgical masks for prolonged periods.

But, that which is old becomes new again and it's good to underscore something that everyone is trying hard to forget.

[flyingpylon]

286DFF9A-A239-428C-9F2B-C4FAECCA86D9.jpeg

Many people don't understand what the vaccines are designed to do. All they do is reduce the severity of symptoms. They don't prevent infection or transmission to others.

[Xan]

286DFF9A-A239-428C-9F2B-C4FAECCA86D9.jpeg

Many people don't understand what the vaccines are designed to do. All they do is reduce the severity of symptoms. They don't prevent infection or transmission to others.

They do both; they're better at the former than the latter, though.

[murphy_p_t]

Well Trump lives inside the heads of millions of progressives. Every time he says something or even gets mentioned, they have a collective blood pressure rise.

His single most edifying characteristic

[Tortoise]

RIP_science.png (245.06 KiB) Viewed 5980 times

[yankees60]

From the book: Nightmare Scenario...


"Throughout Trump’s time in the hospital, his doctors consulted with the task force medical experts whom the president had long ago discarded. They talked to Fauci, Hahn, and Redfield, seeking their input and advice about his treatment. At one point Trump even called Fauci to discuss his condition and stress how great he thought the monoclonal antibody was that he had received. Trump added that it was miraculous how quickly it made him feel much better. White House aides may have disparaged Fauci and resented the fact that they could never get him to stay on script when he went on television, but he was still the doctor they all wanted when they got sick.

People all over the world were watching developments in suspense. Trump supporters set up camp outside Walter Reed, holding signs and praying for the president’s recovery. They brought flowers and signs reading FEEL BETTER MR. PRESIDENT and TRUMP WAS SENT FROM GOD!

People close to Mark Meadows said that he was consumed with fear that Trump might die."

[Maddy]

White House aides may have disparaged Fauci and resented the fact that they could never get him to stay on script when he went on television, but he was still the doctor they all wanted when they got sick.

Well hell yeah, if he invented the damned thing.

[yankees60]

Journal Retracts Terrible Study That Claimed Widespread Covid-19 Vaccine Deaths

The study, based on misrepresented safety data, argued that vaccines would kill two people for every three lives they saved.


https://gizmodo.com/journal-retracts-te ... 1847219596

[Kriegsspiel]

Here's a short (3 minute) video about the "delta variant." Unless he somehow manipulated the numbers, it doesn't look like a big deal (or even just a regular deal) at all.

[boglerdude]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/co ... _the_year/ comments nuked. (Why would anyone be mad. Its just a mask)

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoNewNormal/co ... s_the_tin/

[yankees60]

The Forever Virus

A Strategy for the Long Fight Against COVID-19

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles ... _daily_soc

[yankees60]

Vaccinated and Confused? Answers About Masks, the Delta Variant and Breakthrough Infections

https://news.yahoo.com/vaccinated-confu ... 07305.html

What has been surprising about the Delta variant is how easily it seems to be transmitted. In Australia, security cameras documented a brief encounter of two people passing each other in a shopping mall; one of them was unknowingly infected. The shoppers were facing each other at one point and breathed each other’s air for only seconds, which led to the second person getting infected. (The transmission was confirmed through genetic sequencing.) While such a brief encounter typically wouldn’t lead to transmission, the case signaled how important it is that people get vaccinated before the Delta variant spreads further.

The Delta variant now accounts for about one in every four infections in the United States, according to new estimates this week from the C.D.C.

[Tortoise]

3E524C23-EF24-48F0-9027-9F8DA2DE8302.jpeg (648.67 KiB) Viewed 6202 times

[Maddy]

What has been surprising about the Delta variant is how easily it seems to be transmitted. In Australia, security cameras documented a brief encounter of two people passing each other in a shopping mall; one of them was unknowingly infected. The shoppers were facing each other at one point and breathed each other’s air for only seconds, which led to the second person getting infected. (The transmission was confirmed through genetic sequencing.) While such a brief encounter typically wouldn’t lead to transmission, the case signaled how important it is that people get vaccinated before the Delta variant spreads further.

ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?

Think about this. How, exactly, is this exact route of transmission "confirmed" through genetic sequencing? Is the claim that the "Delta" variant is mutating so rapidly (i.e., by the second) that by finding an exact genetic match you can actually pinpoint the person who gave it to you?

What is the likelihood that two random people, who happen to pass one another momentarily at a shopping mall, are subsequently identified at that moment by a security camera? That is, unless you are retrospectively looking for that connection (in which case there are probably tens of thousands of other people who could similarly be identified as having momentarily "breathed the same air").

This narrative is becoming so far-fetched that I'm amazed anybody believes it.

[Kriegsspiel]

jpeg

This is the best. Anyone got anotter one that tops it?

[Mark Leavy]

Hard to top. Maybe competes...

newborns.jpeg (88.34 KiB) Viewed 6109 times

[yankees60]

From my local newspaper...

In the last two weeks there have been "zero COVID-19 cases" in my town and seven active ones in the county.

I would guess both areas would rank high in terms of percentage who are vaccinated.

I know some children of my softball teammates have been vaccinated. However, not all my teammates have been vaccinated. We all went from 100% mask wearing at all times...to no one wearing one at any time.

[yankees60]

From my local newspaper...

In the last two weeks there have been "zero COVID-19 cases" in my town and seven active ones in the county.

I would guess both areas would rank high in terms of percentage who are vaccinated.

I know some children of my softball teammates have been vaccinated. However, not all my teammates have been vaccinated. We all went from 100% mask wearing at all times when at the softball filed...to no one wearing one at any time.

[barrett]

What has been surprising about the Delta variant is how easily it seems to be transmitted. In Australia, security cameras documented a brief encounter of two people passing each other in a shopping mall; one of them was unknowingly infected. The shoppers were facing each other at one point and breathed each other’s air for only seconds, which led to the second person getting infected. (The transmission was confirmed through genetic sequencing.) While such a brief encounter typically wouldn’t lead to transmission, the case signaled how important it is that people get vaccinated before the Delta variant spreads further.

ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?

Think about this. How, exactly, is this exact route of transmission "confirmed" through genetic sequencing? Is the claim that the "Delta" variant is mutating so rapidly (i.e., by the second) that by finding an exact genetic match you can actually pinpoint the person who gave it to you?

What is the likelihood that two random people, who happen to pass one another momentarily at a shopping mall, are subsequently identified at that moment by a security camera? That is, unless you are retrospectively looking for that connection (in which case there are probably tens of thousands of other people who could similarly be identified as having momentarily "breathed the same air").

This narrative is becoming so far-fetched that I'm amazed anybody believes it.

This claim of extreme contagiousness with a certain variant doesn't pass a two-second thought experiment. For example, there are 18,000 mostly-unmasked fans yelling and screaming at NBA games for a couple of hours straight. Yeah, they're all supposed to be vaccinated but it's almost certain that at least one person walks though the gates with the Delta variant. If it's that contagious, there should be thousands of positive tests afterwards, even if those folks are not actually showing symptoms.

Vinny, is this claim believable to you or were you just posting something that you came across because it seemed so kooky?

[yankees60]

This claim of extreme contagiousness with a certain variant doesn't pass a two-second thought experiment. For example, there are 18,000 mostly-unmasked fans yelling and screaming at NBA games for a couple of hours straight. Yeah, they're all supposed to be vaccinated but it's almost certain that at least one person walks though the gates with the Delta variant. If it's that contagious, there should be thousands of positive tests afterwards, even if those folks are not actually showing symptoms.

Vinny, is this claim believable to you or were you just posting something that you came across because it seemed so kooky?

At the time I read it and put it here it seemed believable to me...

[WiseOne]

I was worried about the Delta variant because my mom only got one COVID shot (she's 85, no COVID risk factors other than her age, had a bad side effect from the shot so no way were we going back for seconds).

Until I read an article in a well respected medical journal putting the Delta variant IFR at 0.12%. For those playing the home game, that's approximately the same as the flu. (and don't start in about tenth of percentage points....the flu IFR has not been studied nearly to the extent that COVID has been and there's no reliable test for it, so it's based on modeling estimates). I found this very believable, since by that time I was asking why, with all these exploding numbers of new Delta variant cases, the mortality rates from COVID in the US remain stubbornly fixed at near zero. (nb: I assume the super-vulnerable population in nursing homes are nearly 100% protected by vaccination by now.)

Anyway. I quit worrying. See the video that Kriegs posted from Ivor Cummins if you want some more info - before the Youtube censors remove it, like they did all his prior videos.

[jalanlong]

I watched more television than usual this weekend (usual is close to zero) and I saw so much news on the Delta Variant. It seems as if the powers that be are really trying to get it going to keep people afraid but I also sense it is not gaining a lot of traction except amongst the people who seemingly would like Covid to last forever.

The last few holdout businesses in my area (my veterinarian and a Chick Fil-a) finally opened back up after 15 months of being closed to customers on the inside. What is interesting is that they didn't reopen slowly by requiring masks, distancing etc. They both went whole hog into no restrictions at all. That is the kind of logic I cannot comprehend. If you felt it was dangerous enough last week to still not be open inside after every other restaurant or veterinarian had been open for the last 10 months, what happened on Monday at 7am that made the danger completely disappear so that you do not even require masks or any form of precautions from that point on? How do you go from Defcon 5 to Defcon 1 overnight?

[pp4me]

Our chik-fila is still the only restaurant I know of in the area that hasn't opened and shows no signs that they are ever going to. My guess is that it really has nothing to do with COVID at this point. It would be interesting to sit in on executive meetings because my guess is that they have made more money offering only drive-thru service as they got very efficient at it so they are thinking what is the point of re-opening now.

[jalanlong]

Our chik-fila is still the only restaurant I know of in the area that hasn't opened and shows no signs that they are ever going to. My guess is that it really has nothing to do with COVID at this point. It would be interesting to sit in on executive meetings because my guess is that they have made more money offering only drive-thru service as they got very efficient at it so they are thinking what is the point of re-opening now.

I wondered that last week. I had no idea until last week they were still closed on the inside. That shocked me as even Starbucks had managed to reopen here and I thought they were the last holdout. I said last week if they are not open now, what on earth is their criteria for ever opening again? Then lo and behold they suddenly opened on Monday. First time since March of 2020.

At ours not having the inside open made the drive-thru lines ridiculously long. No matter how fast they moved, it isn't great optics to have car lines wrapped around the building. It kept me away certainly.