Coronavirus General Discussion

[Xan]

Yesterday I went to a park about 4 miles from my house. It has two softball fields, basketball court, field house, skate park, kids things to play on, picnic area, water thing, other things.

I've been playing softball on the two softball fields since 1982.

Yesterday they had three bands plays for free. The bands were part local, part semi-national. In the 40 years I have been going to this park (mainly for softball) I have NEVER seen even a tiny fraction of the amount of people that were all over the park yesterday.

Here are two of the picture I took of the crowd from my point of view (right in front of the stage). I don't think you see anyone wearing a mask in these two pictures? Again this is EXTREMELY liberal Western Massachusetts.

226303958_10226397658513335_1422400627021641583_n.jpg222551055_10226397649313105_8145584752060988221_n.jpg

Is anybody really recommending masking outdoors? I thought it was an indoor-only thing.

[yankees60]

Yesterday I went to a park about 4 miles from my house. It has two softball fields, basketball court, field house, skate park, kids things to play on, picnic area, water thing, other things.

I've been playing softball on the two softball fields since 1982.

Yesterday they had three bands plays for free. The bands were part local, part semi-national. In the 40 years I have been going to this park (mainly for softball) I have NEVER seen even a tiny fraction of the amount of people that were all over the park yesterday.

Here are two of the picture I took of the crowd from my point of view (right in front of the stage). I don't think you see anyone wearing a mask in these two pictures? Again this is EXTREMELY liberal Western Massachusetts.

226303958_10226397658513335_1422400627021641583_n.jpg222551055_10226397649313105_8145584752060988221_n.jpg

Is anybody really recommending masking outdoors? I thought it was an indoor-only thing.

I meant to add that after that outdoor music park thing...I went to an indoor 8 PM to 10:30 PM music show. I'm not remembering seeing any masks there either.

[murphy_p_t]

I have seen some more masks return (never really left), and last night, Walmart had a sign on the door saying they now recommend masks whether vaccinated or not.

Whatever. You want to wear one, go ahead. You want to force me to wear one in your store to get in, fine, it's not going to kill me.

However, I see no appetite this time around from anyone at any government level (mainly democratic in IL) to even think about using the word lockdown. You just can't. You can't tell people we went through all this shit, got vaccinated, but, hell, we are going to close down again. Not happening.

Not this second round, no way. Covid is here to stay. Schools will open, masks might be there in places, but life will go on. Covid, and all its infinite variants, is a well known enough quantity now.

How much does Governor jabba the Hutt genuinely seek the council of lowly Democratic apparchiks in his decision making?

[Cortopassi]

I have seen some more masks return (never really left), and last night, Walmart had a sign on the door saying they now recommend masks whether vaccinated or not.

Whatever. You want to wear one, go ahead. You want to force me to wear one in your store to get in, fine, it's not going to kill me.

However, I see no appetite this time around from anyone at any government level (mainly democratic in IL) to even think about using the word lockdown. You just can't. You can't tell people we went through all this shit, got vaccinated, but, hell, we are going to close down again. Not happening.

Not this second round, no way. Covid is here to stay. Schools will open, masks might be there in places, but life will go on. Covid, and all its infinite variants, is a well known enough quantity now.

How much does Governor jabba the Hutt genuinely seek the council of lowly Democratic apparchiks in his decision making?

I would love to have serious conversations here, but that is difficult when all you try to do is deflect. Is he obese? Sure. Does that have anything to do with his decision making?

My answer to you would be he likely is less inclined to go hard on Covid this time around because he has an election next year. As do all the dems in the house. So for good or bad, I think at least the dems won't be pushing Covid as hard this time around because of the vaccine and elections.

[Tortoise]

Masking here in coastal southern CA is about the same as it's been since the state reopened on June 15th: Indoors about 1/3 to 1/2 of people are masked. Quite a few people remain masked outdoors, too, maybe 1/4 or something. The recent CDC masking announcement didn't seem to change that.

Vinny, I suspect the almost complete lack of masks at the event you attended recently is because it was in rural (or at least semi-rural) MA. If it had been in a big city, you almost certainly would have seen quite a few masks.

You said your county in MA is very liberal, but my guess is that most of those liberal voters live in or near the county's one or two big cities. That's how it is in most of America, regardless of whether the overall state is "red" or "blue". It's the urban vs. rural divide.

[SomeDude]

I have seen some more masks return (never really left), and last night, Walmart had a sign on the door saying they now recommend masks whether vaccinated or not.

Whatever. You want to wear one, go ahead. You want to force me to wear one in your store to get in, fine, it's not going to kill me.

However, I see no appetite this time around from anyone at any government level (mainly democratic in IL) to even think about using the word lockdown. You just can't. You can't tell people we went through all this shit, got vaccinated, but, hell, we are going to close down again. Not happening.

Not this second round, no way. Covid is here to stay. Schools will open, masks might be there in places, but life will go on. Covid, and all its infinite variants, is a well known enough quantity now.

How much does Governor jabba the Hutt genuinely seek the council of lowly Democratic apparchiks in his decision making?

I would love to have serious conversations here, but that is difficult when all you try to do is deflect. Is he obese? Sure. Does that have anything to do with his decision making?

Obese people have less gray matter so his obesity probably affects his decision making. It also suggests he has poor decision making skills to begin with since its likely a reflection of his lifestyle choices and self regulation.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/news ... your-brain

[yankees60]

Masking here in coastal southern CA is about the same as it's been since the state reopened on June 15th: Indoors about 1/3 to 1/2 of people are masked. Quite a few people remain masked outdoors, too, maybe 1/4 or something. The recent CDC masking announcement didn't seem to change that.

Vinny, I suspect the almost complete lack of masks at the event you attended recently is because it was in rural (or at least semi-rural) MA. If it had been in a big city, you almost certainly would have seen quite a few masks.

You said your county in MA is very liberal, but my guess is that most of those liberal voters live in or near the county's one or two big cities. That's how it is in most of America, regardless of whether the overall state is "red" or "blue". It's the urban vs. rural divide.

I think your second paragraph assumptions are correct.

But not your third paragraph. Western Massachusetts only has one big city - Springfield - about 180,000 population.

My county is about 40 minutes from Springfield so not really near. I've sometimes gone years without needing to go to Springfield.

This is the county's Presidential elections results

Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2020 26.4% 11,201 70.7% 30,030 2.9% 1,227

2010 census reveals these demographics:

2010 census
At the 2010 census, there were 71,372 people, 30,462 households, and 18,317 families in the county.[22] The population density was 102.1 inhabitants per square mile (39.4/km2). There were 33,758 housing units at an average density of 48.3 per square mile (18.6/km2).[23] The racial makeup of the county was 94.2% white, 1.3% Asian, 1.1% black, 0.3% American Indian, 1.0% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.2% of the population.[22] The largest ancestry groups were:[24]

20.0% English
19.8% Irish
15.9% French
12.6% Polish
12.0% German
9.1% Italian
7.2% French Canadian
4.5% Scottish
3.9% American
2.1% Swedish
2.0% Scotch-Irish
1.8% Puerto Rican
1.5% Russian
1.3% Dutch
1.3% Portuguese
1.3% Lithuanian
1.0% Welsh

Of the 30,462 households, 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.8% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 39.9% were non-families, and 30.5% of households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.85. The median age was 44.2 years.[22]

The median household income was $52,002 and the median family income was $65,760. Males had a median income of $45,480 versus $37,309 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,544. About 7.7% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.[25]

[Dieter]

Yesterday I went to a park about 4 miles from my house. It has two softball fields, basketball court, field house, skate park, kids things to play on, picnic area, water thing, other things.

I've been playing softball on the two softball fields since 1982.

Yesterday they had three bands plays for free. The bands were part local, part semi-national. In the 40 years I have been going to this park (mainly for softball) I have NEVER seen even a tiny fraction of the amount of people that were all over the park yesterday.

Here are two of the picture I took of the crowd from my point of view (right in front of the stage). I don't think you see anyone wearing a mask in these two pictures? Again this is EXTREMELY liberal Western Massachusetts.

226303958_10226397658513335_1422400627021641583_n.jpg222551055_10226397649313105_8145584752060988221_n.jpg

Is anybody really recommending masking outdoors? I thought it was an indoor-only thing.

I thought so if not / can't socially distance for 15+ minutes or some such.

[pp4me]

Yesterday I went to a park about 4 miles from my house. It has two softball fields, basketball court, field house, skate park, kids things to play on, picnic area, water thing, other things.

I've been playing softball on the two softball fields since 1982.

Yesterday they had three bands plays for free. The bands were part local, part semi-national. In the 40 years I have been going to this park (mainly for softball) I have NEVER seen even a tiny fraction of the amount of people that were all over the park yesterday.

Here are two of the picture I took of the crowd from my point of view (right in front of the stage). I don't think you see anyone wearing a mask in these two pictures? Again this is EXTREMELY liberal Western Massachusetts.

226303958_10226397658513335_1422400627021641583_n.jpg222551055_10226397649313105_8145584752060988221_n.jpg

Is anybody really recommending masking outdoors? I thought it was an indoor-only thing.

I thought so if not / can't socially distance for 15+ minutes or some such.

I believe California was insisting on masking outdoors not too long ago. I remember reading stories about people being arrested on the beach. Or was it just threats of being arrested? Not really sure.

[WiseOne]

How much does Governor jabba the Hutt genuinely seek the council of lowly Democratic apparchiks in his decision making?

I would love to have serious conversations here, but that is difficult when all you try to do is deflect. Is he obese? Sure. Does that have anything to do with his decision making?

Obese people have less gray matter so his obesity probably affects his decision making. It also suggests he has poor decision making skills to begin with since its likely a reflection of his lifestyle choices and self regulation.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/news ... your-brain

That is one weird article - and a really stupid study. Obesity is about metabolic syndrome, and that gives you cardiovascular disease. It's the cardiovascular disease than damages the brain - not the obesity. We've known that for long enough. Check out Robert Lustig's (pediatric endocrinologist at UCSF) videos on the subject.

COVID is a missed, golden opportunity to finally jettison the low fat/plant-based diet baggage that the USDA is still stubbornly pushing despite mountains of evidence that it's harmful to human health. And to promote some basic measures that would do a lot of good, i.e. vitamin D supplementation. But no...it's all about vaccines and masking/lockdowns, as if that's all you can do to protect yourself. It is NOT.

[Kbg]

How much does Governor jabba the Hutt genuinely seek the council of lowly Democratic apparchiks in his decision making?

I would love to have serious conversations here, but that is difficult when all you try to do is deflect. Is he obese? Sure. Does that have anything to do with his decision making?

Obese people have less gray matter so his obesity probably affects his decision making. It also suggests he has poor decision making skills to begin with since its likely a reflection of his lifestyle choices and self regulation.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/news ... your-brain

That is one weird article - and a really stupid study. Obesity is about metabolic syndrome, and that gives you cardiovascular disease. It's the cardiovascular disease than damages the brain - not the obesity. We've known that for long enough. Check out Robert Lustig's (pediatric endocrinologist at UCSF) videos on the subject.

COVID is a missed, golden opportunity to finally jettison the low fat/plant-based diet baggage that the USDA is still stubbornly pushing despite mountains of evidence that it's harmful to human health. And to promote some basic measures that would do a lot of good, i.e. vitamin D supplementation. But no...it's all about vaccines and masking/lockdowns, as if that's all you can do to protect yourself. It is NOT.

What does the Vitamin D do with regard to the above?

Tks!

[I Shrugged]

I have a hunch that when this fourth wave of Covid burns out in the US, the pandemic will pretty much go away, or should I say taper down to what will be its long term footprint going forward. There will be enough immunity in the population to keep it from surging again.

[murphy_p_t]

My hunch is that Wuhan will be with us as long as the Biden / Obama communist takeover of the country remains in power.

[Maddy]

Delta, apparently, received only a "meh" response. So as this morning, they've rolled out Lambda.

[SomeDude]

Delta, apparently, received only a "meh" response. So as this morning, they've rolled out Lambda.

They've also tried donuts, beer, lotto tickets, sex (tinder), threats of losing your job to get the anti-vaxxers to grow up.

Looks like we'll be moving into starvation as the next tactic. I'll be filling our massive pantry with nonperishibles this weekend.

They didn't take Stalin's comment about religious suppression to heart: "religion is like a nail, the harder you hit on the head, the deeper you drive it into the wood".

[Xan]

Delta, apparently, received only a "meh" response. So as this morning, they've rolled out Lambda.

They've also tried donuts, beer, lotto tickets, sex (tinder), threats of losing your job to get the anti-vaxxers to grow up.

Looks like we'll be moving into starvation as the next tactic. I'll be filling our massive pantry with nonperishibles this weekend.

They didn't take Stalin's comment about religious suppression to heart: "religion is like a nail, the harder you hit on the head, the deeper you drive it into the wood".

Are you saying that opposition to all of the Covid vaccines has become your religion?

[SomeDude]

Delta, apparently, received only a "meh" response. So as this morning, they've rolled out Lambda.

They've also tried donuts, beer, lotto tickets, sex (tinder), threats of losing your job to get the anti-vaxxers to grow up.

Looks like we'll be moving into starvation as the next tactic. I'll be filling our massive pantry with nonperishibles this weekend.

They didn't take Stalin's comment about religious suppression to heart: "religion is like a nail, the harder you hit on the head, the deeper you drive it into the wood".

Are you saying that opposition to all of the Covid vaccines has become your religion?

Nope. I'm sure it is for some though. The vaxxers who want to imprison or starve to death the non-vaxxers are definately more religious about it to me.

If that group would just let other people live there own lives there would be none of this conflict. It all comes from the vaxxers Xan.

[murphy_p_t]

Yes.

And the high priests of the covidian cult are using the tactics of the Jehovah Witnesses. Sending their acolytes door to door.

[jalanlong]

Delta, apparently, received only a "meh" response. So as this morning, they've rolled out Lambda.

I am waiting for the Omega-Mu variant before I get the shot.

[dualstow]

My old girlfriend’s parents wound up in the hospital recently. Unvaxxed. Looks like they’re out of the wood, though.

[jalanlong]

Delta, apparently, received only a "meh" response. So as this morning, they've rolled out Lambda.

They've also tried donuts, beer, lotto tickets, sex (tinder), threats of losing your job to get the anti-vaxxers to grow up.

Looks like we'll be moving into starvation as the next tactic. I'll be filling our massive pantry with nonperishibles this weekend.

They didn't take Stalin's comment about religious suppression to heart: "religion is like a nail, the harder you hit on the head, the deeper you drive it into the wood".

I missed the Tinder thing. What was that? Asking for a friend. One who has not died from Covid.

[SomeDude]

Delta, apparently, received only a "meh" response. So as this morning, they've rolled out Lambda.

They've also tried donuts, beer, lotto tickets, sex (tinder), threats of losing your job to get the anti-vaxxers to grow up.

Looks like we'll be moving into starvation as the next tactic. I'll be filling our massive pantry with nonperishibles this weekend.

They didn't take Stalin's comment about religious suppression to heart: "religion is like a nail, the harder you hit on the head, the deeper you drive it into the wood".

I missed the Tinder thing. What was that? Asking for a friend. One who has not died from Covid.

I think you got free swipes with other vaxxers or something. I'm sure it was mostly prostitutes.

[Kriegsspiel]

Tinder is largely fake accounts nowadays anyways.

[yankees60]

COMMENT
26 May 2021
Count the cost of disability caused by COVID-19
Focusing only on cases and deaths hides the pandemic’s lasting health burden on people, societies and economies.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01392-2


The COVID-19 pandemic is well into its second year, but countries are only beginning to grapple with the lasting health crisis. In March, a UK consortium reported that 1 in 5 people who were hospitalized with the disease had a new disability after discharge1. A large US study found similar effects for both hospitalized and non-hospitalized people2. Among adults who were not hospitalized, 1 in 10 have ongoing symptoms 12 weeks after a positive test3. Treatment services for the long-term consequences of COVID-19 are already having to be absorbed into health and care systems urgently. Tackling this requires a much clearer picture of the burden of the disease than currently exists.

Tracking disease cases and deaths has advantages in a health emergency — they are easily collated, and, to some extent, trends can be compared across countries. But continuing the use of such simplified metrics heightens the risks of underestimating the true health impact on a population. It focuses policy and public discourse on the immediate prevention of deaths and on the economic impact of lockdown policies, ignoring the long-term disease-related disabilities that will also affect well-being and productivity.

To tackle the pandemic’s inequitable impact, researchers must also count how COVID-19 contributes to ill health, and do so comprehensively. If scarce resources are allocated with only the death count in mind, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with younger populations might not receive their fair share. This could be devastating for countries that rely on the productivity of people of working age for economic development. Choosing the right metrics can also help to identify and address inequity within countries. Evidence from many nations suggest that members of minority ethnic communities are more likely to catch COVID-19 and die from it, as well as being more likely to die at a younger age4 (see also Nature 592, 674–680; 2021).

[Maddy]

The COVID-19 pandemic is well into its second year, but countries are only beginning to grapple with the lasting health crisis. In March, a UK consortium reported that 1 in 5 people who were hospitalized with the disease had a new disability after discharge1. A large US study found similar effects for both hospitalized and non-hospitalized people2.

One in five people will become "disabled" with or without a virus given the opportunity to quit work and collect disability payments.