Coronavirus 4

[Howl]

6 hours ago, NotQuiteMotY said:

Hm, maybe the numbers are from tracking the people who got infected from people who got infected at the rally? 'Cause that's kind of how viruses work?

Exponential increase.  How do it work?

[Cartmann99]

On 9/10/2020 at 5:42 PM, Howl said:

Exponential increase.  How do it work?

 This is not found in the Bible, therefore it doesn't exist.

[adidas]

I wonder what the giddy Covidiots will say about their orange idol’s admissions?

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-bob-woodward-books-deflating-revelation-about-donald-trump/news-story/cec554afeafc1f8f54139cefdd160062

[Okie_Bokie]

13 minutes ago, adidas said:

I wonder what the giddy Covidiots will say about their orange idol’s admissions?

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-bob-woodward-books-deflating-revelation-about-donald-trump/news-story/cec554afeafc1f8f54139cefdd160062

Nothing at all will ever change their love of him.  It's gross.  They accept anything.  Everything he does is peachy-keen.  I could go on a rant, but I won't.  I'll go back to thinking about how absolutely SICK in the head* Jill is.

*I am not a doctor, just strongly opinionated.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Okie_Bokie

[WiseGirl]

Beyond sad that a local restaurant is closing. COVID negatively impacted them at the start and then a prolonged power outage pushed them over the edge. They were a pillar of our town and gave so much. It just sucks. 

[Ozlsn]

We have very, very slightly eased restrictions in metropolitan Melbourne (and Mitchell shire) with playgrounds reopening today, the curfew being extended to 9pm and everyone being allowed out for two hours to exercise, and with more than one person (plus children you live with). Singles can also nominate one person as their bubble partner - the catch is that they have to nominate each other, single A can't be both single B and single C's nominated partner (unless one is an intimate partner, which may be a different category, I don't know). The level of angst over this has been epic in some quarters judging by Facebook posts. The bubble partners can visit each other's houses and stay over. 

The very conservatively cautious roadmap to relative normality we are hopefully following has the next step down to stage 3 restrictions from Sept 28th - possibly earlier if the target of a 14 day average of under 50 new infections daily and a similar benchmark for infections which indicate community transmission are reached. At the moment we are at a 14 day average of 54.4, regional Victoria is on 3.9 and has gone from stage 3 to stage 1 I think. There are two local government areas in Melbourne with over 100 active cases, my own postcode hit zero active cases again a fortnight ago.

Naturally all this can change very quickly, and given there were unmasked (we have a mask mandate) anti-lockdown protests on the weekend who knows what will happen. 

My friend that was hospitalised in ICU with covid had the twins last week, at 34 weeks. All three of them are doing well. Her partner - also my friend - pointed out that they'll turn 80 in 2100, and my mind is officially blown. 

[Smash!]

@Ozlsn I'm so jealous that Melbourne has these strict restrictions. I wish Switzerland would do the same but the cases keep climbing and our government is doing nothing. We are back at 450 cases a day (the maximum in March was 3000 something) and it's so frustrating. The area I'm in has one of the highest daily cases and we have to wear masks in shops and public transportation. But what's the use of this if people without a mask aren't even fined? It seems that our politicians want to avoid another lockdown at all costs. At this point I'm more and more scared  mostly because of the long term effects. I mean even the WHO acknowledges that we don't know the long term effects of this illness yet:

And this isn't exactly reassuring as well:

 

[elliha]

I have taken a long break from this tread and discussing covid-19 but it has been interesting to see the development for people here now when I have caught up. 

Sweden has sort of stabilized its numbers now and today was the first Monday when they don't report numbers, they will do so Tuesday-Friday now. They haven't reported anything during the weekend since some time this summer. My region is very stable, we have a handful of cases each week and we only have 31 deaths in total. In fact, this region so far has had less deaths than a normal year! Weird, but that is how this strange virus works sometimes and there is sadly still a risk for new outbreaks.

Sweden in general is now in this stage where we sort of wait for local outbreaks rather than have plenty of cases all around. I think that I have sort of found a mental stage now that I just go on with life within the restrictions and it just sort of feels normal. I have started going to the office about 2-3 times a week since we have such low numbers but I will keep myself updated and I am ready to change that decision if numbers go up.

We were able to have a reasonably normal vacation period this summer, we went to our cabin and we visited MIL despite her being over 70 but we kept our distance and mostly stayed outside. She was very happy to get visits and even though it was a low risk of giving her covid I think it was for the best to go there since she was seems to mentally be deteriorating from being without enough social life. She is much more anxious and sad and I am worried that the isolation may be what kills her over covid. I have tried to get her to dare to go to the store at off hours but everyone scared her about the store so she doesn't do it. I agree that she shouldn't go to a big supermarket but her local village store? Where she can sit and wait until there are only a few people in there? I am not afraid for her safety in there. If she goes on off hours she is not likely to meet more than 2-3 people plus staff in a reasonably big store, the risk is minimal compared to the risks for her longterm health. 

My other problem is school and the very strict rules for when you need to pick up your kids due to illness. I fully understand these rules but there is a lot of time with kids at home due to this. My kids have so far not had any serious illness but a light cold is treated as the black plague so you have to have them at home. I want to emphasize that I support these rules but they are still a misery when they affect you on a personal level and there is no use denying it. 

I find myself in a place between balancing following restrictions and starting to live a little. I have been very careful and often done more than what was expected and I now have to learn both to follow the actual restrictions and not feel guilty for not doing more. 

[OHFL2009]

My neighbor's daughter goes to college about 3.5 hours away, and classes started about 3 weeks ago. This weekend one of her suitemates tested positive, so my neighbor's daughter got sent home to quarantine. This seems like a really inefficient way to deal with outbreaks. If a student doesn't live within driving distance, do you make them fly home after potential exposure? I'm sure she had to stop to get gas or use a restroom on her drive home. And now she's potentially exposing her parents and brother, who is going to in-person high school. 

The university I went to is moving any students who must quarantine into an on-campus facility that is reserved specifically for that purpose. This seems like a better idea than sending potentially infected students out on their own. 

[elliha]

13 hours ago, OHFL2009 said:

My neighbor's daughter goes to college about 3.5 hours away, and classes started about 3 weeks ago. This weekend one of her suitemates tested positive, so my neighbor's daughter got sent home to quarantine. This seems like a really inefficient way to deal with outbreaks. If a student doesn't live within driving distance, do you make them fly home after potential exposure? I'm sure she had to stop to get gas or use a restroom on her drive home. And now she's potentially exposing her parents and brother, who is going to in-person high school. 

The university I went to is moving any students who must quarantine into an on-campus facility that is reserved specifically for that purpose. This seems like a better idea than sending potentially infected students out on their own. 

I agree, they should not encourage driving around spreading the virus. I am sure quarrantine could be arranged on campus somehow. 

[Cartmann99]

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[Smash!]

@RosyDaisy How are you and your husband doing? I wish you a speedy recovery!

[GreyhoundFan]

I love Michael Steele's blunt assessment:

 

[RosyDaisy]

5 hours ago, Smash! said:

@RosyDaisy How are you and your husband doing? I wish you a speedy recovery!

Thank you!  I'm feeling somewhat better.  My husband seems to have recovered, and my sister is getting better.  My nephew is still symptom free, and I pray he stays that way.  We are still in quarantine and will be until the doctor says it's ok to come out.

[clueliss]

People who attended chiefs game told to quarantine (Group Box was involved), 

 

[Ozlsn]

Our case numbers are dropping still, and we're on track to go to the next stage next week. Our concern is still cases that aren't linked to known cases - there are currently 73 unknown origin cases in Melbourne, which they are still tracing to try and link to known cases. The daily case numbers at the moment are bouncing around, but staying under 100, and more recently 50, which is good.

Still another week before we find out if anyone was infectious at the unmasked protest, during which they deliberately flooded an enclosed market shopping area so that the number of people in there exceeded limits. There have been rumblings of "if they cause us to be shut down again I will find out where they live and [insert act here - there have been a variety described]".

I am also sad because a woman that I knew as an admin on a Facebook group died of covid during the week. I had no idea she was even sick, not sure whether it was posted and I missed it, or it was just really quick. She was young, I would guess maybe 30s. She leaves behind a child. I don't know where in the US she lived, but it makes me so incredibly sad that she and so many others have gotten this bloody virus when so much of this could have been prevented. Fuck you Trump, and your flying monkey enablers too.

[Smash!]

We all need something to laugh - and here it is! It's the Pandemmy Awards by The Daily Show! You can vote in each category such as "Outstanding stunt coordination", "Best costume design" and "best foreign film (I hope the yelling italian mayors win this category :D) and it's just hilarious.

[WiseGirl]

Our first local restaurant COVID casualty.  After 21 years of being in our town the combination of COVID, 7 days of no power due to Isaias, and laughable money support from the government loan, a locally owned business is closing. Gutted and heartbroken.  With the coming of winter I am fearful for many more. This sucks. Support local businesses if you can 

[47of74]

Some medical experts think it's possible to go overboard on cleaning

Quote

As the daily headlines and mounting death tolls sow widespread anxiety among a population grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses and others have sought to ease fears through a newfound and costly obsession with deep cleaning and sanitizing.

The pandemic-era trend of publicly exhibiting all sanitation efforts has taken both the private and public sector by storm, but some medical experts express concern that these surface-cleaning endeavors may not be the most effective means of combatting the spread of the respiratory virus.

Dr. Emanuel Goldman, a microbiology professor at Rutgers University and co-editor of the Practical Handbook of Microbiology, warned in a commentary published in the medical journal Lancet in July that the risk of catching COVID-19 from a surface has been "exaggerated" and became one of the major voices raising concerns over misdirecting resources to so-called "hygiene theater."

Goldman told ABC News that the "danger" of hygiene theater is that "it changes the focus from what will really protect you, and that is protecting what you breathe."

He went on to say that cleaning is a good thing especially if in high traffic areas such as checkouts but people should be smarter about cleaning stuff instead of just assuming deep cleaning will fix everything. 

[Dandruff]

9 hours ago, 47of74 said:

He went on to say that cleaning is a good thing especially if in high traffic areas such as checkouts but people should be smarter about cleaning stuff instead of just assuming deep cleaning will fix everything.

I like seeing cleaning in stores, especially around the checkouts but am most encouraged by seeing all employees and customers properly masked.

[FiveAcres]

I've been rolling my eyes about the hyper-focus on cleaning since April, at least. (At least two of my nearest and dearest are still overly focused on cleaning. At least I am not in the same household with them.)

One of the worst fallout effects of the cleaning focus is that it sets up a dangerous perception that "clean" equals "safe."  This is why extended family gatherings have been such a vector for transmission. My family members are clean so they must be safe. 

 

[Smash!]

18 minutes ago, FiveAcres said:

One of the worst fallout effects of the cleaning focus is that it sets up a dangerous perception that "clean" equals "safe."

Exactly. But unfortunately the virus transmits through aerosols and they travel a long way when the room isn't properly ventilated. That doesn't say cleaning is bad - it hopefully holds a lot of other germs at bay because getting sick isn't a good idea right now.

[Coconut Flan]

Finally this morning, widespread coverage of aerosols.  Multiple news outlets are covering WHO and CDC updates.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/21/cdc-covid-aerosols-airborne-guidelines/

[Howl]

On 9/14/2020 at 11:02 AM, OHFL2009 said:

This weekend one of her suitemates tested positive, so my neighbor's daughter got sent home to quarantine. This seems like a really inefficient way to deal with outbreaks. If a student doesn't live within driving distance, do you make them fly home after potential exposure? I'm sure she had to stop to get gas or use a restroom on her drive home. And now she's potentially exposing her parents and brother, who is going to in-person high school. 

Yes, it's a terrible idea to send exposed students home -- just a great way to spread the virus.  One possibility.  Have the exposed students quarantine in place for a week and then test (preferably with two different tests a few days apart).  If clear on both tests, then send them home if campus is shutting down. Otherwise? 

On 9/21/2020 at 11:14 AM, Coconut Flan said:

Finally this morning, widespread coverage of aerosols. 

I thought it was settled science for many months that aerosols could spread corona virus.