Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

Yeah there’s zero evidence right now that cases are rising in the US because people aren’t getting a third dose.

the 'rumor' that got traction on my local network is "Israel were the earliest to get most people vaccinated, so the reason for their lower efficacy recently is that their vaccines are wearing off", which.....isn't proven whatsoever, and not exactly something you want to be spreading.

I'm starting to get the bad feeling that elementary kids are still going to be remote in a lot of areas this fall.

I don't believe this, because I think the places where there will be big caseloads in September are the same places where large numbers of people are declining vaccination are the same places where schools were fully in-person when there were big caseloads last September.

As I understand it, all of our schools where we are will be fully open in the fall, with masks required (at least at the start). Along with the usual medical forms for high school there is the option to submit your vaccine card, should you want it on file. I guess in case you come down with something they can better rule out covid? My thought was they wanted it handy should they change tack again and require vaccinations.

not exactly something you want to be spreading

just another case where adding 2 + 2 = 22

the problem with pm going on TV on Monday and saying that pending a review on the 12th we'll reopen everything on the 19th is, based on today's trip to supermarket, that they only hear the "reopen everything" and not the dates or the caveats.

young bloke in there today who didn't see or just plain ignored the mask sign, the shop alone sign and all the arrows on the floors. and the queue for the tills.

r now 1.2 to 1.5 in the uk, cases doubling every two weeks. (fewer deaths per case thankfully, but not 0)

Orange County (not where I live, but I live right up against it) has restored its mask-wearing guidance. 406 new cases reported today.

ALL UNVACCINATED

this is FUCKING PREVENTABLE GODDAMMIT

i don't care about the mask wearing, but how stupid we are. this county has a 60% vax rate too.

what happened with the announcement today in the uk?

In today's announcement from the UK government:

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, had earlier told MPs: “This is not the end of the road. It’s the start of a new phase of continued caution, where we live with the virus and manage the risks.”...Government advisers expect about 1,000 to 2,000 daily hospital admissions over the summer as restrictions are lifted, and 100-200 deaths a day under what was described a “central scenario”. This would depend on how quickly the public’s behaviour returns to normal.

Abandoning everyone to it basically.

the thing is, it's not a mandate -- it's recommended, not require

Dr. Raul Pino from the Florida Department of Health in Orange County said the county is also seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases and predicts that trend will continue.

Yesterday 406 cases of new infections were reported to the Florida Department of Health and we have been above 400 (a day) since Thursday. Now the week before that we were at 200 a day. So, it has doubled and it will double next week if we do not do what we need to do,” Pino said.

The doctor said the vaccination is key to stemming this new tide of infections.

“100% of the cases reported yesterday were among unvaccinated individuals,” Pino said. “More so, 100% of the deaths that we are reporting to you today, were among unvaccinated individuals. So we can mask up, we can keep the distance, we can try not to talk about this but the reality is that this is an unvaccinated pandemic.”

continued caution...

i don't know if counties even CAN mandate masks anymore, after DeSantis basically unilaterally suspended restrictions (many months after he suspended local officials ability to fine violators)

The woman in the flat next door to mine in has just told me she's tested positive, so now I'm going to have to get tested tomorrow, and I'm supposed to be going up to Scotland at the weekend. Fuck my luck.

ah man, sorry to hear that Tom. fucking worst timing

I'm sure I'll be fine, I hardly see her let alone have close contact with her and I don't have any symptons. Mind you, with this Delta thing, who knows?

I won't be able to enjoy Freedom Day at this rate >:(

It's possible
To have >90% Delta and maintain solid containment pic.twitter.com/D8cnDIVXpq

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) July 13, 2021

SF has now reached 75% of 12-and-up with a completed vaccine regimen (82% with one shot so that completed number should continue to increase), and that stands us in good stead. The CEO of the hospital where I work at made note of this just now in an email, which also detailed more about the cases we've had at the hospital. We were zeroed out there for a few days in mid-June but a few new cases have come in and we're at 9 total now. But -- utterly unsurprisingly -- all 9 patients were, apparently, unvaccinated. Given the steady if low-key pace of vaccinations, I do hope for even a slight increase just to fill in the corners -- and the city's outreach has become more and more focused over time anyway, rightly -- but I also wonder if we'll just see a situation where enough people will know enough people who did get it to maybe rethink just a bit. Related to all this, the main SF health officer has now specifically required vaccinations among hospital staff with only specific confirmed medical or religious exemptions in writing combined with regular testing and masking; was mildly surprised we weren't doing this already but remembered I was confusing this with the UCSF requirement already well in place. In any event, 9 cases is worse than no cases but almost a month out from the general removal or relaxation of all mandates in the state, that's a low number still and it's good to see.

I also wonder if we'll just see a situation where enough people will know enough people who did get it to maybe rethink just a bit

Should clarify -- who did get COVID.

I've been in Savannah for a few days, and while there are elements present - scattered masks (rarely required), hand sanitizer, a few restricted services - it's largely business as usual. At the same time, people all seem pretty reasonable when it comes to said restrictions and guidance.

vaccinations her day are sitting at around 530,000 a day in the US. be surprised if we're getting as many newbies and that these aren't mostly just people getting second shots at this point. meh.

On another topic, got the official confirmation - no more WFH, no more remote, full time ass in seat every single hour of every single day starting in August.

But in more serious news, Tennessee really doesn't want to be outdone in the batshit response dept:

SCOOP: Tennessee Department of Health halts all vaccine outreach to kids – not just for COVID-19, but all diseases – amid pressure from GOP. Staff ordered to remove the agency logo from any documents providing vaccine info to the public, per internal dox. https://t.co/PX0Rvpc6Ot

— Brett Kelman (@BrettKelman) July 13, 2021

The agency will also end all COVID-19 vaccine events at schools, even though they've mostly served adults. And, if teens get a two-dose vaccine, it won't remind them to go back for their second dose. Teens are intentionally stripped from the mailing list for reminder postcards.

— Brett Kelman (@BrettKelman) July 13, 2021

It took the Christian Identity right about 20 years to completely capture the GOP, the Q nuts/anti-vaxxers have done it in less than five. Hooray for Facebook and Twitter?

this is good

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/france-reports-rush-for-vaccines-after-macron-tightens-covid-rules/ar-AAM63GB

That is good, too bad that could never happen here.

Once at an ice cream place around Chicago and today at the birthplace of the Girl Scouts here in Georgia I've seen a seemingly pretty effective sign that basically says, hey, there are young kids coming in and hanging out here that can't be vaccinated yet, that's why we're still requiring masks. Places could and maybe should be posting those signs everywhere.

Good theory but I don't think it's gonna work on the "MaKIng a CHILD wEAR a Mask IS abUSe" idiots.

I'm imagining an ad campaign that says "I wear this *regular mask* so you kid doesn't have to wear this *ventilator mask*"

I've conceded to the reality of the exponential rise in COVID rates over the past couple weeks and have gone back to wearing a mask in public despite still feeling dubious of the extent to which I'm protecting myself or others.

I haven't stopped using them in stores or the supermarket. In Lee County where I'm vacationing I've counted seven people in five days wearing masks of any kind.

I actually like wearing a mask in Target or the supermarket I think I will for the rest of my life.

I'm wearing a mask when I leave my office to go to the bathroom or exit the building. This is mostly to display my displeasure at being back at work.

Also, I haven't had a cold or anything else in over 16 months and really don't want to get one!

we're much more likely to catch COVID in small gatherings than in big box stores but I like the peace of mind

i wear masks so I don't have to smell farts

Yeah, seeing the case numbers on that exponential path already have me really nervous about what fall is going to look like.

Chicago introduced new travel "advisories" (essentially meaningless, even less so than the "orders" they never once enforced) on travelers coming from Missouri and Arkansas today. It's disappointing that bad actors and dipshit halfwits are pushing us towards a depressingly familiar spike.

I'm not sure about mask wearing when I return to the office. Unvaccinated folks aren't required, unless assembling in large numbers or in occupied classrooms, but I'm told that no one is wearing them at all and one coworker (a cancer survivor, ffs) has been chided twice this week already for wearing one in his office. I like PBKR's approach but, sadly, I don't have an office - just a shared open floor plan with 5 or 6 other people.

Gottlieb thinks it will peak by September (in the US, that is)

yeah, still, six more weeks of exponential growth is enough to worry.

I'm wearing one indoors and kind of enjoying the fact that since I'm vaccinated it's not actually particularly moving the needle on public health, it just makes it feel more whimsical and fun

(a mask)

will be interesting to see if the UK breaks its single day case record before or after restrictions are lifted on monday. i suppose they could break the record on the exact day, which would be a nice coincidence.

'Nice'

No surge in the fall comparable to last fall, scientists in the U.S. claim:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/health/delta-variant-uk-usa.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

Given the level of vaccination in the US it seems almost unfathomable that there could be a surge comparable to last fall. Is that controversial?

What do we think about parents lying about their kids' age to get them vaccinated? I know at least two families who got their 11-year-olds the shot. One got caught, the other didn't.

xp

depends if you mean cases or hospitalization/death.

in terms of number of cases, exactly that is happening in the UK right now and there's no reason to think things will be different here. the UK has vaccinated a larger share of its population nationally and doesn't have huge swathes of the country with 20% vaccination rates. cases are already doubling every 1-2 weeks in the most vaccinated big cities in the US (e.g. LA, NYC). so it seems likely we'll be back up above 100k/day during august.

my guess is hospitalization/deaths will not be as bad as they were last winter, *averaged across the entire US*. seems like there will be regional hospitalization surges comparable to last winter though (i.e. overrun hospitals, etc.).

My COVID test was negative, so can go to Scotland after all... and stop cursing Astra-Zeneca... will carry on cursing the UK government though.

xpost I know of at least one under 16 kid that was able to wrangle an early shot. I do assume there are a few under 12 doing the same. I'm not sure if there's any risk involved. I guess that's why they're still studying! But it's not like something magical happens to your body between 11 and 12.

it's not like something magical happens to your body between 11 and 12

speak for yourself, josh