I'm starting to wonder if there isn't a decent chunk of the wishful thinking just being a part of coping strategies for otherwise well-intentioned folks at this point. I mean, practically every level of American government messaging at this point is, "shut up and get back to work", so I can see how people might want to just throw up their hands, realizing that no further form of government support is coming.
(Which isn't to say said people aren't still masking and isolating when necessary, or otherwise taking appropriate precautions, but when everything else is beyond their control and the government has absolutely fucked off without any further support, a certain element of "well, this is how things are now" kicks in.)
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 17:16 (two years ago) link
Not Panglossian, but:
New Yorkโs Covid-19 infections may have reached a peak, about a month after the cityโs first case of the omicron variant was identified.
The seven-day average of people visiting New York emergency departments with Covid-like illness has dipped significantly in all five boroughs since the end of December, according to data from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The Bronx saw the biggest drop, with the 7-day average retreating 35% in the week through Friday.
Citywide, the rate of positive tests also appears to be declining, with the 7-day average down to 31% on Thursday, from a peak of 34% on Jan. 2.
New York officials warned the recent data are subject to revisions and are affected to a degree by the holiday effect, which can artificially depress trend lines due to delays or underreporting. Gatherings during the New Yearโs Eve holiday could also prolong the Covid spike.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-10/new-york-sees-signs-of-omicron-peak-as-icus-remain-pressured
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 17:22 (two years ago) link
I will note it has once again become easy to schedule a rapid or PCR test in Miami. The lessening of travel has surely helped.
everyone i know in new york is basically waiting to hear that we've hit the spike and are starting to come down. If that shit doesn't happen by February, panic is gonna set in.
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 17:57 (two years ago) link
The friend who send this link said Bellevue was seeing a drop.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 18:01 (two years ago) link
our daycare has 6 classes each with about 8 kids. they're making every kid take a PCR test today for the first time. any class with >0 positive results on monday will close next week. any class with a kid who has a sibling in a class with >0 positive results will also close.
over/under on how many classes there are next week? i'd be surprised if 3/6 are still open.
โ ๐ ๐๐ข๐จ (caek), Friday, January 7, 2022 3:31 PM (four days ago) bookmarkflaglink
6/6 are still open, but not because everyone tested negative but. it's because 40% tested negative and the other 60% are still waiting for test results 2-5 days after being tested.
― ๐ ๐๐ข๐จ (caek), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 19:06 (two years ago) link
So here's the word from my workplace re current patient counts with COVID:
Unvaccinated: 11Primary vaccine series (2 doses): 23Boosted: 4
Of these total, only 6 are ICU, thankfully. But it absolutely underscores that 1) you need the booster and 2) even that might not be enough. And again, this is not the city as a whole, just one spot. As I know no further details beyond this count, I wouldn't speculate further but again, I'm essentially hunkered down as noted beyond necessary trips, and shows/movies/etc are simply not happening for the moment for me, even if they are for others.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 11 January 2022 19:42 (two years ago) link
Youch, six in the ICU?
xpost Yeah, was gonna say, getting a PCR test here is relatively easy. Getting the results back, on the other hand ...
I got a PCR test at some shipping container pop-up last Tuesday and still don't have results, and if I ever finally got them what good are they now? Even less shady spots are taking several days.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 January 2022 19:45 (two years ago) link
I have Covid, tested positive on Friday from a home test. All mild symptoms, nothing to worry about. But having read about home tests not being reported and causing the overall figures not to be accurate etc, I dutifully left a message with my doctor's office saying I had it. But got nothing back at all from them to acknowledge it or ask how I was doing. Wish I hadn't bothered now.
― Position Position, Tuesday, 11 January 2022 20:27 (two years ago) link
Sucks they didn't call you back, but I'm guessing in most doctor's offices right now they're not expending a lot of energy on people who tell them they're doing OK. But I hope you keep doing OK!
Meanwhile, speaking of wishful โ or just weird โ thinking:
When you read Speed the Spread of Omicron, you know we've got a problem ๐คฏhttps://t.co/bWziC47qH5 pic.twitter.com/j8GYxoSwUn— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 11, 2022
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 20:28 (two years ago) link
xpost - Worth a try I guess, at least you attempted to get counted. I wouldn't be surprised if we are closer to 2.5 to 3 million cases, just going by anecdotal stories of people with positive rapid tests or even people who are isolating and sure they have it but can't find rapid tests.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 20:29 (two years ago) link
I'm not a virologist, but I don't think the logic of "oh just let everybody get it" holds up to any kind of scrutiny. First, when you say that you're acknowledging up front that a bunch of people will die as a result โ mostly unvaccinated and/or with pre-existing conditions but still a lot of actual people who are alive now being dead soon. But also, we don't really know how long acquired immunity from infection lasts, Omicron has infected tons of previously infected people, so it's not like even a 100 percent Omicron-exposed population is going to stop circulating the virus, enabling new variants, etc. People act like "prior infection" is some kind of magic potion, but it isn't any more than the vaccines are. (OK, statistically, maybe somewhat more than the vaccines. But not a lot.)
I get the impulse to "get it over with," but I'm not sure how that is actually supposed to work.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 20:32 (two years ago) link
I called our daughter's doctor just to let them know she tested positive and to update her files, and they actually called me back a few hours later just to check up, which surprised me.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 January 2022 20:35 (two years ago) link
Noticing something new the last couple of days in the way the Canadian news is reporting hospital admissions: those who were admitted for COVID, and those who were admitted for something else and tested positive. That was running about 55/45 in the direction of COVID today. Is this an important distinction?
― clemenza, Tuesday, 11 January 2022 21:08 (two years ago) link
It's a super important distinction and I wish that data were more readily available.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 21:12 (two years ago) link
More from Bob W on SF numbers and elsewhere. Per final post, heโs sticking with awful January leading to better February, but itโs a really awful January.
Covid (@UCSF) Chronicles, Day 665I havenโt done a SF update for a week โ itโs a good time to catch up. Any impact of holiday gatherings should now be baked in, we all know scores of people with Covid, & hospitals are getting overwhelmed. So is SFโs high vax rate helping? (1/20)— Bob Wachter (@Bob_Wachter) January 11, 2022
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 11 January 2022 21:20 (two years ago) link
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/covid-19/prevention-risks/covid-19-and-sex
Use barriers, like walls (e.g., glory holes), that allow for sexual contact but prevent close face-to-face contact.
― ้พ, Tuesday, 11 January 2022 22:10 (two years ago) link
for/with is an important but extremely subtle distinction, and it's often used as FUD by people who suggest people admitted with covid are somehow not relevant to the pandemic.
people who are admitted to hospital (for anything) are more likely to have comorbidities that makes covid more dangerous, and getting covid doesn't improve the prognosis of anything else. so the implication that people admitted with covid are not in danger from covid doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
― ๐ ๐๐ข๐จ (caek), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 22:27 (two years ago) link
you can't see it in case data yet (it lags a few days, and testing capacity is saturated and growing, so reported cases may continue to grow even while real cases fall) but ... based on boston shit, seems like the north east may have peaked
๐๐ฉ pic.twitter.com/LaOdDahuDA— free the young (@theripsnorter) January 11, 2022
― ๐ ๐๐ข๐จ (caek), Tuesday, 11 January 2022 22:33 (two years ago) link
Getting weird out here
Trump says politicians who won't say whether they've been vaccinated are "gutless." Trump said, "Say it. But the fact is that I think the vaccines saved tens of millions throughout the world. Iโve had absolutely no side affects.โ #TrumpVaccine https://t.co/SfN1rTS21s— Rick Folbaum (@RickFolbaum) January 12, 2022
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 12 January 2022 04:46 (two years ago) link
https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-omicron-spreads-some-nations-offer-a-second-covid-19-booster-11641911892
second booster? :|
― ้พ, Wednesday, 12 January 2022 15:35 (two years ago) link
I mean, I'll take all the boosters you have, whatever. I'm going to be coming up on 6 months since my boost in April.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 12 January 2022 15:41 (two years ago) link
I've kinda been anticipating boosters every six months, so doesn't surprise me too much. I'd much prefer to get on an annual booster thing, but whatever.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 12 January 2022 15:46 (two years ago) link
same here - also figured it'd be a six month deal, annoyingly. hopefully less often after next year
― Nhex, Wednesday, 12 January 2022 15:49 (two years ago) link
It's very hard to watch today as the US hospitalizations climbed above 150,000, ICUs more than 25,000, and nearly 2,700 deathsโthe vast majority were preventable by vaccinations and/or boosters.And >900,000 new cases, some of whom will progress to severe disease or #LongCovid— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) January 13, 2022
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 13 January 2022 03:51 (two years ago) link
It's getting to the place where a significant number of 'excess deaths' beyond the expected baseline death rate during the pandemic are from causes other than covid, but from diseases or conditions that were left untreated or under-treated due to lack of resources or preventive measures designed to reduce covid transmission.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Thursday, 13 January 2022 04:01 (two years ago) link
in the UK the new baseline for calculating excess deaths over and above the baseline is the average of 2016, 17, 18, 19 and 21. Until recently it was 2015-19. Some debate over whether it's reasonable to include 2021.
― kinder, Thursday, 13 January 2022 09:32 (two years ago) link
Why, if theyโre theyโre including 2021, would they omit 2020?
― Alba, Thursday, 13 January 2022 16:24 (two years ago) link
There was a positive case this week in my son's class at school. The sick kid was already at home, but had been in school the day before. The one unvaccinated kid in the class was sent home to quarantine, but otherwise life basically went on as usual. Seems like a reasonable way forward.
― o. nate, Thursday, 13 January 2022 18:30 (two years ago) link
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10397797/Man-claims-lost-1-5-inches-length-penis-Covid-vascular-damage.html
― ้พ, Thursday, 13 January 2022 19:33 (two years ago) link
otm
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 13 January 2022 19:44 (two years ago) link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koro_%28medicine%29
― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 13 January 2022 19:47 (two years ago) link
xps I think the intention was always to omit 2020 as a pandemic year skewing the average. I don't know why you would include 2021 unless it's worse to use old data than it is to use likely atypical data.
― kinder, Thursday, 13 January 2022 21:17 (two years ago) link
By any measure 2021 was also "a pandemic year skewing the data".
― Nasty, Brutish & Short, Thursday, 13 January 2022 21:30 (two years ago) link
well yeah of course
― kinder, Thursday, 13 January 2022 21:34 (two years ago) link
maybe it's the new normal
― koogs, Thursday, 13 January 2022 21:47 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5QErPDNcj4
― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 13 January 2022 21:55 (two years ago) link
smoke weed every day
https://news.ohsu.edu/2022/01/13/study-shows-hemp-compounds-prevent-coronavirus-from-entering-human-cells
― bad milk blood robot (sleeve), Friday, 14 January 2022 16:38 (two years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/cawTD5I.jpeg
― STOCK FIST-PUMPER BRAD (BradNelson), Friday, 14 January 2022 16:45 (two years ago) link
I feel the same way
― Karl Malone, Friday, 14 January 2022 16:50 (two years ago) link
holy shit
Some with recent Covid diagnoses are finding that contracting the illness they worked so hard to dodge for so long has brought them an unexpected reprieve from anxiety โ instead of compounding it further. https://t.co/zjs7ppIO7J— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 17, 2022
― papal hotwife (milo z), Monday, 17 January 2022 19:00 (two years ago) link
Not unfamiliar! A couple friends down for the holidays, in part facetiously, were like PLEASE GET IT OVER WITH ALREADY.
They have no children and are not immunocompromised.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 January 2022 19:02 (two years ago) link
Knowing myself, I would also probably vacillate from disappointment to the mildest of relief.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 January 2022 19:03 (two years ago) link
blundering straight into the path of the ratio is praxis
― imago, Monday, 17 January 2022 19:05 (two years ago) link
Some soldiers are surprised to find they experience a sense of relief when, during a battle in which others around them were killed or wounded, they receive a minor wound and are able to leave the front line for a while.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 17 January 2022 19:08 (two years ago) link
When I did a rapid test at my sister's on Christmas Eve day, I absolutely had mixed feelings: I wanted a negative, simply so I could stay, but--knowing how relatively mild my symptoms had been the past week--part of me wanted a positive.
― clemenza, Monday, 17 January 2022 19:08 (two years ago) link
The twitter reaction as usual has been weird -- no one quoted "sought out" the virus. The people I know who've gotten omicron after three vaccinations aren't going to bars or restaurants and fucking hated missing Noche Buena and/or NYE. But this sense of ugh can co-exist with "Well, this anxiety's over for a while."
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 January 2022 19:10 (two years ago) link
we absolutely thought this during the holidays, and i suspect a lot of parents did. getting it now would would be much much more disruptive and upsetting for all of us.
― ๐ ๐๐ข๐จ (caek), Monday, 17 January 2022 19:12 (two years ago) link
Yeah I don't think that sounds weird at all, I'm sure I'd feel some relief too and I'm not even sure why one would consider this "unexpected." Doesn't mean I'd seek it out.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, 17 January 2022 19:15 (two years ago) link
i assume milo's point is that feeling this way is a privilege, which yes.
― ๐ ๐๐ข๐จ (caek), Monday, 17 January 2022 19:15 (two years ago) link