COVID-19 III: No Politics For Thee

[ejp626]

I only just heard that Herman Cain died from coronavirus (and perhaps some underlying conditions).  It is by no means definitive, but the timing does suggest he caught it at Trump's Tulsa rally.  I'm in no way implying he "deserved" it, but I would say the adults in the room should have called off the Tulsa rally, which was a spectacularly bad idea and surely did help spread the virus.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/obit-cain-coronavirus-1.5668718

 

[JSngry]

Adults in the room?

[Brad]

Adults in the room? Now, that’s funny. 

[Matthew]

It seems so basic, no large gatherings at this point, but.... you know the rest.

[Dave James]

44 minutes ago, Matthew said:

It seems so basic, no large gatherings at this point, but.... you know the rest.

We may be the wealthiest country in the world, but we're also the dumbest.  How can you  possibly get ahead of this when 30% of the country is convinced that the wearing of masks and social distancing is some sort of left-wing conspiracy?

[T.D.]

4 minutes ago, Dave James said:

We may be the wealthiest country in the world, but we're also the dumbest.  How can you  possibly get ahead of this when 30% of the country is convinced that the wearing of masks and social distancing is some sort of left-wing conspiracy?

+1 (emphasis added).

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by T.D.

[jlhoots]

1 hour ago, T.D. said:

+1 (emphasis added).

 

dumbest!!

[Brad]

1 hour ago, Dave James said:

We may be the wealthiest country in the world, but we're also the dumbest.  How can you  possibly get ahead of this when 30% of the country is convinced that the wearing of masks and social distancing is some sort of left-wing conspiracy?

Maybe they’ll catch it and we can reduce that percentage. 

[T.D.]

1 hour ago, Dave James said:

We may be the wealthiest country in the world, but we're also the dumbest.  How can you  possibly get ahead of this when 30% of the country is convinced that the wearing of masks and social distancing is some sort of left-wing conspiracy?

And...What percentage of the US population would refuse a COVID vaccine because they're convinced it'll contain Bill Gates-implanted microchips intended to control their minds [well, such as they possess]?

I dunno the number, but it's pretty damn high.

Edited July 31, 2020 by T.D.

[Brad]

“Such as they possess”. Yup, that’s it in a nutshell. 

[Dan Gould]

11 hours ago, Dave James said:

We may be the wealthiest country in the world, but we're also the dumbest.  How can you  possibly get ahead of this when 30% of the country is convinced that the wearing of masks and social distancing is some sort of left-wing conspiracy?

When a vaccine is ready,  an unknown but probably sizable proportion of anti-vaccers will be otherwise committed leftists who think that autism and vaccines are related. Just saying.

[JSngry]

7 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

When a vaccine is ready,  an unknown but probably sizable proportion of anti-vaccers will be otherwise committed leftists who think that autism and vaccines are related. Just saying.

Yeah, we can lose those idiots too.

Lose all the idiots!

[Brad]

Anti vaxxers come from both extremes. Lose them both. 

[JSngry]

[Big Beat Steve]

I sincerely hope that vaccines will indeed be available sooner rather than later but even more so I hope that these vaccines will have been tested extremely thoroughly in the clinical phases and have not been RUSHED onto the market (although I am a little bit wary, given how certain politicians "click").
I can tell you (from what my better half - who works in the medical field - has witnessed) that this is a touchy affair. From what we've heard (and I can assure you Germany generally is NOT a country that is in a state of Covid hysteria, as certain other countries apparently are, but rather is acting fairly responsibly in most respects, hoping, though, that things won't slacken off in the current vacation season) there is a sizable portion of medical workers who will oppose anything like mandatory vaccination for members of medical professions as a "first round of vaccination" when a vaccine becomes available (and doctors who will shy away from administering those vaccinations). Actually there are not all that few who'd rather quit the profession in the face of mandatory vaccination. UNLESS vaccines have REALLY been tested to the very highest levels of safety (but like I said above ...). If you work in the field stories like that of one of my wife's patients can give you the creeps. Due to his profession (running a restaurant and catering service etc., i.e. extreme exposure to contact with the public) he had to have himself vaccinated against the porcine flu (yes there were epidemias before Corona). The result: Extreme, lasting and incurable heart and related health problems that were severe enough to force him to give up his job, business and all. That ain't fun. And I do understand those in the medical field who do not really see themselves as guinea pigs. (OTOH - and I know this sentence is political - if the entire membership of a nation's Parliament had themselves vaccinated first?)

[Michael]

Well, we are planning on attending an outdoor wedding and possibly the reception, to be held in a build with open windows and fans running.  We'll see how it plays out.  The family wanted to go ahead rather than postpone the wedding and I don't expect to see many mask wearers there.  About half the invitees have cancelled and the tables are supposed to be 'spread out' for the reception but I am still not sure how the owner of the venue is skirting the rules limiting gathering sizes.  But venue owner is saying what they want to hear and has their money so its not hard to figure out, I guess.    So we and our friends might be passing on the reception.

[Guy Berger]

Somewhere upthread an individual argued that excess all-cause deaths, which are much higher than official COVID deaths, are actually due to lockdowns causing deaths (whether through suicide or loneliness or...).

This is almost certainly false.  Official COVID deaths by state are extremely correlated with excess all-cause deaths.

 

[Dan Gould]

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6931e1.htm

CDC study of a camp for kids in Georgia. Of Georgia residents, staff and attendees, 76% attack rate after one teen-age staff member was sent home and subsequently tested positive. N of 344.  Highest attack rate among staff members, who were last to leave the camp.

Does not bode well for full opening of schools in the Fall. 

Caveats include the fact that this happened in an environment of community spread, so some cases could be correlation and not causality.  

[Brad]

There was a story in the Times today about a school in Indiana that reopened and on the first day they discovered that they had an infected student.  Everyone he came into contact with has to be quarantined.

A School Reopens, and the Coronavirus Creeps In

[Dan Gould]

https://www.foxla.com/news/bloody-brawl-breaks-out-after-woman-throws-coffee-in-mans-face-for-not-wearing-mask?fbclid=IwAR3faLrfOwznyzt1u8m20-_Yq-c3nOjdhcuAPvK_g7juJaJnqoygzSjqrRA

One can somehow "blame" the Trump-supporting not-gonna-wear-a-mask pair but reality here is that once they said "we're eating our burritos" the conversation should have been over. Instead Ken and Karen get up in their faces (nice social distancing there) and then the bitch throws her coffee in his face.

I think its hysterical that he went after the boyfriend and bloodied him, and the cops were ready to arrest the mask-police a-holes after the couple called them.

Bottom line is Karens and non-mask wearers are assholes. Stay away from both. And maybe just maybe this particular Karen will think twice next time.

[ejp626]

I blame the Internet.

[Guy Berger]

On 8/1/2020 at 4:31 AM, Dan Gould said:

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6931e1.htm

CDC study of a camp for kids in Georgia. Of Georgia residents, staff and attendees, 76% attack rate after one teen-age staff member was sent home and subsequently tested positive. N of 344.  Highest attack rate among staff members, who were last to leave the camp.

Does not bode well for full opening of schools in the Fall. 

Caveats include the fact that this happened in an environment of community spread, so some cases could be correlation and not causality.  

I'm worried about schools in person too, especially since we aren't doing even the minimum necessary to make them safer.  Like a lot of the other reopening we've experienced in the US, it's founded upon magical thinking.

This story from exurban Georgia was really jarring:

"North Paulding High School, about an hour outside Atlanta, reopened Monday despite an outbreak among members of its high school football team, many of whom, a Facebook video shows, worked out together in a crowded indoor gym last week as part of a weightlifting fundraiser.

Within days of that workout, several North Paulding players had tested positive for the coronavirus. The school’s parents were notified just hours before the first day of class.

And multiple teachers at North Paulding say there are positive tests among school staff, including a staff member who came into contact with most teachers at the school while exhibiting symptoms last week."

[ejp626]

28 minutes ago, bresna said:

Yes, that woman reacted stupidly but we don't know her story. Maybe she just lost a parent to this shit? To be honest, I'm surprised that this isn't happening more.

There are no circumstances that you can justify throwing coffee in someone's face.  None.

[Matthew]

7 minutes ago, bresna said:

So what justifies threatening someone's life by refusing to wear a mask??? You can't justify a tossed coffee but you can justify that?

In many states, someone threatening your life allows you to legally shoot them dead.

This is what's really wrong here. Someone refusing to wear a mask could very well be threatening everyones' lives but we allow them to hide behind "personal freedom" and it's AOK.

When someone with AIDS spits on someone, it's been found in court to be assault and battery. Maybe if the police starting arresting these people for assault & battery when they refuse to wear a mask, we might finally get somewhere on this issue.

But then the lawyer produces a ton of experts and articles stating that masks are worthless -- verdict: innocent. This country's Covid response is a mess right now, and I don't see it getting better or more coherent any time soon either.

[Dan Gould]

Words fail me Kevin. 

So in your first post you posit that this was a set up - paid for by the station broadcasting the report, just because its a Fox affiliate.  And they provoked them? 

That's fucking unbelievably dumb.  Truly moronic for you to say it. 

They have their bag of food. They tell the couple they are eating (and yes, they say they don't wear masks to begin with).  The couple can walk away but instead berate them, get in their face, she flips him off and she throws coffee in his face, precipitating the altercation. 

But by your second post, they should have the right to just shoot non-mask wearers? Or police should file assault charges? WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?

Above I said to avoid Karens and people who aren't wearing masks.  Should you decide to not wear a mask because you are eating, AVOID KEVIN TOO.