Covid-19 miscellany

[crazyfingers]

You need to give Scott Morrison a call. Sell him some vaccines, or maybe just try to clue him in about the responsibilities of a national leader during a pandemic.

I've wondered about that. How come Australia sucks so much when it comes to getting their people vaccinated? It's hardly a question of money. Australia is not a poor country.

Our federal government is currently led by a bunch of right-wing religious nuts. Fortunately, the majority of the pandemic response is handled by the states, with the federal government having only two major areas of responsibility - quarantine of international arrivals, and procurement and distribution of vaccines. Unfortunately, they have fucked up both, leaving the states to clean up their mess.

I would contend that only about half the states recognize that there is a problem.

 

[marc]

There have been a lot more variants than this. The letters are only given to the ones that are a substantial increase in the threat.

YES. Last time I read, which was like 3 weeks ago, they were up to Lambda. Lambda is also one of the dangerous ones.

Wait'll they get to Omega Mu. That'll be the hefty one.

NEEEEERRRRDDDD!!!!!

 

[bilby]

Yup, it scored me pretty much as I expected it would.

They never responded when I pointed out a problem, though--one of the analogy questions had "Tile is to roof" as the first half--which is a perfectly good type-of to me as I live in a house with a concrete tile (commonly called "tile" here) roof.

I'm not sure what you think is a problem here; Most British houses have tiled roofs, and the test is aimed at and written for British people.

They probably couldn't care less about picky Americans who perceive a problem that is entirely due to their being outside the target audience.

Except it scored me wrong for treating it as a type-of analogy.

Which is because you're American.

In America, tile is a type of roof. In Britain, tile is a component of a tiled roof.

The only problem here is that your assumptions are different in detail from those of the target audience, which isn't a problem for them at all.

 

[bilby]

Our federal government is currently led by a bunch of right-wing religious nuts. Fortunately, the majority of the pandemic response is handled by the states, with the federal government having only two major areas of responsibility - quarantine of international arrivals, and procurement and distribution of vaccines. Unfortunately, they have fucked up both, leaving the states to clean up their mess.

I would contend that only about half the states recognize that there is a problem.

Only two of six have much of a problem; And that's because all six, and the two mainland territories, have taken it seriously from the outset.

Victoria learned some hard lessons about just how hard and fast a lockdown is necessary to contain an outbreak; And now New South Wales is failing to take that lesson, for dumb political reasons, and is struggling to contain its outbreak.

Even Gladys Binchicken recognises the threat, despite her disinclination to act as fast or as firmly as the experience south of the Murray indicated was necessary.

 

[crazyfingers]

Our federal government is currently led by a bunch of right-wing religious nuts. Fortunately, the majority of the pandemic response is handled by the states, with the federal government having only two major areas of responsibility - quarantine of international arrivals, and procurement and distribution of vaccines. Unfortunately, they have fucked up both, leaving the states to clean up their mess.

I would contend that only about half the states recognize that there is a problem.

Only two of six have much of a problem; And that's because all six, and the two mainland territories, have taken it seriously from the outset.

Victoria learned some hard lessons about just how hard and fast a lockdown is necessary to contain an outbreak; And now New South Wales is failing to take that lesson, for dumb political reasons, and is struggling to contain its outbreak.

Even Gladys Binchicken recognises the threat, despite her disinclination to act as fast or as firmly as the experience south of the Murray indicated was necessary.

Forgot you are a tad south of me. I was thinking the US states where some state level governments are even discouraging getting the vaccine.

 

[Angra Mainyu]

This is not good.

As of Thursday, 882 people were tied to the Provincetown outbreak. Among those living in Massachusetts, 74% of them were fully immunized, yet officials said the vast majority were also reporting symptoms. Seven people were reported hospitalized.

The initial findings of the investigation led by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, seemed to have huge implications.

If this is confirmed, the unvaccinated have fucked America's chance of stopping Covid-19, and the only way this ends is everyone gets it.

Cloth masks don't cut it now.

If vaccines don't work everyone getting it won't work, either.

That is not necessarily the case. Vaccines were made for a different variant. If Moderna or Pfizer made a vaccine targeting Delta and that were to fail, yeah that would provide good evidence that getting it won't work, either. But they have not targeted Delta.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

If vaccines don't work everyone getting it won't work, either.

That is not necessarily the case. Vaccines were made for a different variant. If Moderna or Pfizer made a vaccine targeting Delta and that were to fail, yeah that would provide good evidence that getting it won't work, either. But they have not targeted Delta.

I was using "vaccines" in the general form. The numbers make it clear they should be doing a booster for Delta. I wonder how much testing the FDA will require on it given how tiny a change it is to the basic technology.

 

[Angra Mainyu]

If vaccines don't work everyone getting it won't work, either.

That is not necessarily the case. Vaccines were made for a different variant. If Moderna or Pfizer made a vaccine targeting Delta and that were to fail, yeah that would provide good evidence that getting it won't work, either. But they have not targeted Delta.

I was using "vaccines" in the general form. The numbers make it clear they should be doing a booster for Delta. I wonder how much testing the FDA will require on it given how tiny a change it is to the basic technology.

No idea, but they shouldn't require almost any, if that, given that the increased risk is negligible. It's pretty much the same thing, in terms of potential side-effects. The risk of people dying from Delta is much greater - though I guess not so much if they have two doses already; but it's still better than the disease, and it protects others.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Florida hospitals are overloading with the "flu":

https://bnonews.com/index.php/2021/...declares-code-black-due-to-coronavirus-surge/

Current growth rates will blow through last year's peak in a week.

 

[crazyfingers]

Florida hospitals are overloading with the "flu":

https://bnonews.com/index.php/2021/...declares-code-black-due-to-coronavirus-surge/

Current growth rates will blow through last year's peak in a week.

Baton Rouge, LA children's hospital filling up
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/30/us/baton-rouge-childrens-hospital-surge/index.html

And moron FL governor bans schools from requiring masks. Giving parents the freedom to choose that their kids can get other kids sick.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/30/us/florida-case-surge-school-masks/index.html

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

And moron FL governor bans schools from requiring masks. Giving parents the freedom to choose that their kids can get other kids sick.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/30/us/florida-case-surge-school-masks/index.html

I never thought things could get this bad. Ohio is floating this as well. I don't know if Dewine would veto, I doubt they could override the veto.

 

[TSwizzle]

And moron FL governor bans schools from requiring masks. Giving parents the freedom to choose that their kids can get other kids sick.

Good, it makes perfect sense. There is no reason for kids to wear masks. But they have the option to wear them if they want. Not that it offers much protection in the first place but that’s not what the mask mandates are about.

 

[Patooka]

And moron FL governor bans schools from requiring masks. Giving parents the freedom to choose that their kids can get other kids sick.

Good, it makes perfect sense. There is no reason for kids to wear masks. But they have the option to wear them if they want. Not that it offers much protection in the first place but that’s not what the mask mandates are about.

This is probably the stupidest fucking thing I've heard throughout the pandemic. Go to your nearest hospital and explain to the staff how ineffective masks are, genius.

 

[TSwizzle]

And moron FL governor bans schools from requiring masks. Giving parents the freedom to choose that their kids can get other kids sick.

Good, it makes perfect sense. There is no reason for kids to wear masks. But they have the option to wear them if they want. Not that it offers much protection in the first place but that’s not what the mask mandates are about.

This is probably the stupidest fucking thing I've heard throughout the pandemic. Go to your nearest hospital and explain to the staff how ineffective masks are, genius.

Why a hospital? Why not the nearest Starbucks or McDonald’s?

What makes you think masks are effective? Because the box of masks on my desk clearly states (and I paraphrase) “does fuck all to stop covid”.

 

[Patooka]

This is probably the stupidest fucking thing I've heard throughout the pandemic. Go to your nearest hospital and explain to the staff how ineffective masks are, genius.

Why a hospital? Why not the nearest Starbucks or McDonald’s?

What makes you think masks are effective? Because the box of masks on my desk clearly states (and I paraphrase) “does fuck all to stop covid”.

If my toilet's fucked, I call a plumber. If my car is fucked, I ask for a mechanics opinion. When it is regards to a global pandemic, I tend to listen to the advice of virologists who have spent decades of their lives studying in this field. Good luck with your Starbucks and Daily Mail idiocy - I've run out of fucks to give to morons who dismiss what experts say just to be edgy about pseudo-freedoms and other asinine bullshit.

 

[DrZoidberg]

You are correct, your statement is false. The CDC data getting leaked indicates that there is a ten fold increase in protection from requiring hospitalization when vaccinated. That means a minority of people that are vaccinated and get the virus do need hospitalization. And that number is larger for Delta than earlier strains.
For the most part they aren't dying. Congrats on providing a truthful statement.

They can still get it, and they can still spread it. But they're not dying or being hospitalized.

Well, you got one in a row. Again, a minority of them need hospitalization. And that number is small relative to the unvax'd. But it is a number of people regardless. So more unvax'd will need hospitalization and more vax'd need hospitalization. And with transmission so much easier, the spread will be much faster... causing potential strain on the health care system, especially using the Dr. Zoidberg's HASP.

That's trolling.

I'm sorry you think reality is harassing you. Must be rough.

No, going through the loss of my father in March 2020, and the 24 month run-up to it was rough. Having to cope with his loss in a pandemic and not able to get out was rough. Having people be oblivious why I wouldn't want to put my surviving mother (or other people with family members with not great health or on medications that reduce their immune system) at risk is more frustrating than rough.

You are incoherent. Endemic Covid-19 is just something we're going to have to learn to live with. There is nothing we can do about that.

Regular flu is also dangerous. It kills hundreds of thousands each season.

The goal of the vaccination drive was to turn Covid-19 into a normal flu. And we have succeeded.

I'm sorry about your loss. Not to sound callous, but people die. It's normal. At some point we are going to have to accept that for every disease there is a point where the cost of fighting it is higher than the rewards. There's a sweet spot. Which isn't comforting for those immunocompromised. But it is a fact of life.

 

[barbos]

The goal of the vaccination drive was to turn Covid-19 into a normal flu. And we have succeeded.

We did? I must have missed that memo.

 

[untermensche]

The goal of the vaccination drive was to turn Covid-19 into a normal flu. And we have succeeded.

The goal of the vaccine was to end the epidemic.

The problem is too few got the vaccine.

A lot of despicable evil people refused to get it.

And it looks like vaccinated people should not have stopped wearing masks and everyone should start wearing them again.

 

[Swammerdami]

Nancy Pelosi and Joe Hitler were not the first American leaders who wanted to foist vaccination on citizens.

Finding the smallpox to be spreading much and fearing that no precaution can prevent it from running through the whole of our army, I have determined that troops shall be inoculated. This expedient may be attended with some inconveniences and some disadvantages, but yet I trust in its consequences will have the most happy effects. Necessity not only authorizes but seems to require the measure, for should the disorder infect the army in the natural way and rage with its virulence we should have more to dread from it than from the sword of the enemy.

I don't get FoxNews on my TV; here's what I presume their response is.

As I already suspected, George Washington was also an Islamo-communistic Fascist dictator. It's no coincidence that the Rothschilds controled the world's gold supply then just as they do now.

I hope patriotic Americans will climb Mt. Rushmore with jackhammers and tear off the flesh of Fascist Fuhrer Washington to reveal the Great Face of our Greatest President underneath. Build the Wall! Stop the Steal!! Outlaw Masks!!! Make America Great Again!!!!

And I hear that some money still has Fuhrer Washington's face on it. Do not spend that money! Mail it to my PAC for proper destruction. By the way, Alexander Hamilton and especially Benjamin Franklin were also fascist traitors.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

This is probably the stupidest fucking thing I've heard throughout the pandemic. Go to your nearest hospital and explain to the staff how ineffective masks are, genius.

Why a hospital? Why not the nearest Starbucks or McDonald’s?

What makes you think masks are effective? Because the box of masks on my desk clearly states (and I paraphrase) “does fuck all to stop covid”.

If my toilet's fucked, I call a plumber. If my car is fucked, I ask for a mechanics opinion. When it is regards to a global pandemic, I tend to listen to the advice of virologists who have spent decades of their lives studying in this field. Good luck with your Starbucks and Daily Mail idiocy - I've run out of fucks to give to morons who dismiss what experts say just to be edgy about pseudo-freedoms and other asinine bullshit.

Typhoid Mary's freedoms are more important than how many people die of typhoid. I think that's TSwizzle's argument.

To put it another way, your toilet has rights!