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Covid-19 miscellany

Cheerful Charlie said:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/white...coronavirus-face-masks-to-every-home?ref=home

In April, as the coronavirus pandemic was killing thousands of Americans and the U.S. surgeon general was teaching people how to make face masks with rubber bands, the United States Postal Service had come up with a plan to distribute 650 million masks, enough for five per house. USPS leaders had even drafted a press release ready to go out, according to nearly 10,000 pages of emails, memos and other USPS materials obtained by The Washington Post. But the White House scrapped the plan out of concern that “households receiving masks might create concern or panic,” an administration official told the Post. Instead, the Department of Health and Human Services distributed 650 million reusable cotton masks to critical industries, healthcare facilities, schools, and community organizations.

Meanwhile, back at Clown Alley.....
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Yeah, people are voting for this arrogance. I might have died, but he pwned the libs.
 
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
DBT said:
Jokodo said:
I don't know your anatomy, but exactly how are you checking a person's mask status from the car behind? That doesn't sound like keeping a safe distance...
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Maybe the car in front was behind me, but happened to overtake in the other lane? Wow, could that possible? People never pass other drivers? No one ever looks in the rear view mirror? It's not possible to see the face of the driver in front reflected in their rear view mirror? Gosh, how one dimensional your world appears to be.....
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How many are uber drivers?
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Most likely none. I've never seen a car with an Uber sticker around town. It's not a big city.
 
DBT said:
I was being flippant. Not intended to be taken absolutely literally. Wearing a face mask while driving on your own serves no purpose.


Jimmy Higgins said:
Are they going to a place after another and close by?

I mean yes, it is fun to judge people outside of knowing what they are doing or going through.
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It doesn't matter where they are going or how far, it serves no purpose. It only takes a quick, simply action to pull the mask down for the sake of comfort.
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It depends on the mask. I wear N95s these days--you don't pull those down with one simple motion, nor do you replace them with a simple motion. Doing either is a two-handed operation that must be done with a certain amount of caution if I'm wearing glasses (and I always am in mask territory) and when I'm hiking it's compounded by the fact that I'm wearing a hat that has a string going under my chin.
 
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
Loren Pechtel said:
Huh? I do wear them if anyone is around but how does a cluster sit there for 3 hours 27 feet away???
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27 feet is the worst case distance for a sneeze. Here is an article on related study:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.co...s-mit-scientist-says/articleshow/74928356.cms

However, inside there is ventilation. Outside, there is wind. So, a mere cough outside with additional environmental factors can also go far.

A cough or sneeze is like a mini-cloud of vapor and little things small enough to bounce around on other little things. The virus may bounce around a short time or a long time. Before the coronavirus was even pandemic this was common knowledge in regard to flu and common cold. Here's an example about flu:
https://www.flu65plus.com/stories/can-flu-spread-through-air
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Ok, that makes more sense--you're saying a cloud of up to 27' radius.

Now, imagine 5 minutes later, person B is strolling in the park. They don't see anyone so they don't wear a mask. They walk a path parallel to the previous jogger, Person A...but they are 7 feet away to the right....perhaps on the opposite side of a wide public path.
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Which is why I don't take my mask back off until at least a minute after there's nobody around me anymore.

Of course, there may be other environmental factors that destroy the clouds like heat, UV, strong winds, but in experiments sneezes can go 27 feet and virus can be in the air a long time. So, at a minimum, the 6 foot social distancing thing isn't 100% sure thing. It's a personal choice on how risk averse beyond that that people want to be.
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I do agree that 6' is simply a rough guideline, not an assurance of safety.
 
DBT said:
Jokodo said:
That taking off the mask (and possibly disinfecting your hands to do so) when you have to put it it back on in a few minutes at your next stop is a "net gain in comfort" is your opinion, not an objective fact. Someone else may well consider it a net loss in comfort and time.
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If it is a few minutes, if people don't typically adjust their masks for various reasons, which I've seen happen....not to mention those who leave their noses exposed because the day is warm and the mask is stuffy.
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Masks make one warmer, I turn the AC down a couple of degrees.
 
Attorney General William Barr brings up slavery when referring to quarantining during the pandemic - YouTube - what a big baby.

Barr creates firestorm with comments that appear to boost Trump's reelection campaign - POLITICO
During an appearance in northern Virginia Wednesday, Barr railed against state-issued coronavirus-related lockdown orders, declaring that they were surpassed only by slavery as a historic intrusion on civil liberties.

“You know, putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders, is like house arrest. It’s — you know, other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history,” Barr said during a question-and-answer session following his remarks.

At one point, Barr seemingly suggested that the federal response to the pandemic should be guided by politicians and elected officials rather than medical experts and the broader scientific community.

“The person in the white coat is not the ‘grand seer’ who can come up with a right decision for society. A free people makes its decision through its elected representative,” he said.
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POLITICO on Twitter: "Attorney General William Barr argued yesterday that coronavirus-related lockdown orders were surpassed only by slavery as the “greatest intrusion on civil liberties” in the nation’s history [url]https://t.co/oFyWpMnINl https://t.co/kBOF9diNoZ" / Twitter[/url]

Which got this response:
Emma Vigeland on Twitter: "Jim Crow? Japanese internment camps? Forced sterilizations of Black, Latino and Native Americans? Warrantless wiretapping? Guantanamo Bay? The Trail Of Tears? The lynching of Black people? The death penalty? Police murders of minorities and the poor? Exploitative prison labor?" / Twitter

Top black Democrat attacks 'God-awful' AG Bill Barr for comparing coroanvirus lockdowns to SLAVERY | Daily Mail Online
Democrats' most senior black lawmaker, Jim Clyburn, called attorney general Bill Barr 'God awful' and 'tone deaf' Thursday after the top law enforcement officer compared lockdown orders to slavery.

The House Democratic leader told CNN's New Day that Barr's comparison was 'tone deaf'.

...
Barr likened the pandemic to life for Black people before slavery was abolished after he was asked to explain 'constitutional hurdles for forbidding a church from meeting during Covid-19.'
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Texas and Covid-19.

Can someone please explain how Texas manages their COVID-19 existing cases numbers? You look at Florida and you see one thing, generally, a rising existing cases and only recently existing cases dropping. But Texas, almost in the middle of their surge, their existing cases numbers were dropping faster than new cases could keep up, despite having a lot of new cases!

When you look at the US as a whole, generally you can tell the states that either fucked up or had populations that wouldn't listen. You can generally tell based on the existing cases verses recovered cases. States like Georgia, Florida, Arizona have existing cases that are many times greater than their recovered cases. Not Texas, a state that is repeatedly in the top few for new daily cases. Their existing cases is a fraction of their total cases, despite being in the same boat as Arizona and Florida. How is that remotely possible?
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Texas and Covid-19.

Can someone please explain how Texas manages their COVID-19 existing cases numbers? You look at Florida and you see one thing, generally, a rising existing cases and only recently existing cases dropping. But Texas, almost in the middle of their surge, their existing cases numbers were dropping faster than new cases could keep up, despite having a lot of new cases!

When you look at the US as a whole, generally you can tell the states that either fucked up or had populations that wouldn't listen. You can generally tell based on the existing cases verses recovered cases. States like Georgia, Florida, Arizona have existing cases that are many times greater than their recovered cases. Not Texas, a state that is repeatedly in the top few for new daily cases. Their existing cases is a fraction of their total cases, despite being in the same boat as Arizona and Florida. How is that remotely possible?
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They're doing what His Flatulence wants--not testing.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
Texas and Covid-19.

Can someone please explain how Texas manages their COVID-19 existing cases numbers? You look at Florida and you see one thing, generally, a rising existing cases and only recently existing cases dropping. But Texas, almost in the middle of their surge, their existing cases numbers were dropping faster than new cases could keep up, despite having a lot of new cases!

When you look at the US as a whole, generally you can tell the states that either fucked up or had populations that wouldn't listen. You can generally tell based on the existing cases verses recovered cases. States like Georgia, Florida, Arizona have existing cases that are many times greater than their recovered cases. Not Texas, a state that is repeatedly in the top few for new daily cases. Their existing cases is a fraction of their total cases, despite being in the same boat as Arizona and Florida. How is that remotely possible?
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They're doing what His Flatulence wants--not testing.
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But they are testing... and they got lots of positives... they just seem to be getting people "recovered" A LOT quicker, unless they are undertesting by 5x to 10x. Fuck, Texas isn't that bad, is it?
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Loren Pechtel said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
Texas and Covid-19.

Can someone please explain how Texas manages their COVID-19 existing cases numbers? You look at Florida and you see one thing, generally, a rising existing cases and only recently existing cases dropping. But Texas, almost in the middle of their surge, their existing cases numbers were dropping faster than new cases could keep up, despite having a lot of new cases!

When you look at the US as a whole, generally you can tell the states that either fucked up or had populations that wouldn't listen. You can generally tell based on the existing cases verses recovered cases. States like Georgia, Florida, Arizona have existing cases that are many times greater than their recovered cases. Not Texas, a state that is repeatedly in the top few for new daily cases. Their existing cases is a fraction of their total cases, despite being in the same boat as Arizona and Florida. How is that remotely possible?
Click to expand...

They're doing what His Flatulence wants--not testing.
Click to expand...
But they are testing... and they got lots of positives... they just seem to be getting people "recovered" A LOT quicker, unless they are undertesting by 5x to 10x. Fuck, Texas isn't that bad, is it?
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The high positive rate says they aren't testing nearly enough.
 
Loren Pechtel said:
Ok, that makes more sense--you're saying a cloud of up to 27' radius.

Now, imagine 5 minutes later, person B is strolling in the park. They don't see anyone so they don't wear a mask. They walk a path parallel to the previous jogger, Person A...but they are 7 feet away to the right....perhaps on the opposite side of a wide public path.
Click to expand...

Which is why I don't take my mask back off until at least a minute after there's nobody around me anymore.

Of course, there may be other environmental factors that destroy the clouds like heat, UV, strong winds, but in experiments sneezes can go 27 feet and virus can be in the air a long time. So, at a minimum, the 6 foot social distancing thing isn't 100% sure thing. It's a personal choice on how risk averse beyond that that people want to be.
Click to expand...

I do agree that 6' is simply a rough guideline, not an assurance of safety.
Click to expand...

Hey Loren (and others)...there is some related news to this and I have made a separate thread:
https://talkfreethought.org/showthr...ses-new-storm-by-pulling-coronavirus-guidance
 
I wasn't paying enough attention at the time (being in a different country, 'n' all). Can anyone tell me if there was a spike in cases after that huge motorcycle rally?
 
U.S. Image Plummets Internationally as Most Say Country Has Handled Coronavirus Badly | Pew Research Center - "Ratings for Trump remain poor"

In the UK, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, and Australia, ratings for the US are at record lows. The decline was reversed during the Obama years, but it picked up again in the Trump years.

Surveying 13 developed countries, their assessments of various responders to the novel coronavirus (minimum, median, maximum %) is:
  • US: 6 - 15 - 20
  • Own country: 46 - 74 - 94
  • WHO: 19 - 64 - 74
  • EU: 19 - 57 - 68
  • China: 16 - 37 - 51
Ratings (min, med, max %)
  • Favorable view of US: 24 - 34 - 59
  • Confidence in Trump: 9 - 16 - 25
Confidence vs. no confidence in world leaders (+, - %)
  • Germany - Merkel: 76 - 19
  • France - Macron: 64 - 32
  • UK - Johnson: 48 - 46
  • Russia - Putin: 23 - 73
  • China - Xi: 19 - 78
  • US - Trump: 16 - 83
Interesting that Angela Merkel should be so greatly respected. Also that Trump should be way down there with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.

Confidence in Trump among supporters of European right-wing-populist parties (nonsupporters, supporters, difference %):
  • Spain (Vox): 7 - 45 -- 38
  • Germany (AfD): 5 - 34 -- 29
  • Netherlands (PVV): 10 - 36 -- 26
  • Sweden (Sw Dems): 7 - 33 -- 26
  • Netherlands (FvD): 11 - 34 -- 23
  • France (Nat Rally): 6 - 28 -- 22
  • Italy (Lega): 10 - 29 -- 19
  • Belgium (Fl Int): 5 - 24 -- 19
  • UK (Brexit Pty): 15 - 33 -- 18
  • Italy (Forza It): 11 - 27 -- 16
  • Denmark (D Ppls Pty): 7 - 15 -- 8
More, but usually not very great.
 
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