Coronavirus

[code monkey]

[quote="pumpkinpi" ...And if you get it and have antibodies, then you are forever immune.......[/quote]

alas, this has not been established. minimal level of antibodies? antibodies + some other factor(s)?

[lady_*nix]

Yeah with some other coronaviruses like the common cold, antibody based immunity wears off after about a year. Though IIRC there's still some level of resistance after that, vs. someone who has zero exposure to colds.

If reinfections are possible, I'd hope they're at least less severe.

[Rommie]

Yeah, I've read a lot about this and frankly it seems like no one knows anything because that's the definition of a new disease. Especially long term stuff.

It does seem that there is increasing evidence that if you're asymptomatic you don't get as many antibodies etc. Which then begs the million dollar question of how differently your body reacts should you get it again.

What a mess!

[lady_*nix]

https://twitter.com/MassGovernor/status ... 1447640064 RIP Massachusetts actually having this under control. Baker might put on airs of moderation, but at the end of the day he's still a Republican, i.e. so callous he puts the stock market over human lives, and so stupid he doesn't understand that millions of deaths will crash it regardless.

Edit: I'm also extremely not looking forward to how randos will respond to this as far as masks and distancing. And businesses, gods. If businesses start accepting unmasked customers I'm dead. I just... ugh why the fuck do they have to keep pushing to fuck shit up?

Also check out the comments and how strictly partisan they are. Democrats are like "no this is a bad idea don't do it." Republicans are like "LOL fuck it open up YOLO kill the elderly kill the disabled IDGAF woooo!!!!" It's like the US has a partisan split between normal people and sociopaths.

[code monkey]

Yeah, I've read a lot about this and frankly it seems like no one knows anything because that's the definition of a new disease. Especially long term stuff.

It does seem that there is increasing evidence that if you're asymptomatic you don't get as many antibodies etc. Which then begs the million dollar question of how differently your body reacts should you get it again.

What a mess!

quite. add to that the general public's total lack of understanding of science, drug development etc., top it all off with the antics of our current president and one has a nightmare.

[code monkey]

https://twitter.com/MassGovernor/status/1278725731447640064 RIP Massachusetts actually having this under control. Baker might put on airs of moderation, but at the end of the day he's still a Republican, i.e. so callous he puts the stock market over human lives, and so stupid he doesn't understand that millions of deaths will crash it regardless.
...

for callous try our current president's bull-headed insistence on trying to have the aca (aka Obamacare) thrown out at a time when so many have lost health care insurance along with their jobs, this disease is running rampant and, despite all the pretty talk ('a beautiful plan' - much cheaper and much better) there's no replacement in sight, hasn't been and won't be. (the republicans have tried ~70 times to get rid of it and keep failing. their replacement plan appears to be this - choose your genetic inheritance well and be lucky.)

[lady_*nix]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... story.html

Yeah I'm just gonna leave this here

White House officials also hope Americans will grow numb to the escalating death toll and learn to accept tens of thousands of new cases a day, according to three people familiar with the White House’s thinking, who requested anonymity to reveal internal deliberations. Americans will “live with the virus being a threat,” in the words of one of those people, a senior administration official.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Not surprising.

[SciFiFisher]

I don't know how many of you follow stuff. There is a guy who started a daily email newsletter and website called WTF just happened today. It's really good synopsis of the daily shenanigans going on in the current administration. He usually does a summary of each event or story and then links to a reliable news source for a possibly more detailed article. I mention it here in the corona thread because the first two summaries are about the virus.

Here is todays:

Day 1266: The Latest.
Updated 7/8/2020 7:27 AM PDT

Several states are suing the Department of Education over its decision to divert COVID-19 relief funding from K-12 public schools and give it to private schools.

Attorneys general in California, Michigan, Maine, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia have all joined the suit, which claims the DOE unlawfully interpreted the CARES Act by allowing school districts to receive funding based on the total student population instead of the total public school student population. The interpretation has lead tens of millions of dollars to be diverted from public schools in the poorest districts to private schools with tuition rates that are similar to private colleges. The suit specifically names Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as one of the defendants. (PBS News Hour)

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. breached 3 million on Tuesday, with more than 46,500 new cases recorded in a single day. Southern states that reopened in May are experiencing a considerable spike in new cases, especially in states like Florida, Texas and Arizona. The U.S. reported 250,000 new cases nationwide in the first five days of July. (NBC News)

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will meet with Trump at the White House today to commemorate the new North American trade pact known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. It will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since the coronavirus pandemic began. López Obrador will be accompanied by a delegation of Mexican business officials, including Mexico’s richest man, telecoms magnate Carlos Slim. They will meet and dine with Trump and American business executives at the White House later tonight. (Politico / NPR / Reuters / New York Times)

poll/ 60% of Americans said they found reports of Russian bounties on American soldiers to be “very” or “somewhat” believable, while 21% said they were not and the rest said they were unsure. 39% said they think Trump knew about Russia’s bounty program before it was reported in the news, while 26% said Trump didn’t know. (Reuters)

poll/ 91% of Americans believe racism and police violence are problems in the U.S., and 72% deem it is a serious one. 89% think police violence is a problem and 65% consider it serious. 47% disapprove of Trump’s response to the protess, while 31% approve. (The Guardian)

[SciFiFisher]

And I just noticed that apparently he also does a podcast for those who like to listen.

[lady_*nix]

poll/ 91% of Americans believe racism and police violence are problems in the U.S., and 72% deem it is a serious one. 89% think police violence is a problem and 65% consider it serious. 47% disapprove of Trump’s response to the protess, while 31% approve. (The Guardian)

Holy shit, those stats on racism and police violence are huge. AFAIK that's a significant change from 4 years ago.

[Rommie]

It is. Heck it's a huge difference from just a few months ago, from what I've heard.

Meanwhile Trump's speech was about how mobs want to tear down Confederate monuments. Geez dude, read the room.

[SciFiFisher]

And the CDC has decided to revise it's guidelines about how to reopen schools safely because Trump and Pence were complaining that the guidelines were too strict. IOW two old assholes who have no children in school would rather see children die so that they and their cronies don't have to lose money or pay more taxes.

[lady_*nix]

@Fisher

For "Why the hell is Trump doing that?" stuff, I'd again encourage everyone to look to follow Sarah Kendzior:

https://twitter.com/sarahkendzior

She's literally a scholar on how autocracies work, and has predicted the course of this administration basically from day one.

[code monkey]

And the CDC has decided to revise it's guidelines about how to reopen schools safely because Trump and Pence were complaining that the guidelines were too strict. IOW two old assholes who have no children in school would rather see children die so that they and their cronies don't have to lose money or pay more taxes.

i'd like to add to that that those 2 old wastes of space have absolutely no background in science of any kind.

while i'm at it why is the current head of the cdc trying so hard to destroy what was a sterling reputation?

[SciFiFisher]

And the CDC has decided to revise it's guidelines about how to reopen schools safely because Trump and Pence were complaining that the guidelines were too strict. IOW two old assholes who have no children in school would rather see children die so that they and their cronies don't have to lose money or pay more taxes.

i'd like to add to that that those 2 old wastes of space have absolutely no background in science of any kind.

while i'm at it why is the current head of the cdc trying so hard to destroy what was a sterling reputation?

Trump Appointee
Job Security
Idiot
tool


Pick all that apply.

[pumpkinpi]

A week from now we open our museum again. I'm not sure how I feel. Sometimes I'm excited to see visitors and my coworkers again. (It will be hard not to hug them!) Sometimes I'm scared as hell and wish we weren't doing it. But mostly I'm resigned to the fact that we have to do this---we're losing so much money by being closed. I'm seeing signs of businesses doing the smart thing and keeping people home, those that really do not rely on in-person workers. Like MrPi's work, they were going to open their offices to 20% capacity this week, so he'd be going in once a week. But they postponed that indefinitely. Kudos to them, it just keeps things a tiny it safer for businesses like mine who really need to open.

[pumpkinpi]

poll/ 91% of Americans believe racism and police violence are problems in the U.S., and 72% deem it is a serious one. 89% think police violence is a problem and 65% consider it serious. 47% disapprove of Trump’s response to the protess, while 31% approve. (The Guardian)

Holy shit, those stats on racism and police violence are huge. AFAIK that's a significant change from 4 years ago.

That's too big of an overlap between "racism and police violence are problems" and "Trump's doing a great job about it."

[Swift]

I think I've given up on humans, or at least humans in this country.

Ohio has been having a resurgence of the virus, not as bad as Texas and Florida, but we're heading in the wrong direction. The State's latest thing is a threat rating system, from purple (the worst) to green, based on a bunch of criteria (ICU occupancy, % positive tests, etc.) and are rating each county. Based on that county's rating, various measures kick in. Sounds smart to me.

Well, the county we live in just went from orange to red, and now mask wearing in public is mandated in most circumstances. Here is where I've given up. The comments on social media, like Facebook, are beyond moronic. It is whole Trumper "you sheeple are falling for the whole New World Order fake news conspiracy and they'll stick a mask on my face when they pry my AK47 from my fingers, the f-ing commies (yes, someone actually called me a commie for thinking this was a good measure).

People are dropping like flies, the virus is pretty close to out of control in huge parts of the country, and these morons are like "what virus, there ain't no virus".

We have failed as a nation.

[pumpkinpi]

I think I've given up on humans, or at least humans in this country.

Ohio has been having a resurgence of the virus, not as bad as Texas and Florida, but we're heading in the wrong direction. The State's latest thing is a threat rating system, from purple (the worst) to green, based on a bunch of criteria (ICU occupancy, % positive tests, etc.) and are rating each county. Based on that county's rating, various measures kick in. Sounds smart to me.

Well, the county we live in just went from orange to red, and now mask wearing in public is mandated in most circumstances. Here is where I've given up. The comments on social media, like Facebook, are beyond moronic. It is whole Trumper "you sheeple are falling for the whole New World Order fake news conspiracy and they'll stick a mask on my face when they pry my AK47 from my fingers, the f-ing commies (yes, someone actually called me a commie for thinking this was a good measure).

People are dropping like flies, the virus is pretty close to out of control in huge parts of the country, and these morons are like "what virus, there ain't no virus".

We have failed as a nation.

I got a hint of what's to come when we move on to vaccine availability. A friend who is vaccine-skeptical posted about mask mandates being about government trying to control you, and just wait until they try to force you to get a vaccine.

She did preface it by saying "I do wear a mask to make others feel comfortable but...."

I was ready to post a scathing remark, but I calmed down and just wrote thank you for wearing your mask.

[code monkey]

...
I was ready to post a scathing remark, but I calmed down and just wrote thank you for wearing your mask.

pumpkinpi, I admire your restraint. your friendly note of approval may have paved the way for that woman to rethink her stand.

the level of ignorance wrt science is staggering. add to it the outright hostility of our current administration and some, at best, missteps on the part of some scientists and one has a horror.
I used to be irked by people blithely misapplying quantum concepts.

my new favorite post - better a mask than a body bag.

[SciFiFisher]

The news is full of stories this week about people who thought the virus was a hoax or that going to a covid party was the way to quickly get natural immunity while laughing about it being a hoax. The stories are being told by the families because the people the stories are about are dead. Part of me has empathy for the families. Part of me just shakes my head and says "people have the right to make bad decisions and live or die due to the consequences". And part of me wishes these contestants for the Darwin Award didn't have family. Sigh.

[Rommie]

Man am I happy to be in New England right now seeing how it's going elsewhere. Only a matter of time until we spike upward here though at this rate, but at least masks are the norm.

So, storytime- F and I just got back from a long weekend in Vermont. We spent a long time discussing and researching it, and decided to go because we are some of the very few currently able to visit Vermont- they are super strict with outside visitors whereby everyone needs to quarantine or you can't stay at an overnight establishment, even B&Bs, with the exception of a handful of counties in New England where like Vermont cases are <400 / 1 million (so, not Boston). We happen to be in one of these counties, and were planning all socially distanced activities anyway (hiking and seeking out covered bridges and geocaching), so we went. First out of state excursion for us, albeit 2.5 hours away or so!

And wow guys, I have never been so thanked for traveling and helping out local businesses. We were the only ones staying at our cute family run B&B (so, super easy to keep distance) which is normally packed on summer weekends, I found a cross stitch store and bought all my Christmas project stuff there and the woman was so visibly grateful and said thanks more than once, etc. We were in Stowe, and apparently the problem is the shut border- you're maybe 2 hours from Montreal there, and lots of Canadians have second homes, and all that income is gone (plus, as I said, minimal local tourism). Our B&B owner said she was still hoping against hope that the big cash cow of leaf season will happen, but all the international reservations are canceling now so she's not sure of that either, and now they're just planning for a year of hurt. Also, tons of stuff was just closed, unclear on whether it's permanently or just not worth it to reopen rn with no tourism money.

I will say though, we were really comfortable in Vermont. All the rules aside for staying there, everyone wore masks with greater frequency even in the outdoor hiking spots with lots of space, and all the restaurants (pretty much outside only) are requiring a reservation with your name/ phone number in case contact tracing is needed per state law, bars aren't open period. (The B&B obviously took our contact info too.) F and I were joking that things felt almost normal. Well, except for how if this were a normal year we'd be entertaining out of country guests right now in preparation for our wedding next weekend, but you know.

[SciFiFisher]

California just announced a major rollback of the re-opening. They have stopped short of mandating shelter in place but they might as well. They have re-closed just about everything for most of the state. The two biggest school districts in the state LA and San Diego announced they are doing remote only education models. I am anticipating Sacramento school districts to follow suit. A couple of them already have. Anyone know a good coronavirus free home tutor for a special 10-year-old?

[Rommie]

Ugh, that sucks SciFiFisher. I hope you guys stay healthy. Why do you think it got so bad in California btw? It sounded like they were being really proactive at the beginning of things.

One of my cousins was saying recently that her big concern is she has three kids, and three different schools, and it does not seem like the local schools are really coordinating with each other. So they might just homeschool all three because who can juggle all that? (Basically one middle school, one elementary, one still in preschool kid.)

Honestly, this school thing makes me angry because of course everyone wants kids back in school. And of course there was time to plan for it, and find money to do it, but the powers that be just clearly can't think of very basic things more than what's in front of them. Finally, of course it was much easier for my Dutch niece and nephew to head back to school in May when getting to that level was a national priority in lockdown over bars, and they were down to a few hundred cases tops. It's really not rocket science to realize that's a hugely different situation than what's going on in most states right now.

Also while I'm at it, I'm really hoping the assessment we've heard that the foreign students losing their visas if their courses are fully remote is not going to hold up in court is actually true (Harvard is at the forefront of the case, and it's similar to the Dreamers- the administration likely does have the power to bar foreign students, but not in the half-assed way they did it). Like, I have a Dutch PhD student colleague who is immensely talented, and as of right now would have to outright leave the PhD program as things stand (because most schools do not allow you to be a PhD student if you do not have a visa). It's funny how everyone thinks universities make you an elite leftist when I'm literally just voting for the party that doesn't want to do such cruel, terrible things to people I know.