PlagueWatch 2020-23 - Coronavirus

[rsvman]

Well this is just great news. As if we needed an other obstacle in getting people to take a vaccine. The "claim" is so absurd (the vaccine will turn people into apes) that one would think it would be dismissed immediately. Apparently, that's not the world around us. The original Times article is pay walled so here's an alternative article.

Russians spread fake news over Oxford coronavirus vaccine

I dunno. At this point, maybe being turned into an ape or a chimpanzee wouldn't actually be that bad.

[OldPhiKap]

I dunno. At this point, maybe being turned into an ape or a chimpanzee wouldn't actually be that bad.

It will be their planet sooner or later, according to a documentary I saw in the theater.

[tbyers11]

It will be their planet sooner or later, according to a documentary I saw in the theater.

I think I've seen that one too

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I dunno. At this point, maybe being turned into an ape or a chimpanzee wouldn't actually be that bad.

If I could be the chimp in this video, then all of my problems would be solved.

[jafarr1]

President Trump blasted Anthony Fauci on a call with campaign workers today, with quotes like, “Fauci is a disaster. If I listened to him, we’d have 500,000 deaths.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKBN2742AD

This type of thing is going to cause more illnesses with a pandemic-fatigued populace heading into the winter months, when people need to be upping their mitigation efforts rather than finding excuses to do less.

I would be curious for the president to provide specifics on what advice Fauci has given that would have caused 2.5 times more deaths. That is a nasty accusation to make.

[Lord Ash]

It's a funny take...

Yes, everyone is tired of covid.

But most of us... especially those of us with kids I would wager... know that you can be tired but you still have to do stuff.

It's a rather immature take, I feel.

[Phredd3]

So upthread folks were asking for a bit of positive news. As the father of a high-school age daughter who love playing club soccer, I found this 538 article to be pretty helpful. I've been wondering whether or not the practices and now competitive games against different teams would be a good idea, given that we have someone who is immuno-compromised in the house (and me, who has shown a susceptibility to respiratory viruses over the years). According to the article, the source of which is a primary literature review, only about 6% of reported (and reliably traceable) COVID cases were contracted during outside activities, and most of those were from settings where distancing wasn't possible and in some case where precautions were not taken (they cite rallies and marketplaces).

That's pretty relieving in terms of relative risk. Yes, it is a competitive aerobic activity, but most of the contact is quite fleeting and and vast majority of the time each player is really pretty distant from the others.

[Furniture]

So upthread folks were asking for a bit of positive news. As the father of a high-school age daughter who love playing club soccer, I found this 538 article to be pretty helpful. I've been wondering whether or not the practices and now competitive games against different teams would be a good idea, given that we have someone who is immuno-compromised in the house (and me, who has shown a susceptibility to respiratory viruses over the years). According to the article, the source of which is a primary literature review, only about 6% of reported (and reliably traceable) COVID cases were contracted during outside activities, and most of those were from settings where distancing wasn't possible and in some case where precautions were not taken (they cite rallies and marketplaces).

That's pretty relieving in terms of relative risk. Yes, it is a competitive aerobic activity, but most of the contact is quite fleeting and and vast majority of the time each player is really pretty distant from the others.

I play pickup soccer with two different groups. 20-30 in each group. I haven’t played with them since early March but they have kept playing. Well perhaps not too much in March and April but from May they started and they have been playing as normal since then. No one has been infected. Not playing is killing me...

[Bluedog]

So upthread folks were asking for a bit of positive news. As the father of a high-school age daughter who love playing club soccer, I found this 538 article to be pretty helpful. I've been wondering whether or not the practices and now competitive games against different teams would be a good idea, given that we have someone who is immuno-compromised in the house (and me, who has shown a susceptibility to respiratory viruses over the years). According to the article, the source of which is a primary literature review, only about 6% of reported (and reliably traceable) COVID cases were contracted during outside activities, and most of those were from settings where distancing wasn't possible and in some case where precautions were not taken (they cite rallies and marketplaces).

That's pretty relieving in terms of relative risk. Yes, it is a competitive aerobic activity, but most of the contact is quite fleeting and and vast majority of the time each player is really pretty distant from the others.

I play pickup soccer with two different groups. 20-30 in each group. I haven’t played with them since early March but they have kept playing. Well perhaps not too much in March and April but from May they started and they have been playing as normal since then. No one has been infected. Not playing is killing me...

I was hoping to start my 5-year old in soccer this fall. It got canceled. Although there likely is not much social distancing in 5-year old soccer given everybody just flocks to the ball...But there is also very low risk with such young kids too as long as adults don't go on the field with each other...My state is the only one in the Midwest right now to still not allow high school football (or basketball, or volleyball). We'll see if that changes. For some rea$on, college and pro football are exempt from the ban.

[budwom]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...bec_story.html

Whoa...Brits going with a challenge trial, they'll be infecting people in a biosecure facility starting in January...interesting, innit?

[rsvman]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...bec_story.html

Whoa...Brits going with a challenge trial, they'll be infecting people in a biosecure facility starting in January...interesting, innit?

Heard about that on the radio this morning. Certainly a quicker way to find out if your vaccine is protective, that's for sure.

[budwom]

Take that virus and stick it up your nose!

[Kdogg]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...bec_story.html

Whoa...Brits going with a challenge trial, they'll be infecting people in a biosecure facility starting in January...interesting, innit?

It’s scheduled to start post Brexit so volunteers might think what else do we have to lose.

[YmoBeThere]

North Dakota reported 1,036 cases today. If it were the size of Texas, that would be like reporting 40k cases.

[budwom]

North Dakota reported 1,036 cases today. If it were the size of Texas, that would be like reporting 40k cases.

And 4591 in Wisconsin...

[YmoBeThere]

And 4591 in Wisconsin...

A mere 23.4k on my Texas equivalence scale. Texas' worst day was 12.1k, with likely some undercounting due to backlogged tests. But nowhere near these numbers. They are truly astounding rates of infection that I would expect to find in a unprepared and unsuspecting population such as NYC in early March. Not in mid-October in geographically sparse states.

[MChambers]

Things are getting much worse in Europe:

So far, most of the restrictions stop short of country-wide stay-at-home orders, where people’s movements outside the home are curtailed and all nonessential businesses close. But by Friday, both Wales and Ireland will be back in lockdowns that resemble last spring’s, while health officials in other countries with fast-spiraling outbreaks — such as the Czech Republic and England — are warning of more restrictions to come.

“How could we possibly be here again?” Clare Wenham, an assistant professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), asked of the UK, where the death rate from Covid-19 is among the highest in the world. It’s because “the government didn’t spend the last six to eight months investing and getting a good track, trace, and isolate system in place.”

https://www.vox.com/21514530/europe-...nd-wave-update

[OldPhiKap]

Things are getting much worse in Europe:

So far, most of the restrictions stop short of country-wide stay-at-home orders, where people’s movements outside the home are curtailed and all nonessential businesses close. But by Friday, both Wales and Ireland will be back in lockdowns that resemble last spring’s, while health officials in other countries with fast-spiraling outbreaks — such as the Czech Republic and England — are warning of more restrictions to come.

“How could we possibly be here again?” Clare Wenham, an assistant professor of global health policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), asked of the UK, where the death rate from Covid-19 is among the highest in the world. It’s because “the government didn’t spend the last six to eight months investing and getting a good track, trace, and isolate system in place.”

https://www.vox.com/21514530/europe-...nd-wave-update

Well, glad we got that covered here in the States! No worries.

[MChambers]

DC is now enabling a phone-based contact tracing system to let you know if you've been physically near someone who's been diagnosed with Covid-19. Unfortunately, Maryland and Virginia haven't gotten there yet. https://wtop.com/coronavirus/2020/10...update-oct-19/

Although I generally don't like taking risks with my personal data, this one seems worth it.

[Nrrrrvous]

DC is now enabling a phone-based contact tracing system to let you know if you've been physically near someone who's been diagnosed with Covid-19. Unfortunately, Maryland and Virginia haven't gotten there yet. https://wtop.com/coronavirus/2020/10...update-oct-19/

Although I generally don't like taking risks with my personal data, this one seems worth it.

I'm pretty sure VA is already doing this. My wife told me I should probably get the app or something a couple weeks ago...