Coronavirus (general - personal, gov't response, etc. - not sports-specific)

BostonRoss 2021-01-07 00:18:40 UTC #284

I’m thinking that part of the punishment should be a lot of community service working with COVID patients.

bkeich 2021-01-07 00:27:30 UTC #285

I like my idea better. Yours is too nice

And i think it was just proven by Lori Laughlin that punishments for the rich are frankly a little on the low side.

Jeff05 2021-01-07 08:34:13 UTC #286

Not surprisingly, almost everybody's attention has been on Washington and the storming of the Capitol. Meanwhile, on the same day, The New York Times reported a further 3,963 deaths due to COVID-19.

LoneStarPhan 2021-01-19 20:17:39 UTC #287

As the "rush" to vaccinate millions moves along slower than we would like, perhaps there is some good news.

Biden will push to meet his 100 million in 100 days pledge which I hope will help. We have been on our county list waiting to be scheduled for our shots. Things are running much smoother in the past week or so. I am still concerned that the actual shots given are running under 50 percent of the total doses supposedly sent to the states. That should change soon and if it does and if the supply of vaccine is sufficient, then we should see cases and hospitalizations falling significantly by March/April.

Maybe a normal baseball season will be possible.

andyb 2021-01-19 21:21:14 UTC #288

Most experts think the excess demand for COVID vaccines will ease at some point in March after the initial priority groups are finished. This would allow general population availability. This is partially a problem for society as the demand will ease because 30%-40% are wary of getting the vaccine at the moment.

I think it is highly likely that MLB would be able to vaccinate all players by the end of Spring Training. There will still be some breakouts as it would be another 4 weeks before everyone got the second shot, but that should be enough for the season to go off on schedule even if there are a handful of postponements.

zambonir 2021-01-19 22:02:47 UTC #289

All depends how you define "normal." Obviously the owners still have interest in a reduced schedule as it seems pretty clear attendance will range from zero to extremely limited even with a better roll-out pace. As of now Oregon doesn't expect to vaccinate anyone under 65 before May, but I assume that projection is based on the current worst-case, not how it might actually be.

I don't think the owners really care about vaccinating the players, they are just using that as a distraction. They could easily play without it. And vaccination still doesn't stop - thought it probably reduces - transmission so they'd have to continue taking precautions around other people (stadium employees, restaurants and hotels, their own family members).

If and when they do end up going with 120 or 140 games I wonder if they'll get rid of East-West trips.

That is certainly good news that PA didn't see an additional Christmas bump. I personally think we've got one more rough period ahead of us. It's still winter, the new more contagious strain is only just starting to hit (and will spread long before vaccinations help) and places are opening up again (indoor dining in Philly, schools where I am).

allentown 2021-01-19 23:07:16 UTC #290

I don't think this is correct. I doubt the availability of vaccinations will be extended to healthy twenty- and thirty-somethings by the end of May. Biden is talking about 100 million vaccinations in 100 days. That does not take us to healthy 20-somethings, but it does take us to mid-April, at which time only a third of the nation will have been vaccinated.

Zambonir: PA certainly did see an additional Christmas/New Year bump. We had record case numbers last week. That surge now appears to have crested and fallen back in the past several days.

andyb 2021-01-19 23:13:36 UTC #291

This was where I saw that prediction (or on Face the Nation). Hard to know if that means 18+ or we just get to something like age 50+ in late February, but the big point is that there are like 60-80 million people who want the vaccine badly and after that the government will really have to go out and find people.

Think of it like shopping for Christmas on the Wednesday after Black Friday. All the initial huge demand is gone. Eligibility needs to open up to make sure there is a steady stream of customers even if the order they get the vaccine is not ideal. Once we past that first 25%-30% of top priorities, it is almost a bigger priority to push the country towards herd immunity from the vaccine as quickly as possible.

Now this probably requires one more vaccine to be online by March. Pretty sure the Johnson and Johnson one is close once their trial results are published and they get their manufacturing in order.

zambonir 2021-01-20 01:02:25 UTC #292

I was referring to LSP's link about hospitalizations, which the article said was at 4,593 - and that that was 6,300 fewer than the post-Thanksgiving peak. Of course deaths also lower hospitalizations, and if numbers started going up again over the holidays so will hospitalizations.

But it appears cases in PA peaked at 12,000+ on December 9. It was around 9500 on December 29 and 10,500 on January 7, but declining consistently (and now hovering around 5-6000 daily) since then.

Regardless, we have a ways to go, and are just getting started with the more-contagious strains.

Lucky_Beagle 2021-01-20 01:19:22 UTC #293

How will we ever know the real numbers. I know many people who say they had it but never got tested because what is the point. They were going to do anything different for them than to say yep you officially have it.

Purduke 2021-01-20 01:51:12 UTC #294

He was on CNBC this morning saying pretty much the same thing, now using March and 100M - 150M as a demand number, suggesting we needed to be doing something the extand the demand curve. He does not say it in today's clip but I believe I saw him elsewhere in the last day or two indicating adding the J&J (given what has already been prodeuced pre-approval) would be a "game-changer" regarding supply in early February (given Ph3 numbers to date).

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/topstocks/dallas-county-makes-changes-after-vaccine-doses-went-to-people-in-wealthy-neighborhoods/vi-BB1cU9lG

zambonir 2021-01-20 02:48:06 UTC #295

Well, we'll never know, but when there is a spike in cases of just the people who get tested, we can assume it's accompanied by a spike in cases of people who haven't been, including asymptomatic people who aren't quarantining. So I wouldn't be rushing out to the indoor dining room of a Philadelphia restaurant in that case.

If we'd had truly widespread and effecting testing and contract tracing, transmission could have been slowed, and more things could have been open, but that's moot now, the finish line is vaccination.

schillingfan 2021-01-29 15:54:56 UTC #296

Just as a matter of information, both my daughter and I tested positive for Covid. We’re feeling okay except for cough and sneezing, minor. The information I wanted to post was that I had my first symptom on Saturday, the same day I got my first dose of Moderna, cough and dry throat. I ad flu symptoms, which I feel we’re from the shot as the Shingles vaccination did the same thing. The cough continued, so I thought I had my seasonal bronchitis, called my doctor and he prescribed my usual ultra high dose prednisone. 8-8, 7-7 tapering down every other day.

News wise, I got my Covid test results 1 1/2 day later. It took me 20 minutes to get the vaccination, including the 15 minute wait, and I’m scheduled for monoclonal antibody injection Monday morning. So I can report that up here in Northeastern Pennsylvania Geisinger is doing a fantastic job. I have no idea why my symptoms are mild, given I have mild asthma and am over 65. Life is strange.

andyb 2021-01-29 16:25:20 UTC #297

The J and J trial data is back with lower effectiveness (66%) than the first 2 U.S. vaccines. Hopefully this will be seen as a positive sign and put on a fast track to approval in the next week or two. I am guessing there will be huge social media fights saying it is not as good as the other 2 vaccines. That is not necessarily true that as this is a single shot vaccine and there is a dual shot regimen that is still being tested. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are also less effective with a single shot (in the 50s I believe).

Regardless, anything in the mid 60s will help immensely and the cost is a fraction of the other two. I really believe that this is the key to eliminating the queue in March. Now all these vaccines seem less effective against the South Africa variant, but all that suggests is that we probably need a booster shot of any of these in the Fall that addresses the mutations more effectively.

BostonRoss 2021-01-29 17:20:42 UTC #298

Sorry to hear that you and your daughter tested positive, but glad that you are feeling ok and are (halfway) vaccinated.

We have close friends who tested positive earlier this month. The wife has cancer but got a mild case and has recovered. The husband had no previous health issues and is fighting for his life in the hospital. It is amazing how some people who seem to be at lower risk are seriously affected by COVID while others who are high risk don’t get bad cases. I’m glad you are in the latter group.

tom81 2021-01-29 17:49:56 UTC #299

Me too SF, I got the blood work from my annual physical last week and it shows I have the Covid antibodies. I hadn't felt the need to get tested this year as I never felt sick this year, just normal allergy symptoms.

Jeff05 2021-01-31 15:30:47 UTC #300

All the best for a full and speedy recovery, schillingfan.

Jeff05 2021-01-31 15:53:57 UTC #301

In response to a single confirmed case in the community, the Premier of Western Australia today anounced a "snap lockdown" for Perth and the Southwest region, beginning from 6pm this afternoon. At this stage, it's for five days. His response is not unexpected. Personally, I find the "go hard, go early" strategy remarkably comforting.

zambonir 2021-04-13 17:33:51 UTC #302

Not too surprising, especially with the current spike, but still a big deal. Some of these leagues aren't necessarily having a proper playoff (if anything) either.

bkox 2021-05-05 17:04:42 UTC #303

This made me chuckle... and figured it was better in COVID post instead of others