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

Lawman 2020-07-16 20:06:35 UTC #163

I was told only two people allowed in the waiting room - one patient/dentist.

LoneStarPhan 2020-07-16 23:08:13 UTC #164

Our dentist is located in a strip mall with parking right out front. Their policy is that when you arrive, you wait in the car and phone them. They call you back when it is time to come in and you are met inside and escorted into the treatment area. You must be wearing a mask when you go in. You don't spend any time in the waiting room and don't see any other patient. Everyone in the office is decked out in PPE with masks and face shields in use. They have installed plexiglass shields at the check out area. I felt reasonably safe going in for my appointment.

zambonir 2020-07-17 04:09:13 UTC #165

"That they change their advice is actually why we should trust them."

julio 2020-07-17 19:16:17 UTC #166

This.

You know what the argument will be: "He was wrong before, why should we listen to him now?" This, from people who instead listen to somebody who was wrong before, who has been proven to be wrong, but who - instead of acknowledging the error - now doubles or triples down on the wrong-headed idea.

I don't know how you can reason with people who prefer the source who continues to insist that something obviously wrong is "right," to the source who adapts to, and learns from new information. But such people are among us - literally millions of them in the United States.

I just hope that these people are 1) a minority; and 2) sufficiently civilized that they won't get violent when the rest of us throw out the miscreant "leaders."

el-pietro 2020-07-17 23:30:08 UTC #167

The feeling in Ireland is that we may see the reopening phases go into reverse. Were still on a small number of daily cases but its growing quickly and R is back above 1, though so far they have mostly been clusters rather than community spread.
We had been below 10 new daily cases for a couple of weeks but this week the rolling average is back above 20. 30+ cases today.
If that is the decision I wonder how serious people will take it, we've mostly followed the rules for four months and expected to be back to mostly normal from next week which has already been pushed back three weeks. If we do add restrictions I would expect to see tougher requirements on tourists or the government will face backlash for making us sacrifice so much and still allow tourists to fly in from hotspots. Even if the actual number if infections related to international travel is a tiny percentage

LoneStarPhan 2020-07-17 23:58:13 UTC #168

BostonRoss 2020-07-18 17:33:51 UTC #169

From the Wall Street Journal:

julio 2020-07-22 02:18:55 UTC #170

There were over 1,000 reported coronavirus deaths today for the first time in two weeks, per data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
— Kaitlan Collins ( @kaitlancollins ) July 22, 2020

I seem to recall a suggestion that this "milestone" would not be reached again. Sadly, this probably doesn't represent a peak - just a point on an upward curve.

Philsmania 2020-07-22 14:24:51 UTC #171

el-pietro:

The feeling in Ireland is that we may see the reopening phases go into reverse. Were still on a small number of daily cases but its growing quickly and R is back above 1, though so far they have mostly been clusters rather than community spread.
We had been below 10 new daily cases for a couple of weeks but this week the rolling average is back above 20. 30+ cases today.
If that is the decision I wonder how serious people will take it, we've mostly followed the rules for four months and expected to be back to mostly normal from next week which has already been pushed back three weeks. If we do add restrictions I would expect to see tougher requirements on tourists or the government will face backlash for making us sacrifice so much and still allow tourists to fly in from hotspots. Even if the actual number if infections related to international travel is a tiny percentage

Are they going to close the pubs again?

el-pietro 2020-07-22 14:46:59 UTC #172

They would have to open them first to close them again. Pubs that serve food are allowed to open at the moment under strict conditions (time limits, customers have tobuy a "substantial" meal), but its not clear that everyone is following those rules.

Most pubs have been closed since about mid March, were planning to be opened from this week but there is a delay until August 10th with the suggestion that could be pushed back further.

zambonir 2020-07-22 21:18:27 UTC #173

Jeff05 2020-07-23 01:00:25 UTC #174

Yes. I'm a 'vaccinator', but the speed at which this research is being conducted and the small print that accompanies the PR releases is a major cause for concern. Ordinarily, I would trust regulatory bodies to cast a particularly critical eye over Phase III trials before any drug is made available to the public. However, I fear that some governments will 'encourage' regulators to give their approval sooner rather than later. Personally, I'm going to wait until the guinea-pigs (see the article below) have taken the drug and the Phase IV studies are completed.

el-pietro 2020-07-23 01:18:44 UTC #175

I think thats a perfectly reasonable concern to have. There will be different standards applied in different regions so we will have that information available to us before we need to make any decisions on whether this vaccine will be safe for us and our families.
If for example the US regulators are pushing a vaccine that the EU still has outstanding questions about, or vice versa that will be useful information.

I would hope that no one will rush a vaccine that is unsafe but I can imagine it happening as governments are desperate to get the economy kick-started.

julio 2020-07-23 01:40:01 UTC #176

I would recommend that Americans should be wary of any vaccine that's pushed out by the Trump Administration prior to the first week in November. After Trump has lost the election (assuming he does), his "need" to produce a vaccine will drop to zero. Prior to the election...well, based on everything we know about Donald Trump, if he thinks pushing out an inadequately-tested vaccine will benefit him, personally (as in, electorally), he will have absolutely no qualms about putting millions of Americans at risk. This is who he is; any Americans who refuse to recognize that, at this point, are simply delusional, in denial.

As for kick-starting the economy... releasing a dangerous vaccine that harms (or kills) people won't kick-start the economy. As soon as the side effects explode, people en masse will refuse the vaccination (which would be justified!), and will refuse to "go back to normal." We need real solutions - vaccines and therapies - that people can trust, before we can expect people to stop taking precautions. Squandering that trust for electoral reasons will only make it harder to convince people to trust the real solutions, when they come online. But of course, this only makes sense if one thinks long-term, and not just "what's in my best interest, right now?

zambonir 2020-07-23 02:02:24 UTC #177

I think right now the "rush" has more to do with stock prices than actually getting anything to market. Even a "miracle" vaccine isn't coming to market - or even announced as coming to market IMHO - before the end of the calendar year. Lies and empty promises aside, of course.

It seems like a no-win for Trump in any case - a vaccine and/or taking this more seriously might win him back some voters, but would cost him others.

Lawman 2020-07-23 13:59:41 UTC #178

I don't think that's happening. All the vaccines are still undergoing trials, FDA hasn't signed off on allowing anything beyond trials as of this moment, and even if they were to do so tomorrow, I don't see any vaccines coming out before the election.

And, as the above article states:

But moderate or severe harms—defined as being bad enough to interfere with daily life or needing medical care—were common too. Around one-third of people vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccine without acetaminophen experienced moderate or severe chills, fatigue, headache, malaise, and/or feverishness. Close to 10 percent had a fever of at least 100.4 degrees, and just over one-fourth developed moderate or severe muscle aches. That’s a lot, in a young and healthy group of people—and the acetaminophen didn’t help much for most of those problems.

So, basically, w/ results like these you may as well go to a "COVID party" and risk only getting mild symptoms for a few months of immunity rather then a vaccination where it seems like there's a higher risk of getting more sever symptoms for a possible longer period of immunity.

Yeah, I don't see a vaccine being approved before the elections.

bkox 2020-07-24 15:39:55 UTC #179

julio 2020-07-24 15:41:09 UTC #180

Death Panel. Thanks, Trump.

bkox 2020-07-26 06:17:46 UTC #181

julio 2020-07-26 19:37:40 UTC #182

Four days ago, I posted:

Today we have this:

...and it's only going to get worse. Reality bites, sometimes.