Coronavirus

[Stebo]

1 hour ago, Powerball said:

Jitters, excitement and elbow bumps as Chicago Public high schools reopen after 13-month shutdown: ‘This is long overdue — the first day of school in April’

https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-cps-high-schools-reopen-first-day-covid-20210419-r76ohmolxrgvpeypqnuuyqebay-story.html

I see we found our new hot spot.

[StormfanaticInd]

It is amazing what people will believe on social media 

[Powerball]

Connecticut to lift all COVID-19 business restrictions, except masking, on May 19

https://www.courant.com/coronavirus/hc-news-coronavirus-daily-updates-0419-20210419-7b5k47ujrnbq5n7wfjt7kyktym-story.html

[Powerball]

California Boosts Indoor Event Capacity to 75% in Some Areas

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/california-event-capacity-limit-concerts-1234954973/

[Powerball]

New York City Movie Theaters Can Expand Capacity to 33%

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/new-york-city-movie-theaters-capacity-pandemic-1234954774/

[OSUmetstud]

I thought this was kinda interesting. I know there is extreme age-stratified risk on Covid, but some of the "less dangerous than flu for kids" thing is way overstated. In terms of hospitalizations, it looks like COVID blows seasonal flu out of the water.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2016-2017.html

There was about 34K hospitalization under 17 along with 251 deaths

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html

There was about 137k hospitalizations under 17 as of the end of December. There's been 258 deaths confirmed so far. 

 

[nwohweather]

 

Haha that’s honestly hilarious

[schoeppeya]

1 hour ago, OSUmetstud said:

I thought this was kinda interesting. I know there is extreme age-stratified risk on Covid, but some of the "less dangerous than flu for kids" thing is way overstated. In terms of hospitalizations, it looks like COVID blows seasonal flu out of the water.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2016-2017.html

There was about 34K hospitalization under 17 along with 251 deaths

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html

There was about 137k hospitalizations under 17 as of the end of December. There's been 258 deaths confirmed so far. 

 

With roughly twice as many total (confirmed) covid cases for covid, you’re more likely to be hospitalized but half as likely to die? Seems less dangerous than the flu to me?

[TimB]

1 minute ago, schoeppeya said:

With roughly twice as many total (confirmed) covid cases for covid, you’re more likely to be hospitalized but half as likely to die? Seems less dangerous than the flu to me?

Depends on what you mean by “dangerous.” I would argue that having to be hospitalized, even if you don’t die, is a pretty significant danger. I would imagine being hospitalized significantly increases your chances of having permanent damage from this virus, which if we’re talking about kids is a tragedy.

[OSUmetstud]

10 minutes ago, schoeppeya said:

With roughly twice as many total (confirmed) covid cases for covid, you’re more likely to be hospitalized but half as likely to die? Seems less dangerous than the flu to me?

In the aggregate if it hospitalized 5 times more kids than flu in a given year it's more dangerous imo at least. 

[StormfanaticInd]

 

[Santa Clause]

2 hours ago, OSUmetstud said:

I thought this was kinda interesting. I know there is extreme age-stratified risk on Covid, but some of the "less dangerous than flu for kids" thing is way overstated. In terms of hospitalizations, it looks like COVID blows seasonal flu out of the water.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2016-2017.html

There was about 34K hospitalization under 17 along with 251 deaths

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html

There was about 137k hospitalizations under 17 as of the end of December. There's been 258 deaths confirmed so far. 

 

Wow

[Santa Clause]

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/19/covid-chiles-coronavirus-cases-hit-record-levels-despite-vaccine-rollout.html

[StormfanaticInd]

 

[StormfanaticInd]

Over a 100k more test but still came in with over 2k less positives 

[dan11295]

Cases and positivity are dropping again nationwide I think its not unreasonable to start seeing some solid drops in the coming weeks with spring+increased vaccination numbers.

[Powerball]

U.S. State Department says it will boost ‘Do Not Travel’ advisories to 80% of the world

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/20/us-plans-to-boost-do-not-travel-advisories-to-80percent-of-the-world.html

[TimB]

24 minutes ago, Powerball said:

U.S. State Department says it will boost ‘Do Not Travel’ advisories to 80% of the world

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/20/us-plans-to-boost-do-not-travel-advisories-to-80percent-of-the-world.html

I’m beginning to think those of us that enjoy international travel won’t be able to do it for at least another few years.

[Powerball]

25 minutes ago, TimB84 said:

I’m beginning to think those of us that enjoy international travel won’t be able to do it for at least another few years.

While the rise in US cases might have slowed for now, many countries are experiencing a renewed surge in the virus (including other newly discovered variants) that has the WHO concerned about a global surge in cases and deaths

This is the best move by the U.S. government to minimize the risk that whatever variants are causing headaches in these other countries make it into US borders.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/20/europe/who-global-covid-cases-rise-intl/index.html

[BuffaloWeather]

28 minutes ago, TimB84 said:

I’m beginning to think those of us that enjoy international travel won’t be able to do it for at least another few years.

As someone who travels international 2-3 times a year this hurts, but I have enough places to go to in the USA for the next 1-2 years. Doing a west coast road trip through the 6 national parks in Utah and Arizona next month and doing Alaska in August. 

[TimB]

37 minutes ago, Powerball said:

While the rise in US cases might have slowed for now, many countries are experiencing a renewed surge in the virus (including other newly discovered variants) that has the WHO concerned about a global surge in cases and deaths

This is the best move by the U.S. government to minimize the risk that whatever variants are causing headaches in these other countries make it into US borders.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/20/europe/who-global-covid-cases-rise-intl/index.html

The problem I have with that is the fact that I’m vaccinated and won’t be bringing these variants back with me.

[TimB]

34 minutes ago, BuffaloWeather said:

As someone who travels international 2-3 times a year this hurts, but I have enough places to go to in the USA for the next 1-2 years. Doing a west coast road trip through the 6 national parks in Utah and Arizona next month and doing Alaska in August. 

Lived in AZ for a few years so been there, done that on the AZ/UT national parks. Without question, it’s worth the trip. 

[Powerball]

4 minutes ago, TimB84 said:

The problem I have with that is the fact that I’m vaccinated and won’t be bringing these variants back with me.

You're assuming that:

1. The vaccines fully protects against all variants

2. You still can't catch the virus (even with less severe symptoms) and spread it.

The scientific community has made it clear that #2 is still possible (especially since not everyone has been vaccinated) and #1 is still unknown.

Like I said earlier, we'll just have to pack our patience for a return to "normal." It's not going to happen overnight. 

[TimB]

1 minute ago, Powerball said:

You're assuming that:

1. The vaccine fully protects against all variants

2. You still can't catch the virus (even with less severe symptoms) and spread it.

The scientific community has made it clear that #2 is still possible (especially since not everyone has been vaccinated) and #1 is still unknown.

Like I said earlier, we'll just have to pack our patience for a return to normal. It's not going to happen overnight. 

I’m not asking for overnight. I’m talking about, say, summer of 2022. I thought that was a sure bet, but now I’m not so sure.

[Powerball]

1 minute ago, TimB84 said:

I’m not asking for overnight. I’m talking about, say, summer of 2022. I thought that was a sure bet, but now I’m not so sure.

Summer 2022 is definitely a good possibility, IMO. 

[TimB]

2 minutes ago, Powerball said:

Summer 2022 is definitely possible, IMO. 

Possible. I’d say it’s 50/50, whereas a few weeks ago I would have put it at 90/10. And if there are any more setbacks, even that is in serious jeopardy.

[Powerball]

11 minutes ago, TimB84 said:

Possible. I’d say it’s 50/50, whereas a few weeks ago I would have put it at 90/10. And if there are any more setbacks, even that is in serious jeopardy.

The reason I'm bullish on Summer 2022 is because by the end of this year, everyone (of all ages) who wants the vaccine would have gotten it and with the weather change, DJF will be the the critical test to see if we experience another surge like we did this past winter. 

But even then, there may still be some form of travel restrictions to/from a small handful of countries where the health care infrastructure and vaccine distribution remains poor. 

EDIT: Also, any lawsuits related to COVID spread in shared public spaces will hopefully have been litigated by then, establishing a precedent that businesses can confidently adapt to accordingly. 

This is just my gut feeling though. 

[TimB]

20 minutes ago, Powerball said:

The reason I'm bullish on Summer 2022 is because by the end of this year, everyone (of all ages) who wants the vaccine would have gotten it and with the weather change, DJF will be the the critical test to see if we experience another surge like we did this past winter.  

But even then, there still may be some form of travel restrictions to/from a handful of countries where the health care infrastructure and vaccine distribution remains poor. 

I hope you’re right. Fortunately, I don’t plan on traveling to Burkina Faso or something, so I could live with those types of restrictions. But I’m afraid if we experience a surge that’s even 10% of what happened this past winter, which is possible given all the people who are digging in their heels and refusing to get the vaccine, governments will still be skittish about removing the restrictions on travel. (At the same time, does a US “do not travel” advisory actually bar us from traveling to those countries, or is it just an advisory and the determination is made by the other country whether or not to allow US tourists?)

Bottom line: I feel like the anti-vax conspiracy theorists have all the power in determining whether or not we will be able to go to other countries anytime soon. And most of them don’t care, because a fair number of them have never left their state or even county, let alone the US.

[IWXwx]

With all of the talk of herd immunity, I don't think we'll ever get there, based on local vaccination numbers. Although I live in a rural county, I believe we are a microcosm of vast rural areas of the US as a whole. As of yesterday, 31% of our population age 18+ have been fully vaccinated. Our local shot clinic operated by the County health department can vaccinate ~400 individuals a day. This is in addition to three other pharmacies providing vaccinations. The good news is that 79% of those 65 and older have been vaccinated.

However, starting this week, the reservation numbers have dropped dramatically, to the point of shutting down the clinic this Thursday due to lack of reservations (not completely, just for that day.) At this rate, I'm estimating that only a little over 50% of the 18+ age group will be vaccinated by July 1st.  Without some emphasis being placed on reducing vaccine hesitancy, this may become the Vietnam of pandemic battles.

[BuffaloWeather]

8 minutes ago, IWXwx said:

With all of the talk of herd immunity, I don't think we'll ever get there, based on local vaccination numbers. Although I live in a rural county, I believe we are a microcosm of vast rural areas of the US as a whole. As of yesterday, 31% of our population age 18+ have been fully vaccinated. Our local shot clinic operated by the County health department can vaccinate ~400 individuals a day. This is in addition to three other pharmacies providing vaccinations. The good news is that 79% of those 65 and older have been vaccinated.

However, starting this week, the reservation numbers have dropped dramatically, to the point of shutting down the clinic this Thursday due to lack of reservations (not completely, just for that day.) At this rate, I'm estimating that only a little over 50% of the 18+ age group will be vaccinated by July 1st.  Without some emphasis being placed on reducing vaccine hesitancy, this may become the Vietnam of pandemic battles.

You can get herd immunity through infection as well, like we have throughout history with almost every other pandemic.