Coronavirus

[KokomoWX]

I attended the Indy 500 yesterday.  My friend and I described it as almost surreal after 14 months of canceled events and lockdowns.  It around my 20th time attending as a fan or a credentialed photographer. It felt good to be back.  Masks are still required in Indianapolis/Marion County.  The Indianapolis Motor Speedway limited capacity to 140,000 attendees with no general admission or infield parking. 

They hired 600 mask ambassadors to remind us to "mask up" but I only saw one covering two sections.  He would walk to a spot, stand for a few minutes with his paddle board sign with the "mask up" reminder but he never talked or confronted anyone.  He seemed to be gone in the hour before the race.  As I navigated the grounds, I never saw any others but did see one leaving the event when it was over.  (He had a "mask ambassador" t-shirt.). 

As for masks, they were pretty much never worn.  Even event staff and race teams were not wearing them properly or not at all. I watched an on air talent put it on for live shots and then back off when not on air.  No doubt the crowd were patriots that stood and clapped or cheered for the 50+ trucks of military soldiers being honored, and all of the other positive messages and traditions honoring the USA, Indiana, and Memorial Day.

While I knew many things were not the same, it was great to be out and about with others again.  I do have tickets for both indoor and outdoor concerts this summer and am looking for a mostly normal fall event schedule marching band.

https://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/sports/motor/indy-500/2021/05/30/indianapolis-500-race-indy-fan-photos-ims-indycar-schedule-2021/5250455001

[Hoosier]

1 hour ago, KokomoWX said:

I attended the Indy 500 yesterday.  My friend and I described it as almost surreal after 14 months of canceled events and lockdowns.  It around my 20th time attending as a fan or a credentialed photographer. It felt good to be back.  Masks are still required in Indianapolis/Marion County.  The Indianapolis Motor Speedway limited capacity to 140,000 attendees with no general admission or infield parking. 

They hired 600 mask ambassadors to remind us to "mask up" but I only saw one covering two sections.  He would walk to a spot, stand for a few minutes with his paddle board sign with the "mask up" reminder but he never talked or confronted anyone.  He seemed to be gone in the hour before the race.  As I navigated the grounds, I never saw any others but did see one leaving the event when it was over.  (He had a "mask ambassador" t-shirt.). 

As for masks, they were pretty much never worn.  Even event staff and race teams were not wearing them properly or not at all. I watched an on air talent put it on for live shots and then back off when not on air.  No doubt the crowd were patriots that stood and clapped or cheered for the 50+ trucks of military soldiers being honored, and all of the other positive messages and traditions honoring the USA, Indiana, and Memorial Day.

While I knew many things were not the same, it was great to be out and about with others again.  I do have tickets for both indoor and outdoor concerts this summer and am looking for a mostly normal fall event schedule marching band.

https://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/sports/motor/indy-500/2021/05/30/indianapolis-500-race-indy-fan-photos-ims-indycar-schedule-2021/5250455001

For anyone who doesn't know how big that place is, 140,000 is less than half capacity.

I'd have to think it is one of the biggest mass gatherings in the world during the covid era.

[Chicago WX]

2 hours ago, KokomoWX said:

I attended the Indy 500 yesterday.  My friend and I described it as almost surreal after 14 months of canceled events and lockdowns.  It around my 20th time attending as a fan or a credentialed photographer. It felt good to be back.  Masks are still required in Indianapolis/Marion County.  The Indianapolis Motor Speedway limited capacity to 140,000 attendees with no general admission or infield parking. 

They hired 600 mask ambassadors to remind us to "mask up" but I only saw one covering two sections.  He would walk to a spot, stand for a few minutes with his paddle board sign with the "mask up" reminder but he never talked or confronted anyone.  He seemed to be gone in the hour before the race.  As I navigated the grounds, I never saw any others but did see one leaving the event when it was over.  (He had a "mask ambassador" t-shirt.). 

As for masks, they were pretty much never worn.  Even event staff and race teams were not wearing them properly or not at all. I watched an on air talent put it on for live shots and then back off when not on air.  No doubt the crowd were patriots that stood and clapped or cheered for the 50+ trucks of military soldiers being honored, and all of the other positive messages and traditions honoring the USA, Indiana, and Memorial Day.

While I knew many things were not the same, it was great to be out and about with others again.  I do have tickets for both indoor and outdoor concerts this summer and am looking for a mostly normal fall event schedule marching band.

https://www.indystar.com/picture-gallery/sports/motor/indy-500/2021/05/30/indianapolis-500-race-indy-fan-photos-ims-indycar-schedule-2021/5250455001

A year ago, every news website in the US, if not the world, would be calling this a super spreader event...in all caps. People would be losing their minds. 

We're certainly not out of the woods, but times sure have changed. It's really nice to see.

[Stebo]

On 5/30/2021 at 8:38 PM, Hoosier said:

I feel like Jonger is at least partly going off of experiences of people he knows.  It's good that he doesn't know anybody who has gotten seriously ill.  A lot of people do know someone who has gotten seriously ill or died.

It would be nice to get the mortality rate to flu levels.  Maybe it will happen in the coming years, but at this point it's just not the same.

 

It takes until they know someone dying before they realize and even then some still call it a flu, which it isn't. These last several pages have been filled with nonsense from deniers that shouldn't have free range to spew their shit.

The fact of the matter is these are same idiots who refuse to get the shot and will cause this virus to remain active until they do.

[schoeppeya]

8 minutes ago, Stebo said:

It takes until they know someone dying before they realize and even then some still call it a flu, which it isn't. These last several pages have been filled with nonsense from deniers that shouldn't have free range to spew their shit.

The fact of the matter is these are same idiots who refuse to get the shot and will cause this virus to remain active until they do.

Missed you 

[Stebo]

1 minute ago, schoeppeya said:

Missed you 

You aren't worthy of being missed, a parasite on this thread which you almost exclusively have posted in.

[schoeppeya]

14 minutes ago, Stebo said:

You aren't worthy of being missed, a parasite on this thread which you almost exclusively have posted in.

Love it

[WaryWarren]

1 hour ago, Stebo said:

You aren't worthy of being missed, a parasite on this thread which you almost exclusively have posted in.

I'm taking a "wait and see" approach with "schoeppeya".

[Stebo]

17 minutes ago, WaryWarren said:

I'm taking a "wait and see" approach with "schoeppeya".

Nothing to wait over, the last several pages gave me the gratification of knowing I was right from the get go on some in this thread.

[RobertSul]

On 5/30/2021 at 5:08 PM, schoeppeya said:

You're wrong here and overgeneralizing a demographic that you disagree with politically. 

We’ve all seen the crazy-ass Facebook posts from people we know personally. There is no overgeneralizing here.

[schoeppeya]

5 hours ago, RobertSul said:

We’ve all seen the crazy-ass Facebook posts from people we know personally. There is no overgeneralizing here.

I haven’t been on Facebook in a couple years, life’s a lot better that way. To your point though, I do personally know people on vaccine crazy train-some close family members included. Just to reemphasize- I do not agree with them and think the vaccines are great and are the reason the pandemic is ending. To my point though,  most of the people I know who haven’t gotten it just don’t think they need it and would rather wait until full FDA approval.

[TimB]

1 hour ago, schoeppeya said:

I haven’t been on Facebook in a couple years, life’s a lot better that way. To your point though, I do personally know people on vaccine crazy train-some close family members included. Just to reemphasize- I do not agree with them and think the vaccines are great and are the reason the pandemic is ending. To my point though,  most of the people I know who haven’t gotten it just don’t think they need it and would rather wait until full FDA approval.

But do most people in this category know what full FDA approval entails and what the differences are between emergency use authorization and full FDA approval? I would guess not.

[schoeppeya]

3 hours ago, TimB84 said:

But do most people in this category know what full FDA approval entails and what the differences are between emergency use authorization and full FDA approval? I would guess not.

Probably not, but it does mean something or there wouldn't be a separate category for emergency approval vs full approval.  

[TimB]

5 minutes ago, schoeppeya said:

Probably not, but it does mean something or there wouldn't be a separate category for emergency approval vs full approval.  

So in other words, it may not be a decision made based on conspiracy stuff people read on Facebook, but it’s absolutely an uninformed decision by people who haven’t taken the relatively small amount of time it takes to research what an EUA means. I feel like it can be spun a number of different ways, but for more than half of unvaccinated people, the decision isn’t an informed one.

[schoeppeya]

1 minute ago, TimB84 said:

So in other words, it may not be a decision made based on conspiracy stuff people read on Facebook, but it’s absolutely an uninformed decision by people who haven’t taken the relatively small amount of time it takes to research what an EUA means.

Who cares man, if you have the vaccine somebody else's ignorance literally does not matter whatsoever at this point. I don't know about you but my life is basically back to normal at this point.

The percentage of us who actually care to research information is so small on either side of the political spectrum its embarrassing. Just like the numbers from a month or so ago that showed the perceived fatality rates of covid by people on the left. 

[TimB]

17 minutes ago, schoeppeya said:

Who cares man, if you have the vaccine somebody else's ignorance literally does not matter whatsoever at this point. I don't know about you but my life is basically back to normal at this point.

The percentage of us who actually care to research information is so small on either side of the political spectrum its embarrassing. Just like the numbers from a month or so ago that showed the perceived fatality rates of covid by people on the left. 

You’re right, my daily life is back to normal at this point. I’m going places without a mask, I can visit my parents without worrying about killing them, and I can take small vacations to other states when I want to without worrying about getting covid. Other people’s ignorance on the matter affects me in two ways I can think of: 

1. Because a lot of people won’t get vaccinated, covid in America isn’t gone yet to the point where other countries aren’t skittish about letting Americans in, so we’re stigmatized whether we’re vaccinated or not and I can’t yet enjoy travel to the extent that I could before the pandemic.

2. There’s still the risk that if we let covid keep spreading, a strain will develop that is resistant toward the vaccines. Others in this thread have said this may happen anyway in other countries (India in particular, where covid is running rampant), and spread here, but of course it isn’t out of the realm of possibility anywhere covid exists.

Edit: Maybe issue #1 is a personal issue of me being impatient and issue #2 is an issue of me being anxious, or maybe I’m trying to find someone to blame when it isn’t warranted, but maybe these concerns are justified.

[Jonger]

On 6/1/2021 at 11:10 AM, TimB84 said:

You’re right, my daily life is back to normal at this point. I’m going places without a mask, I can visit my parents without worrying about killing them, and I can take small vacations to other states when I want to without worrying about getting covid. Other people’s ignorance on the matter affects me in two ways I can think of: 

1. Because a lot of people won’t get vaccinated, covid in America isn’t gone yet to the point where other countries aren’t skittish about letting Americans in, so we’re stigmatized whether we’re vaccinated or not and I can’t yet enjoy travel to the extent that I could before the pandemic.

2. There’s still the risk that if we let covid keep spreading, a strain will develop that is resistant toward the vaccines. Others in this thread have said this may happen anyway in other countries (India in particular, where covid is running rampant), and spread here, but of course it isn’t out of the realm of possibility anywhere covid exists.

Edit: Maybe issue #1 is a personal issue of me being impatient and issue #2 is an issue of me being anxious, or maybe I’m trying to find someone to blame when it isn’t warranted, but maybe these concerns are justified.

Wait another 2 months and most of these issues will be long over with.

The Spanish flu is still around in the form of a variant..... Covid is never going away. Who cares...

[TimB]

11 minutes ago, Jonger said:

Wait another 2 months and most of these issues will be long over with.

The Spanish flu is still around in the form of a variant..... Covid is never going away. Who cares...

In two months I’ll be able to travel to Canada or Europe or New Zealand or wherever I want to go? I’m not sure I believe that.

[OSUmetstud]

3 hours ago, TimB84 said:

In two months I’ll be able to travel to Canada or Europe or New Zealand or wherever I want to go? I’m not sure I believe that.

I thought vaccinated Americans are good to go for many European countries? Also, I bet Canada opens to vaccinated Americans by that time. New Zealand is in a tough spot. While they've been good at keeping Sars cov 2, they haven't done a good job at procuring vaccines. They might not be open for some time. 

[TimB]

7 minutes ago, OSUmetstud said:

I thought vaccinated Americans are good to go for many European countries? Also, I bet Canada opens to vaccinated Americans by that time. New Zealand is in a tough spot. While they've been good at keeping Sars cov 2, they haven't done a good job at procuring vaccines. They might not be open for some time. 

It sounds like the EU may be open to vaccinated Americans very soon, though countries can still opt to impose additional restrictions. Fortunately I went to New Zealand in 2019, so that isn’t on my list to travel to anytime soon (though I’d move there permanently if it were at all feasible). So yeah, maybe that particular issue is a non-issue at this point.

[BuffaloWeather]

3 hours ago, TimB84 said:

It sounds like the EU may be open to vaccinated Americans very soon, though countries can still opt to impose additional restrictions. Fortunately I went to New Zealand in 2019, so that isn’t on my list to travel to anytime soon (though I’d move there permanently if it were at all feasible). So yeah, maybe that particular issue is a non-issue at this point.

I had a 16 day trip planned to New Zealand in early April of 2020. Planned that thing for 6 months.

[BuffaloWeather]

So what’s up with fauci emails to wuhan lab leaders? Did he get caught? 

[StormfanaticInd]

Hospitalizations are now below 20k!!!!!

[TimB]

53 minutes ago, BuffaloWeather said:

I had a 16 day trip planned to New Zealand in early April of 2020. Planned that thing for 6 months.

Sorry to hear. It’s my favorite place I’ve ever been. Hope you get to go someday.

[mattb65]

50 minutes ago, BuffaloWeather said:

So what’s up with fauci emails to wuhan lab leaders? Did he get caught? 

I haven't seen anything too concerning about his emails but may not be up to speed on everything. 

Having said that the lab leak concern is definitely increasing in likelihood based on the information I'm reading.  Unfortunately I doubt there will be a smoking gun because much has been destroyed or covered up by China plus the soule to find reliable information is especially difficult. 

Here are some articles I've found to be interesting. 

https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-how-amateur-sleuths-broke-wuhan-lab-story-embarrassed-media-1596958

https://thebulletin.org/2021/05/the-origin-of-covid-did-people-or-nature-open-pandoras-box-at-wuhan/

[mattb65]

I didn't think the 7 day average would be below 15k cases on June 2nd though I think some of that is an artifact of the holiday weekend.  I bet it will stall for the next week and then dip below 10k the week of the 14th although I'd love to be wrong and have cases just continue to drop sharply. 

[Hoosier]

1 hour ago, mattb65 said:

I didn't think the 7 day average would be below 15k cases on June 2nd though I think some of that is an artifact of the holiday weekend.  I bet it will stall for the next week and then dip below 10k the week of the 14th although I'd love to be wrong and have cases just continue to drop sharply. 

Not that it makes a huge difference, but whose numbers are we using to call the drop below 10k -- the twitter guy or worldometers?  I think the latter includes cases from US territories.

[mattb65]

36 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

Not that it makes a huge difference, but whose numbers are we using to call the drop below 10k -- the twitter guy or worldometers?  I think the latter includes cases from US territories.

Lawyer Craig on twitter but I bet worldometers will also go below 10k shortly afterwards 

[KokomoWX]

I got some additional details on my friend who was 35 and passed away from Covid.  I thought she had went to the hospital and was admitted.  Instead since she was healthy and young, then sent her home.  She was taking prescription meds they gave her but she passed away in her sleep from a pulmonary embolism.  She lived alone and her family found her the next day.  

[nwohweather]

19 hours ago, Jonger said:

Wait another 2 months and most of these issues will be long over with.

The Spanish flu is still around in the form of a variant..... Covid is never going away. Who cares...

Actually this is very correct. The 1918 flu was actually a new strain of bird flu that aided by WW1 flew across the globe. After it's big hit similar to Covid, it experienced "antigenic drift" which mutated it into a more mild bug. Because this was such a dominant virus it became "the flu" that we know about today, just a milder variant. However when that virus mixes with another one in an animal, it turns into another pandemic. That's what happened with the Swine Flu in 2009.

I highly recommend everyone to read Michael Lewis's (Moneyball, The Big Short) book "The Premonition: A Pandemic Story" as it's an absolutely fascinating read