Fall Banter and General Discussion

[WhitinsvilleWX]

1 minute ago, Lava Rock said:

exactly. It dis-incentivizes people to want to get tested. They'll just say f-it.

Most testing sites cost a lot too. Our tests were $130 a piece. So we spent $520 bucks to get us back to work and back to school.

I had 2 employees travel over T-day and they both got a test to get back to work and they paid $130 and $150. I'm not sure where all this free testing is

[HoarfrostHubb]

18 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

Most testing sites cost a lot too. Our tests were $130 a piece. So we spent $520 bucks to get us back to work and back to school.

I had 2 employees travel over T-day and they both got a test to get back to work and they paid $130 and $150. I'm not sure where all this free testing is

There was an interesting article in yesterday's Boston Glob about how colleges and universities in the Boston area had really done a good job relating to Covid spread.  A number of them contracted with the Broad Institute (my son's university in RI did this) and was able to test students for under $25 per test.  Most schools were testing students and staff twice per week.  This really squashed the cases.      Some schools added a "covid fee", some used CARES act $ to pay for it, some used endowment $.

Public K-12 schools have zero $ to do this though...

[powderfreak]

28 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

Most testing sites cost a lot too. Our tests were $130 a piece. So we spent $520 bucks to get us back to work and back to school.

I had 2 employees travel over T-day and they both got a test to get back to work and they paid $130 and $150. I'm not sure where all this free testing is

I thought tests were free?  My wife and I didn’t pay a dime and the local hospital said it was “written off” as their words.  Or are you talking like private testing locations?

The admin’s words were “how can we expect to stop the spread of people have to pay for them?”  I was like ok sounds great I’ll be back lol.

[STILL N OF PIKE]

Debasio is reopening k-3 Schools in NYC in a reversal . Said he heard parents “loud and clear” 
 

The school rate of positive test cases was I believe 1/4 of 1% or .028 Thou experts said there maybe limitations in that data (like all Covid data)

[tamarack]

16 hours ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Cam is so inaccurate. Plus, their receiving core is atrocious, no TE.   Poor play calling by Josh.   Surprised they have won 5       

Receivers don't drop too many (other than Edelman) but don't get much separation and Cam's accuracy isn't consistent enough to hit small windows.  Jacobi has stepped up but he's a cromulent WR, not an all-pro.
Pats are frustratingly inconsistent - last 3 weeks they beat 2 good teams and lose to a bad one.     
ESPN noted that yesterday's 179 yards total offense was 3rd lowest by the BB Pats.  (In 331 games, if I've done the arithmetic right.  And that doesn't include the PS.)

[HimoorWx]

1 hour ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

Most testing sites cost a lot too. Our tests were $130 a piece. So we spent $520 bucks to get us back to work and back to school.

I had 2 employees travel over T-day and they both got a test to get back to work and they paid $130 and $150. I'm not sure where all this free testing is

Lots of free testing here in Massachusetts.  My wife volunteers two days a week at the town testing site in Randolph.  The town has just expanded from twice a week to 6 days a week; 4 hours each day.  Today is one of her days, so she has the rain gear ready.

[WhitinsvilleWX]

8 minutes ago, HimoorWx said:

Lots of free testing here in Massachusetts.  My wife volunteers two days a week at the town testing site in Randolph.  The town has just expanded from twice a week to 6 days a week; 4 hours each day.  Today is one of her days, so she has the rain gear ready.

I dunno. Seems like they are few and far between. And mostly in eastern mass. I live in central mass and there's not any around me that I know of. And 4 hours each day? That doesn't work for a lot of people. We got ours at a CVS minute clinic, and I took my daughter to get a rapid test back in October at Carewell in Auburn. It was $160.

[HimoorWx]

12 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

I dunno. Seems like they are few and far between. And mostly in eastern mass. I live in central mass and there's not any around me that I know of. And 4 hours each day? That doesn't work for a lot of people. We got ours at a CVS minute clinic, and I took my daughter to get a rapid test back in October at Carewell in Auburn. It was $160.

There is a lot around here, but not sure about other areas of the state.  2:00 to 6:00 Monday thru Friday and 9:00 to 1:00 on Saturday.  Mostly staffed by volunteers who work with a medical firm that does the actual testing.  I believe registration is required, but if possible they do take unregistered drive-ins.

[Lava Rock]

51 minutes ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

I dunno. Seems like they are few and far between. And mostly in eastern mass. I live in central mass and there's not any around me that I know of. And 4 hours each day? That doesn't work for a lot of people. We got ours at a CVS minute clinic, and I took my daughter to get a rapid test back in October at Carewell in Auburn. It was $160.

but wasn't it supposed to be free everywhere?

[WhitinsvilleWX]

7 minutes ago, Lava Rock said:

but wasn't it supposed to be free everywhere?

No. Where did you get that impression?

Most places aren't

 

And insurance won't cover an asymptomatic test. If you have symptoms, you can get an MD to sign off on one. Then insurance covers the doctors visit and the test. 

I have a high deducible plan. I don't get any coverage until I hit $3500. So in January, even if I have symptoms, it will be cheaper to just get the test rather than get the doctors visit cost to go with it. I can submit it to count towards my deductible, though.

[Dan]

My son had to get tested, only way he got it free (rapid test), was he had symptoms associated with covid.  High fever, chills, aches.  The symptoms was the reason he got the free test.  Results back in 45 minutes.  Negative, btw.  Had went to the Core Pediatrics building next to Exeter Hospital in NH.  

[HoarfrostHubb]

27 minutes ago, Dan said:

My son had to get tested, only way he got it free (rapid test), was he had symptoms associated with covid.  High fever, chills, aches.  The symptoms was the reason he got the free test.  Results back in 45 minutes.  Negative, btw.  Had went to the Core Pediatrics building next to Exeter Hospital in NH.  

Hope he is ok

[HoarfrostHubb]

2 hours ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

I dunno. Seems like they are few and far between. And mostly in eastern mass. I live in central mass and there's not any around me that I know of. And 4 hours each day? That doesn't work for a lot of people. We got ours at a CVS minute clinic, and I took my daughter to get a rapid test back in October at Carewell in Auburn. It was $160.

There will be free COVID testing here in the city I work in Dec 2 and 3.  Not sure how/why those dates were chosen, or who ordered it/is paying for it.  

14 day average positive rate here is around 8% which is pretty bad

[Dan]

5 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

Hope he is ok

It was my younger son that had to get checked.  It just was a 3 day virus and got over it pretty quick.  Tyler got hit too, about a month ago, someone he worked with caught it and he was eating lunch in the car with him (), but luckily did not catch it.  He was out of work for a week to be sure and had to get 2 tests, before returning, don't know if it cost him anything or not.

[UMB WX]

On 11/18/2020 at 7:41 AM, WhitinsvilleWX said:

You’re more optimistic then I am. I think it will be into 2022 really. 
But I’m one of “those” that do not trust the government for much of anything. 

whew!

On 11/18/2020 at 7:41 AM, ORH_wxman said:

ID card requirement is gonna be tricky....hippa act stuff. That's also a bit of a despotic road you don't want to go down.

Once the vaccine has been widely available for a couple months, you just lift all restrictions. If people don't want to get it, it's on them and it is not up to society to cater to them.

 

On 11/18/2020 at 7:42 AM, PhineasC said:

I have logged more hours on the road this summer and fall than probably anyone else on this forum, so yeah. There is a large groundswell of people who don’t want the vaccine because they think it is dangerous and won’t change the govt’s desire for control, and it isn’t just crazy white militia prepper types either. 

 

On 11/18/2020 at 7:43 AM, ORH_wxman said:

I agree it could take longer than people are saying. I was immediately on the pessimistic bandwagon back in spring when a lot of people were saying we'd all be stuck with a needle by autumn.

But for hypothetical purposes, whenever the vaccine is widely available to anyone who wants it, that's when basically all restrictions should be lifted. I could maybe see keeping them a bit longer for things like LTC facilities and hospitals.

 

On 11/18/2020 at 7:46 AM, ORH_wxman said:

I said a couple months after being available to anyone who wants it (i.e. no wait....no supply issues)

 

On 11/18/2020 at 7:49 AM, WhitinsvilleWX said:

Hippa doesn’t really apply. That only applies to giving information to health care entities. 
I’ve already seen Ticketmaster start to roll out the idea of an app that shows if you’ve had a negative test or have the vaccine to get into concerts. 
Everyone needs to get used to the idea that we will have to show “papers”. I don’t like it much, but I think if you want to go to Fenway, Gilllette, or get on an airplane, you’ll have to show proof of a negative test or vaccine. Might not be forever, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be dealing with these intrusions for several years.

The government won’t outright mandate it for adults, but it will be done by coercion if you want to go about your life. 
I have no problem taking it. I just don’t want to be first. 
I will say that if this mRNA strategy actually works and is safe over the long haul, my god this is truly a revolution in vaccine technology. Theroreticlly, we could vaccinate for all kinds of things. mRNA is easy to make and you can make buckets of it really fast. The biggest hurdle is the storage issue. 
 

 

On 11/18/2020 at 7:49 AM, PhineasC said:

It’s shocking how many here can’t envision the “state of emergency” just being extended forever due to the next bad flu or “resurgent COVID.” Or maybe they are OK with that reality. 

 

On 11/18/2020 at 7:50 AM, Baroclinic Zone said:

That's where I'm at.  I think by Summer 2021 we should have widespread availability of vaccine(s) and a substantial portion of the population who will have already received it.  We will have most likely 6 mo of people receiving the vaccine from Pfizer so we should have a good handle on efficacy any side-effects,

 

On 11/18/2020 at 8:01 AM, Lava Rock said:

This is what I am most concerned about. Where does one draw the line on the next outbreak. For instance, if flu cases next season seem to be ramping up more than usual, do we use these lockdowns and restrictions again, knowing that for decades we've never done this for flu? How many deaths would need to be met before restrictions were used? Who gets to decide if 50,000 or 100,000 deaths for flu would be too many and restrictions would need to be implemented. I just think covid has opened the door for future govt overreach. 

 

On 11/18/2020 at 8:03 AM, ORH_wxman said:

This is starting to get too political for the wx side....but I don't think the population will have any sort of appetite for flu-related lockdowns. They barely have it for covid without a vaccine.

 

On 11/18/2020 at 8:03 AM, CoastalWx said:

Nobody will lock down for the normal influenza we know. Already this year we have more mandates for the flu vaccine. So I don’t see that happening.

 

On 11/18/2020 at 8:13 AM, OSUmetstud said:

 

 

On 11/18/2020 at 8:35 AM, 40/70 Benchmark said:

I was just having this conversation with a coworker this morning. How do we distinguish between who has, and had not had the vaccine? People are just going to begin claiming that they had it when pestered about a mask. I feel as though it will just continue to be mandated for a good year after the vaccine is released, which will increase the tension because people who get the vaccine, like myself, will be irritated.

 

On 11/18/2020 at 9:08 AM, PhineasC said:

I am fortunate that I can hide out from the virus in style. That's why I am not being a massive hypocrite demanding people who have to work with customers every day shut themselves down and destroy their livelihoods to make me feel even better.

 

On 11/18/2020 at 9:12 AM, PhineasC said:

I think anyone who wants the vaccine should be able to take it, but once you take it the restrictions need to be lifted. That's the tradeoff. The virus is very, very low risk to most people. Asking them to take a vaccine requires something in exchange, IMO. That's having their old freedoms back.

I also don't think shaming people for being scared of this rushed vaccine and calling them idiots is fair either. There are reasons to be wary about how this has been developed and will be rolled out. The damn liberal governor of NY and VP-elect are saying the same thing. It's not just a fringe weirdo viewpoint.

I personally would take the vaccine if offered to me. If only to calm a few of the older folks in my sphere who are very scared of the virus. I don't expect it will be offered to me for a long while, however.

 

On 11/18/2020 at 9:22 AM, ORH_wxman said:

I think a certain amount of time after it has been available to everyone is the fairest route. Tracking who has taken it is a train wreck. For the sake of argument, lets say it is finally available to everyone in March (I assume high risk will have already had the option to take it before this), by June, you should have no restrictions at all. If you are still scared of the virus months later, then you can shelter away or decide to take the vaccine. If you don't take the vaccine, that's your problem, not society's.

 

On 11/18/2020 at 9:24 AM, PhineasC said:

I am just not convinced that mother hen govt is simply going to let people "make it their own problem" if they don't take the vaccine. Does that sound like something Cuomo, Newsom, or Whitmer would say? LOL well, maybe Cuomo.

 

On 11/18/2020 at 9:27 AM, ORH_wxman said:

This is getting too political for here.......but I mean, maybe they would? These people are still going to be driven by public sentiment at the end of the day. Some people will probably want to stay in lockdown mode, but I think you will see the groundswell start to occur in the opposite direction after a certain amount of time has passed with the vaccine widely available. You're also going to have cases plummeting because of this. That's going to be a very hard tide to fight and most politicians care about one thing....their jobs.

The only difficulty I can foresee with the lifting of restrictions is if the vaccine isn't available to enough people yet.

 

On 11/18/2020 at 9:29 AM, PhineasC said:

We don't need to debate it here. I am a cynic and a bit of a conspiracy theorist when it comes to govt power. We will see what happens. Fingers crossed I am wrong for everyone's sake.

Some spot on calls in here.. and some not so spot on calls.. Would be a shame to get this thread totally scrubbed off the internet.

[Lava Rock]

Some spot on calls in here.. and some not so spot on calls.. Would be a shame to get this thread totally scrubbed off the internet.

Did u save all these posts to bring them up?

.