Corona Virus: It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint

[Smoove_B]

I would personally not be getting on any planes at this point, no. CDC still recommending to limit travel, not that you'd ever know.

Speaking of which, we're back to being over 2,000 deaths a day in America - for the first time since the Winter of 2021. This means that tomorrow we'll likely be over the total reported deaths from the 1918 flu pandemic (675,000), which is something. Yes, under-count was a problem then as it is now, but it's still noteworthy.

I keep seeing more and more (social media, news organizations) spouting off the "we just need to live with COVID now" nonsense at an increasing rate. No, no we do not have to live with this, especially considering the millions of kids under 12 that can't be protected yet. Every day I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

[Blackhawk]

I would personally not be getting on any planes at this point, no.

Limit travel to the Prime Material. Got it.

[Smoove_B]

Thank you for that.

[Alefroth]

I know this is supposed to be a feel good story, but it just pisses me off. Why do people have to wait until it affects them to do the right thing?

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/19/health/f ... index.html

After 169 hospitals, a dad finally got the Covid-19 care he needed -- and changed dozens of skeptics' minds

[Isgrimnur]

[gbasden]

I would personally not be getting on any planes at this point, no.

Limit travel to the Prime Material. Got it.

Brilliant!

[LawBeefaroni]

I had classic food poisoning/stomach "flu" symptoms on Friday evening, along with a mild fever (101 max). Puked and shit soup all night, fever was gone by mid-day Saturday and feeling 100% by today (save for some sore abdominals). I did have a negative rapid test and will get a full one tomorrow but there were a few hours where I was wondering if I had joined the club.

[Smoove_B]

New article in the Atlantic is like a Voltron of awesome writers, covering how to think about the pandemic for the next 6+ months here in America:

The difference between the U.K. and the U.S. isn’t just that fewer Americans are vaccinated. It’s that fewer of the most vulnerable Americans are vaccinated, and they tend to cluster together.

...

Since the pandemic’s early days, vaccines have shifted the risk the virus poses to us, at a community level. Older people and health-care workers were among the first in line for the shots—a practical move to protect the people whose underlying conditions or jobs ranked them among the most vulnerable. But younger members of the community had to contend with a slower schedule, and vaccine makers are still figuring out the correct dosages for the youngest among us. That’s all shifted the virus’s burden down to uninoculated children. At the same time, the virus has been evolving into speedier and speedier forms; by the time Delta slammed the world this spring, many of its most viable hosts were at risk not because of their age or circumstances, but in spite of it.

...

Throughout the past year and a half, commentators have downplayed a variety of pandemic-related risks because they were “rare”—deaths, long COVID (which isn’t actually rare), infections and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, and more. But infectious diseases spread, and if they do so widely enough, events that are relatively rare can rack up large numbers: A one-in-a-thousand event will still occur 40,000 times when 40 million people are infected. Such events can’t be written off, especially when they involve decades of lost health or life.

[Blackhawk]

like a Voltron of awesome writers

That is brilliant, and shall enter my vocabulary with many variations.

[Zaxxon]

like a Voltron of awesome writers

That is brilliant, and shall enter my vocabulary with many variations.

I guess we know who Sarah's alter-ego is in this analogy...

[Blackhawk]

I've, uh, never actually seen Voltron.

[Zaxxon]

I've, uh, never actually seen Voltron.

Go. Now. Watch.

[Blackhawk]

I've, uh, never actually seen Voltron.

Go. Now. Watch.

Do you have any idea how many things are on my 'Go. Now. Watch' list? Or my 'Want to watch' list?

[TheMix]

As important, do you know how many things were on my "Go. Watch. Now." list? That I have totally forgotten about? No. Seriously. Does anyone know? I've forgotten.

[Zaxxon]

But this one should be watched, and stuff.

[El Guapo]

But is Voltron actually good, or is it nostalgia?

[Zaxxon]

But is Voltron actually good, or is it nostalgia?

I may have nostalgia for the new one already (as it hit when my kids were younger and we watched it together), but it's at least pretty good.

[disarm]

But is Voltron actually good, or is it nostalgia?

The Netflix Voltron is very good and definitely more than just nostalgia talking. It's a surprisingly great show.

[Formix]

But is Voltron actually good, or is it nostalgia?

The Netflix Voltron is very good and definitely more that his nostalgia talking. It's a surprisingly great show.

Where's the love for Gatchaman?

[Zaxxon]

Speaking of folks voluntarily opting for the marathon experience rather than sprinting toward a better future, The Athletic has a nice piece up today looking at the dual experences of vaccinated vs unvaccinated NFL players.

Some selective quotes:

When Denzel Perryman reported for training camp in late July, he unabashedly stated his intent to forgo COVID-19 vaccination, saying he was fully prepared to deal with the weighty restrictions placed on unvaccinated NFL players.

“Zero vaccination, period,” said Perryman, then on the Panthers’ roster. “Nothing against it. I know people who got the vaccination and still got COVID. To me, what’s the point?

“I know unvaccinated players can’t do this, can’t do that. … It is what it is. It doesn’t bother me, though.”

Later, having dealt with inconvenient daily COVID-19 testing, eating meals in isolation, constant masking and painstaking social-distancing requirements for seven weeks, Perryman has made an abrupt about-face.

“I ain’t gonna lie,” he said earlier this month in Las Vegas after being traded to the Raiders. “Too many restrictions going on. Can’t even eat with my fellow brothers. I don’t like being an outcast.”

Yes, life comes at you fast. The Raiders’ roster, according to the NFL, is now fully vaccinated. And that means Perryman, too. It turns out, his characterization of life for unvaccinated players was no exaggeration.

Vaccinated players test once every seven days, a recent change from the previous 14-day interval. Even before the workday begins, the inconvenience for unvaccinated players already is undeniable. As one player explained in a particularly relatable example, unvaccinated players had to report for testing at 7:30 a.m. on a day his team played a 1 p.m. preseason contest. Conversely, vaccinated players not scheduled to test that day had the luxury of sleeping in.

The previous 14-day testing interval was described as “ineffective” by NFL Players Association president J.C. Tretter, who cited breakthrough cases and clusters of positive tests from vaccinated individuals, like a cluster of 14 positive cases in Tennessee last month, and at least six positive tests among vaccinated coaches and staff in New Orleans.

Union leadership pushed for a return to daily testing for all players and staff, regardless of vaccination status. The weekly testing cadence was a compromise, though a complicated one, because the elimination of frequent testing for vaccinated individuals was one of the most compelling incentives to prompt players to get their shots. It was a carrot that worked because the testing process can be a nuisance.

Case in point: On many teams, unvaccinated players must report for work earlier than vaccinated ones in order to get tested. And, in another vivid example of the difference vaccination status can make, unvaccinated players are barred from entering the facility until the results of a rapid Mesa test are available (Mesa tests are rapid PCR lab tests that are typically returned within 45 minutes). Meanwhile, vaccinated players can undergo their weekly test and immediately enter before learning the result.

The situation conjures an image of an unvaccinated player sitting in his car waiting while vaccinated teammates stream into the building unfettered.

Keep in mind, the testing protocol remains in place even on days when players are off. That means while many teams enjoyed a long Labor Day weekend, allowing vaccinated players to embark on a brief getaway before they hunker down for the upcoming season, unvaccinated players had no such benefit. Day off? Daily testing. Bye week? More testing.

Any break in that daily testing regimen means an unvaccinated player is subject to a five-day “re-entry” process, which prevents a player from returning to the team facility for five days if testing negative each day during that period. The Patriots and then-quarterback Cam Newton were reminded of this in dramatic fashion last month when Newton was barred from returning to practice after testing offsite — a violation of the protocol — during a trip away from Foxborough, Mass. He was made to go through the re-entry process and was released by New England a week later, on Aug. 31.

It's behind a paywall, but the whole piece is interesting (I've got a few guest passes for 30 days of access to The Athletic; if anyone wants to see the full piece, PM me). Imagine if we had anything close to what the NFL is doing, but for normal citizens.

[Smoove_B]

Imagine if we had anything close to what the NFL is doing, but for normal citizens.

This is exactly the right take.

[Smoove_B]

I would like to see more about this:

Earlier this month, Dr. Rashid Buttar posted on Twitter that COVID-19 “was a planned operation” and shared an article alleging that most people who got vaccinated against the coronavirus would be dead by 2025.

His tweets are a recent addition to a steady stream of spurious claims about the COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Another example is Dr. Sherri Jane Tenpenny’s June testimony, before Ohio state legislators, that the vaccine could cause people to become magnetized. Clips from the hearing went viral on the internet. Earlier in the pandemic, on April 9, 2020, Dr. Joseph Mercola posted a video about whether hydrogen peroxide could treat the coronavirus; it was shared more than 4,600 times. In the video, Mercola said that inhaling hydrogen peroxide through a nebulizer could prevent or cure COVID-19.

These physicians are part of the “Disinformation Dozen,” a group of top super-spreaders of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, according to a 2021 report by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate. The report, which was based on an analysis of anti-vaccine content on social media platforms, found that 12 people were responsible for 65% of it. The group is comprised of physicians, anti-vaccine activists and people known for promoting alternative medicine.

It’s particularly alarming that the Disinformation Dozen includes physicians because their medical credentials lend credence to their unproven, often dangerous—and very visible—claims. All three identified in the report continue to hold medical licenses and have not faced consequences for their statements. However, leaders of professional medical organizations are increasingly calling for that to change and urging medical oversight boards to take more aggressive action.

As someone that now spends about ~30 minutes a day reporting accounts on Twitter (thank you Twitter for finally allowing it to happen for COVID misinformation), I am really being worn down by the amount of disinformation that is (1) being proliferated and (2) is being spouted daily by the same accounts. It's like a firehouse of nonsense, constantly spewing crafted messages that have just enough truth to hook someone in.

[Sudy]

These people who claim covid and vaccines are a New World Order conspiracy to reduce the world's population... don't they realize the NWO is going to need slaves? Who will do their bidding when all the poor people are dead?

[Defiant]

These people who claim covid and vaccines are a New World Order conspiracy to reduce the world's population... don't they realize the NWO is going to need slaves? Who will do their bidding when all the poor people are dead?

It does say "most" people will die. Those who are approved to be slaves will be given antidotes (which will need to be given on a regular basis, and will be provided they stay in the NWO's good graces)...

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I would like to see more about this:

Earlier this month, Dr. Rashid Buttar posted on Twitter that COVID-19 “was a planned operation” and shared an article alleging that most people who got vaccinated against the coronavirus would be dead by 2025.

I mean, we don't know yet that they're wrong...

[LawBeefaroni]

Imagine if we had anything close to what the NFL is doing, but for normal citizens.

This is exactly the right take.

Right take but there is no incentive to do so.

The NFL does it because sick players cost them money in their pocket. Normal citizens don't have the same value to our leadership that NFL players have to NFL teams.

Also, as long as the NFLPA is on board, upset unvaccinated players have almost zero voice and even less influence. Upset unvaccinated "normal citizens" are a problem and scare the shit out of of our politicians.


An NFL team isn't a microcosm of the US.

[Zaxxon]

I think we all understand why it's not happening. I was just imagining what if it had happened.

[LawBeefaroni]

I think we all understand why it's not happening. I was just imagining what if it had happened.

I can't even imagine it. I just start seeing GOP politicians in front of marble verandas raging on about freedom and encouraging armed protests at school boards and Capitol buildings.

[Isgrimnur]

I would like to see more about this:

Earlier this month, Dr. Rashid Buttar posted on Twitter that COVID-19 “was a planned operation” and shared an article alleging that most people who got vaccinated against the coronavirus would be dead by 2025.

I mean, we don't know yet that they're wrong...

The vaccinated will be saved in 2024 by the aliens trailing comet 12P/Pons-Brooks.

[raydude]

I would like to see more about this:

Earlier this month, Dr. Rashid Buttar posted on Twitter that COVID-19 “was a planned operation” and shared an article alleging that most people who got vaccinated against the coronavirus would be dead by 2025.

I mean, we don't know yet that they're wrong...

The vaccinated will be saved in 2024 by the aliens trailing comet 12P/Pons-Brooks.

How is this nutcase still allowed to practice medicine?

[LawBeefaroni]

I did have a negative rapid test and will get a full one tomorrow but there were a few hours where I was wondering if I had joined the club.

Full test was negative and I was back in the office yesterday. Is this baseline now, get tested and quarantine every time you get sick?

[LordMortis]

I did have a negative rapid test and will get a full one tomorrow but there were a few hours where I was wondering if I had joined the club.

Full test was negative and I was back in the office yesterday. Is this baseline now, get tested and quarantine every time you get sick?

I intend to quarantine every time I get sick with anything I expect is contagious. I would have done so all along if the working world allowed such things. Getting tested? I haven't done so yet, I can only foresee getting tested if the sickness comes with the major symptoms of respiratory distress or loss of smell. The other symptoms are just too common for me. Even respiratory distress is too common for me but being an asthmatic and on the immunocompromised list and now having blood relatives (my age) who have been hospitalized and passed, I don't think I'm in the position to fuck around and find out when it comes to my breathing.

[LawBeefaroni]

I did have a negative rapid test and will get a full one tomorrow but there were a few hours where I was wondering if I had joined the club.

Full test was negative and I was back in the office yesterday. Is this baseline now, get tested and quarantine every time you get sick?

I intend to quarantine every time I get sick with anything I expect is contagious. I would have done so all along if the working world allowed such things. Getting tested? I haven't done so yet, I can only foresee getting tested if the sickness comes with the major symptoms of respiratory distress or loss of smell. The other symptoms are just too common for me. Even respiratory distress is too common for me but being an asthmatic and on the immunocompromised list and now having blood relatives (my age) who have been hospitalized and passed, I don't think I'm in the position to fuck around and find out when it comes to my breathing.

We're supposed to self report any symptoms and they'll direct us on testing but I think they'll always err on the side of testing, even if you want to just quarantine for two weeks. More data is good data.

[LordMortis]

If I self quarantined for intestinal problems I would have been locked in my house never leaving since March 2020. Forget the headaches and nausea coughing, watering eyes, etc... I'm a mess. To me that's not flu like symptoms, that's reminders that I'm making it another a day on the planet.

[Smoove_B]

Full test was negative and I was back in the office yesterday. Is this baseline now, get tested and quarantine every time you get sick?

Assuming you have easy access to testing, sure. In my part of 'merica where only about ~55% of the adults are fully vaccinated, all the local pharmacies are getting slammed. I just did a quick search and the earliest I was able to schedule a test from a major national pharmacy chain is this Sunday.

I would assume people that can work from home will and people that work hourly or can't sit at home for whatever reason will just go to work.

[Default]

My ex is in-person teaching preschool students. Four of them were sick yesterday. She takes temperatures, but a common tactic is to give them Tylenol, so they pass the morning temperature check. She's getting a covid test on Saturday, before she comes over for Sunday dinner with the kids and me.

[stessier]

I did have a negative rapid test and will get a full one tomorrow but there were a few hours where I was wondering if I had joined the club.

Full test was negative and I was back in the office yesterday. Is this baseline now, get tested and quarantine every time you get sick?

It is where I work. Some take great advantage and over the last year have worked less than half.

[Isgrimnur]

My ex is in-person teaching preschool students. Four of them were sick yesterday. She takes temperatures, but a common tactic is to give them Tylenol, so they pass the morning temperature check. She's getting a covid test on Saturday, before she comes over for Sunday dinner with the kids and me.

[stessier]

My ex is in-person teaching preschool students. Four of them were sick yesterday. She takes temperatures, but a common tactic is to give them Tylenol, so they pass the morning temperature check. She's getting a covid test on Saturday, before she comes over for Sunday dinner with the kids and me.

Is this where you post that Cracked Zombie video in here?

[Isgrimnur]

No, it’s fine where it is.