General COVID-19 Topic

[CarlSpackler]

6 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Carl, instead of the cigar I send you every New Year's I'm shipping you a copy of Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking" this year.

Too late for that. I am pretty much cynical about anything and everything. 2020 has accelerated my curmudgeon status by at least 10 years. 

[Billy Z]

We are going to have real problems if this country doesn't get back to work. So many will lose their businesses that we won't be able to rebound. Then the people will be enslaved by national programs.

[CarlSpackler]

16 minutes ago, Billy Z said:

We are going to have real problems if this country doesn't get back to work. So many will lose their businesses that we won't be able to rebound. Then the people will be enslaved by national programs.

You may be crossing the line of political posting with the last part, but I can tell you that my friends who own bars and restaurants are hanging on by a thread. They are working second jobs on side to put food on the table because the business barely makes enough to pay their staff and keep the lights on. The newest extension of Ohio's curfew will likely be the nail in the coffin for some. They keep talking about doctors and nurses being exhausted. I'm sure they are, but bar owners are as well.

[DaveP043]

4 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

You may be crossing the line of political posting with the last part, but I can tell you that my friends who own bars and restaurants are hanging on by a thread. They are working second jobs on side to put food on the table because the business barely makes enough to pay their staff and keep the lights on. The newest extension of Ohio's curfew will likely be the nail in the coffin for some. They keep talking about doctors and nurses being exhausted. I'm sure they are, but bar owners are as well.

I'm glad I'm not the one who has to try to balance saving as many lives as possible against trying to keep the economy alive.  Its a difficult trade-off, but that's what state and local governments are having to try to figure out.  For better or worse, having people together, mask-less, indoors, seems to be a recipe to transmit the disease.  I've only been in a few restaurants since March, and they've all had tables spaced well apart, bar service has been suspended, and they're scraping by.  But how does a government draw relative values between some number of people getting ill, some number having long-term disabling symptoms, some number dying, compared against some number of people out of work, some number of businesses failing?

Over the last week or so, the 7-day averages for both infections and deaths have been decreasing, which might be a good sign.  However, we saw a similar decrease around Thanksgiving, which seemed to be related to delays in reporting over the 4 days of holiday.  I hope our current trend is real, and not a caused by decreased or delayed reporting over the Christmas holidays.  I hope the (probable) increasing availability of the vaccines doesn't lead too many of us to stop taking the right precautions too early.  

[Double Mocha Man]

5 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I'm glad I'm not the one who has to try to balance saving as many lives as possible against trying to keep the economy alive.  Its a difficult trade-off, but that's what state and local governments are having to try to figure out.  For better or worse, having people together, mask-less, indoors, seems to be a recipe to transmit the disease.  I've only been in a few restaurants since March, and they've all had tables spaced well apart, bar service has been suspended, and they're scraping by.  But how does a government draw relative values between some number of people getting ill, some number having long-term disabling symptoms, some number dying, compared against some number of people out of work, some number of businesses failing?

Over the last week or so, the 7-day averages for both infections and deaths have been decreasing, which might be a good sign.  However, we saw a similar decrease around Thanksgiving, which seemed to be related to delays in reporting over the 4 days of holiday.  I hope our current trend is real, and not a caused by decreased or delayed reporting over the Christmas holidays.  I hope the (probable) increasing availability of the vaccines doesn't lead too many of us to stop taking the right precautions too early.  

Yes Dave, it is a difficult thing to balance.  And I feel for the businesses (mostly small) who have ceased to exist.  They were the ones with the most uniqueness and character.  It's kind of a poison pill.  If you immediately set the economy back into full action a lot of people die... and just not the older folks.  If you get almost everyone vaccinated (and I know everyone on this site is happily getting their vaccine) then in roughly 6 months we can get the economy going again.  But of course, between now and then, there will be many more business failures and human financial suffering.  What to do?  What to do?  Which is why I didn't run for President.  I'd rather stress over reading the left to right break on my slick 4 footer.

[CarlSpackler]

@DaveP043 Difficult indeed. I can't comment further without crossing the political conversation threshold, so I won't.

[colin007]

3 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

having people together, mask-less, indoors, seems to be a recipe to transmit the disease.   

Just picking nits, but there is no "seems to be", it IS the recipe.

[Billy Z]

I tried real hard not to get political, and it is difficult with this topic. One comment I would like to make is that the covid cases rising has been expected because of the time of year. Flu takes off, and Covid was expected to take off. I just had a relative die from covid last week, and 3 other in the family have had it and overcome it.

[RussUK]

been a crappy 2020 for so many. I lost my job not long after the UK went into lock down part 1 but got head hunted a month later so good things still happen. 

Can see light at the end of the tunnel now we have vaccines but still some way to go.

For me golf just stopped to a point, 2 rounds but practiced every day while on furlough last summer, plus didn't even log on here since pandemic started.

I feel lucky im in the position I am as so many people are in a worse situation. 

Times like this people need to pull together even more.

[Billy Z]

Does anybody think C19 is going away for good? I don't because it has already mutated.

[Double Mocha Man]

20 minutes ago, Billy Z said:

Does anybody think C19 is going away for good? I don't because it has already mutated.

The flu has never gone away for good.  Nor polio.  Nor measles.  Nor mumps.  But you can be vaccinated for them.  And essentially live your life without them lurking behind you.

[Billy Z]

14 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

The flu has never gone away for good.  Nor polio.  Nor measles.  Nor mumps.  But you can be vaccinated for them.  And essentially live your life without them lurking behind you.

Yes I agree, but even though I get vaccinated for the flu I can still get it. Although, it has been about 15 years since I got the flu. The main issue with covid, like the flu, is to be able to control it so it won't overwhelm society. It's sort of strange, society never gets shocked by the number of flu deaths occurring, it's just casually accepted.

[saevel25]

Isn’t the current flu a much weaker version of the original version? 

[The Flush]

I've never had the flu in my life (53 years old). I have had COVID. 

I have had the flu shot every year for at least the last 10 years, maybe much longer. I didn't get the Moderna vaccine until after I had COVID.

While my apparent COVID symptoms were more mild than some other people's flu symptoms, they were worse than my non-existent flu symptoms.

Both viruses affect people differently. I hope COVID can be controlled at least as well as the flu.

[Double Mocha Man]

1 minute ago, The Flush said:

I've never had the flu in my life (53 years old). I have had COVID. 

I have had the flu shot every year for at least the last 10 years, maybe much longer. I didn't get the Moderna vaccine until after I had COVID.

While my apparent COVID symptoms were more mild than some other people's flu symptoms, they were worse than my non-existent flu symptoms.

Both viruses affect people differently. I hope COVID can be controlled at least as well as the flu.

I blew past Cal Ripkin's iron man record of 2632 straight games... the equivalent at work by chalking up almost 3000 consecutive days (minus weekends, holidays and vacations), not missing a day for over 7 years.  This, through shoulder surgery, sprained ankle and various colds.  Then I got the flu... made it through the first day but on day 2  I couldn't get out of the house.  Now I'm working on 2632 straight days of hitting the range or the course.  😁

4 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I blew past Cal Ripkin's iron man record of 2632 straight games... the equivalent at work by chalking up almost 3000 consecutive days (minus weekends, holidays and vacations), not missing a day for over 7 years.  This, through shoulder surgery, sprained ankle and various colds.  Then I got the flu... made it through the first day but on day 2  I couldn't get out of the house.  Now I'm working on 2632 straight days of hitting the range or the course.  😁

10 years, not 7.  What happened to the "edit" feature???

[Ole Duffer]

On 12/30/2020 at 2:59 PM, boogielicious said:

Dawn Wells, Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island, passed from COVID. This year continues to suck.

That means there's only one answer to the eternal question . . . Ginger.

She is the only member of the cast still living.

I celebrated another birthday yesterday, which I consider to be an admirable accomplishment in these times.

Edited January 4, 2021 by Ole Duffer

[DaveP043]

11 minutes ago, Ole Duffer said:

I celebrated another birthday yesterday, which I consider to be an admirable accomplishment in these times.

 I had a birthday yesterday as well, we're both survivors.  

[iacas]

US considering cutting Moderna vaccine doses in half to speed up roll out

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The US Food and Drug Administration will meet this week to consider giving half-doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine to people aged 18 to 55.

Sounds not great, but also:

Quote

Earlier data showed that binding and neutralizing antibody responses were similar among participants under 55 who received either 100-microgram or 50-microgram doses, Slaoui said. While an FDA briefing document last month also references these “comparable” immune responses from Moderna’s phase 2 study, the full data have not yet been published.

So… we’ll see.