General COVID-19 Topic

[Double Mocha Man]

26 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

They did. 

His location is a very small town, not very close to a major city. I could see them just not listening to it 

 

During the 5 week lockdown in WA state there was a golf course just north of me that stayed open defying Governor Inslee's order, choosing not to listen to him and to make their own statement.  It is in a very conservative part of the county.  They stayed open but to not get in trouble they didn't (and wouldn't) charge greens fees.

I played there several times because golf is a bit of a fix/obsession for me.  (for practice I would go daily to the nearby middle school soccer field, met a lot of neighbors and several even gave me old golf balls). I remember I called the golf course and asked if I could pay greens fees.  They wouldn't allow it.  So, as time went on, more and more players showed up via word-of-mouth and it became very crowded.  I still wonder if those golfers also needed their fix or if they were just cheap and taking advantage of the situation to get free golf.

[The Flush]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

You should leave your house once in awhile.  😄  Even golf courses were closed!  (I think they had a "lockdown" in Ohio)

My home course was closed almost an entire week! They claimed it fell under the outdoor recreation exemption and therefore stayed open other than a weeklong skirmish with the local health department.

It felt like there was no lockdown because I never missed work (at a hospital). They did let us telework a little bit, but that was mostly after the lockdown was over. Not much changed for me other than restaurants being outdoor seating only or takeout and my son's junior year of high school baseball was cancelled. His senior year of football, golf, and baseball were not affected.

Edited February 2, 2022 by The Flush

[Ty_Webb]

4 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Study done by John's Hopkins says that Lockdowns had hardly any significant impact on mortality rates. 

A-Literature-Review-and-Meta-Analysis-of-the-Effects-of-Lockdowns-on-COVID-19-Mortality.pdf (jhu.edu)
 

 

New Zealand - strict lockdowns - total deaths from COVID since March 2020 - 53

USA - no strict lockdowsn - total deaths from COVID since March 2020 - 890,000

US population is ~330 million. NZ is ~5 million, so let's gross that up - NZ deaths with equivalent population to US - 3,500. I wonder what on earth that could have been?

Incidentally, that report I think is saying that mandatory lockdowns aren't much more helpful than no lockdowns, but good communication programs. They're certainly not saying that we shouldn't have worn masks or socially distanced. Rather that compelling it doesn't do much because f***wits will ignore it and if you tell sensible people that it's a good idea to wear masks and isolate, then they'll do it without being compelled. That's my take anyway.

[iacas]

4 hours ago, Ty_Webb said:

US population is ~330 million. NZ is ~5 million, so let's gross that up - NZ deaths with equivalent population to US - 3,500. I wonder what on earth that could have been?

New Zealand has dense cities like NYC?

Of course not. So, try as you might, you're not going to really be able to compare the numbers.

[Ty_Webb]

3 hours ago, iacas said:

New Zealand has dense cities like NYC?

Of course not. So, try as you might, you're not going to really be able to compare the numbers.

That's a fair point. Auckland looks like it's about 1.7 million people, which is not exactly small, but it's also not NYC. 

But okay - let's compare New Zealand with North Dakota. North Dakota has a population of about 760,000. I think it's fair to say it's pretty spread out too. I'm not aware of the names of any cities there and there certainly aren't any the size of Auckland. So NZ has about 6.5 times the population of North Dakota. NZ's 53 deaths compares with *checks notes* 2,665 deaths. Adjusted for population and that would be 17,000 deaths vs 53. 

Is it possible that those numbers would look the same if NZ hadn't locked down or ND had? Perhaps, but it feels like a stretch to me.

[Zippo]

12 hours ago, Ty_Webb said:

That's a fair point. Auckland looks like it's about 1.7 million people, which is not exactly small, but it's also not NYC. 

But okay - let's compare New Zealand with North Dakota. North Dakota has a population of about 760,000. I think it's fair to say it's pretty spread out too. I'm not aware of the names of any cities there and there certainly aren't any the size of Auckland. So NZ has about 6.5 times the population of North Dakota. NZ's 53 deaths compares with *checks notes* 2,665 deaths. Adjusted for population and that would be 17,000 deaths vs 53. 

Is it possible that those numbers would look the same if NZ hadn't locked down or ND had? Perhaps, but it feels like a stretch to me.

Correlation does not mean causation. 

[iacas]

For T-cells, omicron is nothing unusual

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T-cell response from earlier infection or vaccination is down, but not by much.

 

[iacas]

Got a Covid Booster? You Probably Won’t Need Another for a Long Time - The New York Times

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A flurry of new studies suggest that several parts of the immune system can mount a sustained, potent response to any coronavirus variant.

 

[Double Mocha Man]

Covid question:  Why are so many people who are already vaccinated twice not getting their boosters?  It's a huge number.  It's obvious they aren't anti-vaxxers.  My only theory is that they really got whacked on one or both of their shots and don't want to suffer those side effects again.  I don't feel, "I'm done with it" qualifies... seems if you believe in the shots you'd get your booster.

[iacas]

32 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Covid question:  Why are so many people who are already vaccinated twice not getting their boosters?  It's a huge number.  It's obvious they aren't anti-vaxxers.  My only theory is that they really got whacked on one or both of their shots and don't want to suffer those side effects again.  I don't feel, "I'm done with it" qualifies... seems if you believe in the shots you'd get your booster.

Could be that, could be that they got Omicron… could be that they don't feel they need it (it isn't like you go to 0% effectiveness without the booster), all sorts of reasons. 

[phan52]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Covid question:  Why are so many people who are already vaccinated twice not getting their boosters?  It's a huge number.  It's obvious they aren't anti-vaxxers.  My only theory is that they really got whacked on one or both of their shots and don't want to suffer those side effects again.  I don't feel, "I'm done with it" qualifies... seems if you believe in the shots you'd get your booster.

The only one that hit me hard was the booster but it was over in a day. Wouldn't stop me from getting one farther down the line. I get flu shots ever year and I expect that there will be yearly ones for Covid as well.             

[imsys0042]

21 hours ago, phan52 said:

The only one that hit me hard was the booster but it was over in a day. Wouldn't stop me from getting one farther down the line. I get flu shots ever year and I expect that there will be yearly ones for Covid as well.             

Only the second shot gave me side effects, the booster didn’t at all.   
 

in addition to what was said above, the messaging is also pretty bad on boosters.   Part of the problem is that they are not defining fully vaccinated as three shots.   

[nevets88]

The free test kit via the USPS came yesterday. How long was that, like 3 weeks?

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

The free test kit via the USPS came yesterday. How long was that, like 3 weeks?

I got mine on February 1.

[imsys0042]

44 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

The free test kit via the USPS came yesterday. How long was that, like 3 weeks?

Mine were about 2.  I don’t know where they ship from, probably multiple sites.  I’ve noticed a couple of places take significantly longer than others 

[nevets88]

I haven’t seen any places here require a booster but was just looking at Lincoln Center Jazz performances and you need proof of booster to attend.  

[Darkfrog]

3 hours ago, nevets88 said:

The free test kit via the USPS came yesterday. How long was that, like 3 weeks?

My family's test kits arrived 2-3 weeks ago. It was well past the time when we actually needed them.

[WilliamB]

Many people have lost faith in authorities who mandate mask wearing, then are caught running around partying without a mask on. Do as I say, not as I do!