COVID-19 in your part of the world

[Mischief Maker]

I guess AOC and Ilhan Omar are GOP-lite?

[CIT]

trolololololololololo

I knew you'd be unable to answer my question. I take it as your admission that you don't actually do jack shit to change a system you don't like.

[orange808]

I guess AOC and Ilhan Omar are GOP-lite?

Honestly, you can do what you want on election day and its fine.

If you read the thread, I said people should start protesting at government buildings--instead of creating cover for criminals to expolit (and simultaneously discredit) neighborhood protests.

The "don't bother voting" was a smear technique from the beginning. I didn't say that. Read my OP.

I did say there's nothing on the ballot to vote for. That's true, but we've covered that. What to do about it is a free choice.

It's almost as if some people don't want the protests to become effective and they need to derail discussions about productive strategies (like sitting inside and outside government buildings in daylight). You see, criminals won't want to go those places, because there's nothing to steal and they will get arrested. Neolibs don't like that idea, because they lose their freebie "they're thugs" angle.

[orange808]

trolololololololololo

I knew you'd be unable to answer my question. I take it as your admission that you don't actually do jack shit to change a system you don't like.

Didn't read your question. Didn't even read all of the post I'm replying to.

Why bother, fake Dem? Don't you have a super predator to lock up or something?

[CIT]

Why bother

You seem to care quite a lot, since you keep replying to me.

[bottino]

Thank you Charlene and emphatic for your thoughts and kind words. It's much appreciated.

@Mischiel Maker indeed, this is an international movement and phenomenon, and obviously there were internal forces at play here like you correctly described (although I suspect that right now no one wants to be associated with Bolsonaro - not openly, at least. We know how that works). That fact that he still thinks that Trump gives a shit about him and is his friend or something always makes it for a pathetic display, and always makes Brazil lose something or get the short end of a deal in the process.

The only thing that I'll add for now is that a lot of grievances that you guys have with the Democratic Party we also have regarding the left-wing parties here in Brazil and that obviously played a role as well. They don't seem to have learned anything from it, which comes as no surprise, sadly.

[BulletMagnet]

Well, my fellow Americans, if anyone complains to you about the countless millions in taxpayer dollars going to cronies, incompetents and outright fraudsters in the face of the outbreak and wonders why the "responsible government" watchdogs remain so meekly quiet and nothing is being done in response, you can feel free to tell them "hey man, cut us some slack, where do you think we are, Zimbabwe?"

[vol.2]

I wish there was an emoji of a monkey throwing poop.


So all the States that basically did little to nothing about lockdown/social distancing are now starting to experience spikes.

Actually kind of surprised about some of these states because they aren't very densely populated at all.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-heal ... SKBN23W2I6

Texas and FLA are in it to win it with Arz not far behind.

[GaijinPunch]

Correct, but even ones that actually did a half decent job (California). Cali had the first state-wide lock down and the bay area had it's order in place quite a bit before that.

[EmperorIng]

One thing to look to is the fact that the death rate continues to go down. I think this partially reflects the fact that governments aren't letting the disease run rampant through nursing homes as it was in the beginning of the outbreak (remember, half of all deaths in the USA were in nursing homes), where populations are the most vulnerable. I'm not yet convinced that rising cases/positivity necessarily equates to an apocalyptic scenario that some news outlets/people seem to -want- to happen, though hospital availability remains the first concern.

One of the most frustrating things to hear is "well, you don't know what this will do to your body in 10 or 20 years" and I think to myself "bitch, you can say that about anything." You can't plan your life about what might happen to you decades from now especially if you have no control over it. Otherwise, stay inside for the rest of your life. One of Illinois' doctor reps said "we're going to have to learn to live with covid" which is what a few people said at the beginning but has become obvious by now. However, I don't know if people, even this woman, take that statement to its logical conclusion: a massive (over?)reaction on the scale of the spring lockdown cannot be expected a second time, and people, taking the economy completely out of it, cannot be part of an indefinite social experiment of complete lack of contact with other people.

I've started to take the subway for the first time in months, on the one or two days a week (usually one) where I am allowed to come back to work (here's hoping for two next week...). Quite a change when your 'rush hour' is 7 people on your train car in the morning, 20ish on the way home.

A real tragedy is the slow realization that so many places, activities, and industries are not coming back. Restaurants, theaters, music venues... a lot of them are not going to recover from this, whether through government negligence or just lost income. I really fear we're going to be left in a Jeff Bezos world.

Speaking anecdotally (FWIW), I only know a few people directly who've caught it, and know more who know more. My classmate from grade school, and his pregnant wife, and her son all caught it, and all they had was a cough for about a month. My sister even had to last-minute babysit their kid and spend the night -in their house!!- while she gave birth, and got a test that later came back negative! Their cousins and aunt and uncles caught it too, with similar results, with the exception of one aunt in her 60s with some diabetes/health issues, where she needed to be in the hospital for a while (she's recovering now). Elsewhere, my neighbor's 89 year old mother died after a positive diagnosis (she refused to go to the hospital and be by herself).

[ZacharyB]

One thing to look to is the fact that the death rate continues to go down.

Just wait a few weeks. It's already increased by 10% of what it was in the past few days.

One of the most frustrating things to hear is "well, you don't know what this will do to your body in 10 or 20 years" and I think to myself "bitch, you can say that about anything." You can't plan your life about what might happen to you decades from now especially if you have no control over it. Otherwise, stay inside for the rest of your life.

Why add one more thing onto the pile of "anything"? This isn't like an engine on an airplane suddenly failing. This was directly commuted through our own actions.

It's akin to, vehicular accidents being a very large cause of death daily, and driving out on the roads anyway. But we wear seatbelts when we have to go.

We didn't always, though... I remember the anti-seatbelt push. I also always wear my helmet when I use my motorcycle. But some people don't even want to do that, and when they crash, it hikes up insurance premiums for all motorcyclists. (And they die, too.)

If I could reduce the risk of my death by even 10%, I'll take it. So, why didn't the rest of the country? Because they thought, in their infinite unctuous, craven fervor, that they could get away with it? It brings me to my next point:

One of Illinois' doctor reps said "we're going to have to learn to live with covid" which is what a few people said at the beginning but has become obvious by now. However, I don't know if people, even this woman, take that statement to its logical conclusion: a massive (over?)reaction on the scale of the spring lockdown cannot be expected a second time, and people, taking the economy completely out of it, cannot be part of an indefinite social experiment of complete lack of contact with other people.

All we needed to do back in February/March was isolate for one month. One. Month.

One.

Month.

But we didn't, so, this is what we all get. We deserved this, and we'll deserve what's to come, and all of the policy that follows. We could have prevented it, and we didn't. Animals all. Knuckle-draggers.

I really fear we're going to be left in a Jeff Bezos world.

As an aside, I work in a supermarket, and it's stupidly obvious that neither customers nor employees want to serve or be served by human beings any longer (more like they want to just play with some kind of interface, get goods, then go home), so I think Bezos has the right idea...

Speaking anecdotally (FWIW), I only know a few people directly who've caught it, and know more who know more. My classmate from grade school, and his pregnant wife, and her son all caught it, and all they had was a cough for about a month. My sister even had to last-minute babysit their kid and spend the night -in their house!!- while she gave birth, and got a test that later came back negative! Their cousins and aunt and uncles caught it too, with similar results, with the exception of one aunt in her 60s with some diabetes/health issues, where she needed to be in the hospital for a while (she's recovering now). Elsewhere, my neighbor's 89 year old mother died after a positive diagnosis (she refused to go to the hospital and be by herself).

A few customers told me that they'd had it, and had to be hospitalized for it. A friend of the family also had it. My coworker's aunt died. As I said on a previous page, whether or not you've had a coronavirus-based infection in the past might be a determinant to how severe the infection from CoViD-19 would be. But, you can't know if you've had a coronavirus infection in the past (the antibody test is only for CoViD-19's coronavirus). So, why should we spin the death roulette on people in 2020? We could have done better by being patient, and, we didn't. So, this is exactly what we got.

[EmperorIng]

I get that you live in New York, and saw the worst of it (other regions might yet too), but it's pretty disingenuous to say "all we needed to do is stay inside for one month" when many places did do just that, if not longer. It would NOT have gone away (see: China welding doors shut didn't stop new cases), and Illinois was on lockdown from March to, well basically just around now-ish. The South Korea 'success' story still has new cases every day. The cry of "just two more weeks guys!" is going to get increasingly hard to maintain - there is no near-term future that does not have positive cases added daily, nor is there a short-term future that does not have new deaths. Millions of people have already likely passed on the virus without knowing it, because they had it without any inkling of having it. Mind you, this is because based on most USA estimates, the survivability for those under 65 is well above 99%. That's not to say outliers still exist. I myself traveled to San Francisco -in February!- right as all this shit was starting to happen. And was at big parties with hundreds of people in early March. The cat has always been out of the bag, especially since we never focused on a 'test everyone in a cluster' strategy and only on a 'test whoever is already feeling sick' strategy (until very recently?).

Saying "we all deserve to suffer" and live in Jeff Bezos world makes me feel like you take pleasure in drowning yourself in negative emotions. I get that this might be the side effect given how hard NYC was hit and living through that, especially since (among other factors) the city and state didn't move fast enough to stop the spread into nursing homes. I was pretty shook up in April myself and am still acting cautiously out and about. But in all seriousness: acting like that, all it does is make you a nervous wreck and doesn't help you live, or cope.

[BulletMagnet]

I get that you live in New York, and saw the worst of it (other regions might yet too), but it's pretty disingenuous to say "all we needed to do is stay inside for one month" when many places did do just that, if not longer.

He can correct me if I'm reading him wrong, but I think the key part of what he says is "back in February/March", i.e. if we'd actually started taking this thing seriously from the outset and isolated the cases that existed when there weren't as many of them, we could have, at the very least, greatly reduced the impact and longevity of the outbreak.

As I've said before, I can honestly understand why so many were hesitant to order lockdowns and such at first; nobody wants to impose a bunch of hardship on people and eat the backlash, especially if fears turn out to be overblown. What kills me, though, is how many of those same people still won't admit that they ever acted less than perfectly in response, and still won't change their overall outlook on the situation; I'd bet that every single person here, at least in the USA, knows somebody who still thinks the virus "might be a hoax".

[vol.2]

I think BM and ZB caught the flavor of where I was going correctly.

The main issue is that this all could have been much less of a huge deal if there wasn't a specific denial of the issue from early on. Telling me that 'we can manage the damage' and that 'you anecdotally don't see a huge impact to your life' doesn't change the enormity of what happened (or should I say didn't happen) in February of this year.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your positive attitude about moving forward (because what else can we do) but I don't think that sweeping things under the carpet is a great idea either. The lines that were drawn around this issue, and that science should be openly politicized has exposed the ugly underbelly of our country.

[GaijinPunch]

One thing to look to is the fact that the death rate continues to go down. I think this partially reflects the fact that governments aren't letting the disease run rampant through nursing homes as it was in the beginning of the outbreak (remember, half of all deaths in the USA were in nursing homes), where populations are the most vulnerable. I'm not yet convinced that rising cases/positivity necessarily equates to an apocalyptic scenario that some news outlets/people seem to -want- to happen, though hospital availability remains the first concern.

That is something to watch but the cuntry's largest hospital (in Houston) just hit 100% capacity for it's ICU unit. A smidge under 30% of those are Covid related, but very few other ailments are going to subside b/c we get a new one.

I've started to take the subway for the first time in months, on the one or two days a week (usually one) where I am allowed to come back to work (here's hoping for two next week...). Quite a change when your 'rush hour' is 7 people on your train car in the morning, 20ish on the way home.

Which line? I have heard the Blue Line & 56 bus have been at a capacity where you cannot practice social distancing.

[Steamflogger Boss]

One thing to look to is the fact that the death rate continues to go down. I think this partially reflects the fact that governments aren't letting the disease run rampant through nursing homes as it was in the beginning of the outbreak (remember, half of all deaths in the USA were in nursing homes), where populations are the most vulnerable. I'm not yet convinced that rising cases/positivity necessarily equates to an apocalyptic scenario that some news outlets/people seem to -want- to happen, though hospital availability remains the first concern.

That is something to watch but the cuntry's largest hospital (in Houston) just hit 100% capacity for it's ICU unit. A smidge under 30% of those are Covid related, but very few other ailments are going to subside b/c we get a new one.

I've started to take the subway for the first time in months, on the one or two days a week (usually one) where I am allowed to come back to work (here's hoping for two next week...). Quite a change when your 'rush hour' is 7 people on your train car in the morning, 20ish on the way home.

Which line? I have heard the Blue Line & 56 bus have been at a capacity where you cannot practice social distancing.

Yeah it's getting really bleak in Texas.

https://www.khou.com/article/news/healt ... d36cdf4cf3
https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-orde ... 1593099383

[GaijinPunch]

https://www.khou.com/article/news/healt ... d36cdf4cf3
https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-orde ... 1593099383

My homeland, and my mother still there. My brother-in-law was potentially exposed, so she doesn't get to be near her grandkids for a few weeks. Guess that's par for the course these days.

[Steamflogger Boss]

https://twitter.com/MaddySkye/status/12 ... 4494576643

Shutting down bars again.

[EmperorIng]

That is something to watch but the cuntry's largest hospital (in Houston) just hit 100% capacity for it's ICU unit. A smidge under 30% of those are Covid related, but very few other ailments are going to subside b/c we get a new one.

It's important to monitor, for sure. The article Steamflogger posted had the hospital ceo say "it's normal for our icu's to be at 90ish% capacity," and that they will now start moving non-covid icu patients to other rooms converted into icu's. They may need to do what happened here in the city and build that giant field hospital that they never used. Why does it seem like things always slow down as soon as we get these giant hospitals or giant warships at the ready??

My mom works at a hospital so she has seen it go from 2 floors of the hospital reserved to covid patients to have it gradually shrink to the point of opening other services again, like the hospital gym/health spa. She likes to tell people she saw more people leave the hospital from getting better than in a body bag... For what it's worth, the hospital has never been cleaner!

Case numbers will undoubtedly rise as Illinois starts to let people socialize again, and I hope it doesn't correspond to another wave of shutdowns. So far so good considering there's only like 1500 or less in the hospitals for the entire state. Outdoors + masks and smaller crowds should hopefully make a difference (see IL's 25% capacity restrictions vs. TX's 75%). I check this site periodically (and this) and the numbers always seem pretty encouraging (with a caveat of showing how large the racial disparity is), and I'm glad that the city has been collecting so much data for so long.

Considering I live at home atm (getting an apartment this spring kinda fell apart in a truly epic fashion), and that my mom you know, is around people at the hospital every day, at a certain point I had to accept that this isn't something I had control over (it's not like I am going to magically stop breathing the same air my mother's breathing, right?). I'm trying to be more forward-focused right now.

Which line? I have heard the Blue Line & 56 bus have been at a capacity where you cannot practice social distancing.

Blue line, I've taken it to the Clinton stop (my normal stop for work). When I have come in, it's been at off hour (coming to work by 10am to avoid any rush) so that definitely plays a role. My boss and I have mostly left at 3:30ish, or 4:00, to also avoid rush, but mind you the 20ish people I saw was both leaving at 4:00pm and 4:45 (closer to rush hour). At its peak there was enough people to occupy every 'pair' of seats by themselves, but no one sat directly next to one another. The first time that happened it kind of spooked me since I was not used to being around so many strangers. Everyone wore masks though... except for a few homeless, including some white-trash meth-head asking me for a cig. Fuck off.

I want to finally use this as an excuse to ride my bike downtown, but a piece of it fell off and fucked up the chain last week, and the shop is still waiting on the part...

vol.2, I am not trying to 'sweep things under the rug' since I've been taking things pretty seriously. This bullshit has impacted everyone's lives, pretty ferociously, whether medically or not.
At the same time, as you mention, what else is there for all of us to do but try and move forward the best we can? I am pretty confident that there won't be some miracle cure by this year. Nor do I think that staying away from everyone for another 6 months is feasible from a purely mental health standpoint.

I want us to be in a place where say, Hong Kong, Germany, or Taiwan is, with society still functioning despite the presence of a highly contagious, low-fatality disease. I think that's possible and where the country ought to be. However, as alluded to:

He can correct me if I'm reading him wrong, but I think the key part of what he says is "back in February/March", i.e. if we'd actually started taking this thing seriously from the outset and isolated the cases that existed when there weren't as many of them, we could have, at the very least, greatly reduced the impact and longevity of the outbreak.

The USA completely and totally fucked up, even states taking it 'seriously' ie California (and Illinois?). Federally, a joke, and statewise, not enough done to keep businesses and people from burning through their reserves. For our troubles we'll get to enjoy a 2ish year, at minimum, recession/depression. Knock on wood I have a job now, but I feel really bad for anyone who graduated college this year.

[orange808]

Trump is hammering conservative policy points.

What's the (fake pretend) "other side" doing?

Biden promises he'll wear a mask. That's where he stops because that's almost his entire agenda. The real Republicans disowned their Heritage Foundation's ACA plan (Romneycare), but Biden (the smiling butt rammers) will keep it in place so wealthy people don't lose coverage or their capital in bankruptcy. Young people will subsidise the plan (even though they can't afford to actually get care). Rinse and repeat.

Can't have any real policy or change, though. Not from GOP lite. (**The friendly rear bangers!)

Yeah. Same as it ever was. Rinse and repeat.

We don't need no water.

[GaijinPunch]

Blue line, I've taken it to the Clinton stop (my normal stop for work). When I have come in, it's been at off hour (coming to work by 10am to avoid any rush) so that definitely plays a role. My boss and I have mostly left at 3:30ish, or 4:00, to also avoid rush, but mind you the 20ish people I saw was both leaving at 4:00pm and 4:45 (closer to rush hour). At its peak there was enough people to occupy every 'pair' of seats by themselves, but no one sat directly next to one another. The first time that happened it kind of spooked me since I was not used to being around so many strangers. Everyone wore masks though... except for a few homeless, including some white-trash meth-head asking me for a cig. Fuck off.

How long as that been your stop? Wonder if we ever bumped into each other. I rarely took the train to work. Bicycle for the most part (even when it was so cold my balls were in my chest) but I walked around the area quite a bit, of course. I worked at 550 W. Jackson - across from Union Station (and that Dunkin Donuts). Laid off late last year. In sunny california now.

[BIL]

Cheerio mates! It's been a funny old COVID in Britfordshire, as not only does our strain of the pox spare those congregating for the right causes, - I can feel his original sin washing away! - but it also seems to share this native son of the West Indies' opinion on English "beaches" - that is to say:





Fuck me, that looks like torture! I wonder what will become of it all.

Meanwhile, I felt a right twat on my weekly shop, having donned a mask in solidarity with all the elderly fucks who live round these hyar parts. My spectacles steamed up, and I couldn't see shit! On top of that, the mask muffled my voice, hampering communication slightly. However it was all worth it, as I made it home (initially typed "made it homo" ) without dropping any grannies like sacks o' spuds.

Until next time, your friend always
Dr Richard Penis

[Mischief Maker]

- I can feel his original sin washing away! -

You have a really low opinion of white people and their capacity for empathy.

[BIL]

I love people, but I request consistency from them, and if this pox is as bad as whitey's leading scientists say, it's gonna hit white AND black grannies like a mack truck loaded with dynamite and AIDS, making cheek/jowl rucking for even the noblest of causes a bad idea.

Or maybe this is all a big nothing? The truth seems to fluctuate depending on one's political persuasions.

I can't fuck dead grannies, that's all I know! I'm joking, I would buy them dinner first. >¦3



^^^ thats ME AND MUH HO down the shops, next Thursday

[EmperorIng]

How long as that been your stop? Wonder if we ever bumped into each other. I rarely took the train to work. Bicycle for the most part (even when it was so cold my balls were in my chest) but I walked around the area quite a bit, of course. I worked at 550 W. Jackson - across from Union Station (and that Dunkin Donuts). Laid off late last year. In sunny california now.

Ah really? I've been working there for the last 1.5 years. I usually walked around to get some lunch and I'd go get coffee at that Dark Matter cafe almost daily. We very well might have crossed paths. I had always hoped we'd bump into each other at the Music Box Theater, but I guess that won't be happening (for) now. I didn't know you went back out west. Hope you're doing better in sunny Cali than Chi-city.

[GaijinPunch]

Ah really? I've been working there for the last 1.5 years. I usually walked around to get some lunch and I'd go get coffee at that Dark Matter cafe almost daily. We very well might have crossed paths. I had always hoped we'd bump into each other at the Music Box Theater, but I guess that won't be happening (for) now. I didn't know you went back out west. Hope you're doing better in sunny Cali than Chi-city.

Meddle? I didn't go there daily (child support comes first) but I would buy my "beans for the weekend cups o' coffee" there regularly. Dark Matter is amazing. Already miss it. My local gourmet food store on Ashland & Division some of their stuff cheaper than the sell in their stores. Go figure. Standing Passengers on Chicago Ave in Westown is worth checking out. Not affiliated technically but apparently he's close to them so they make him his own brew: Purple Line.

Anywho, it all kind of happened "quickly". I was becoming disenamored of the industry I was in as I continued reading job descriptions. I know everyone shits on Silicon Valley, but there's quite a bit of variety when it comes to software engineering, and ironically more potential for growth. Tech jobs in Chicago pay for one thing, and I've been moving away from it. So, here I am. GF is still back in the Chi due to the shit show employment scenario, so I'll be going back and forth for a bit. So maybe that Music Box bumping in to may happen. If not, maybe at Meddle. I'll be back for a bit in July.

[vol.2]

Morning graphic for the US:

[Steamflogger Boss]

Morning graphic for the US:

One doctor is estimating like 25 million cases with the large majority not being known/reported.

[GaijinPunch]

Morning graphic for the US:

One doctor is estimating like 25 million cases with the large majority not being known/reported.

Currently infected? That would be 10x the confirmed cases.

[EmperorIng]

That was the CDC director, saying based on antibody studies, there's likely 10x more cases than officially counted (some people have been saying this for a while). Even Chicago's 'top doctor' estimates conservatively 250,000 cases vs. the counted 50,000... For one, this would kind of imply the difficulty of keeping cases under control (though some places are doing better than others). On the other hand, it also implies that the death rate is lower than the initial estimates.

And yeah, it was Meddle. I was there today actually! I can go to work twice this week, how hype. Glad your finding yourself on a better footing. I haven't heard of Standing Passengers but I'll have to check it out. I like going to local cafes and I try to spend large amounts of cash at the ones around my house right now just to help support them. Pretty worried about a lot of businesses around here, even if more are starting to crawl out into the sun.