COVID/Coronavirus non-political DISCUSSION thread

[scubachap]

The U.K. is becoming one of the most dangerous parts of the world for the pandemic right now. They’re entering another month of lockdown, and surpassed 1 million cases and their P.M. had this to say:

We're not doing well that's for sure ... hopefully the lock down will help but it's actually a Europe wide issue...

Cases per 100,000 on Nov 4:

Belgium - 3956
Czech Rep - 3408
Luxembourg - 3198
Spain - 2683
France - 2242
Netherlands - 2172
etc ...

UK - 1611

Interestingly Italy's figure is 1258 and Greece is just 412

 

[scubachap]

I have a meeting this afternoon with our CEO and two group directors and I am going to do everything I can to get him disciplined or sacked. I’m bloody furious!!

Throw the whole library at him not just the book. Terrible behaviour.

 

[michael9891]

We’ve had a couple of shocking instances come to light in the last week local to me. A guy tested positive a few weeks back before the pubs were closed and he decided he wasn’t going to isolate. He decided to go to the pub that evening and several of the regulars contracted the virus. One has since died.

Where I work a guy on the factory floor has been ignoring calls all week from Track and Trace after a member of his family tested positive and put his name forward as a close contact person prior to diagnosis. He told people who worked with him he was pissed off as he didn’t want to be off work so was ignoring the number appearing on his phone. They finally got hold of him today and he’s finally gone home. It’s caused a huge panic at work. I have a meeting this afternoon with our CEO and two group directors and I am going to do everything I can to get him disciplined or sacked. I’m bloody furious!!

I've heard too many stories like this. It's why it's got as bad as it has. For some people, they'll only take note once they get a bad dose of it themselves.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Throw the whole library at him not just the book. Terrible behaviour.

I’ve spoken to his boss about it and he’s playing it down saying he believes his story which is ‘he only found out today’. It’s bollocks as I trust the two people who told me about him ignoring the calls and admitting he’d been put forward from a conversation with his family members. His boss is trying to keep it quiet so that his boss doesn’t find out but I’m not having it. It’s so reckless I think.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

One good thing to come out of COVID, Peter Sutcliffe has died of it. I don’t think anybody on earth will be sad about that, except maybe Frank Bruno?

 

[44267547]

Perspective:

It was midnight the other night and I had to stop by a gas station after work (No other customers were there other than me.) As I got back in my car, another man a few gas pumps over started to make his way inside. As he was in the parking lot, I noticed he didn’t have a mask with him or wearing one, [which the store actually requires one for entry, plus our county has a mandate] So I rolled down my window and said politely “Hey, don’t forget your mask, they require it to be inside.” (He looked to be 75 years of age), he looks at me and said In a laughing tone, “Are they going to make me, I don’t care about Covid or worried about catching it.“

All I could do was actually laugh out loud as I rolled my window up. That said, I wasn’t laughing at his response, I’m laughing at the fact that this is the type of mentality of a 12-year-old that doesn’t believe a mask has no effect and has no idea what the potential this virus could do to someone of his age. So I think to myself as I’m driving away, Do you think his mindset would change once that man ends up on a ventilator face down, fighting to stay alive because he can’t breathe on his own power? I wonder if he be laughing then.

***********************

This is a collective effort by everyone, and unfortunately there will be casualties for those who put themselves in situations when they know what to do, but refuse to do it. If someone like that man that I mentioned in my narrative above, Dies, it’s not because just of his ‘age’, it’s because he’s negligent and he had a choice to make. So be it.
**************************

On another note, I did hear on a podcast that for the first time since the pandemic started back in March in most areas, all 50 states are now seeing a surge/rise in cases. [With Idaho and Minnesota quickly becoming ‘hot zones’.]

 

[Gregg2]

@RP
Well, maybe that old guy already has COVID, and just doesn't care if he gives it to someone else. His mindset, widely held, is exactly why we have this current surge in cases. I guess we're waiting for all of those people to get COVID and die from it. Then the rest of us will have a chance to be healthy.

 

[44267547]

Story time-And ranting:

Clock off work late at night. Drive to the grocery store, (where they have a mask mandate enforced), maybe five people in the entire grocery store. I pick up a few items, only one register was open and all the ‘self checkout’ registers were closed (I prefer Apple Pay). Female standing at the register line unloading her grocery items on the conveyor, With her mask down, slightly coughing and talking on her phone (I wasn’t standing anywhere near her, more like 30 feet away). Now, I’m not assuming anything, but still, One would naturally feel uncomfortable given the mask worn improperly and coughing, right?

So now that leads me to think, I’m not going anywhere near that Checkout. So I find another employee walking, and I ask if I can self check out at a different isle not any where in her direction and explain the situation. So he checked me out a register opposite side of the store, I use Apple Pay and leave the store not in that direction. I thanked the employee, and he naturally mentioned, ‘safety first, masks are meant to be worn properly while in the store’.

Two things come to mind for the reason I told this story, #1.) Don’t be afraid to be defensive when you need to be for your safety and #2.) If you’re going to wear a mask, wear it properly when mandated by policy.

 

[Gregg2]

Yes, you want to be doubly sure that you're safe!

Edit: I see that the duplicate post has been removed, rendering the above obsolete.

 

[romanof]

Masks obviously make some difference, but like body armor, it is something you hope you will not need to defend yourself. I always wear one - a mask, not armor - although I have to say that always is very seldom, as we only go to town for supplies about once a month, and only during the very early Senior hours when the stores (and city) are about empty.

This being a rabid gun-owning state, I do not walk up to a non-mask wearer and whack him or her across the head with a loaf of bread, as much as I would like to, but we avoid them like the... well, like the plague.

To me, the mask is more of a symbol - that you are taking this problem seriously, no matter the effectiveness of the cover. And that you give a damn about other people.

Hopefully, a vaccine will fix the problem soon. And even better, maybe it will protect the average citizen while the rabid portion of the population refuses such an undemocratic plot, thereby improving the genetic properties of the human race with their absence from the gene pool.

 

[44267547]

To me, the mask is more of a symbol - that you are taking this problem seriously, no matter the effectiveness of the cover. And that you give a damn about other people.

You made a really good post, but I just wanted to focus on this part of it. And I’m gonna be ‘that guy’, but during this whole pandemic when it comes to masking, social distancing, the constant cleanliness, all the instructions that we’ve been given [In which I follow every guideline], I do it for me. I don’t do it for anyone else, because I don’t care about anybody else. My sole purpose is to protect myself the best that I can, and if I set the example for other people that they see me wearing a mask (I use N95s), maybe where they think twice about wearing one if they are not, then great.

But those same people that aren’t wearing a mask, aren’t socially distancing, they don’t care about you. And in the midst of this pandemic, I agree it’s a collaborative effort, but it really is about protecting you and your family, because nobody else is going to do it for you. So, if that means that others who fail to comply with the instruction(s) we’ve had over the course of nine months, and something tragic happens to them or their family because of their negligence, then so be it. They made their decision. And with all the recent surge of cases, all these hard efforts are being ruined by those who don’t care. So my attitude reflects that I fend for myself, because no one else at the end of the day is going to protect your health, accept through your own measures.

This is about paving the way for my life that I can enjoy future endeavors because of my due diligence because I followed the guidelines, and for those who also follow guidelines, I commend them. And for those who don’t care one way or the other, that’s their problem. I just do what I need to to keep my lifestyle active, healthy and prosperous.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I have noticed a growing number of people now doubting the danger of COVID through social media comments but unlike a few months ago I haven’t encountered anybody refusing to wear a mask. Shops tend to have security guards now acting as hand sanitiser station attendants too. You’d be escorted out no doubt if you walked in without a mask on.

We are about to see pubs and restaurants close again I think. In Wales we had a firebreak lockdown for 2 weeks and the figures went down in terms of deaths and new infections. Sadly just a few weeks later we are seeing them rise again. People are definitely mixing more than they should and the stats are suggesting under 25’s are the most infected group here at the moment. A girl I know loosely has doubted COVID all the way through and on VE Day she was on Facebook hugging all her friends and neighbours saying they were all fed up and needed a party. She’s now isolating with her immediate family due to testing positive and her mother is apparently in a bad way. Quite a stark way to learn a lesson I think.

 

[44267547]

I have noticed a growing number of people now doubting the danger of COVID through social media comments but unlike a few months ago I haven’t encountered anybody refusing to wear a mask. Shops tend to have security guards now acting as hand sanitiser station attendants too. You’d be escorted out no doubt if you walked in without a mask on.

We are about to see pubs and restaurants close again I think. In Wales we had a firebreak lockdown for 2 weeks and the figures went down in terms of deaths and new infections. Sadly just a few weeks later we are seeing them rise again. People are definitely mixing more than they should and the stats are suggesting under 25’s are the most infected group here at the moment. A girl I know loosely has doubted COVID all the way through and on VE Day she was on Facebook hugging all her friends and neighbours saying they were all fed up and needed a party. She’s now isolating with her immediate family due to testing positive and her mother is apparently in a bad way. Quite a stark way to learn a lesson I think.

I know you’re in the UK, but Florida alone is approaching almost 1 million cases, that’s not even including the effects of the after math of Thanksgiving with another surge likely in their area. (They reported 6K cases on Saturday). Seems like a really sharp crowd down there.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I know you’re in the UK, but Florida alone is approaching almost 1 million cases, that’s not even including the effects of the after math of Thanksgiving with another surge likely in their area. (They reported 6K cases on Saturday). Seems like a really sharp crowd down there.

Wow those are massive numbers. I live in an area of 61k and our cases are several thousand at the moment which is high for a small compact community. My area has the highest rate in Wales currently and there is now talks of mass testing. The Welsh government have a different method to those in England but they’ve now decided to allow up to 3 households to mix over Christmas for 5 days. I think we are going to see a huge spike in deaths in early January because of that. Big mistake I think.

My wife and I have decided to spend Xmas with her parents who are in our dedicated bubble anyway and not see anybody beyond that. My parents are in their 70’s and my mum is desperately lonely on her own but I can’t risk putting her in danger. It’s bad enough my in laws are having to pick the kids up from school, although having said that the school is closed next week due to staff shortages and 3 classes isolating. It’s going to be a very low key Christmas which will be weird.

 

[chown33]

A new study shows evidence that coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) may have been present in the US in roughly mid-December 2019, across 9 different states in widely separated regions.

NPR report:

Coronavirus Was In U.S. Weeks Earlier Than Previously Known, Study Says

The discovery, uncovered after analyzing blood donations from nine states, strengthens evidence that the coronavirus was quietly spreading around the world before health officials were aware.

www.npr.org

Study:

Serologic Testing of US Blood Donations to Identify Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)–Reactive Antibodies: December 2019–January 2020

Retrospective SARS-CoV-2 serological testing of routine blood donations collected in 9 US states from 13 December 2019–17 January 2020 suggests that the vi

academic.oup.com

 

[44267547]

My state is one of the states to receive the vaccination first, they’re placing priority for healthcare workers to have access before the general public, at least that’s what I was informed of. I’m not keen on taking the vaccination immediately, as I do want to see how things unfold. But I’ve spoken to one health professional who I have contact with regularly, and they told me they will be the ‘first in line’ to receive the vaccination when it debuts regardless of XYZ side effects.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The vaccine is starting to be rolled out here from next week apparently. I hope my parents and in laws have it before us. I’m seeing a lot of people that I know on social media condemning it and refusing to have it. It’s amazing how this anti vax mentality has grown in what is the biggest medical emergency in modern times. Hopefully it’ll mean those of us that want it will have less difficulty getting access to it though. It can’t come soon enough.

My daughters school is closed this week due to staffing shortages. We’ve since found out it’s because there are 18 cases in what is a very small primary school. My wife and I have taken the decision not to send the kids back now before Christmas and continue to home school. The cases are just too high and it’s gotten closer to home. After a crap year the last thing we want is Christmas wiped out too and for the sake of just 10 days of school.

 

[ruka.snow]

We are starting to get the vaccine from Tuesday in Scotland, there is quite a comprehensive rollout plan but it isn't known yet how to ban people from shops and schools if they have refuse(Thats refuse, there will be those unable too). Hopefully, those that refuse will be such a small minority that they don't to killing other people with stupid.

 

[44267547]

So I thought this was interesting:

The vaccination is due in my state in just under three weeks accordingly. There’s been a lot of skepticism about if consumers want/should take the vaccine ‘If it’s safe’. (And rightfully so, being the ‘unknowns’.) A slew of Epidemiologists have said that the vaccination should be a priority for public health, however; our local media stations were reporting that the general public doesn’t believe these Epidemiologists will actually partake in the vaccine. So what these doctors have decided to do, is actually ‘broadcast live’ when they inoculate themselves with a vaccine. I think the idea is to prove the theory wrong that they’re not just ‘talking’ about the vaccine and following through with what they said they will do, and also encouraging the public to follow their lead.

I can’t say this concept will change a lot of minds for some people, but I do think at least it will hopefully start a trend that these doctors are confident in the vaccination and this is the next step to battle this pandemic.

 

[Gregg2]

And by now you've heard that Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden have committed to being vaccinated on video for the same reason. It will move some who are reluctant, but there will still be people who refuse to get vaccinated. My hope is that enough people get it so that hospitals are no longer overwhelmed.

But, they are saying that the vaccine does not make you immune to catching COVID. Rather, it only helps to make symptoms less severe if you get it. To prevent transmission, we will still have to isolate as much as possible, wear masks when venturing out, wash our hands frequently, avoid even small gatherings, etc. In short, it doesn't bring back the old normal. It just makes the new normal less dangerous.

 

[michael9891]

From most of what I've read, it looks like they expect the upcoming vaccines to give you immunity for 3 months. And you need 2 jabs, 3 weeks apart. So 8 jabs a year to be fully immune? Don't think I'll be incorporating that into my life every year if that's how it really is.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Everyone needs to maintain a long-haul mentality even with the vaccines rolling out.

The biggest obstacle to an effective response continues to be public distrust of institutions and experts coupled with a rejection of guidelines, rules, and even laws when they demand sacrifices from the public. What I see around me are people who are attempting to paint inconvenience as injustice and are trying to portray their selfishness as some sort of political stance. The key demand placed on the public by the pandemic is NOT that we protect ourselves but that we protect each other, and we are collectively doing a miserable job at that.

The vaccine is going to make a big difference but life is not going to "return to normal" soon. In some ways, life may never be the same. Thousands of people will continue to die every day until mask usage really does become universal, people stop gathering indoors/in large groups and the vaccine has been very widely deployed. This is many months away. The anti-vax 'movement' is pointless, stupid, selfish, dangerous, and should be publicly condemned by every decent human being and institution on the planet. Hopefully the still accelerating impacts of COVID reduces the influence of this reckless, purposeless stupidity gong forward.

There's always hope things will work out better than feared, but we can't take our eyes off the ball and we MUST accept the sacrifices demanded of us. We won't be hanging up our masks in 2021. What we can hope for is less mortality and hospitalizations, and a gradual, controlled easing of social distance measures.

 

[Healer Flame]

A new study shows evidence that coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) may have been present in the US in roughly mid-December 2019, across 9 different states in widely separated regions.

NPR report:

Coronavirus Was In U.S. Weeks Earlier Than Previously Known, Study Says

The discovery, uncovered after analyzing blood donations from nine states, strengthens evidence that the coronavirus was quietly spreading around the world before health officials were aware.

www.npr.org

Study:

Serologic Testing of US Blood Donations to Identify Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)–Reactive Antibodies: December 2019–January 2020

Retrospective SARS-CoV-2 serological testing of routine blood donations collected in 9 US states from 13 December 2019–17 January 2020 suggests that the vi

academic.oup.com

That's what i said on the other forum six months ago. Surprised they found out now.

Post in thread 'Coronavirus (Covid-19) informational thread' https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/coronavirus-covid-19-informational-thread.2225096/post-28313318

 

[contacos]

I am tired of this "soft" lockdown here in Germany. Now they want to close also stores starting in "some" states next week. They should have just locked everything down in the beginning of November to get it over with. Totally unexpected that the soft lockdown wasn't gonna bring down the numbers. No one could have anticipated that at all! Sarcasm. What is mind boggling to me is how every "western" country seems to repeat the same mistakes of this spring and no one learns anything from their neighbouring countries and their experience. its like every country has to do the same mistake. We, humans are really stupid sometimes.

"Belgium and Netherlands go on full lock down". Germany hmmmm lets wait 2 months and see ... "oh our numbers are going up" hmmmm what do we do? 🙈

Also to be honest, I do think COVID-19 is here to stay. We will never fully get rid of it. The vaccine will help but just like the Flu, not everyone is gonna get a flu shot every year. Eventually people will assume they have their seasonal flu when it might as well be "covid". Do you get tested for the flu when you are sick every year? NOPE

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Institutional responses to the virus have resulted in major resistance by a very vocal minority which has degraded our ability to deal with the virus. At the end of the day, our response reflects people's attitudes. Many people believe that that the threat from COVID does not warrant closing down businesses or substantially limiting social contact.

What this means from a purely practical standpoint for many of us is that we cannot rely on the broader institutional response to protect us in day-to-day activities (they are making a difference in a large-scale, long-term sense, of course). Don't assume people around you are taking ANY precautions. Don't assume businesses you visit are taking (or enforcing) ANY precautions. In short, don't assume that any person, place, or activity you are not familiar with or do not have immediate control over is safe.

And that's the way it's going to be for the foreseeable future.

Also to be honest, I do think COVID-19 is here to stay. We will never fully get rid of it. The vaccine will help but just like the Flu, not everyone is gonna get a flu shot every year. Eventually people will assume they have their seasonal flu when it might as well be "covid". Do you get tested for the flu when you are sick every year? NOPE

It's possible, though we simply don't know what's going to happen yet at this point. It might be all but eradicated eventually; it might reappear periodically as bubonic plague once did; it might become endemic and bring a new meaning to "flu season"; It might mutate into something worse and harder to treat or prevent. Time will tell.