Buses and trains it's the same issue. Depends on outside ventilation and also how crowded it is, as well as how long you're going to be on it. At least with most buses one can have a few windows down a couple of inches to create cross ventilation.
I agree I would avoid them as much as possible, and save an N95 for when you do have to ride on one. Use it exclusively for high risk situations so they last longer, and wearing a simple cloth covering over the N95 will help in that end. They will filter out enough of the aerosol particles to keep you from getting infected.
With the cases surging in the US again, I'm not going out this week. Its better to be safe than sorry. I'd rather clean my car and the whole garage with Simpson pressure washer https://gardeningfacts.org/best-pres...ssure-washers/ and spend time with my family at home.
Conspiracy theories are amusing and can make for interesting reading but I, personally, don't dismiss the phenomenon as total hogwash, not while the media continues to use keywords like "mysterious" or "unknown". Not talking about youtube videos or random blogs, I'm talking about actual news reports where the subject is a legitimate issue, like the "mysterious" illness that targeted kids a while back and could now make a comeback. There are entire organizations dedicated to studying virus and germs (the CDC, WHO, etc.) that have been around for years and nobody can figure out how to stop this? What stopped the 1918 flu epidemic? Did they not learn anything from that tragedy or the countless other epidemics throughout history?
Conspiracy theories are amusing and can make for interesting reading but I, personally, don't dismiss the phenomenon as total hogwash, not while the media continues to use keywords like "mysterious" or "unknown". Not talking about youtube videos or random blogs, I'm talking about actual news reports where the subject is a legitimate issue, like the "mysterious" illness that targeted kids a while back and could now make a comeback. There are entire organizations dedicated to studying virus and germs (the CDC, WHO, etc.) that have been around for years and nobody can figure out how to stop this? What stopped the 1918 flu epidemic? Did they not learn anything from that tragedy or the countless other epidemics throughout history?
Mask Wearing
Shelter-In-Place
Constant Hand Washing
Social Distancing
It lasted 2 years and killed 675,000 Americans . . . when the population of the USA was 103 million (2019: 328.2 million)
Frustrated Senate Republicans re-upped their complaints that Democratic negotiators are taking too hard a line in talks on a sweeping coronavirus relief bill, but a Tuesday afternoon negotiating session brought at least modest concessions from both sides, even as an agreement appears far off.
Top Democrats emerged from a 90-minute meeting with Trump administration officials to declare more progress on reaching common ground in an aid package expected to include a second round of $1,200 direct payments. The Trump team agreed with that assessment and highlighted its offer to extend a moratorium on evictions from federally subsidized housing through the end of the year.
“We really went down issue by issue by issue slogging through this. They made some concessions, which we appreciated. We made some concessions that they appreciated,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “We’re still far away on a lot of the important issues but we’re continuing to go back.”
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Tuesday’s session was “probably the most productive meeting we’ve had to date.” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the two sides set a goal of reaching an agreement by the end of the week to permit a vote next week.
“I would characterize concessions made by Secretary Mnuchin and the administration as being far more substantial than the concessions that had been made by the Democrat negotiators,” Meadows said.
New stimulus check plan would give more money to families
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., issued a pointed reminder that she and Schumer are “legislators with long experience” and a track record of working complicated deals — a rejoinder to critics complaining that they are being too tough and that the talks are taking too long.
“We agree that we want to have an agreement,” Pelosi said. “Let’s engineer back from there as to what we have to do to get that done.”
Another glimmer of hope emerged as a key Senate Republican telegraphed that the party may yield to Democrats on an increase in the food stamp benefit as part of the huge rescue measure, which promises to far exceed a $1 trillion target set by the GOP.
The food stamp issue — left out of earlier relief bills — is a top priority for Pelosi, among other powerful Democrats, who have passed a 15% increase in the food stamp benefit as part of their $3.5 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
Stimulus update: Here’s why you don’t have that second stimulus check
The overall talks are grinding ahead slowly, though urgency is growing among Senate Republicans, several of whom face tough election races and are eager to deliver a bill before heading home to campaign this month.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Monday that the chamber should not go on recess without passing the relief measure, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., offered a jobless benefit proposal that’s more generous than a pending GOP alternative. Both are facing closer-than-hoped reelection bids in states that should be easy holds for Republicans.
Multiple obstacles remain, including an impasse on extending the $600-per-week pandemic jobless benefit aid to the renters facing eviction. The benefit has helped sustain consumer demand over recent months as the coronavirus has wrought havoc. Pelosi wants to extend it through January at a $400 billion-plus cost, while Republicans are proposing an immediate cut to $200 and then replacing the benefit with a cumbersome system that would attempt to provide 70% of a worker’s “replacement wage.”
On the Senate floor, McConnell, R-Ky., continued to protest that Democrats are taking too tough a line. But he signaled he’s far more flexible now than he was weeks ago.
“The American people, in the end, need help,” McConnell told reporters. “And wherever this thing settles between the president … and the Democrats is something I am prepared to support even if I have some problems with certain parts of it.″
Most members of the Democratic-controlled House have left Washington and won’t return until there is an agreement to vote on, but the GOP-held Senate is trapped in the capital.
If the deal is approved by the middle of this month, it’s possible Americans could start seeing direct payments as early as the end of August or early September.
More money for dependents
The GOP plan calls for checks up to $1,200 for most taxpayers plus an additional $500 for any dependent. The word “any” is the change that could result in additional dollars.
According to Yahoo Finance, parents of older high schoolers and college students claimed as dependents would get the bonus. This also includes anyone taking care of elderly relatives who are also claimed as dependents.
In the first round of stimulus payments, only parents of dependents under 17 received the additional $500.
“We also include, in the additional $500 for each dependent, some people that we didn’t intend to leave out last time, but we did,” Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said Monday. “So regardless of age, some of these dependents will now be helped.”
A Democratic plan approved in the House in May proposed a similar structure for dependents but with the amount being $1,200 instead of $500.
Trump wants larger checks?
During a visit to West Texas last week, Trump hinted that a second round of stimulus checks could exceed the $1,200 payment amount issued in the first COVID-19 stimulus package.
When asked if $1,200 was enough, Trump said, “We’re going to see. It may go higher than that, actually.”
“I’d like to see it be very high because I love the people. I want the people to get it, you know, the economy is going to come back,” Trump continued. “We saved millions of lives, but now we’re bringing (the economy) back … we gotta take care of the people in the meantime.”
How much money will I get?
Outside of the dependent payment, here’s how the payment up to $1,200 breaks down, according to CNBC:
Individuals earning a gross adjusted income of up to $75,000 per year in 2019 will receive a $1,200 payment.
Couples earning a gross adjusted income of up to $150,000 per year in 2019 will receive a $2,400 payment.
The checks will be reduced by $5 for every $100 in income, phasing out completely at $99,000 for individuals and $198,000 for couples.
Individuals with no income and individuals who rely on benefits such as Social Security are eligible for the full $1,200 payment
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Conspiracy theories are amusing and can make for interesting reading but I, personally, don't dismiss the phenomenon as total hogwash, not while the media continues to use keywords like "mysterious" or "unknown". Not talking about youtube videos or random blogs, I'm talking about actual news reports where the subject is a legitimate issue, like the "mysterious" illness that targeted kids a while back and could now make a comeback. There are entire organizations dedicated to studying virus and germs (the CDC, WHO, etc.) that have been around for years and nobody can figure out how to stop this? What stopped the 1918 flu epidemic? Did they not learn anything from that tragedy or the countless other epidemics throughout history?
You do realize this isn't a flu strain right? This is a completely new coronavirus to humans (hence the earlier name novel coronavirus), and its effects on people is constantly evolving as we learn more about it. SARS or MERS is a closer thing to compare it to than the Flu, and it even behaves differently than those. For example, when this first came out in China, there was little to no mention of the loss of smell/taste as a symptom. That emerged a couple months after. This is something that hasn't been seen in other viruses to the extent of COVID-19 (if at all). We won't even know what the lasting effects of the virus will be. Will people that have recovered have lasting lung, kidney, heart issues? We don't know. So don't act like there's some conspiracy going on here. It's a new disease, and researchers around the world are doing everything possible to learn about it.
Maybe you're simply not doing any research whatsoever, but clearly scientists have been working on ways to mitigate the virus through vaccines, and treatments. And very clearly we've learned from past pandemics, which is why we started the whole social distancing, and wearing masks thing months back. These are based off of lessons learned from the 1918 flu, where some states socially distanced, and others didn't, and the differences in lives lost were significant.
I think the 4th of July numbers are finally all or mostly in and natural immunity build-up is driving the rest of the numbers down to some extent. Still need more to really get them to plummet.
I think the 4th of July numbers are finally all or mostly in and natural immunity build-up is driving the rest of the numbers down to some extent. Still need more to really get them to plummet.
Natural immunity certainly a factor.
Also, some scientists believe there is a large percentage of people with a certain level of preexisting immunity via T-cells from prior coronaviruses (including one strain from the common cold).
That may help explain why so many people are asymptomatic. They still test positive but can be considered relatively immune because they don't have symptoms nor are infectious (the T-cells in the body vanquish the virus before the load gets too high).
Cases still way too high, but the trend is going in the right direction, so there is hope in that.
Daily cases down by 10,000 in the last 10 days, a 14% drop, and the decline seems to be accelerating if anything.
[Show spoiler]
Yeah, I think Florida, Texas and California are all going down now. I wouldn't expect a state like Florida to go from 15K cases down to 100 within a day, so the fact that they are down to 5K cases yesterday is a good sign. Let's hope they continue that way.
Also, some scientists believe there is a large percentage of people with a certain level of preexisting immunity via T-cells from prior coronaviruses (including one strain from the common cold).
That may help explain why so many people are asymptomatic. They still test positive but can be considered relatively immune because they don't have symptoms nor are infectious (the T-cells in the body vanquish the virus before the load gets too high).
With the staggeringly low number of tested people, I agree with the assessment that anywhere from 5-20 times the number of reported people have had it. I'm sure I've said it before but that tells me it passes through most people without (seemingly) doing anything to them. Means this disease should still be taken seriously but it's closer to mild or moderate than severe.
The New Mexico Environment Department filed an emergency amendment that requires employers to report positive COVID-19 cases to NMED effective Wednesday. The emergency amendment is meant to decrease coronavirus transmission in the workplace. NMED says the amendment will remain in effect for no more than 120 days unless NMED proposes and the Environmental Improvement Board adopts a permanent rule prior to the end of the 120-day period.
“A critical element of the state’s rapid responses is timing – we need to hear as soon as possible when a positive case is identified,” said NMED Cabinet Secretary James Kenney in a press release Wednesday. “This amendment ensures that New Mexico employees are protected in the workplace and employers are held accountable. Our Occupational Health and Safety Bureau expects compliance with this emergency rule starting today.”
NMED says their Occupational Health and Safety Bureau is frequently notified of positive cases after employers are notified, resulting in delayed rapid responses. They also say to date, there have been more than 600 cases where the employer knew of a positive worker before NMED, including more than 280 instances where the employer knew of the case at least three days before NMED.
NMED says by requiring employers to report positive cases in a timely manner, the state will be able to more rapidly respond to workplaces, providing immediate guidance and support to employers and preventing the spread of COVID-19 beyond the infected employees.
Source - KRQE.com
Should've done this from the beginning, lazy governor.
All this recent talk about herd immunity made me want to read up on it a little bit and apparently, social distancing and wearing a mask only prolongs the herd immunity process. The reason we do it is to buy time so hospitals don't max at capacity and also, helps keep people safe while we develop a vaccine.
It's the masks, social distancing and other protocols are there to mitigate the risks to human life while we search for a more permanent solution.
Herd immunity is our only way out of this, whether it be through a vaccine or enough people getting infected. Of course, the latter will lead to some devastating results, which we don't want and that is why we're social distancing and wearing masks.
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