Coronavirus (NO POLITICAL OR SOCIAL COMMENTARY PLEASE)

[chip75]

I understand that tourism plays a huge part in a country's economy, but if you've got to isolate yourself for 14 days after arrival, isn't that most people's vacation? I know people who visit the UK often have to stay indoors the whole trip due to our inclement weather ...

Wouldn't a system where travelers are cleared before travel and cleared before leaving be more sensible? airlines need to be at the forefront of testing stations and have the ability to shuttle people to isolation when needed.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Dex Robinson

No whelming here either.

I think the last death in Manitoba was in April. Nobody in the hospital. 7 active cases.

It's crazy what passes for a pandemic.

It's terrifying that some people in here are passing this off as a joke. What you just said is basically this doesn't even qualify as a pandemic - a stunning statement. But then we already know where you stand on this. Hundreds of thousands dead in a matter of weeks and you dismiss it.

Maybe we do need a zombie apocalypse before some of you take any of this seriously. I guess we should have just never even locked anything down and let everything stay open, Then we would have had millions dead, and people could whine that we didn't do anything.

I'll say this again - the reason why the numbers are much lower now is because of the lockdown and precautions.

[MifuneFan]

'No doubt about it': Coronavirus rebounding in Arizona. Did state reopen too soon?

The data that Gov. Doug Ducey says drive his coronavirus decisions are heading in the wrong direction.

Three weeks after the statewide stay-at-home order was phased out:

Cases soaring: Arizona has one of the fastest-growing coronavirus caseloads in the country, up almost 70 percent since the order expired. The state was among the top 3 nationally with the most significant spikes
'Positive rate' climbing: The “positive rate” - the percentage of tests that confirm COVID-19 - has jumped since the end of the stay-at-home order, a sign the state isn’t controlling the infection’s spread. Ducey had pointed to a declining positive rate in late April and early May as evidence the state was meeting White House guidelines for ending the stay-at-home order.

Infection spreading: The Public Health Department in Maricopa County, the state's largest county, acknowledged Thursday that confirmed coronavirus cases are "steadily increasing... because there is increased spread in the community."

Hospitals filling up: Use of hospital beds and ventilators hit new highs this week, pointing to a potential strain on state resources. Almost nine of every 10 inpatient beds statewide are being used, according the Arizona Department of Health Services. But COVID patients account for just one in every 10 patients. Ducey and Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ maintain the state’s hospitals are prepared for a coronavirus surge.

“The stay-at-home order and the behavior that resulted from the ... order was working,” said Will Humble, a former state health director who is now executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association.

The latest data, Humble said, show a rebound around Memorial Day weekend.

“That really coincides with exposures that happened right after the end of the stay-at-home order,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it.”

The surge in positive cases and hospitalizations confirms projections by an Arizona State University research team three weeks ago.

Testing Rate Flunks Guidelines

The governor’s stay-at-home order took effect on March 31. Beginning the week of May 4, Ducey allowed businesses to slowly reopen. The order expired on May 15.

At his updates on how the state is handling the coronavirus, Ducey presents the White House’s reopening criteria as his benchmarks.

The state is now failing to meet both criteria for showing declines in coronavirus cases:

14 days of declining positive coronavirus tests.
14 days of declining positive tests as a percentage of total tests done.
Only one of the two must be met.

Arizona has consistently failed to meet the first criteria. In recent days, the number of positive tests has soared.

But the governor has checked off the second criteria - a declining positive rate.

Arizona Department of Health Services data appeared to support that conclusion for a brief period.

The weekly percentage rate of positive tests rose for two weeks after the stay-at-home order, then fell from mid-April to early May. It bottomed out at about 5 percent.

In the weeks since the reopening, the trend has reversed: The rate of positive coronavirus tests has more than doubled in three weeks.

This week, 11.5 percent of all reported coronavirus tests on Monday were positive. On Tuesday, 14.5 percent were positive.

Ducey’s spokesman dismissed the conclusion that he state was falling short on the reopening guidelines.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Really good article on the many people that have symptoms lasting for months, perhaps the rest of their lives..

Thousands Who Got COVID-19 in March Are Still Sick

Too many people in here think in binary only - if you don't die from it you'll be fine. That's clearly untrue. Many who get this will have long-term health effects due to the virus.

[mar3o]

I hate to say this, but at this point, maybe everything should just open back up 100%. And I'm dead-set against that and I firmly believe it would be disastrous. But hey, that's what so many of you want, go ahead and find out the hard way. Open it all back up and let wave two hit hard. Maybe after a second full wave more people will start taking this seriously. Sadly, that would mean many more will die. But I guess many are willing to gamble with other people's lives.

[Bigdog]

Originally Posted by mar3o

I hate to say this, but at this point, maybe everything should just open back up 100%. And I'm dead-set against that and I firmly believe it would be disastrous. But hey, that's what so many of you want, go ahead and find out the hard way. Open it all back up and let wave two hit hard. Maybe after a second full wave more people will start taking this seriously. Sadly, that would mean many more will die. But I guess many are willing to gamble with other people's lives.

I agree if we can have 50,000+ protest with not a shred of social distancing taking place, then the mom and pop shop's should be allowed to open back up if they so choose imo, absolutely.

Sorry this is not going to be had both ways, either this virus is an issue and we all equally share lock down responsibility, or these mayors and governors all allowing and giving permits out for this nonsense can kiss us actually productive members of this country backsides!

And if the second wave comes it is all on their shoulders for allowing what has taken place this last week.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by mar3o

I hate to say this, but at this point, maybe everything should just open back up 100%. And I'm dead-set against that and I firmly believe it would be disastrous. But hey, that's what so many of you want, go ahead and find out the hard way. Open it all back up and let wave two hit hard. Maybe after a second full wave more people will start taking this seriously. Sadly, that would mean many more will die. But I guess many are willing to gamble with other people's lives.

The governors and mayors are the ones calling the shots and they have to look at both sides and weigh the risks according to their situation there. Some will place a greater weight on the health of the economy than others. So we just have to accept their decisions and abide by them.

I'm in a more risk-averse area, although personally I'd prefer they reopen at a faster rate. Hospital beds are empty here. Only 1 Covid patient currently in a county with over 250,000 people.

Governor Newsom seems to have a balanced head on his shoulders though and I agree with most of his viewpoints on his plan to reopen.

[dublinbluray108]

The Irish PM Leo Varadkar had announced today that a lot of it's restrictions will be lifted from Monday the 8th of June.

The Rep. of Ireland's official roadmap has dropped one phase from 5 phases to 4.

Phase 3 will commence on the 29th of June. Phase 4 will commence on the 20th of July.

Mr Varadkar announced what will 'Phase 2 Plus' look like from this Monday.

Restrictions like social distancing, washing our hands & needing to self-isolate when unwell will remain in place.

Face masks will now be mandatory on public transport from Monday.

Elsewhere.....

People are allowed to travel within their own county or up to 20km from their home.
People over 70 or who are medically vulnerable can have small amounts of visitors in their home once social distancing is observed.
All retail shops can re-open with staggered hours from no later 10:30am everyday. Special designated hours for the elderly, vulnerable & at-risk groups will now be required.
All children's playgrounds, while supervised with parents, can re-open.
All public libraries will re-open.
Groups of 6 can meet indoors & outdoors while social distancing is observed.
Groups of 15 people can meet for outdoor sports.
25 people will be allowed at funerals.
Up to 15 children are allowed to mix together in summer camps.
Elite athletes can return training.
Marts can re-open & greyhound race meetings can return without spectators.
No mass gatherings can take place until it's reviewed in August.

All shopping centres in the country can reopen on the 15th of June provided they open with measures taken to ensure people do not congregate at food courts, fountains & benches.

More details on Phase 3 & Phase 4 are provided here.

With all of these restrictions being lifted on Monday; people may seem happy to hear that this virus is being suppressed. But I have a bit of a problem with this news. I got a call from my GP yesterday where he said that there is currently a bad dose of hayfever going around for those who have grass pollen allergies this month. He might he got this information from the health authorities. Up to 90% of hayfever sufferers from Britain & Ireland can be allergic to grass pollen when it's season occurs in the summer. There could be an inevitably here that if you have hayfever symptoms while not wearing a face mask during the pandemic; there could be a big risk that you be a super-spreader of Coronavirus to someone else.

Is anyone else here having that problem with getting hayfever?

[bruceames]

Made a few hotel reservation in some touristy areas in California. None of the hotels in these areas (Truckee and South Lake Tahoe) are open yet (because they don't want people traveling there), but hopefully they will be in a few weeks.

One hotel told me that if they can't reopen by next month that they will be in big trouble.

[bruceames]

Cases are spiking primarily in the high density, poor areas where social distancing is nearly impossible. Moreover, multiple families occupy apartments to be able to afford rent, making it much more likely people there catching from others living with them. Making it worse is that most of these people are undocumented and thus don't qualify for any assistance while at the same time, they are the ones most likely to lose their jobs, which is generally in the restaurant or service industry.

In Arizona's case, I believe the virus was late in coming and finally spiked in one of these areas, inflated the statewide total. I don't believe it was caused by the reopening (or at least, primary by it).

For example, in my county (Marin), there has been a surge recently in the Canal area, where it is predominantly Latino. 85% of new cases are from Latinos, although they are only 16% of the population here. Nevertheless, it is not going to affect the reopenings, as that is more guided by hospital capacity than by cases and since Latinos tend to be more youthful than other ethnic groups, it hasn't resulting in a proportional amount of hospitalizations (Only one Hispanic has died so far, out of 17 in the County, even though they comprise 60% of the total cases so far).

[deckard82]

Originally Posted by Bigdog

And if the second wave comes it is all on their shoulders for allowing what has taken place this last week.

Sure. Because everyone else is behaving superresponsibly. Not sitting in packed restaurants and all that where the virus gets passed on much more easily. At least the protesters (not talking about looters) have a good reason for what they are doing. They are outside and for the most part wearing masks.

At the very least you could say that everyone who isn't following the rules will share the blame and that's certainly not just protesters.

[Lacit170]

Originally Posted by mar3o

It's terrifying that some people in here are passing this off as a joke. What you just said is basically this doesn't even qualify as a pandemic - a stunning statement. But then we already know where you stand on this. Hundreds of thousands dead in a matter of weeks and you dismiss it.

Maybe we do need a zombie apocalypse before some of you take any of this seriously. I guess we should have just never even locked anything down and let everything stay open, Then we would have had millions dead, and people could whine that we didn't do anything.

I'll say this again - the reason why the numbers are much lower now is because of the lockdown and precautions.

and i'll say this again, the reason the lockdown was initiated was to not overwhelm the hospitals... do you not think we are beyond that for the vast majority of the country?

Originally Posted by mar3o

I hate to say this, but at this point, maybe everything should just open back up 100%. And I'm dead-set against that and I firmly believe it would be disastrous. But hey, that's what so many of you want, go ahead and find out the hard way. Open it all back up and let wave two hit hard. Maybe after a second full wave more people will start taking this seriously. Sadly, that would mean many more will die. But I guess many are willing to gamble with other people's lives.

take a look on whats going on right now... yes, many are willing to gamble other peoples lives....

go to the beach, you're a murderer.... do it for a cause, we'll overlook it, carry on.

Originally Posted by Bigdog

I agree if we can have 50,000+ protest with not a shred of social distancing taking place, then the mom and pop shop's should be allowed to open back up if they so choose imo, absolutely.

Sorry this is not going to be had both ways, either this virus is an issue and we all equally share lock down responsibility, or these mayors and governors all allowing and giving permits out for this nonsense can kiss us actually productive members of this country backsides!

And if the second wave comes it is all on their shoulders for allowing what has taken place this last week.

exactly... authority and people in charge need to stick to their guidelines REGARDLESS. the end result is the same if what theyve been telling us is true. if you gather in mass, you are gonig to pass the virus on to vulnerable and elderly. so if you do that, you are selfish. remember all that talk? oh, but this is different.. i get it

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Lacit170

go to the beach, you're a murderer.... do it for a cause, we'll overlook it, carry on.

Precisely. God forbid anyone be allowed to go out and do something that'll help the economy recover, but violent protests that destroy people's businesses? A-OK!

[MifuneFan]

[deckard82]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

Precisely. God forbid anyone be allowed to go out and do something that'll help the economy recover, but violent protests that destroy people's businesses? A-OK!

Looters destroyed businesses, not protesters. And the vast majority of the protesters are NOT violent. Unless you're saying that all cops are bad because a few knocked over an elderly guy and left him on the ground bleeding, etc. etc. .

As for people complaining about protesters right now, were you complaining when people prostested against the lockdowns? Were you worried about them spreading the virus too? Were you complaining about folks with rifles, pushing and yelling at and spitting on cops, putting them at risk? And that goes both ways. Shitty behavior is shitty behavior no matter what the agenda is.

[Monterey Jack]

I have no problem with non-violent protests, but looters are the scum of the earth and are only prolonging this insanity.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

I have no problem with non-violent protests, but looters are the scum of the earth and are only prolonging this insanity.

Looters aren't protesters.

[Lacit170]

Originally Posted by deckard82

As for people complaining about protesters right now, were you complaining when people prostested against the lockdowns? Were you worried about them spreading the virus too? Were you complaining about folks with rifles, pushing and yelling at and spitting on cops, putting them at risk? And that goes both ways. Shitty behavior is shitty behavior no matter what the agenda is.

the above argument doesnt make much sense...

1 - people gather to open up business, hence, disagreeing with the orders to begin with

2 - people gathering for a cause, rightfully so (peaceful protestors anyway) but are not the same people clamoring to open up the economy and get back to work.

point is, im sure most of the people gathering in mass right now are the very same people who were telling everyone they are selfish people for gathering at beaches or wherever since they are going to pass it on and kill people.

you cant have it both ways. either the virus is so serious, no gatherings should take place as it will kill others...or its not... pick a side.

and to clarify, i just think its funny... the double standard that is.

[BucketheadPikes]

Here's this thread now, including a member that accused me of repeating myself. See above ^^:

[civiclx]

Originally Posted by bruceames

Made a few hotel reservation in some touristy areas in California. None of the hotels in these areas (Truckee and South Lake Tahoe) are open yet (because they don't want people traveling there), but hopefully they will be in a few weeks.

One hotel told me that if they can't reopen by next month that they will be in big trouble.

I remember watching the weather on TV and seeing Truckee on the map and it was always way colder than everywhere else

Barnes & Noble reopened today