*** OFFICIAL *** COVID-19 CoronaVirus Thread. Fresh epidemic fears as child pneumonia cases surge in Europe after China outbreak. NOW in USA (11 Viewers)

[IvanKaramazov]

I urge you not to follow Walz on twitter if you already don't. The guy can't win. Two weeks ago there was the call from everyone (a very vocal minority - but still very vocal) to open up the state. Now there are people telling him he will have blood on his hands when the inevitable death spike occurs.

I know he isn't alone in this, but man, I wouldn't want to be in charge of handling a pandemic, that's for sure

Everybody who has to make a decision about opening up -- policy-makers, business leaders -- are in no-win positions.  They all have to make a call that's wide-open to Monday morning quarterbacking.

 

[Possum]

 Bias is everywhere. Two biased assumptions in the first post and then another one to follow it up. Solid work.

I only typed what I did to illustrate that the only reason terminalxylem was questioning the pedigree of the writer is because it didn't match his view or he generally disagrees with the poster that linked it. 

Similar to how if somebody posted something from dailymail that went against the grain in here it would be pointed out immediately that dailymail is a tabloid. However if it was a story that matched the popular opinion or was a narrative people bought it would not get questioned at all. (yes this happened in this thread also)

 

[eoMMan]

Update on this story...

He has not even tested positive for covid and has now convinced tons of people that he got it through his eyes on a flight. 

He could still be right, but again, how the heck is he so certain when he has been tested 4 times and been negative all four times? 

Maybe sick of Dr. John Torres getting all the air time on NBC news? 

 

[parasaurolophus]

Maybe sick of Dr. John Torres getting all the air time on NBC news? 

Haha. Dr. John on again??? Oh yeah I will show him! 

 

[tonydead]

It's misleading to say that the "tribes are done with it" -- first off, not every casino has decided to open (link). Second, the only casino opening in western Washington will be open to less than 50% capacity (link). Third, they are checking everyone's temperature at entry. Fourth, they're requiring masks. And fifth -- here's the big one -- they're requiring all customers to register their cellphone so that the customers can potentially be tracked.

But, other than allllllll of those caveats -- yeah, they're done with it!

Only Casino?    You're so cute. 

Snoqualmie opens May 31st.  Cant wait. 

The Puyallup, Suquamish, Squaxin Island and Nisqually tribes all are reopening their facilities  Monday, and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation will open its Twelve Tribes facility in Omak, Okanogan County, on Tuesday. But patrons will not find it’s back to business as usual.

800 or so workers per casino divide by three shifts even at 50% capacity is a lot of people gathered. Touching machines and eating at restaurants.  

GTFO here with contact tracing BS. lol. 

Oh sure, nobody said they werent taking precautions, they are opening up and ignoring the governor Is the point. We all need to do that. 

 

[Morton Muffley]

Everybody who has to make a decision about opening up -- policy-makers, business leaders -- are in no-win positions.  They all have to make a call that's wide-open to Monday morning quarterbacking.

Welcome to leadership.  It's part of the job.  

 

[TheWinz]

Disclaimer: Opinion on opening up. For what it’s worth. 

Watching how the “opening up” of states is unfolding raises the concern that we’re collectively missing the point of “re-opening”.  The point is to get people back to work. 30 million unemployed? Not acceptable. We need unemployment to begin falling, so in re-opening we should be wisely opening businesses to get as many people as possible back to earning a living again ASAP.

The point of re-opening is not to initiate “happy fun time” again. People need to be focused on getting back to work safely, as many people as possible working, as quickly as possible. Not to run out to some bar to drink, socialize and spread the virus while one bartender gets back to work. Not smart. The point of re-opening is not to head to the beach as quickly as possible, or to go to Disney soon. The point is to get as many people back to work as quickly as possible, safely, go to sleep, and do it again the next day, and the next day. Get off of unemployment, get back to work. Not “party fun time” right now.

Stay healthy and safe. Hopefully better times are ahead.

My brother has been a chef at an upscale restaurant for many years, but the place decided not to stay open for curbside delivery, because very few people want to pay top dollar for takeout.  And here comes the problem - when they do reopen, hours will be cut.  So, he will be going from a steady 40 hour per week job, to collecting a decent unemployment, to making less than what he is getting on unemployment.  He will be losing money by going back to work.  And his wife is in the same exact boat, working for a small veterinarian office.  My brother and sister-in-law are just 2 cases, but I bet they are closer to the rule than the exception.  They both want to be back at work, but I wonder how many people are making more by not working?  A huge chunk of the workforce won't be going back to anything that resembles their previous paychecks.

Also, how many people work at places that are dedicated to "happy party fun time"?  And don't those people make up a large portion of the 30 million unemployed?  It's a catch-22.  You have to have "happy party fun time" in order for people to have jobs.  The people who never lost their jobs or got their hours cut are not the ones you/we are worried about.  People still making a normal paycheck must continue to blow their money on fun time in order for the unemployment rate to go down. 

 

[Tolstoy]

I might try to have some "happy fun time" today

 

[the moops]

Only Casino?    You're so cute. 

Snoqualmie opens May 31st.  Cant wait. 

800 or so workers per casino divide by three shifts even at 50% capacity is a lot of people gathered. Touching machines and eating at restaurants.  

GTFO here with contact tracing BS. lol. 

Oh sure, nobody said they werent taking precautions, they are opening up and ignoring the governor Is the point. We all need to do that. 

Your points would be more well received if you didn't act like a #### when responding to people.

 

[Pipes]

Ohio wants companies to snitch on workers who don't show up to work to the government who blame the Virus saying it's fraud. Ohio must LOVE Lawsuits

Also Jersey is opening some beaches for Memorial Day but Parks and a lot of other stuff are closed. Some locals are saying some beaches are still Locals only and The Jersey Shore has very little if any short term beach rentals. My one former teacher who lives at the shore now from HS said if you are coming from PA to the Shore you better have a fake NJ License or they might not even let you on the shore properties. There's a lot of stuff people in PA or those more inland in NJ who own a home there have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get to their houses and prove its theirs. Also depending on county only the people in the immediate family can be in the house. That means if you are going solo have a few friends coming well you are #### out of luck. Considering the traffic and all most people might be better off staying back in Philly this summer. Also beaches are gonna be limited on amount of people on a beach with social distancing enforced. 

It is fraud.  The federal govt is subsidizing unemployment benefits by an extra $600 per week.  So if you are offered your job back and can work in a safe environment you should go back to work and stop collecting unemployment. 

 

[Cranky Al]

Sorrento claims antivirus breakthrough

 

[H Jass]

Sorrento claims antivirus breakthrough

Not the post I was expecting from Cranky Al!  Thanks! 

 

[jplvr]

Sorrento claims antivirus breakthrough

Hope Trump doesn't mention it positively so we can all pull for it to work.

 

[Jobber]

Hope Trump doesn't mention it positively so we can all pull for it to work.

Move the stupidity next door, please.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

I said the author made many good points...in fact, I didn't criticize anything he said. 

While you're right I don't often agree with Mr. A, I really was pointing out a larger problem I have with accepting "expert" opinion from people who have little expertise in the subject they're opining. And when they're going against the grain of legitimate experts in the field, I'm much more likely to call their expertise into question.

I find this so odd. First of all, what was in that article that rung untrue? Why immediately question the validity of the source? He's a doctor from Johns Hopkins who wrote an op-ed in the NYT. Rather than address the points he raised, the only input offered is why trust his word and question virologists? Haven't virologists gotten this wrong multiple times during this crisis? Even this doctor from Johns Hopkins admits he had it wrong 2 months ago when it came to masks. At least he's humble enough to admit when he's wrong and allow his mind to be changed. As for the rest, he's taking what the past 8 weeks have taught us and *gasp*, suggesting we refine our blanket approach to a more targeted one with the knowledge at hand.

Second, you say you don't often agree with me. During this whole virus, my viewpoints have been that the virus was spreading far more in the US prior to March, that there were far more asymptomatic cases than assumed early on, that masks were useful and a key to slowing this virus down, and that the most attention and precaution should be taken with the people who are actually vulnerable to death from this virus. The first 2 (much earlier spread and asymptomatic cases) were things shader strongly disagreed with and things I took so much unwarranted crap for. When you say you rarely agreed with me, are you saying you too had those same incorrect assumptions. I do remember you strongly challenging me when I pointed out any evidence of early spread and asymptomatics. So when you say you disagreed with me, are you now admitting that you probably shouldn't have? Or do you still maintain your original positions? As to the other two stances, (benefit of masks and focusing on the elderly/vulnerable) do you disagree with me on those as well? 

To put it bluntly, if you disagree with me on these things, what the heck for? Each and every one of them appear quite strongly to be true. And they're exactly what the doctor from Johns Hopkins is stressing. Just because he's not virologist, he's not worth placing much stock in?

It's just all so strange.

 

[the moops]

During this whole virus, my viewpoints have been that the virus was spreading far more in the US prior to March, that there were far more asymptomatic cases than assumed early on, that masks were useful and a key to slowing this virus down, and that the most attention and precaution should be taken with the people who are actually vulnerable to death from this virus.

You left out your hydroxychloroquine love from this list

 

[Mr Anonymous]

You left out your hydroxychloroquine love from this list

Because there's no chance at honesty with it. People are dug in. Despite the fact that doctors keep using it, (especially outside of the U.S.) and every study that attempts to discredit it, is shown to be flawed if not fraudulent and biased. It's getting as good if not better results than any other treatment currently in use, but because one very disliked person dared utter its name, the drug gets obsessive media scrutiny and extraordinary attempts to discredit it. It's actually really sad.

ETA: I posted about hydroxychloroquine prior to Trump ever mentioning it, because it was the first drug that emerged in the quest to find treatments. Some people welcomed word that there might be some hope for lessening the damage done by the virus. Others wanted to poke at that hope from the get-go and tripled down once Trump touted it. The emergence of the drug was from DOCTORS who turned to drugs that matched the symptoms they were dealing with. And DOCTORS were having a level of success with it that spread to DOCTORS around the world using it. And they're still using it to this day. When Trump mentioned it, my posts about it turned to shooting down the ridiculous attempts to discredit it. Not out of support for Trump, I could care less about him, but because of how pathetic it was the people were trying to put up barriers and create biased studies to destroy a drug that was helping, simply because Trump dared hype it. And again, DOCTORS are still using it. No drug has emerged as a wonder drug. That's usually how all drugs work. You don't pop a pill and voila, sickness gone. They are treatments. And what works for one doesn't work for all. Hydroxychlorquine, like Remdesivir, and the other leading current treatments, don't have a 100% success rate. But DOCTORS do see them doing more good than using no drug. And when DOCTORS around the world were polled on which drug they are using the most, it was hydroxychlorquine. That may no longer be the case, and I could care less if it is or isn't. I continue to hope that DOCTORS will make progress with the dosages, timing, protocol with all the drugs they're using as treatment.

 

[jplvr]

Move the stupidity next door, please.

The HCQ controversy has to be one of the dumbest parts of this saga.

 

[Possum]

Your points would be more well received if you didn't act like a #### when responding to people.

I don't disagree with you but why not call out the post he was responding to, too? It was just as full of condescending snark (with wrong info on the number of opening casinos to boot).

like parasaurolophus said earlier, both sides of this debate have the same biases towards the news, treat each other the exact same way when arguing, and can't seem to recognize it at all.

 

[Rich Conway]

Second, you say you don't often agree with me. During this whole virus, my viewpoints have been that the virus was spreading far more in the US prior to March, that there were far more asymptomatic cases than assumed early on, that masks were useful and a key to slowing this virus down, and that the most attention and precaution should be taken with the people who are actually vulnerable to death from this virus. The first 2 (much earlier spread and asymptomatic cases) were things shader strongly disagreed with and things I took so much unwarranted crap for. When you say you rarely agreed with me, are you saying you too had those same incorrect assumptions. I do remember you strongly challenging me when I pointed out any evidence of early spread and asymptomatics. So when you say you disagreed with me, are you now admitting that you probably shouldn't have? Or do you still maintain your original positions? As to the other two stances, (benefit of masks and focusing on the elderly/vulnerable) do you disagree with me on those as well?

I assume that @Terminalxylem meant that he often disagrees with you on general political issues?

My personal take on the bolded area is that this isn't particularly controversial until we start talking about a matter of degree.  "Spreading far more" is a very wide range.  From your other posts, I get the impression that you are suggesting that there were millions of cases in the US during the Jan/Feb timeframe.  I find that hard to believe, and I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that's the case.  If you are talking about thousands rather than millions, then sure, I think most would agree.

 

[Battersbox]

I assume that @Terminalxylem meant that he often disagrees with you on general political issues?

My personal take on the bolded area is that this isn't particularly controversial until we start talking about a matter of degree.  "Spreading far more" is a very wide range.  From your other posts, I get the impression that you are suggesting that there were millions of cases in the US during the Jan/Feb timeframe.  I find that hard to believe, and I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that's the case.  If you are talking about thousands rather than millions, then sure, I think most would agree.

I could be wrong because this thread is soooo long, but I do remember one or maybe a few posters getting after Mr. A for arguing about how early the virus was in the U.S. In fact, I believe at one point people were citing someone's work (can't remember who, but it was a prominent virologist) who had published some gene sequencing which 'proved' beyond a doubt the virus wasn't here before the patient zero guy from Washington state. Mr. A was then told 'you are wrong, it's science'. 

And then he was right, at least in absolute terms. You are correct that there is still a matter of degree, but I think it's worth remembering that sometimes people are too quick to say 'see, it's science' as if questioning things deemed by them as settled is wrong.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

I assume that @Terminalxylem meant that he often disagrees with you on general political issues?

My personal take on the bolded area is that this isn't particularly controversial until we start talking about a matter of degree.  "Spreading far more" is a very wide range.  From your other posts, I get the impression that you are suggesting that there were millions of cases in the US during the Jan/Feb timeframe.  I find that hard to believe, and I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that's the case.  If you are talking about thousands rather than millions, then sure, I think most would agree.

It may not be controversial now, but say those things in March and you were told "You're wrong" and treated like a quack by the loudest people here. And no, I've never used the word millions, but there are some ongoing studies that definitely suggest it's possible. I see no reason to rule anything out when you factor in how contagious the virus is. It didn't float around in the sky and descend on us in March. We'll have our answers eventually. We've had millions of cases since March and we've barely begun testing people that would have had it in Dec, Jan, and Feb. We've reached these current numbers primarily testing people who came forward sick. What do you presume to be the total of people who were asymptomatic in those 3 months? They'd have zero reason to be tested in high quantities as yet. It's never made sense that we start recording something in March and act like we wouldn't have significant totals to later add from the previous 3 months with something so ridiculously contagious and often hidden among unknowing carriers.

 

[fantasycurse42]

Sorrento claims antivirus breakthrough

In case anyone isn't aware, this is 99.99997% a pump and dump scheme. I leave it open at 3 in a million that this is legit. 

 

[Doug B]

Sorrento claims antivirus breakthrough

In case anyone isn't aware, this is 99.99997% a pump and dump scheme. I leave it open at 3 in a million that this is legit. 

I've given up commenting on these in vitro studies, and these articles that lead too many casual readers to think they're rounding third base.

 

[Doug B]

Too preliminary and not tested in humans. Major traditional media sources will not ignore truly game-changing, corroborated and vetted scientific news.

You can pretty much count on 999 out 1,000 "good news" science articles you read not really describing anything of ultimate consequence. If sports journalism were like science journalism, you have a lot of articles with headlines like these:

"Elliot takes handoff cleanly from Prescott, 80-yard TD run possible"

"Curry's form perfect on opening trey as Warriors take 3-0 1st quarter lead; win over Lakers virtually certain"

"Kershaw throws 8 consecutive strikes during warmups, Giants face impending loss to Dodgers ace"

No need to re-type it, I don't guess. Need to keep this handy.

 

[Sand]

He went on to repeat several times the need to stay extremely vigilante.

Finally a government directive I can fully endorse.

 

 

[Sand]

All the Karens on facebook who claim that they'll just give a fake address when eating at a restaurant because they think contact tracing is big brother are in for a surprise.   Looks like our state is issuing card readers and you're going to need to scan your ID to get into a restaurant.

Great way to kill restaurants.  Those that aren't already dead, anyway.  

This is just a signal to me (and I'm sure many others) that restaurants are a no go even considering the disposition of this particular state govt.  When this type of order is lifted is when it's safe to get back in the water.

 

[wazoo11]

My older sibling contracted covid-19 and tested positive. The last place he visited was KFC.

 

[Max Power]

Picked up my 3 kids last night for my weekend and got a call from their mom today (my ex). Her husband's exwife just tested positive for Covid. His ex wife had her kids for mothers day and all the kids have been around each other for the whole week. 

My kid's mom just picked them to go get tested and keep them the rest of the weekend. Hope to get results in 48 hours. No one is showing any symptoms.

 

[Sand]

Sorrento claims antivirus breakthrough

In case anyone isn't aware, this is 99.99997% a pump and dump scheme. I leave it open at 3 in a million that this is legit. 

From the relevant twitter thread posted in the stock thread:

"We ran a preclinical experiment that helped identify one of three COVID antibody candidates and we're using that to goose price ahead of dilution."

Yeah - call me a skeptic, but I'm going with that one.

 

[Doug B]

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/convalescent-plasma-safe-treat-covid-19-nationwide-study-n1206126

I don't think this gets enough attention as the true potential 'game changer'.

Of the 5,000 seriously ill patients who received blood plasma transfusions for the study, fewer than 1 percent experienced serious adverse events. The mortality rate seven days after treatment was 14.9 percent, but the researchers noted the infusion patients were already gravely ill and the rate "does not appear excessive."

I don't understand the thrust of this article. Convalescent plasma has been known to work with many other viruses, and has been used in COVID-19 treatment for a few months now, starting in China. Why is NBC reporting on it like it is a brand-new, barely-understood treatment?

What's keeps convalescent plasma treatment from being a game-changer is that only so much can be harvested. Amounts are necessarily very limited by the number of recovered COVID-19 patients, their individual suitability to donate blood products, and the raw quantity of plasma that can be harvested from each patient during the time their bodies are producing anti-bodies.

@Terminalxylem? @Tecumseh? @gianmarco? @growlers? @ghostguy123? Am I missing something?

@shader, I know you're not in medicine, but do you have any mental notes about this to compare?

 

[Sand]

Sometimes people just make me sad.   Everyone in that place needs a good kick in the nuts.

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

Not sure how this makes sense. For restaurants to open and servers to be re-hired, they need customers. For theme parks to hire back workers, they need guests. Etc. Etc....

Sure, but that discounts how much of our economy is based on "happy fun time." A lot of service industries depend on it.

Honestly, I hope the pandemic forces us to re-examine our national priorities, focussing a bit more on things like education, income inequality, healthcare and disaster preparedness, and less on entertainment.

My brother has been a chef at an upscale restaurant for many years, but the place decided not to stay open for curbside delivery, because very few people want to pay top dollar for takeout.  And here comes the problem - when they do reopen, hours will be cut.  So, he will be going from a steady 40 hour per week job, to collecting a decent unemployment, to making less than what he is getting on unemployment.  He will be losing money by going back to work.  And his wife is in the same exact boat, working for a small veterinarian office.  My brother and sister-in-law are just 2 cases, but I bet they are closer to the rule than the exception.  They both want to be back at work, but I wonder how many people are making more by not working?  A huge chunk of the workforce won't be going back to anything that resembles their previous paychecks.

Also, how many people work at places that are dedicated to "happy party fun time"?  And don't those people make up a large portion of the 30 million unemployed?  It's a catch-22.  You have to have "happy party fun time" in order for people to have jobs.  The people who never lost their jobs or got their hours cut are not the ones you/we are worried about.  People still making a normal paycheck must continue to blow their money on fun time in order for the unemployment rate to go down. 

Agreed that there are significant numbers of jobs in the entertainment and discretionary income sectors, and that those jobs have been impacted greatly. Just pointing out that in phased openings, people in bars so early (in a place like WI) was disconcerting to see. Not to be dismissive of bartenders, but it would be great to see strong rebounds in healthcare, construction, manufacturing, wholesaling, retailers, contractors, etc. before seeing a group of people breathing all over each other in a crowded dive bar on day 1.

On the PMIS (pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome) front, it does appear that PMIS is rare and treatable. Thank goodness, but still not the greatest news just because it exists.

How experts are approaching classifying, treating and discussing the incidence of PMIS

 

[VT700GUY]

Oklahoma opened up restaurants and many other businesses two weeks ago.  So far so good, our daily new case count continues to decrease.

Phase two starts today.

 

[beer 30]

I've given up commenting on these in vitro studies, and these articles that lead too many casual readers to think they're rounding third base.

So my FB timeline will be chuck full of it by Sunday. Thanks for the heads up!

Sometimes people just make me sad.   Everyone in that place needs a good kick in the nuts.

Even the women folk? Harsh man

 

[Terminalxylem]

I find this so odd. First of all, what was in that article that rung untrue? Why immediately question the validity of the source? He's a doctor from Johns Hopkins who wrote an op-ed in the NYT. Rather than address the points he raised, the only input offered is why trust his word and question virologists? Haven't virologists gotten this wrong multiple times during this crisis? Even this doctor from Johns Hopkins admits he had it wrong 2 months ago when it came to masks. At least he's humble enough to admit when he's wrong and allow his mind to be changed. As for the rest, he's taking what the past 8 weeks have taught us and *gasp*, suggesting we refine our blanket approach to a more targeted one with the knowledge at hand.

Second, you say you don't often agree with me. During this whole virus, my viewpoints have been that the virus was spreading far more in the US prior to March, that there were far more asymptomatic cases than assumed early on, that masks were useful and a key to slowing this virus down, and that the most attention and precaution should be taken with the people who are actually vulnerable to death from this virus. The first 2 (much earlier spread and asymptomatic cases) were things shader strongly disagreed with and things I took so much unwarranted crap for. When you say you rarely agreed with me, are you saying you too had those same incorrect assumptions. I do remember you strongly challenging me when I pointed out any evidence of early spread and asymptomatics. So when you say you disagreed with me, are you now admitting that you probably shouldn't have? Or do you still maintain your original positions? As to the other two stances, (benefit of masks and focusing on the elderly/vulnerable) do you disagree with me on those as well? 

To put it bluntly, if you disagree with me on these things, what the heck for? Each and every one of them appear quite strongly to be true. And they're exactly what the doctor from Johns Hopkins is stressing. Just because he's not virologist, he's not worth placing much stock in?

It's just all so strange.

I am going on a hike, so no time to dissect the surgeon's article. In short, it's decent, but I believe he is way oversimplifying things.

I disagreed with your promotion of hydroxychloroquine, and other therapeutics based on preclinical data or non-RCT with flawed methodology. I don't think I strongly challenged asymptomatic spread, though I think that is problematic to prove definitively. And I certainly didn't disagree with the notion that many people have minimal to no symptoms.

The virus being here "way earlier" is a matter of when you define early. I don't think it was widespread in this country before winter, at the time it was identified in WA.

And I align much more with Fauci than the people pushing the envelope to open earlier

 

[belljr]

My brother has been a chef at an upscale restaurant for many years, but the place decided not to stay open for curbside delivery, because very few people want to pay top dollar for takeout.  And here comes the problem - when they do reopen, hours will be cut.  So, he will be going from a steady 40 hour per week job, to collecting a decent unemployment, to making less than what he is getting on unemployment.  He will be losing money by going back to work.  And his wife is in the same exact boat, working for a small veterinarian office.  My brother and sister-in-law are just 2 cases, but I bet they are closer to the rule than the exception.  They both want to be back at work, but I wonder how many people are making more by not working?  A huge chunk of the workforce won't be going back to anything that resembles their previous paychecks.

Also, how many people work at places that are dedicated to "happy party fun time"?  And don't those people make up a large portion of the 30 million unemployed?  It's a catch-22.  You have to have "happy party fun time" in order for people to have jobs.  The people who never lost their jobs or got their hours cut are not the ones you/we are worried about.  People still making a normal paycheck must continue to blow their money on fun time in order for the unemployment rate to go down. 

Can't they collect partial unemployment?

I seriously don't know... I thought you could

 

[shader]

Oklahoma opened up restaurants and many other businesses two weeks ago.  So far so good, our daily new case count continues to decrease.

Phase two starts today.

TN has had a good week.  Today is day 19 of the "reopening" and so far, so good.  

We test really well, so it's unlikely that this virus will be able to get off the ground for awhile.  If you test well and there aren't many events where you can mass spread, it's going to take  sometime for the numbers to start going up again.

On the flipside, it really disgusts me to see the people that look at Georgia/OK/TN and start crowing and bragging about how the numbers aren't going up, as if this is proof that what we've done wasn't right.

The lockdown was NECESSARY and was the perfect move.  Everyone talks about how there's not enough good news...why is there not more of a focus on how awesome of a job so many have done?  We've killed it in TN.  But as good as the state is doing, all it takes is a back to normal attitude and it will come raring back.  Based on what I see, that's definitely going to be happening soon.

For the record, just went to Target (in a mask).  Spent the first few minutes counting mask usage among all the non-workers. 29 people with no masks, 10 with masks.

 

[worrierking]

Louisiana in the first day of Phase One reopening.  All the statistics are looking good, .75 Rt, declining hospitalizations, declining percentage of positive tests and much greater testing.  I hope we don't screw things up!

 

[tonydead]

Your points would be more well received if you didn't act like a #### when responding to people.

As compared to scooter?  That's hilarious. 

 

[Shankopotamus]

Oklahoma opened up restaurants and many other businesses two weeks ago.  So far so good, our daily new case count continues to decrease.

Phase two starts today.

Virginia starts Phase 1 today.  I like crunching numbers, so I have been keeping an eye on the Health Department's daily covid report.  Case/hospitalization/death numbers seem to have peaked though I would not say they are definitively dropping either.

The 4 counties around DC (Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudon) make up over 50% of the reported cases.  Call it subway syndrome similar to NYC.   Phase 1 is delayed there for 2 more weeks. 

Richmond and the two surrounding counties (Henrico/Chesterfield) have another 10%. But after that most of the cities look pretty good including the Va Beach/Norfolk, and Hampton areas which is the most populous part of the state.  You are really looking at local hot spots where you have vastly disproportional numbers (small city Harrisonburg - nursing home outbreak I think, rural Buckingham County - prison, and whatever is happening on the two rural eastern shore counties.  Would think testing, tracing and local quarantines would be in force at these locations.

Our governor has been one of the most conservative, his initial call was to close everything to June 10th which I think might have been the latest date in the initial closure calls.   

I hope this works out well.

 

[Doug B]

Louisiana in the first day of Phase One reopening.  All the statistics are looking good, .75 Rt, declining hospitalizations, declining percentage of positive tests and much greater testing.  I hope we don't screw things up!

I've been to three different grocery stores and on one trip to Home Depot since last Saturday. Parking lots were packed much more than normal. Saturday grocery parking looked a lot like pre-Thanksgiving, as a matter of fact. Quite busy.

Despite the numbers, a solid majority of people were taking social distancing seriously and trying hard to avoid others. Mask use is still sub-optimal, averaging out over multiple trips at maybe 2 out of 3 people. Hoping that can increase in the short term, but I know the locals -- to achieve greater mask compliance, retailers are going to have to be prepared to give away masks.

 

[parasaurolophus]

For the record, just went to Target (in a mask).  Spent the first few minutes counting mask usage among all the non-workers. 29 people with no masks, 10 with masks.

39 people is how many we see waiting in line at target these days. (Although I imagine that is different now that more will be open)

 

[Sand]

According to this leaked Chinese database it looks like the number of COVID cases there was more like 640k instead of 83k.  

An order of magnitude off - a much more believable number than the crap they've been shoveling.

 

[stbugs]

Sometimes people just make me sad.   Everyone in that place needs a good kick in the nuts.

I went to ****’s today for my son and we were one of the only two people with masks aside from the employees. It certainly was very limited shoppers so we never got near anyone other than the employee who got his shoes. At least when I’ve been to Costco last week everyone but two sets of people had masks.

We’ve got our summer Hilton Head trip and I’ll be damned if douchebags like this close stuff down. 

 

[stbugs]

39 people is how many we see waiting in line at target these days. (Although I imagine that is different now that more will be open)

I don’t know why you’d ever step foot in a Target again. They’ve got their #### together curbside. If you do the drive through pickup you tell them when you leave your house and the app knows when you’re in the parking lot. The last two times I’ve been there it took me under a minute. The employee was coming out while I was pulling into their drive up lanes. Hit the button to open the back, they put in my stuff and hit the button again and drive away.

 

[tonydead]

Casino update. Puyallup Tribe. Smoking is allowed, although we encourage wearing a mask whenever possible.  

 

[parasaurolophus]

I don’t know why you’d ever step foot in a Target again. They’ve got their #### together curbside. If you do the drive through pickup you tell them when you leave your house and the app knows when you’re in the parking lot. The last two times I’ve been there it took me under a minute. The employee was coming out while I was pulling into their drive up lanes. Hit the button to open the back, they put in my stuff and hit the button again and drive away.

I go for allergy meds. Separate counter.  

 

[tonydead]

Sometimes people just make me sad.   Everyone in that place needs a good kick in the nuts.

Humm........ flights to WI ~ $200. Tempting.  

 

[Tolstoy]

at this rate Brazil passed US in new cases/deaths in a few weeks