Post by redheadbaker on Mar 15, 2021 8:48:50 GMT -5
Watched this video last night. I cracked up laughing.
TX woman arrested for refusing to wear a mask in a bank. They told her that despite the Gov. lifting restrictions, they still required her to wear a mask in the branch. She refused to put one on, refused to leave, so they called the police. She starts arguing with the police officer, "What are you going to do, arrest me?" Uh, yeah. She puts up a bit of a fight, he gets her down on the ground.
She claims police brutality. The other patrons in the bank say out loud to her, "No, no it's not."
Post by mrsukyankee on Mar 15, 2021 9:41:11 GMT -5
I unexpectedly received an invitation from my GP to get my first vaccination. I thought it'd be at the end of the month. And then I was able to book in for Friday night. Holy moly. That was easy and quick. I will say that the NHS has been the rock star group of this pandemic and I'm so happy that I signed up with this GP as they use technology so well!
melmaria , I suspect some of this has to do with more contagious variants in some regions, and that might be difficult to compare a state with a more contagious variant with one that did not.
I have been generally happy with the way our state has handled it. When cases were low, we were mostly open with precaution and when cases were high we were mostly closed. We weren't open the entire time like Florida nor were we closed the entire time like CA. Obviously, I am generalizing. ETA- typically I think a reason school and businesses were closed besides guidelines were due to staffing. If numbers were high more staff got it, and then there wasn't enough staff to run everything.
melmaria , I suspect some of this has to do with more contagious variants in some regions, and that might be difficult to compare a state with a more contagious variant with one that did not.
I have been generally happy with the way our state has handled it. When cases were low, we were mostly open with precaution and when cases were high we were mostly closed. We weren't open the entire time like Florida nor were we closed the entire time like CA. Obviously, I am generalizing.
I think it's also difficult to compare because counties within CA were more strict than others. When we had the last shut down, where restaurants weren't even supposed to be doing patio dining, OC still had patio dining while LA was closed down to strictly take out.
melmaria , the one thing that struck me with the early pandemic was definitely the lack of leadership. Obviously, federal, but really the ones that had the most impact was the lack of leadership of my state association and the county health department where I work, and even of my director and other department heads. My director was doing the budget, and other department heads were looking for perfection maybe or had so many questions as to be unhelpful. I just kept writing more and more out for them.
I am not in public health in any way shape or form. I wrote our pandemic plan. I wrote our re-opening plan before plans were released by the state and those plans never included our industry anyway. I did all of the quarantining and contact tracing at work and released everyone from quarantine. We notified the local health department, and they did not do any contact tracing. They never contacted any of us.
ETA- Our state organization got bogged down in testing Covid on surfaces which makes no sense because it is respiratory. Our state industry association had very little and too late communication with our health departments on where employees stood in terms of getting the vaccine.
Post by formerlyak on Mar 15, 2021 13:17:33 GMT -5
With regard to FL v. CA, I think the article is looking too much at numbers and outcomes as opposed to including things like population density, multigenerational housing, key industries, etc. CA has more densely populated metro areas than FL, for example. That could add to spread. We also have a lot of agriculture and manufacturing, both of which had huge outbreaks - like in the hundreds per outbreak. It also doesn't take into account that there is some hints that FL may have not 100% reported everything (they drove out their lead PH official because she refused to skirt the counting best practices).
You can also look at case rates now - where CA is slowly opening and FL is all in with opening. Per WaPo the 7-day average case rate for FL is 21/100,000 and CA is 9/100,000. The FL case rate for the past 7 days with all their stuff open is 2.5 times that of CA.
I guess my point is, data can be found to back a lot of different viewpoints. What will be interesting to me is, will CA's slow reopening prove beneficial in keeping cases down? And, which state will see a quicker economic recovery, as there was speculation early on based on historical data, that shutting down and slowly reopening with the intent of shutting down again, led to quicker economic recovery.
Our governor just announced that ages 16-44 will be vaccinated in the same timeframe. All other age groups have been broken down by brackets of 10 yrs. This is going to be a nightmare. Why should 44 year olds be in the same risk bracket as 16 year olds? I'm 37 felt and pretty confident with my vaccination window. Now I'm going to be fighting the scheduling system alongside an additional generation. What a joke. My gut says I'm looking at summer, while my husband (in the 45-54 age bracket) will likely get his in April.
melmaria, I asked our industry organization when we could stop quarantining materials and they couldn't give me an answer. So far this year, it has been 3 days, then 7, then back to 3 and now 24 hours. There has been exactly zero evidence that these materials have given anyone Covid.
More and more states are going to be doing this because of Biden's push for states to make all adults eligible by May 1.
Part of the thought, I'm sure, is that it's too complicated to administer every other age group remaining in two-week increments - i.e. "ages 55-65 for the next two weeks, ages 45-55 for the following two weeks, ages 35-45 for the following two weeks..." well, now you're in May. Doing that would force states and providers to switch gears/eligibility requirements very quickly. I mean, states took several months to vaccinate the 75+ crowd.
I also don't think they'd be doing this if the supply wasn't going to be there to make it less of a shitshow. Hopefully I'm not wrong.
I should have phrased it differently. It's been advertised more as "X group is will be open to scheduling on Y date". So it was accessibility to when you could finally log in and book an appointment.
I sure hope this means there will be more supply, but then I wonder if there's going to be an increase in staffing to facilitate the administration of the vaccines. The healthcare system is taxed already. Maybe the National Guard? They're doing Covid swabbing for our local university hospital.
The human component really throws a wrench into everything. The primary driver of infection is close social interaction without a mask... save putting people in prison for gathering at their homes, restrictions can only do so much. This became a very political issue and we have a very politically divided population.
I also think there was poor communication on the data nationwide. People were overly trusting of their ill fitting surgical masks, single layer cloth masks, and gaiters. PPE is the last line of defense and not the first. Then, conversely, we had a lot of near useless temperature checks/hyper sanitation... false sense of security. We needed more testing and better contact tracing.... by the time we got it (did we ever?)), the virus was diffuse.
But, honestly, people have a short “good behavior” time frame for the most part.
People become fatigued of the precautions or that acute worry fades away.
I also think a lot of people simply couldn’t do it. It is easier to stay isolated when you are able to WFH or learn from home or pay for grocery delivery. So many people had to be out of the house for various jobs, I think it was just hard for people to relate to the idea that they couldn’t socialize but could be working 40 hours a week. I know the difference but emotion takes over. People are going to people.
A nationwide lockdown... extremely strict... would have been more helpful than 50 states acting individually. There was never an “American message.” It was all over the place.
I think we have to be open to the data... whatever it says... in the years to come. I don’t think this will be neatly split down party lines with the democratic states doing everything correctly and the republican states doing everything wrong.
This won’t be the last pandemic. We need to be better equipped next time.
melmaria , I asked our industry organization when we could stop quarantining materials and they couldn't give me an answer. So far this year, it has been 3 days, then 7, then back to 3 and now 24 hours. There has been exactly zero evidence that these materials have given anyone Covid.
I think in some cities in California, there's still like a 72 hour quarantine on library books between borrowers? Idk, our California posters can correct me on the exact timeframe, but my CA sister was complaining about it.
Meanwhile, shipping books to your house on Amazon prime in <48 hours, no matter how many people in the warehouse/along the mail route handle the packages, is a-OK!
We're completely destroying public/free services in this country, for absolutely no reason. Meanwhile, the Jeff Bezoses of the world keep getting richer...
Our library books are still quarantined 72 hours (Ohio).
melmaria , I asked our industry organization when we could stop quarantining materials and they couldn't give me an answer. So far this year, it has been 3 days, then 7, then back to 3 and now 24 hours. There has been exactly zero evidence that these materials have given anyone Covid.
I think in some cities in California, there's still like a 72 hour quarantine on library books between borrowers? Idk, our California posters can correct me on the exact timeframe, but my CA sister was complaining about it.
Meanwhile, shipping books to your house on Amazon prime in <48 hours, no matter how many people in the warehouse/along the mail route handle the packages, is a-OK!
We're completely destroying public/free services in this country, for absolutely no reason. Meanwhile, the Jeff Bezoses of the world keep getting richer...
I think our local library is still doing this. I actually looked this up recently to see if the recommendations on cleaning has changed. This document from the CDC says the virus can remain on surfaces hours to days. We know now it's not the main way its transmitted.
Our library books are still quarantined 72 hours (Ohio).
This shit literally makes my head explode.
If libraries want to do curbside pickup or indoor capacity/distancing restrictions/limitations, that's totally fine - and makes sense with everything we now know about how this disease spreads. But this is just performative, self-flagellating nonsense. People aren't getting Covid from touching books.
So I’m the one who has the authority to change our quarantine procedures at my library. I agree that it’s not necessary and the industry study that library quarantines are based on is bad science. However, I have a staff member who pushed for the longer quarantine and so I’m leaving it for their comfort level. We aren’t a public library and have pretty low circulation of print materials and we’ve made exceptions and pulled something out of quarantine early if it was requested.
I don’t even know why I’m responding, maybe just to show that’s it’s not as easy as being “self-flagellating nonsense.”
More and more states are going to be doing this because of Biden's push for states to make all adults eligible by May 1.
Part of the thought, I'm sure, is that it's too complicated to administer every other age group remaining in two-week increments - i.e. "ages 55-65 for the next two weeks, ages 45-55 for the following two weeks, ages 35-45 for the following two weeks..." well, now you're in May. Doing that would force states and providers to switch gears/eligibility requirements very quickly. I mean, states took several months to vaccinate the 75+ crowd.
I also don't think they'd be doing this if the supply wasn't going to be there to make it less of a shitshow. Hopefully I'm not wrong.
I should have phrased it differently. It's been advertised more as "X group is will be open to scheduling on Y date". So it was accessibility to when you could finally log in and book an appointment.
I sure hope this means there will be more supply, but then I wonder if there's going to be an increase in staffing to facilitate the administration of the vaccines. The healthcare system is taxed already. Maybe the National Guard? They're doing Covid swabbing for our local university hospital.
Likely National Guard, as well as regular active duty. A large number of medics from our location are being deployed to help with vaccination. They are pulling them from all over.
Our library books are still quarantined 72 hours (Ohio).
This shit literally makes my head explode.
If libraries want to do curbside pickup or indoor capacity/distancing restrictions/limitations, that's totally fine - and makes sense with everything we now know about how this disease spreads. But this is just performative, self-flagellating nonsense. People aren't getting Covid from touching books.
On the other hand, letting the books sit for 72 hours before checking them in is a really cheap and easy precaution to take, even if it's probably not useful. I don't feel like it is significantly slowing down the time it takes for me to get my books. I'm much more concerned about cases where the money that might have been spent upgrading HVAC systems or improve ventilation or put up plexiglass barriers is instead being diverted to pay people to wipe down walls with disinfectants every day.
I think our local library is still doing this. I actually looked this up recently to see if the recommendations on cleaning has changed. This document from the CDC says the virus can remain on surfaces hours to days. We know now it's not the main way its transmitted.
We not only know it's not the main way it's transmitted, we know it's not even a likely means of transmission.
Acknowledging that something is theoretically possible does not mean we should be diverting a lot of resources toward it when the costs drastically outweigh the benefits.
To be clear: The fact that the coronavirus is much less likely to spread through surfaces does not mean that it is impossible to get the coronavirus from touching things. If somebody with COVID-19 sneezes three times onto a little spot on a cold steel table, and you rub your hand around in the snot for a bit and immediately lick your fingers, that disgusting act may well result in you infecting yourself. But the threat of such unbelievably stupid behavior at a mass level shouldn’t warrant a multibillion-dollar war on fomites. “If surface transmission happened, it would have to require touching a newly contaminated surface, then very quickly touching your eyes, nose, or mouth without washing your hands first,” Goldman allows. That’s why he strongly advocates for hand-washing with soap and warm water, but otherwise not treating surfaces during this pandemic too differently than you otherwise would.
Why does this form of hygienic sensationalism even matter? If people want to wash their hands nine times a day, I guess they should go right ahead.
But the costs of hygiene theater are greater than dry hands for paranoid people. First, it’s absorbing precious resources. Urban-transit authorities have spent hundreds of millions of dollars blasting their subways and buses with antimicrobial weaponry, even as they discuss the need to cut essential service. Money that should be spent on rides is being directed toward soap. Second, it builds a false sense of security: If you believe that the coronavirus is spread from surfaces rather than the air, you might be more likely to hang out in a restaurant that cleans its tables—increasing the odds that you get sick from an airborne disease floating your way from strangers seated nearby.
I agree about the false sense of security and waste of resources. Disinfecting high touch surfaces is not a terrible thing in my opinion, but to the level its happening at places to prove they are "clean and safe" doesn't seem to be what is cutting down on transmission.
Our governor just announced that ages 16-44 will be vaccinated in the same timeframe. All other age groups have been broken down by brackets of 10 yrs. This is going to be a nightmare. Why should 44 year olds be in the same risk bracket as 16 year olds? I'm 37 felt and pretty confident with my vaccination window. Now I'm going to be fighting the scheduling system alongside an additional generation. What a joke. My gut says I'm looking at summer, while my husband (in the 45-54 age bracket) will likely get his in April.
I'm quoting myself to follow-up.
Someone pointed out to me that the 16-24 age group is more likely to be in high school, college, or retail/people facing in the workforce. Which makes their risk of exposure increased, though they may not be as likely to get as sick from the virus.
Interesting points. I feel a little less bitter about today's announcement.
Our governor just announced that ages 16-44 will be vaccinated in the same timeframe. All other age groups have been broken down by brackets of 10 yrs. This is going to be a nightmare. Why should 44 year olds be in the same risk bracket as 16 year olds? I'm 37 felt and pretty confident with my vaccination window. Now I'm going to be fighting the scheduling system alongside an additional generation. What a joke. My gut says I'm looking at summer, while my husband (in the 45-54 age bracket) will likely get his in April.
@@@@@@@
This actually makes sense to me.
While the risk of suffering severe outcomes is higher in a **healthy** 40 year old compared to the 16 year old, it’s still relatively low. And the 16 year old really needs to get back to school and extracurriculars safely. In my social circles, the 30-40+ crowd also seems far more likely to have WFH jobs while the 16-29 crowd has been reporting to work in person all year, and 18+ living with roommates which obviously adds exposure risk to the person and the community.
I think given the increasing evidence about vaccines reducing transmission, it makes sense to open to these groups at the same time. But of course anyone with a medical condition (and preferably anyone living with a person at risk) should be prioritized.
ETA I see you covered this yourself 10 min ago. That’s what I get for not reading through!
This reminds me of seeing pregnancy announcements online. Every vaccine record post stings. I'm so tired of seclusion. We were finally told at an appointment last week that we can let DS out more as the world starts to reopen. We are SO ready.
Absolutely. I'm freaking out a bit about today's announcement. I'm still immunocompromised from chemo and was so excited to be able to sign up for the vax starting 4/12. Now with the window opening for everyone 44 and under I'm so scared about how long it may take to get an appointment. I'm anxiously waiting for Lamont's presser to start...
I think in some cities in California, there's still like a 72 hour quarantine on library books between borrowers? Idk, our California posters can correct me on the exact timeframe, but my CA sister was complaining about it.
Meanwhile, shipping books to your house on Amazon prime in <48 hours, no matter how many people in the warehouse/along the mail route handle the packages, is a-OK!
We're completely destroying public/free services in this country, for absolutely no reason. Meanwhile, the Jeff Bezoses of the world keep getting richer...
Our library books are still quarantined 72 hours (Ohio).
Nearly a year after California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the nation’s first statewide shutdown because of the coronavirus, masks remain mandated, indoor dining and other activities are significantly limited, and Disneyland remains closed.
By contrast, Florida has no statewide restrictions. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has prohibited municipalities from fining people who refuse to wear masks. And Disney World has been open since July.
Despite their differing approaches, California and Florida have experienced almost identical outcomes in COVID-19 case rates.
How have two states that took such divergent tacks arrived at similar points?
“This is going to be an important question that we have to ask ourselves: What public health measures actually were the most impactful, and which ones had negligible effect or backfired by driving behavior underground?” said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Though research has found that mask mandates and limits on group activities such as indoor dining can help slow the spread of the coronavirus, states with greater government-imposed restrictions have not always fared better than those without them.
California and Florida both have a COVID-19 case rate of around 8,900 per 100,000 residents since the pandemic began, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And both rank in the middle among states for COVID-19 death rates — Florida was 27th as of Friday; California was 28th.
Connecticut and South Dakota are another example. Both rank among the 10 worst states for COVID-19 death rates. Yet Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, imposed numerous statewide restrictions over the past year after an early surge in deaths, while South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, issued no mandates as virus deaths soared in the fall.
While Lamont ordered quarantines for certain out-of-state visitors, Noem launched a $5 million tourism advertising campaign and welcomed people to a massive motorcycle rally, which some health experts said spread the coronavirus throughout the Midwest.
Both contend their approach is the best.
...
Public health experts said individual choices could help explain the similar outcomes among some states with loose or strict orders from the governor.
Some people voluntarily were “being more vigilant in states where the guidelines are more relaxed,” said Thomas Tsai, an assistant professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Yet in states with more government mandates, “people generally in public were wearing masks and following the guidelines, but in private they were letting down their guard and less vigilant,” he said.
Imposing strict measures, like forbidding families from visiting grandparents and friends from gathering, is like taking an abstinence-only approach to combating drug use and sexually transmitted disease, said Adalja, of Johns Hopkins University.
Some will comply. But other “people are going to do those activities, anyway,” he said.
I'm not posting this article to justify people not taking precautions. I've been one of the most careful people about Covid I know. I rarely spend any time indoors that is not my own house; I dutifully wear my mask; I haven't seen my parents in over a year. But the post-mortem on "what restrictions actually made a difference, and how did certain restrictions make shit worse" over the next few years is really going to be fascinating.
I think this ignores testing rates. So many places are drastically under testing so their case rates are artificially low. California has been consistently testing many people since the summer. So the cases that arise are more likely to be documented.
]I think in some cities in California, there's still like a 72 hour quarantine on library books between borrowers? Idk, our California posters can correct me on the exact timeframe, but my CA sister was complaining about it. [ br]
our library hasn’t reopened - still all curbside - and books are quarantined for up to 4 days. It’s a week quarantine at the next town over. But they have completely done away with late fees and do automatic renewals until it arrives back so the book quarantining doesn’t bother me and might be more about giving the staff some flexibility on when they check things back into the system so they can focus on pulling all the requests. Since everything is coming in as a hold request they are pulling so much more - not just for their own patrons but anyone in the county.
Yes, I am. Apparently 25% of people in Ma have gotten at least 1 dose of vaccine, which is amazing! But I feel like everyone I know has gotten it except me. I know that’s not true but it feels that way! Another reason to stay off SM these days.
The initial wave of results for the medical study I am in was published this morning. It tracks if transplant recipients develop antibodies from the vaccines.
Only 76 of 436 participants showed antibodies after the first vaccine. I am one of the 76 people so I am happy. Although I am stoked, it's not the best news for the transplant world. I am curious what the second vaccine results will show.