COVID-19 Megathread

[Dreakon13]

5 minutes ago, VigilantCrow said:

To be fair that was more a jab at the hypocrisy of people only pretending to care about seniors now, when culturally that demographic is discarded after their usefulness is over.

 

 

In my case, I'm far from an advocate for the elderly, but I don't want to actively hurt or kill them lol.  Especially not when that category includes my parents and people in my family now, and especially not in a way that feels totally avoidable with some small mitigation efforts on my end.

 

But yeah, people will grasp onto anything to defend their political ideals... whether they really believe it or not.  Both sides.  It's disgusting.

Edited October 6, 2020 by Dreakon13

[SelectiveGamer]

Originally I was going to vote in-person because my parent kept complaining that they don't trust the mail.

 

Yet me and my parent just got our absentee ballots today. So I'll just go ahead and do it this way and fill it out tonight and send it out tomorrow. If, for no other reason, to piss off a certain person... ?

 

Gee... I'm struggling so much on who to vote for................................. ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lolnoimnot

[AJ_Radio]

12 hours ago, Alderriz said:

Yeah, especially after he says stuff like "Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life."

 

The Covid shitshow never ends.

 

Meanwhile in Russia, we're at the highest number of new cases since May 12. 

You guys have a man who has KGB experience and has treated Trump as a mere puppet. 
 

I don’t see this shitshow ending anytime soon. It’s just sad it took a pandemic to get people to realize we’re not all too immune to diseases like we thought we were. 
 

2020 has basically been the worst year in my 32 years of existence. 2008 - 2012 felt rather tame compared to the utter shit we’ve had to deal with so far this year.

[RadiantFlamberge]

And the fiasco continues. Kayleigh McEnany and Stephen Miller are two more that have tested positive for C19. Yet Trump continues to downplay it, saying it's no more deadly than the flu. Oh, would he like to tell that to the 210.000 people that have died from it in the USA alone in less than a year? Fauci has said that flu doesn't do the things to you that C19 can.

 

Biden has said next Thursday's debate shouldn't be held if Trump still has C19. I agree there. In any future debates, I really think the moderator should be given a kill switch for the microphones. Chris Wallace really could have used it. When someone's time is down to the last 30 seconds, let them know (e.g. "30 seconds, Mr. Trump"). Then, turn off their mike once they're out of time.

 

So Trump halted the stimulus talks... well, who needs him anyway? Biden can reopen the talks very easily.

 

Quote

Some bullshit posted by Donald Trump on Twitter

 

"Flu season is coming up! Many people every year, sometimes over 100,000, and despite the Vaccine, die from the Flu," Trump tweeted. "Are we going to close down our Country? No, we have learned to live with it, just like we are learning to live with Covid, in most populations far less lethal!!!"

EXCUSE ME? Learning to live with it? Hmph. He doesn't understand.

[AJ_Radio]

So we went from 180,000 something to over 210,000 in less than two months.

 

I wish I could time travel back to the year 2010.

[Dreakon13]

9 hours ago, RadiantFlamberge said:

EXCUSE ME? Learning to live with it? Hmph. He doesn't understand.

 

The "in some populations far less lethal" I'm not sure what he's driving at.  If it's COVID, that's just silly.  COVID is a more severe flu.  It effects the same populations the flu does to a different degree.  The caution with it, is how easily it transmits from person to person and our natural lack of defenses.  Making it far easier to inadvertently infect the more vulnerable if we don't make efforts against it, and generally less predictable (albeit not usually deadly) for those not as vulnerable.

 

However... the learning to live with it part, didn't bother me.  We are learning to live with it.  Here in NY, we're mostly back to normal with very low infection rates (aside from a few spikes in certain counties), but it's because of masks and remote working.  We adjust, we learn, we live our lives alongside COVID.  Not magical summertime UV rays, not herd immunity... distancing if you can, and masks most other times.  That's what works.  Both things that don't have to disrupt your life for the overwhelming majority of people unless you let it.  And the people who let it, are often just too stupid or stubborn to adjust.

 

EDIT: And I'm not sure where he got the "over 100,000" yearly flu deaths from.  It's only gotten to 61,000 once since 2010 according to the CDC.  Averaging moreso around 30,000-40,000 per year, one year as low as 12,000.  COVID is past 200,000 in the US and continues to grow... and that's with masks and mitigation regulations.  Not trying to fear monger or anything, just looking for the truth.

Edited October 7, 2020 by Dreakon13

[pogo_loco]

1 hour ago, Dreakon13 said:

Here in NY, we're mostly back to normal with very low infection rates (aside from a few spikes in certain counties), but it's because of masks and remote working.

 

"Certain counties" appears to include those with the most people.

 

https://nypost.com/2020/10/04/nyc-business-owners-rip-de-blasio-over-threat-of-new-lockdown/

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20201005_09/

https://www.pressherald.com/2020/10/04/new-york-city-will-lock-down-in-many-places-again-wednesday-mayor-says/

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by pogo_loco

[Dreakon13]

25 minutes ago, pogo_loco said:

 

"Certain counties" appears to include those with the most people.

 

https://nypost.com/2020/10/04/nyc-business-owners-rip-de-blasio-over-threat-of-new-lockdown/

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20201005_09/

https://www.pressherald.com/2020/10/04/new-york-city-will-lock-down-in-many-places-again-wednesday-mayor-says/

 

 

I live upstate (Buffalo) which has had one of the highest percentage infection rates in the state recently, though still pretty low.  NYC was doing great for such a long time, I'm sorry to hear it's taken a step back.

[VigilantCrow]

2 hours ago, Dreakon13 said:

EDIT: And I'm not sure where he got the "over 100,000" yearly flu deaths from.  It's only gotten to 61,000 once since 2010 according to the CDC.  Averaging moreso around 30,000-40,000 per year, one year as low as 12,000.  COVID is past 200,000 in the US and continues to grow... and that's with masks and mitigation regulations.  Not trying to fear monger or anything, just looking for the truth.

From what I've been able to gather, the flu death numbers are based on comorbidities. The 200k deaths Covid deaths fall under the same categorization, very few people died solely because of Covid and instead had multiple factors that unfortunately beat their bodies.

Trump's not known for being very good at conveying detailed information. He's more of a broad stroke kind of speaker.

Edited October 7, 2020 by VigilantCrow

[Dreakon13]

12 minutes ago, VigilantCrow said:

Trump's not known for being very good at conveying detailed information. He's more of a broad stroke kind of speaker.

 

I guess that's bound to happen when the majority of what he says is limited to 280 characters.

 

So the CDC flu numbers don't include comorbidities and the COVID numbers do?  I guess that makes sense.

[PhyrxianLibrarin]

The comorbidity tracking is "controversial" right now because it's being politically leveraged to change the number of COVID deaths. Say you have a heart attack, caused by inadequate blood flow to the heart, caused by difficultly breathing. If you're obese with asthma and also have COVID, what did you actually die from? Even according to doctors, this is not an easy question to answer!

 

You could say "their obesity and asthma were under control, and this person would not have died if they did not contract COVID, so that counts as a COVID death." Or you could say "this person died of a heart attack, which is entirely unrelated to COVID, so that does not count as a COVID death." The fact that doctors say the first, and politicians/pundits say the second, should tell you everything you need to know.

 

Whether this kind of reporting is consistent with other viruses, I have no idea. But we definitely say "people die from the flu" and understand what that means. The only people saying "most of the people who died from COVID actually died from something else" have a political or financial interest in making the pandemic seem not that bad.

[RadiantFlamberge]

Regarding Trump's stopping the stimulus talks, I have thought about that a little more. I am concerned for those who are out of work or otherwise struggling. It looks like Trump is basically holding these people to ransom. If he wins, he says he will restart the talks. IF. And I would imagine ONLY if... if not, it seems he will screw these people over for another three months. He is not just a bad leader but also a terrible, deplorable, and unscrupulous person. I feel sad that poor Barron has such a louse for a father.

 

Anyway, what stimulus Biden has on tap for everyone is sure to be better, even if it can't happen until January.

 

Stephen Miller's wife, who has had C19, mocked Kamala Harris for wanting a protective plexiglass shield. I think having the plexiglass is a smart idea... Mrs. Miller can shut the hell up.

[AJ_Radio]

Here we just had Trump claiming he had COVID-19, now he's in there once more being a complete prick.

 

He has given an entire generation of people the okey-dokey that it's okay to be stupid. A few months ago a friend of mine was potentially inflicted with COVID-19 after his ex-wife, a Christian nutcase, went up to his house deliberately to settle an argument. A couple days prior, she was at a church meeting somewhere with her friends, all holding hands, hugging, kidding, getting into very close contact with each other. Turns out those friends of hers tested positive for COVID-19, and the truly grave truth is there are a lot of people who may carry COVID-19 without even knowing it.

 

It is people like that who are ruining America. In all of my years of throwing pointless debates and getting into countless arguments with people on the internet, I have yet to hear any Christian nutcase properly explain to me the laws of nature. You just can't get them to explain it. They will toss science straight out the window and tell you it is the work of God himself as to why we exist today. Christian Science is one of the most bogus studies I have ever encountered in my life. There is absolutely no logic whatsoever to Christian Science. These assholes can and will state that if someone gets inflicted with COVID-19, the measles or tendonitis, you don't go to a doctor, you don't even go to a witch doctor, you let God heal you. Yes, I have encountered people who have said this, and once I hear someone say this bullshit they lost all of their credibility. The only part I believe in is God created the planet Earth. Everything else is just bogus nonsense.

 

Too many people are clinging on to bogus religions and stupid bullshit beliefs to this day, and they still think they don't need to wear a mask. My local store just a few miles down from me has just recently put up a sign stating that no service will be provided to anybody who doesn't wear a mask. Because as the statistics show, we went from 180,000 deaths to over 210,000 deaths in a brief period, that didn't just happen by accident. It's people being morons and clinging to their bullshit beliefs. Donald Trump is there at the helm telling them all it's okay to be stupid and braindead.

 

And with how the debates last week on Tuesday turned out, it's no wonder things are so fucked up over here.

[RadiantFlamberge]

Christian Science basically says screw doctors and just rely on faith to heal you. It's not just a church... it's a quackery group. The government should shut that nonsense down. Organised religion has lost much credibility with me lately. I think a church that tries to butt into politics should have its tax-exempt status revoked. Does being a churchgoer make someone religious? Not necessarily. Being good to others is more important than attending mass.

 

Last night I saw the debate with Harris and Pence. While it was not a shitshow like the Biden-Trump one, Susan Page's moderation was inadequate. For a major debate like this, a moderator needs to be more hardass. It was not unusual for Pence to exceed his 2 minutes. He did interrupt Harris a couple times. While Pence was not half as bad as Trump, he was still a nuisance. I loved watching Harris call him out on it. "Mr. Vice President, I am speaking". Harris did go overtime maybe once or twice but that was it. There were a couple questions I wanted Harris to be more forthright on, but Pence definitely was more flakey overall. If I had to hire a moderator for the debate, Judge Judy would be my first choice. I respect her because she doesn't put up with bullshit. Chances are she'd have kill switches put on the mikes. If Trump started ranting or droned on after his 2 minutes ended... CLICK. Power off!

 

And now... Trump has said that he won't do a virtual debate with Biden. Trump's excuse is that moving to a virtual format is an invitation for Biden to cheat in the debate. Bullshit. I think I can take a guess at the real reason why. Could it be that Trump is afraid of doing a virtual debate because the moderator can more easily shut his feed off to enforce the rules? I find that plausible. In fact, Trump even admitted it himself!

 

Spoiler

From a Washington Times article by David Sherfinski & Tom Howell Jr.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/oct/8/second-debate-with-biden-going-virtual-amid-trumps/

 

“I’m not going to waste my time on a virtual debate,” the president said on Fox Business. “You sit behind a computer and do a debate — it’s ridiculous. And then they cut you off whenever they want.”

 

So he says, "they cut you off whenever they want". All right, that is true... and that's the way it should be. It looks like Trump doesn't want the moderator to keep him in line. I think while a candidate is speaking in turn, the other one should be kept silent and have to wait for their turn to speak. And when Trump starts ranting, they should be able to silence his audio feed immediately.

 

EDIT: Well, there isn't going to be a Biden-Trump debate on the 15th after all. The Commission on Presidential Debates has canceled it, thanks largely to Trump refusing to do a virtual debate. As far as I'm concerned, Trump has just lost this one by forfeit. At this moment, the debate scheduled for the 22nd isn't affected and the CPD is still making preparations for it. Like I said, I sure hope for better moderation.

Edited October 10, 2020 by RadiantFlamberge
The debate on the 15th is cancelled.

[Dreakon13]

On 10/7/2020 at 1:28 PM, PhyrxianLibrarin said:

The comorbidity tracking is "controversial" right now because it's being politically leveraged to change the number of COVID deaths. Say you have a heart attack, caused by inadequate blood flow to the heart, caused by difficultly breathing. If you're obese with asthma and also have COVID, what did you actually die from? Even according to doctors, this is not an easy question to answer!

 

You could say "their obesity and asthma were under control, and this person would not have died if they did not contract COVID, so that counts as a COVID death." Or you could say "this person died of a heart attack, which is entirely unrelated to COVID, so that does not count as a COVID death." The fact that doctors say the first, and politicians/pundits say the second, should tell you everything you need to know.

 

Whether this kind of reporting is consistent with other viruses, I have no idea. But we definitely say "people die from the flu" and understand what that means. The only people saying "most of the people who died from COVID actually died from something else" have a political or financial interest in making the pandemic seem not that bad.

 

I'd gather doctors are probably on-the-ball enough to tell if someone is having complications from the flu based on how it's progressed and their symptoms... evidence of pneumonia, fever, etc.  COVID we are mostly testing for, so I think we're pretty solid on those numbers (save a few ergregious examples of unethical reporting from hospitals).  The fact that they don't "test" for the flu (or do they, I dunno)... does that make it over or under-reported?  Potentially over because they chalk up every complication from a fever and respiratory issues as the flu?  Under because the flu is such commonplace that it's not worth writing on a death certificate if there were other more serious underlying conditions at play?  Probably a little of both.  It's an interesting conversation.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Dreakon13

[RadiantFlamberge]

With there being more than a slight overlap between the symptoms of C19 and the flu, they should test for flu as well to rule out the chance of someone having both C19 and the flu.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/symptoms/testing.htm

USA CDC says something about RIDTs, or rapid influenza diagnostic tests. You can get a result from one in 10-15 minutes but it's not the most accurate. A rapid molecular assay would be better. It takes only a little longer (15-20 minutes) but is more accurate. Also, CDC has developed a test to check for both flu viruses of types A and B, and SARS-CoV2 at the same time. They have gotten an EUA from the FDA for this newer test. Not that it will necessarily replace other existing tests though.

Edited October 11, 2020 by RadiantFlamberge

[Z1MZUM]

There is no way Trump has caught this.

[RadiantFlamberge]

On 10/12/2020 at 1:24 AM, Z1MZUM said:

There is no way Trump has caught this.

I also believe that he may not have really caught it. Trump has lied so much I don't trust a word he says. With Amy Coney Barrett's hearing in play, isn't it suspicious how Mr. Trump is claiming to be well recently? I really think so.

 

Barrett for a SCOTUS justice wouldn't be a good thing at all. I hope some Republicans will turn against her and vote to keep her out. May those who support Barrett get voted out.

 

All these people who aren't taking C19 seriously better stop kidding themselves. Even if you survive it, there can be long term consequences. There is a 13 year old who has ended up on 18 pills a day because of her complications from C19. She used to be pretty healthy and had dreams of joining the WNBA. Previously able to run 7 miles, she now can only walk for 10 minutes. Who knows how her recovery will go.

[LoveInHell]

Alright so Belgium is doing horrible atm. When they re-opened cafés etc. It all went to shit. Now we have about 10k new cases every day. Well done stupid ass government ????? To make it worse, the last option is a lockdown. I still go to school, when someone gets covid-19 in school, the class doesn’t have to go in quarantine anymore. Our country is in “code orange” and they’re not even thinking about closing places cause of “our freedom” and “our daily lives shouldn’t be disturbed”. Seriously, they’re fucking useless and all they care about is money.

[Z1MZUM]

5 minutes ago, LoveInHell said:

Alright so Belgium is doing horrible atm. When they re-opened cafés etc. It all went to shit. Now we have about 10k new cases every day. Well done stupid ass government To make it worse, the last option is a lockdown. I still go to school, when someone gets covid-19 in school, the class doesn’t have to go in quarantine anymore. Our country is in “code orange” and they’re not even thinking about closing places cause of “our freedom” and “our daily lives shouldn’t be disturbed”. Seriously, they’re fucking useless and all they care about is money.

 

That is disturbing and makes no sense. Our government is discussing international travel except for Europe and North America.

[LoveInHell]

Just now, Z1MZUM said:

 

That is disturbing and makes no sense. Our government is discussing international travel except for Europe and North America.

No but they really are retarded. We have a few cases in our school already but their classes or friends don’t have to get tested, thats up to them to get a test or not. School doesn’t call the parents and say “your daughter/son might’ve been in contact with someone who has covid-19”, it doesn’t happen. Although the Belgian news says otherwise but its all a bunch of bs... I even have teachers who think covid-19 isn’t something to take serious. Belgium has bypassed like every country in Europe making us the second worst country with covid cases. And I feel horrible for the people in the healthcare sector, they must be overworked.

[Z1MZUM]

8 minutes ago, LoveInHell said:

No but they really are retarded. We have a few cases in our school already but their classes or friends don’t have to get tested, thats up to them to get a test or not. School doesn’t call the parents and say “your daughter/son might’ve been in contact with someone who has covid-19”, it doesn’t happen. Although the Belgian news says otherwise but its all a bunch of bs... I even have teachers who think covid-19 isn’t something to take serious. Belgium has bypassed like every country in Europe making us the second worst country with covid cases. And I feel horrible for the people in the healthcare sector, they must be overworked.

 

Sometimes you've just got to wonder if anyone cares except the citizens. Honestly we've been lucky here in Australia and I know this as a fact. As I was a passenger on the Diamond Princess and the nightmare to follow was produced by our own leaders here in Aus. Imagine being in Quarantine for over a month and then entering a country where no-one was doing a thing? That's my story from Feb/March this year. The lies and deceit from our own politicians including bullshit videos with how wonderful we had it back in Australia was unbelievable enough to make me pissed off forever. We didn't even want to come home after the Media globally spread complete fucking lies on what was happening on the ship and how the Japanese handled it, I have learnt that the relationship between our leaders and the media here depends on how much money can be bribed. Honestly I will never be the same person and certainly will never be loyal to my country of birth.

[LoveInHell]

An update that we just got this morning: schools in Belgium *should* go in code orange meaning: classes will go to school a week and then a week not, switching like that. 50% of the class will go one week when the other 50% stays home, the week that comes after the other 50% will have to go and the other 50% stays home.

[PhyrxianLibrarin]

12 hours ago, RadiantFlamberge said:

I also believe that he may not have really caught it. Trump has lied so much I don't trust a word he says. With Amy Coney Barrett's hearing in play, isn't it suspicious how Mr. Trump is claiming to be well recently? I really think so.

 

I dunno, lying about getting the 'rona just to pretend to recover and claim immunity is a wild stunt, it's hard to believe he'd consent to spend a weekend in the hospital even as a stunt. It's more likely that he is on incredibly strong drugs and steroids that are letting him operate as normal, or whatever his version of normal is. I don't think he's concerned with ACB at all, he just wants to be holding campaign rallies again to get that sweet sweet dopamine hit.

[AJ_Radio]

8 hours ago, PhyrxianLibrarin said:

 

I dunno, lying about getting the 'rona just to pretend to recover and claim immunity is a wild stunt, it's hard to believe he'd consent to spend a weekend in the hospital even as a stunt. It's more likely that he is on incredibly strong drugs and steroids that are letting him operate as normal, or whatever his version of normal is. I don't think he's concerned with ACB at all, he just wants to be holding campaign rallies again to get that sweet sweet dopamine hit.

 

He is completely out of his head. A sane person wouldn't lie about getting inflicted with COVID-19. Only a complete moron and delusional asshat would even try to lie about it.

 

With the way things are going, Trump could very well die in office. He isn't exactly in the best of shape, especially considering he's 74 years old and has made a living making everyone around him suffer.

 

I'm just done. I want real leadership. And it's not just the United States, a lot of countries have completely incompetent leadership and it's quite sad to see the shit they spew out.