COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[DINGO Joe]

At this point, unvaccinated covid deaths in the US probably should just be recorded as suicides.

Darwincide and suicide just aren't the same thing.

[pbrower2a]

If I were to think of a slogan for the Sturgis, South Dakota motorcycle rally, it would be something like this:

"Toughen up against COVID-19. Take the shot."

For your family.
For your loved ones.
For your fellow bikers.
For the people of Sturgis. 

[Calthrina950]

I've noticed that in the week since the employee mask mandate came back at my job, the numbers of customers wearing masks has increased again. It's probably up to around 35% or so now. Given how things have progressed, how likely is it that we will have a permanent minority of people wearing them going forward?

[Torie]

I've noticed that in the week since the employee mask mandate came back at my job, the numbers of customers wearing masks has increased again. It's probably up to around 35% or so now. Given how things have progressed, how likely is it that we will have a permanent minority of people wearing them going forward?

One hopes that at some point the covid family of variants "degrades" down to an ordinary form of flu or the common cold. I hate wearing masks and do it only because I consider it essential in certain settings, but it does degrade the quality of my life, and I certainly would stop when it is prudent to do so. I don't think very many are so risk averse that they would just keep doing it once the evidence is there that the virus no longer poses a serious health threat. That still leaves the question of when, and how long the wait is, which is a huge question, and the elephant in the room. On that one, I have no idea.

[pbrower2a]

The Other "One Percenter":



It still kills about one percent of those that it successfully infects.

I hope that there are plenty of needles in Sturgis, and I do not mean for tattoo artistry.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

At this point, unvaccinated covid deaths in the US probably should just be recorded as suicides.

The Republican Death Cult, and it's leader, Donald Trump, should not be allowed to escape responsibility for their actions so easily.

Unvaccinated Republicans bear ultimate responsibility for their own choices, but those choices are not being made in a vacuum. The leadership and spokespeople for the political party that spent decades screaming about harsher penalties for drug pushers need to be held to account for the mass deaths they have caused.

[Matty]

I find it interesting that posters on here are going hard against sturgis, but were utterly silent about lollapalooza

[Horus]

I find it interesting that posters on here are going hard against sturgis, but were utterly silent about lollapalooza

Both are outdoor events and even if they weren't, who cares? Personally I'm glad people are having a fun and normal summer.

[pppolitics]

I find it interesting that posters on here are going hard against sturgis, but were utterly silent about lollapalooza

It would help if you have actually read the article!

[...]

Other large outdoor events have returned this summer, in part because of the availability of vaccines. Attendees at the recent Lollapalooza music festival, which packed people into downtown Chicago, had to either provide proof of vaccination or show a negative coronavirus test from the previous 72 hours.

The motorcycle rally in Sturgis will not have a similar screening process. Vaccines will be made available at the event, including the one-dose Johnson & Johnson shot, but it takes time for them to strengthen immune systems.

[...]

[pppolitics]

Bill Cassidy Slams Ron DeSantis for Hampering Local Mask Mandates

Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, for banning local officials from implementing mask mandates for schools amid a surge in COVID-19 infections in the southern state.

DeSantis, who is seen as a likely 2024 GOP presidential contender, banned schools across his state from implementing mask mandates, despite guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommending all teachers and students wear masks amid a nationwide surge in COVID-19 infections driven by the Delta variant. Florida also currently has the highest daily average of new COVID-19 infections in the country, and hospitalizations of patients with the novel coronavirus have broken records in recent days.

During a Sunday interview with CNN, Cassidy was asked about the decision by DeSantis, as well as that of Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, who has banned local mask mandates.

[...]

https://www.newsweek.com/bill-cassidy-slams-ron-desantis-hampering-local-mask-mandates-im-conservative-1617287

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Bill Cassidy Slams Ron DeSantis for Hampering Local Mask Mandates

Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, for banning local officials from implementing mask mandates for schools amid a surge in COVID-19 infections in the southern state.

DeSantis, who is seen as a likely 2024 GOP presidential contender, banned schools across his state from implementing mask mandates, despite guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommending all teachers and students wear masks amid a nationwide surge in COVID-19 infections driven by the Delta variant. Florida also currently has the highest daily average of new COVID-19 infections in the country, and hospitalizations of patients with the novel coronavirus have broken records in recent days.

During a Sunday interview with CNN, Cassidy was asked about the decision by DeSantis, as well as that of Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, who has banned local mask mandates.

[...]

https://www.newsweek.com/bill-cassidy-slams-ron-desantis-hampering-local-mask-mandates-im-conservative-1617287

The media and the GOP establishment used to think DeSantis was one cool cat, but now they're asking for his head because he doesn't want 4-year-olds to be forced to wear masks for 8 hours a day.

[Del Tachi]

And another layer of stupidity from Missouri

https://www.ky3.com/2021/08/03/doctors-warn-not-take-drug-horses-sold-farm-home-stores-treat-covid-19/

People in rural Missouri are rushing out to buy a drug called ivermectin which is used to treat horses for worms and does nothing for Covid in humans.  Vaccine bad, random horse drug good.

OH MY GOD!
What the hell is that!

Ivermectin is prescribed for patients all the time.  It had multiple, FDA-approved, on-label uses in humans.  Using the paste form used for livestock from your local co-op is a bad idea, but it isn’t quite analogous to drinking antifreeze or something. 

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

[...]

Other large outdoor events have returned this summer, in part because of the availability of vaccines. Attendees at the recent Lollapalooza music festival, which packed people into downtown Chicago, had to either provide proof of vaccination or show a negative coronavirus test from the previous 72 hours.
[...]

FWIW, that is exactly what happened recently in the Netherlands... An outdoor music festival which checked for vaccination & negative tests... The result was a massive spike in cases. So don't be too surprised if the same ends up happening in the Chicago/Illinois area. One thing important to realize is that the Delta variant is a lot more transmissible than the old virus used to be, so while it didn't transmit well outdoors in the past, it does so more now than before. Contact tracing in Australia (pretty much one of the only places where contact tracing is still possible) found cases of outdoor spread with as little as 15 seconds of contact with the Delta variant.

964 people got COVID-19 after an outdoor music festival, despite compulsory negative tests, vaccines, or other proof of immunity

Nearly a thousand people tested positive for the coronavirus after attending a two-day outdoor festival in the Netherlands on the weekend of July 3.

Figures from health officials in Utrecht indicated that 448 were exposed during the first day of the festival, and 516 the second day. The figures were reported by Algemeen Dagblad, a Dutch daily newspaper.

More cases are likely to be identified in the coming days, one official said, the online news portal Dutch News reported.

Information about whether the festivalgoers developed symptoms from the infection — and if so, how badly — was not immediately available.

Among vaccinated people who developed "breakthrough" infections, symptoms are typically milder.

The Verknipt festival, which attracted about 20,000 visitors, was one of the first after the country relaxed its COVID-19 measures on June 26, local media RTV Utrecht reported.

Before entry, visitors were asked to prove that they had been vaccinated, had recovered from COVID-19 recently, or had tested negative for COVID-19.

In the space of 2 weeks or so, daily cases in the Netherlands spiked from about 500 to more than 10,000 a day. They have since gone back down, fortunately, through some combination of this no longer being allowed, continuing vaccinations, and people being more careful in response to that.

[roxas11]

I find it interesting that posters on here are going hard against sturgis, but were utterly silent about lollapalooza

I think it's a fair criticism that some on the left was far less concerned about lollapalooza than they are currently about Sturgis

Images like this from lollapalooza worry me far more





Then something like this from Sturgis


Frankly, there should have been equal if not more concern from the media and some of the left when it comes to lollapalooza because by the end of the day this virus does not care if it infects people on the left or on the right.

I will also point out that yes, I know that in the case of the lollapalooza Event organizers said they wanted proof of full vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test before being able to enter the festival, but again when you look at sheer amount of people piled up against each other there is still the threat of breakthrough infections

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

If you require proof of vaccination at a large public event, there will likely be breakthrough infection, but these should really be nothing to worry about, since all the data suggest that catchining covid if you are vaccinated is much less dangerous than the flu or any number of other viruses.   This is complete different than a public event that doesn’t require vaccination.

[Torie]

If you require proof of vaccination at a large public event, there will likely be breakthrough infection, but these should really be nothing to worry about, since all the data suggest that catchining covid if you are vaccinated is much less dangerous than the flu or any number of other viruses.   This is complete different than a public event that doesn’t require vaccination.

While the body count will/is far less, does it not still equally facilitate the mutation of new variants, including one that might as to which the existing vaccines are not effective? Just asking. I am not sure. The idea that one can contract the virus outside after 15 seconds of contact is sobering.

[pppolitics]

I will also point out that yes, I know that in the case of the lollapalooza Event organizers said they wanted proof of full vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test before being able to enter the festival, but again when you look at sheer amount of people piled up against each other there is still the threat of breakthrough infections

Hospitalizations from breakthrough infections are rare.

Deaths from breakthrough infections are even rarer.

Most of these cases involve people who are immunocompromised and haven't developed sufficient immunity after recieving the vaccine.

[pppolitics]

If you require proof of vaccination at a large public event, there will likely be breakthrough infection, but these should really be nothing to worry about, since all the data suggest that catchining covid if you are vaccinated is much less dangerous than the flu or any number of other viruses.   This is complete different than a public event that doesn’t require vaccination.

While the body count will/is far less, does it not still equally facilitate the mutation of new variants, including one that might as to which the existing vaccines are not effective? Just asking. I am not sure. The idea that one can contract the virus outside after 15 seconds of contact is sobering.

Sure, but this is a way to reward people who are vaccinated.

If people see that they can do X, Y, and Z if and only if they are vaccinated, they are more likely to get vaccinated.

[Matty]

Some good news

The reproduction rate has fallen below 1 in Arkansas and Missouri, and is on the cusp of falling below 1 in Louisiana.

We’re about to see a decline in cases there

On the other hand, R(t) is increasing in the Midwest and northeast.

[roxas11]

Some good news

The reproduction rate has fallen below 1 in Arkansas and Missouri, and is on the cusp of falling below 1 in Louisiana.

We’re about to see a decline in cases there

On the other hand, R(t) is increasing in the Midwest and northeast.

This is very good news

Im not to worried about northeast since vacanaion rates are mutch higher there compared to the
south but the Midwest could be problem

[Bandit3 the Worker]

"You're going to get to do that in the future" is what they told us last year.

It's like the old saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, won't get fooled again.

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

Some good news

The reproduction rate has fallen below 1 in Arkansas and Missouri, and is on the cusp of falling below 1 in Louisiana.

We’re about to see a decline in cases there

On the other hand, R(t) is increasing in the Midwest and northeast.

I expect South Dakota to explode in COVID cases due to the motorcycle rally.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I expect South Dakota to explode in COVID cases due to the motorcycle rally.

Everyone said that last year too. But it never happened.

[Calthrina950]

"You're going to get to do that in the future" is what they told us last year.

It's like the old saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, won't get fooled again.

"We're all in this together."



Then again, obviously Sturgis is not a "sophisticated, vaccinated" crowd.

Who is the man circled in the image?

[Inmate Trump]

Shame on Obama.

Shame on Sturgis.

Shame on Lollapalooza.


Anyone organizing or hosting a large gathering like these is doing so at the detriment to overall society.  And possibly creating situations in which people will eventually get sick and die.  I don't care who you are or what party you vote with...there should simply be no large gatherings until it's safe--and it isn't.  Vaccinated or not.  Even if the crowd is 100% vaccinated, as I suspect with the Obama birthday party, even then it sends a terrible message to the rest of the country struggling to get through this; it sends the wrong message and it's discouraging.  He should be sensible enough to realize it, and turning 60 with a bunch of rich celebs at your party sends such an unneeded "elitist" message at the absolute worst time.

And the unvaccinated morons at Sturgis.  I mean, what will it take for these people?  Their kids dying of covid?  Will they listen then?

Wait until the pandemic subsides/ends.