COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[GP270watch]

 We've never seen a President where so many people who worked for him have bad things to say. There is one common denominator if you ever want to bother to pull the wool from over your eyes. Trump is incompetent, dumb, weak, too small in character and petty in persona for the times at hand.

[Xing]

Maybe those of us saying that classes have to be remote for now (even if that’s not at all ideal) had a point? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm out of university for almost a decade and don't have kids at school, so I'm not pretending to exactly know how things are going on the ground, but the problem with remote lessons is mostly infrastructure. Not all teachers have sufficient training with technical issues, let alone kids and their parents. Particularly in low income households. A small percentage might not even have internet access. Business as usual in schools for sure is irresponsible in the situation we're in, but I'm more than skeptical remote lessons can sort of replace schooling.

They can't fully replace schooling, which is why it's very far from ideal. It's basically the least bad solution, since a lot of schools just don't have the resources, space, or time in the day to provide in-person learning with distance. There are just so many hidden forms of contact and normal activities in school that can lead very quickly to an outbreak. It's only really possible if it's in an area that has virtually no cases and is pretty isolated. In areas which have a high positivity rate, schools often just have to close again after a day or two because outbreaks happen almost immediately. Teachers and union members in my district spent pretty much all spring and summer discussing the possibility of opening in the fall, and there were many potential risk factors that no one could come up with a solution for. Then, of course, cases went way up, and there was no question that we couldn't open schools yet.

I was unsure at first but then I agreed online schooling made more sense. However why are certain teacher unions opposing online live learning? Shouldn't the point be to make it as normal as possible?

I can't speak for other districts, but in my district, one issue that comes up a lot is that not all students have consistent access to high speed internet, and thus wouldn't be able to attend hour-long classes via video call. Our union didn't oppose this setup per se, but they did try to pressure the district to create a plan to get laptops to all students, since the district wasn't being clear on that.

The problem with "distance learning" isn't that teachers don't know how to use Zoom.
The problem is that 6-year olds absolutely should not be staring at a computer screen for 5 hours a day.

That's why we have professional development in our meetings before school starts to get teachers who don't know how to use the technology up to date. It's also why we make a schedule that gives students (especially younger ones) regular breaks and encourages activities which get students doing something away from the computer for a while. As I said, it's not a "good" solution, but putting students' lives as well as the lives of teachers, subs, instructional assistants, para professionals, administrators, and other educational staff at risk (not to mention those in their family as well) is a far worse one.

As a teacher, (I assume you are, sorry if thats a dumb question), do you think its possible that in-person teacher may resume sometime in 2021?

I am a teacher (no worries), and my guess is that in-person learning will probably not resume in most areas full-time until there's a vaccine. If new cases significantly drop and stay down as certain areas move to later phases of re-opening, it's possible that some districts could move to a hybrid system, but there would need to be a significant amount of planning ahead of time to create a model that accounts for the fact that not all schools (even in the same district) have the same amount of space in the hallways as well as in classrooms, and not all students are at the same risk level. Schools would also have to be very well-equipped with the necessary resources to sanitize classrooms and materials on a regular basis, and be doing regular check-ins with all students and staff to catch a potential positive case before it led to an outbreak.

Some smaller districts in my area might be able to pull this off before there's a vaccine, but Seattle is too big and diverse, and the district is too bureaucratic to get its act together.

[PSOL]

US unemployment claims climb past one million for second week in a row

I don’t personally see the economy rebounding or even being stable until the end of the year, maybe even two.

[jamestroll]

Just saying more retail workers have died from anti mask people shooting them down than have people died from covid 19...

[Calthrina950]

Just saying more retail workers have died from anti mask people shooting them down than have people died from covid 19...

Your overall claim isn't true, but this part of it is why my workplace has told us not to confront or deny service to those customers who refuse to wear a mask-to avoid violent confrontations that would put us in jeopardy.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

https://twitter.com/Punknews/status/1299004591368032257?s=19

[GeorgiaModerate]

Just saying more retail workers have died from anti mask people shooting them down than have people died from covid 19...

That is the most asinine statement I've read on this forum in a long time.  There are over 180,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S., let alone the rest of the world.  Are you seriously suggesting that more than that number of people have been shot by anti-maskers?

[It’s so Joever]

Just saying more retail workers have died from anti mask people shooting them down than have people died from covid 19...

That is a rather surprising statistic. Do you have a source?

[jamestroll]

I am just very very very very angry about the whole covid situation and feel like the worst has been brought out in everyone.

When in reality,  most people would support the same game plan if they weren't trying to fulfill narratives.

[jamestroll]

This virus is literally making me become CRRRAAAAAAZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYY

[Holmes]

This virus is literally making me become CRRRAAAAAAZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYY

We see that.

[Horus]

This virus is literally making me become CRRRAAAAAAZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYY

Maybe Jill Schupp can help.

[Dr. Arch]

The updated numbers for COVID-19 in the U.S. are in for 8/27 per: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

I'm keeping track of these updates daily and updating at the end of the day, whenever all states finish reporting for that day.

New - Substituting the Δ Change metric as of 7/13 on dates starting from 7/5:
ΔW Change: Comparisons of Weekly Day-to-day Growth or Decline of COVID-19 Spread/Deaths.

• IE: Comparing the numbers to the same day of last week, are we flattening the curve enough?

Σ Increase: A day's contribution to overall percentage growth of COVID-19 cases/deaths.

• IE: What's the overall change in the total?

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8/16: <Sunday>

• Cases: 5,566,632 (+36,843 | ΔW Change: ↓25.90% | Σ Increase: ↑0.67%)
• Deaths: 173,128 (+522 | ΔW Change: ↓4.57% | Σ Increase: ↑0.30%)

8/17: <M>

• Cases: 5,612,027 (+45,395 | ΔW Change: ↓12.71% | Σ Increase: ↑0.82%)
• Deaths: 173,716 (+588 | ΔW Change: ↑2.26% | Σ Increase: ↑0.34%)

8/18: <T>

• Cases: 5,655,974 (+43,947 | ΔW Change: ↓19.38% | Σ Increase: ↑0.82%)
• Deaths: 175,074 (+1,358 | ΔW Change: ↓12.78% | Σ Increase: ↑0.78%)

8/19: <W>

• Cases: 5,700,931 (+44,957 | ΔW Change: ↓17.27% | Σ Increase: ↑0.79%)
• Deaths: 176,337 (+1,263 | ΔW Change: ↓8.61% | Σ Increase: ↑0.72%)

8/20: <Þ>

• Cases: 5,746,272 (+45,341 | ΔW Change: ↓18.10% | Σ Increase: ↑0.80%)
• Deaths: 177,424 (+1,087 | ΔW Change: ↓2.95% | Σ Increase: ↑0.62%)

8/21: <F>

• Cases: 5,796,727 (+50,455 | ΔW Change: ↓16.74% | Σ Increase: ↑0.88%)
• Deaths: 179,200 (+1,776 | ΔW Change: ↑58.57% | Σ Increase: ↑1.00%)

8/22: <S>

• Cases: 5,841,428 (+44,701| ΔW Change: ↓20.92% | Σ Increase: ↑0.77%)
• Deaths: 180,174 (+974 | ΔW Change: ↓9.06% | Σ Increase: ↑0.54%)

8/23: <Sunday>

• Cases: 5,874,146 (+32,718| ΔW Change: ↓11.20% | Σ Increase: ↑0.56%)
• Deaths: 180,604 (+430 | ΔW Change: ↓17.62% | Σ Increase: ↑0.24%)

8/24: <M>

• Cases: 5,915,630 (+41,484| ΔW Change: ↓8.62% | Σ Increase: ↑0.71%)
• Deaths: 181,114 (+510 | ΔW Change: ↓13.27% | Σ Increase: ↑0.28%)

8/25: <T>

• Cases: 5,955,728 (+40,098| ΔW Change: ↓8.76% | Σ Increase: ↑0.68%)
• Deaths: 182,404 (+1,290 | ΔW Change: ↓5.01% | Σ Increase: ↑0.71%)

8/26 (Yesterday): <W>

• Cases: 6,000,365 (+44,637| ΔW Change: ↓0.71% | Σ Increase: ↑0.75%)
• Deaths: 183,653 (+1,249 | ΔW Change: ↓1.11% | Σ Increase: ↑0.68%)

8/27 (Today): <Þ>

• Cases: 6,046,634 (+46,269| ΔW Change: ↑2.05% | Σ Increase: ↑0.77%)
• Deaths: 184,796 (+1,143 | ΔW Change: ↑5.15% | Σ Increase: ↑0.62%)

[emailking]

US unemployment claims climb past one million for second week in a row

I don’t personally see the economy rebounding or even being stable until the end of the year, maybe even two.

How does the unemployment rate keep going if there's a million new unemployment claims every week? Excuse my economic ignorance.

[emailking]

I am just very very very very angry about the whole covid situation and feel like the worst has been brought out in everyone.

When in reality,  most people would support the same game plan if they weren't trying to fulfill narratives.

I'm guessing that's your way of admitting you made up that statistic.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

The updated numbers for COVID-19 in the U.S. are in for 8/27 per: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

I'm keeping track of these updates daily and updating at the end of the day, whenever all states finish reporting for that day.

New - Substituting the Δ Change metric as of 7/13 on dates starting from 7/5:
ΔW Change: Comparisons of Weekly Day-to-day Growth or Decline of COVID-19 Spread/Deaths.

• IE: Comparing the numbers to the same day of last week, are we flattening the curve enough?

Σ Increase: A day's contribution to overall percentage growth of COVID-19 cases/deaths.

• IE: What's the overall change in the total?

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8/16: <Sunday>

• Cases: 5,566,632 (+36,843 | ΔW Change: ↓25.90% | Σ Increase: ↑0.67%)
• Deaths: 173,128 (+522 | ΔW Change: ↓4.57% | Σ Increase: ↑0.30%)

8/17: <M>

• Cases: 5,612,027 (+45,395 | ΔW Change: ↓12.71% | Σ Increase: ↑0.82%)
• Deaths: 173,716 (+588 | ΔW Change: ↑2.26% | Σ Increase: ↑0.34%)

8/18: <T>

• Cases: 5,655,974 (+43,947 | ΔW Change: ↓19.38% | Σ Increase: ↑0.82%)
• Deaths: 175,074 (+1,358 | ΔW Change: ↓12.78% | Σ Increase: ↑0.78%)

8/19: <W>

• Cases: 5,700,931 (+44,957 | ΔW Change: ↓17.27% | Σ Increase: ↑0.79%)
• Deaths: 176,337 (+1,263 | ΔW Change: ↓8.61% | Σ Increase: ↑0.72%)

8/20: <Þ>

• Cases: 5,746,272 (+45,341 | ΔW Change: ↓18.10% | Σ Increase: ↑0.80%)
• Deaths: 177,424 (+1,087 | ΔW Change: ↓2.95% | Σ Increase: ↑0.62%)

8/21: <F>

• Cases: 5,796,727 (+50,455 | ΔW Change: ↓16.74% | Σ Increase: ↑0.88%)
• Deaths: 179,200 (+1,776 | ΔW Change: ↑58.57% | Σ Increase: ↑1.00%)

8/22: <S>

• Cases: 5,841,428 (+44,701| ΔW Change: ↓20.92% | Σ Increase: ↑0.77%)
• Deaths: 180,174 (+974 | ΔW Change: ↓9.06% | Σ Increase: ↑0.54%)

8/23: <Sunday>

• Cases: 5,874,146 (+32,718| ΔW Change: ↓11.20% | Σ Increase: ↑0.56%)
• Deaths: 180,604 (+430 | ΔW Change: ↓17.62% | Σ Increase: ↑0.24%)

8/24: <M>

• Cases: 5,915,630 (+41,484| ΔW Change: ↓8.62% | Σ Increase: ↑0.71%)
• Deaths: 181,114 (+510 | ΔW Change: ↓13.27% | Σ Increase: ↑0.28%)

8/25: <T>

• Cases: 5,955,728 (+40,098| ΔW Change: ↓8.76% | Σ Increase: ↑0.68%)
• Deaths: 182,404 (+1,290 | ΔW Change: ↓5.01% | Σ Increase: ↑0.71%)

8/26 (Yesterday): <W>

• Cases: 6,000,365 (+44,637| ΔW Change: ↓0.71% | Σ Increase: ↑0.75%)
• Deaths: 183,653 (+1,249 | ΔW Change: ↓1.11% | Σ Increase: ↑0.68%)

8/27 (Today): <Þ>

• Cases: 6,046,634 (+46,269| ΔW Change: ↑2.05% | Σ Increase: ↑0.77%)
• Deaths: 184,796 (+1,143 | ΔW Change: ↑5.15% | Σ Increase: ↑0.62%)

Those last four days are really starting to look like a plateau again. Disastrous.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

A question: Why does anyone (usually the media) consider lockdowns to be "liberal"? Last I checked, placing an entire state or country on house arrest isn't "liberal."

Today, a family member (who is actually considered somewhat conservative) even pointed out that it's not "liberal."

[TJ in Oregon]

A question: Why does anyone (usually the media) consider lockdowns to be "liberal"? Last I checked, placing an entire state or country on house arrest isn't "liberal."

Today, a family member (who is actually considered somewhat conservative) even pointed out that it's not "liberal."

"Liberal" signifies whatever is associated with the Democrats, however loosely. "Conservative" signifies whatever is associated with Republicans however loosely. The words themselves have no meaning in the United States.

[gerritcole]

at this point, it's vaccine or bust for america

[TJ in Oregon]

at this point, it's vaccine or bust for america

Realistically this was always the case once the virus escaped the initial outbreak in China. The rest is just damage control. Even if we were able to suppress it here, we'd keep getting bombarded by new cases from abroad and have to continue social distancing policies.

[Calthrina950]

at this point, it's vaccine or bust for america

What if there is no vaccine? That remains a possibility, although I think it is an unlikely one at this point. The restrictions we are seeing now cannot continue indefinitely.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

What if there is no vaccine? That remains a possibility, although I think it is an unlikely one at this point. The restrictions we are seeing now cannot continue indefinitely.

I think some of our public officials actually would continue them indefinitely - forever if they could. Even if covid is eradicated, I think they'd try to continue some of them. Just because they can.

[GeorgiaModerate]

What if there is no vaccine? That remains a possibility, although I think it is an unlikely one at this point. The restrictions we are seeing now cannot continue indefinitely.

I think some of our public officials actually would continue them indefinitely - forever if they could. Even if covid is eradicated, I think they'd try to continue some of them. Just because they can.

I don't mean this unkindly, but that is verging on paranoia.

[emailking]

Didn't Disney say they might continue to require masks at their parks even after a vaccine? I can't find a source, I just remember that.

[Calthrina950]

What if there is no vaccine? That remains a possibility, although I think it is an unlikely one at this point. The restrictions we are seeing now cannot continue indefinitely.

I think some of our public officials actually would continue them indefinitely - forever if they could. Even if covid is eradicated, I think they'd try to continue some of them. Just because they can.

I don't mean this unkindly, but that is verging on paranoia.

It seems like a not insignificant number of people possess the same fears. We're all aware of how suicides, depression, and general anxiety have been exacerbated because of the pandemic and the responses conducted to it. I do fear that there will be a deep and lasting psychological impact on many because of what they've experienced this year.