COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1491485602407190537
This administration is breathtakingly incompetent.

The hypocrisy is so immense it really is funny.

I'm sorry, but Republican complaints about incompetence don't get to be taken seriously until the next century. Try again in 2101 (if your party hasn't died off or collapsed civilization by then).

[It’s so Joever]

https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1491485602407190537
This administration is breathtakingly incompetent.

The hypocrisy is so immense it really is funny.

I'm sorry, but Republican complaints about incompetence don't get to be taken seriously until the next century. Try again in 2101 (if your party hasn't died off or collapsed civilization by then).

Don’t be ridiculous, they won’t be that bad!
They only will destroy American democracy.

[Dr. MB]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

That describes my dad. I think it's a little different here in Oregon just because it's a much more culturally liberal place. Observation is key but time and venue can drastically differ even within the same town or the same street. If you're out on Friday night here in Eugene nobody is gonna have a mask on while that same street during the daytime could be mostly masked up. I had to pickup some food from a restaurant over the weekend and I wore a KN95 mask because I was recently exposed to Covid (next day I took a test and it came back positive) but waiting at the bar were a bunch of burly biker-looking dudes who looked at me like I was some freak. Go literally three miles out into Springfield or west Eugene and a solid 10-15% of people are defying mask mandates inside stores and hit any rural area and that number skyrockets.

[T'Chenka]

This tweet was from last week but I'm still posting it to make the point that despite what this forum thinks there is genuine grassroots support for masking from a substantial portion of the population.

There's no grassroots support. It's just a few elites, the media, and laptoppers.

Around here, it's never the blue-collar types who bop around in masks.

This cultural divide is tough to overstate. To this day, I have only met one blue-collar worker personally that wears a mask purely by choice, and even he is a college-educated blue-collar worker.

The support for masking is now more than ever a top down thing, as far as class and especially education goes.

That describes my dad. I think it's a little different here in Oregon just because it's a much more culturally liberal place. Observation is key but time and venue can drastically differ even within the same town or the same street. If you're out on Friday night here in Eugene nobody is gonna have a mask on while that same street during the daytime could be mostly masked up. I had to pickup some food from a restaurant over the weekend and I wore a KN95 mask because I was recently exposed to Covid (next day I took a test and it came back positive) but waiting at the bar were a bunch of burly biker-looking dudes who looked at me like I was some freak. Go literally three miles out into Springfield or west Eugene and a solid 10-15% of people are defying mask mandates inside stores and hit any rural area and that number skyrockets.

Lock them up.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

My estimates of maskage at various places around here:

My local Kroger was maybe 60 to 80% masked at the height of mask mania. Now it's about 20 to 30%. Even some employees are unmasked.

Kroger stores in rich neighborhoods were almost 100% masked.

Convenience stores were often 0% masked even at the height of mask mania.

Outdoor areas are usually 0% masked, except for small groups who gather on the sidewalks in front of high-end specialty shops. Downtown Cincinnati where "serious" business and financial types go is usually more masky.

Festivals and big outdoor public parties are maybe 5% if that.

Restaurants have a low maskage rate.

Parks are 0% now and were maybe 5% at the peak. Playgrounds are and were 0%.

I haven't been to a library or the indoor part of a school or college since this started, so I don't know about those. The outdoor parts of colleges were maybe 20 or 30% at the peak.

I think the only sporting event I've been to since this started was a high school baseball game last March. It was maybe 10% among the fans, possibly 0% among players.

Masks actually were mandatory at some of the places listed here, yet usually there was not full compliance, because this isn't a military dictatorship.

[Pericles]

My estimates of maskage at various places around here:

My local Kroger was maybe 60 to 80% masked at the height of mask mania. Now it's about 20 to 30%. Even some employees are unmasked.

Kroger stores in rich neighborhoods were almost 100% masked.

Convenience stores were often 0% masked even at the height of mask mania.

Outdoor areas are usually 0% masked, except for small groups who gather on the sidewalks in front of high-end specialty shops. Downtown Cincinnati where "serious" business and financial types go is usually more masky.

Festivals and big outdoor public parties are maybe 5% if that.

Restaurants have a low maskage rate.

Parks are 0% now and were maybe 5% at the peak. Playgrounds are and were 0%.

I haven't been to a library or the indoor part of a school or college since this started, so I don't know about those. The outdoor parts of colleges were maybe 20 or 30% at the peak.

I think the only sporting event I've been to since this started was a high school baseball game last March. It was maybe 10% among the fans, possibly 0% among players.

Masks actually were mandatory at some of the places listed here, yet usually there was not full compliance, because this isn't a military dictatorship.

Or a society where people look out for each other. No wonder the results were so poor.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1491485602407190537
This administration is breathtakingly incompetent.

https://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/327979-Lol-Gif.gif

The hypocrisy is so immense it really is funny.

I'm sorry, but Republican complaints about incompetence don't get to be taken seriously until the next century. Try again in 2101 (if your party hasn't died off or collapsed civilization by then).

It seems like Roll Roons hit a nerve?

[DINGO Joe]

https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1491441851748204546?ref_src=twsrc%5Et...

Mr. Masie is being roundly ridiculed for this because he is a moron, as he doesn't seem aware that old people make up the vast majority of deaths in the US, even before the pandemic.  I actually have an interesting fact that kind of blew my mind though.  In 2019 before the pandemic, people 65 and over made up 74% of all deaths in the US.  Last year, with like 99.5% of all deaths reported, 65 and over made up 72% of all deaths.  You see, the death rate actually rose at a faster pace for those under 65 than over, but since most people that always die are old, we didn't notice.

Also, on the Klandemic front,  in January 2022 the % of Covid deaths by white people 73%.  In January of 2021 it was 63%.   Good work Trumpers.

[DaleCooper]

My estimates of maskage at various places around here:

My local Kroger was maybe 60 to 80% masked at the height of mask mania. Now it's about 20 to 30%. Even some employees are unmasked.

Kroger stores in rich neighborhoods were almost 100% masked.

Convenience stores were often 0% masked even at the height of mask mania.

Outdoor areas are usually 0% masked, except for small groups who gather on the sidewalks in front of high-end specialty shops. Downtown Cincinnati where "serious" business and financial types go is usually more masky.

Festivals and big outdoor public parties are maybe 5% if that.

Restaurants have a low maskage rate.

Parks are 0% now and were maybe 5% at the peak. Playgrounds are and were 0%.

I haven't been to a library or the indoor part of a school or college since this started, so I don't know about those. The outdoor parts of colleges were maybe 20 or 30% at the peak.

I think the only sporting event I've been to since this started was a high school baseball game last March. It was maybe 10% among the fans, possibly 0% among players.

Masks actually were mandatory at some of the places listed here, yet usually there was not full compliance, because this isn't a military dictatorship.

Or a society where people look out for each other. No wonder the results were so poor.

Lol, the masked communities are not looking out for each other either. The cozy suburbanites who cross the street to avoid walking past a homeless guy whenever they visit the city do not get to claim they're looking out for their fellow man just because they wear a mask when they go to Target.

[T'Chenka]

My estimates of maskage at various places around here:

My local Kroger was maybe 60 to 80% masked at the height of mask mania. Now it's about 20 to 30%. Even some employees are unmasked.

Kroger stores in rich neighborhoods were almost 100% masked.

Convenience stores were often 0% masked even at the height of mask mania.

Outdoor areas are usually 0% masked, except for small groups who gather on the sidewalks in front of high-end specialty shops. Downtown Cincinnati where "serious" business and financial types go is usually more masky.

Festivals and big outdoor public parties are maybe 5% if that.

Restaurants have a low maskage rate.

Parks are 0% now and were maybe 5% at the peak. Playgrounds are and were 0%.

I haven't been to a library or the indoor part of a school or college since this started, so I don't know about those. The outdoor parts of colleges were maybe 20 or 30% at the peak.

I think the only sporting event I've been to since this started was a high school baseball game last March. It was maybe 10% among the fans, possibly 0% among players.

Masks actually were mandatory at some of the places listed here, yet usually there was not full compliance, because this isn't a military dictatorship.

Or a society where people look out for each other. No wonder the results were so poor.

Lol, the masked communities are not looking out for each other either. The cozy suburbanites who cross the street to avoid walking past a homeless guy whenever they visit the city do not get to claim they're looking out for their fellow man just because they wear a mask when they go to Target.

That's not how it works. They're looking out for each other in regards to COVID by following scientist recommended safety procedures. What they do or don't do in regards to non-COVID things is totally irrelevant.

[Vaccinated Russian Bear]

https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/status/1491421262522064899

Tick-tack, Biden...

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

The Las Vegas mask mandate has been lifted and America can finally breath (indoor cigarette smoke) again!

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/sisolak-ends-state-mask-mandate-2527378/

[It’s so Joever]

In the future, I expect the RP to have a split between the “Old Guard” and the “Revolutionaries” on diseases because of Covid. I expect the Old Guard will obviously want to continue to fund medical research and prevent epidemics (they will want to keep the aristocracy alive) but I do expect the Revolutionaries to ignore pragmatism and seek a Cultural Revolution in America. If the former manages to retain their hold, medical advancement will likely continue albeit with many of those advances only being available to the rich. If the Revolutionaries take control, I expect them to eventually “provide” a degree of universal healthcare, but it will be terrible because most of the educated medical professionals will be locked up and…well I shudder thinking about what will happen to people like my parents once in prison, I probably will know as I will likely be a political prisoner anyways ig.

[Pericles]

https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/status/1491421262522064899

Tick-tack, Biden...

The Omicron variant was discovered about two months ago and the wave has now passed. It would have been silly to make that curve even steeper.

[OSR stands with Israel]

My estimates of maskage at various places around here:

My local Kroger was maybe 60 to 80% masked at the height of mask mania. Now it's about 20 to 30%. Even some employees are unmasked.

Kroger stores in rich neighborhoods were almost 100% masked.

Convenience stores were often 0% masked even at the height of mask mania.

Outdoor areas are usually 0% masked, except for small groups who gather on the sidewalks in front of high-end specialty shops. Downtown Cincinnati where "serious" business and financial types go is usually more masky.

Festivals and big outdoor public parties are maybe 5% if that.

Restaurants have a low maskage rate.

Parks are 0% now and were maybe 5% at the peak. Playgrounds are and were 0%.

I haven't been to a library or the indoor part of a school or college since this started, so I don't know about those. The outdoor parts of colleges were maybe 20 or 30% at the peak.

I think the only sporting event I've been to since this started was a high school baseball game last March. It was maybe 10% among the fans, possibly 0% among players.

Masks actually were mandatory at some of the places listed here, yet usually there was not full compliance, because this isn't a military dictatorship.

Or a society where people look out for each other. No wonder the results were so poor.

Lol, the masked communities are not looking out for each other either. The cozy suburbanites who cross the street to avoid walking past a homeless guy whenever they visit the city do not get to claim they're looking out for their fellow man just because they wear a mask when they go to Target.

That's not how it works. They're looking out for each other in regards to COVID by following scientist recommended safety procedures. What they do or don't do in regards to non-COVID things is totally irrelevant.

The same scientists who have lied or been misleading to the public throughout this pandemic. Like after the way they acted its no surprise they have lost trust with the public.


Maybe its time for the elites to start trusting people to make their own decisions again rather than demand respect just cause of a credential they have. They have to earn people's respect just like everyone else does and they just havent

[T'Chenka]

Lol, the masked communities are not looking out for each other either. The cozy suburbanites who cross the street to avoid walking past a homeless guy whenever they visit the city do not get to claim they're looking out for their fellow man just because they wear a mask when they go to Target.

That's not how it works. They're looking out for each other in regards to COVID by following scientist recommended safety procedures. What they do or don't do in regards to non-COVID things is totally irrelevant.

The same scientists who have lied or been misleading to the public throughout this pandemic. Like after the way they acted its no surprise they have lost trust with the public.


Maybe its time for the elites to start trusting people to make their own decisions again rather than demand respect just cause of a credential they have. They have to earn people's respect just like everyone else does and they just havent

Pleeeease. YES, the scientists haven't been perfect this pandemic. I'm the first to admit that. NO, the fact that they aren't perfect and that you don't happen to like what they're saying doesn't mean that pretending that they don't have any credibility is a serious position.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Lol, the masked communities are not looking out for each other either. The cozy suburbanites who cross the street to avoid walking past a homeless guy whenever they visit the city do not get to claim they're looking out for their fellow man just because they wear a mask when they go to Target.

That's not how it works. They're looking out for each other in regards to COVID by following scientist recommended safety procedures. What they do or don't do in regards to non-COVID things is totally irrelevant.

The same scientists who have lied or been misleading to the public throughout this pandemic. Like after the way they acted its no surprise they have lost trust with the public.


Maybe its time for the elites to start trusting people to make their own decisions again rather than demand respect just cause of a credential they have. They have to earn people's respect just like everyone else does and they just havent

Pleeeease. YES, the scientists haven't been perfect this pandemic. I'm the first to admit that. NO, the fact that they aren't perfect and that you don't happen to like what they're saying doesn't mean that pretending that they don't have any credibility is a serious position.

Maybe its time for them to start trusting the public to make their own decisions rather than lie to them.

The fact is it came out last year they hid the fact that COVID could have been made in a lab cause they didnt want to be viewed as siding with Trump. This by the way happened while social media companies were censoring anyone who posted that theory online, and cable news media smeared those people as racist.


Another fact is in the summer of 2020 , many of them went on tv to say that its ok to protest while they the previous week had went after anyone who ate outdoors during that time period. So this was another sign of how blatantly political they became


The Most egregious is how the goal posts of what the goals behind the restrictions were keep changing .





It is time for them for once to trust the people and stop demanding they deserve special respect just cause of their title. No they should have to earn it like everyone else

[GeneralMacArthur]

It is time for them for once to trust the people and stop demanding they deserve special respect just cause of their title. No they should have to earn it like everyone else

Uh, have you ever met the people?  They're shooting horse worm goo up their butts and claiming it cures the covid.

[emailking]

The new movie Kimi on HBO Max is a very good movie that incorporates the pandemic as a facet of reality. It's a thriller that's not about Covid at all, but the realities of Covid affect the narrative.

Most movies that have included the pandemic have been low budget affairs. And all the movies specifically about the pandemic have been terrible.

[OSR stands with Israel]

It is time for them for once to trust the people and stop demanding they deserve special respect just cause of their title. No they should have to earn it like everyone else

Uh, have you ever met the people?  They're shooting horse worm goo up their butts and claiming it cures the covid.

The vast majority of people arent like that

[Pericles]

It is time for them for once to trust the people and stop demanding they deserve special respect just cause of their title. No they should have to earn it like everyone else

Uh, have you ever met the people?  They're shooting horse worm goo up their butts and claiming it cures the covid.

The vast majority of people arent like that

Personal responsibility isn't a realistic pandemic policy if you want to limit the spread of the virus. Enough people will be irresponsible to spread a deadly virus and their choices affect the rest of society.

[T'Chenka]

It is time for them for once to trust the people and stop demanding they deserve special respect just cause of their title. No they should have to earn it like everyone else

Uh, have you ever met the people?  They're shooting horse worm goo up their butts and claiming it cures the covid.

The vast majority of people arent like that

Personal responsibility isn't a realistic pandemic policy if you want to limit the spread of the virus. Enough people will be irresponsible to spread a deadly virus and their choices affect the rest of society.

THIS.

OSR, if you actually think that people tasked with taking care of each other and looking out for one another other will just simply do the right thing with zero consequences whatsoever for neglecting that duty, your outlook on humanity is WAY too optimistic.

If you think trumpanzees are more trustworthy than scientists, unfortunately you might be beyond saving at this point.

[Horus]

It is time for them for once to trust the people and stop demanding they deserve special respect just cause of their title. No they should have to earn it like everyone else

Uh, have you ever met the people?  They're shooting horse worm goo up their butts and claiming it cures the covid.

The vast majority of people arent like that

Personal responsibility isn't a realistic pandemic policy if you want to limit the spread of the virus. Enough people will be irresponsible to spread a deadly virus and their choices affect the rest of society.

THIS.

OSR, if you actually think that people tasked with taking care of each other and looking out for one another other will just simply do the right thing with zero consequences whatsoever for neglecting that duty, your outlook on humanity is WAY too optimistic.

If you think trumpanzees are more trustworthy than scientists, unfortunately you might be beyond saving at this point.

Which scientists? Scientists aren't some big blob of drones that always agree with one another.

[T'Chenka]

It is time for them for once to trust the people and stop demanding they deserve special respect just cause of their title. No they should have to earn it like everyone else

Uh, have you ever met the people?  They're shooting horse worm goo up their butts and claiming it cures the covid.

The vast majority of people arent like that

Personal responsibility isn't a realistic pandemic policy if you want to limit the spread of the virus. Enough people will be irresponsible to spread a deadly virus and their choices affect the rest of society.

THIS.

OSR, if you actually think that people tasked with taking care of each other and looking out for one another other will just simply do the right thing with zero consequences whatsoever for neglecting that duty, your outlook on humanity is WAY too optimistic.

If you think trumpanzees are more trustworthy than scientists, unfortunately you might be beyond saving at this point.

Which scientists? Scientists aren't some big blob of drones that always agree with one another.

Over 90% of scientists - particularily epidemiologists - generally agree on the science of COVID. Even if they don't agree 100% on every little aspect, there is a rough consensus on most of the basic ideas. To say otherwise isn't factual.

[Horus]

It is time for them for once to trust the people and stop demanding they deserve special respect just cause of their title. No they should have to earn it like everyone else

Uh, have you ever met the people?  They're shooting horse worm goo up their butts and claiming it cures the covid.

The vast majority of people arent like that

Personal responsibility isn't a realistic pandemic policy if you want to limit the spread of the virus. Enough people will be irresponsible to spread a deadly virus and their choices affect the rest of society.

THIS.

OSR, if you actually think that people tasked with taking care of each other and looking out for one another other will just simply do the right thing with zero consequences whatsoever for neglecting that duty, your outlook on humanity is WAY too optimistic.

If you think trumpanzees are more trustworthy than scientists, unfortunately you might be beyond saving at this point.

Which scientists? Scientists aren't some big blob of drones that always agree with one another.

Over 90% of scientists - particularily epidemiologists - generally agree on the science of COVID. Even if they don't agree 100% on every little aspect, there is a rough consensus on most of the basic ideas. To say otherwise isn't factual.

Sure but it's important to listen to a wide range of scientists not just epidemiologists, since COVID has found its way into every part of our life.

Many scientists said remote learning would harm children and they were ignored.