COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[T'Chenka]

COVID-45

[T'Chenka]

100,000 cases per day is on pace for 36,500,000 cases per year, which is enough to kill a half million people per year at bare minimum due to the lack of hospital beds and ventilators. We are kind of numb to all of these. numbers at this point, but that's the current rate of spread in America under Trump right now after having almost 8 months to figure out how to fight this thing effectively.

[T'Chenka]

MASSIVE supetspreader event in Washington DC today, directly because Trump convinced these people that the election is being stolen from him. He will NOT be saying that these people should not have participated in a superspreader event. He doesn't care. Believe me.

[T'Chenka]

The number of new cases is horrifying. That's on track for every American to get COVID at some point between now and 2026, just by the math and not taking into account vaccines, herd immunity, etc. Keep in mind that that the daily cases could conceivably double or triple from here as well. Hospitals being overrun and both COVID and non-COVID deaths skyrocketing is also a real possibility. This is truly a nightmare.

[T'Chenka]

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1327816877301772291

I mean, at this point we can't blame people...

Humans are social by nature, and unless the very old and sick are present, I'm fine with people celebrating their holidays together in private.

Sad...

[T'Chenka]

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1327816877301772291

I mean, at this point we can't blame people...

Humans are social by nature, and unless the very old and sick are present, I'm fine with people celebrating their holidays together in private.

Because in much of the US right now, in a group of 10 randomly selected adults, it's more likely than not that at least one of them will have COVID, and, during the course of the meal, will infect the other nine.

So that means we should all be planning on having a distanced Thanksgiving?

Yes. Or no Thanksgiving at all.

[T'Chenka]

Gathering for cultural traditions in a non-modified way shouldn't be as important as saving lives.

[T'Chenka]

Gathering for cultural traditions in a non-modified way shouldn't be as important as saving lives.

People respond to the signals and standards laid out by their leadership. If we've reached a broad consensus — as it seems we have! — that the benefits of sales tax revenue from restaurants and bars exceeds the value of whatever lives would be saved by not closing them down, then surely people should be allowed to get together for the holidays too, especially if they're forced to interact with the public for eight hours a day every day anyway. Getting into a fight about whether individuals should or shouldn't have Thanksgiving, how many people should be there, that kind of thing seems to be missing the forest for the trees here.

Yes, people arguing about not letting Thanksgiving kill thousands of Americans is missing the forest for the trees, but sacrificing grandma to boost the economy isn't. Riiiight. So, when was this so-called concensus that the economy is more important than saving lives decided upon? I must have missed it. Trump and Republicans imply it, but the country as a whole does not believe that.

[T'Chenka]

People respond to the signals and standards laid out by their leadership. If we've reached a broad consensus — as it seems we have! — that the benefits of sales tax revenue from restaurants and bars exceeds the value of whatever lives would be saved by not closing them down, then surely people should be allowed to get together for the holidays too, especially if they're forced to interact with the public for eight hours a day every day anyway. Getting into a fight about whether individuals should or shouldn't have Thanksgiving, how many people should be there, that kind of thing seems to be missing the forest for the trees here.

Yes, people arguing about not letting Thanksgiving kill thousands of Americans is missing the forest for the trees, but sacrificing grandma to boost the economy isn't. Riiiight. So, when was this so-called concensus that the economy is more important than saving lives decided upon? I must have missed it. Trump and Republicans imply it, but the country as a whole does not believe that.

"The country as a whole" certainly does believe that — it's why bars and restaurants have re-opened for indoor dining across the country, even in Democrat-run jurisdictions. It's stupid to hold up Thanksgiving as a crisis point that will lead to mass casualties; the rising case counts and overloaded hospitals are happening now, not because of personal acts of irresponsibility but because of collective failure on the part of government.

Lots and lots of idiots doesn't = the country as a whole

Agree with the rest, but Thanksgiving IS an even more extreme crisis point than the one America is already at.

[T'Chenka]

There is no end in sight for this upswing. I shudder to think what's going to happen a week or two after Thanksgiving.

I don't think most people realize how bad this could get. 5,000+ deaths per day or even higher is a real possibility (2,000+ COVID, 3,000+ needed emergency medical attention and could not get it) if hospital systems start collapsing all over the country.

[T'Chenka]

Trump doesn't care.

[T'Chenka]

Even Jake Tapper of CNN admits the obvious.



https://twitter.com/Mediaite/status/1328457745620668430

Trump sat on his toilet tweeting and played golf while Pfizer and Moderna did all the hard work. All Trump did was assure companies that whichever one came up with a vaccine first would be able to sell millions of doses to the US government. This is exactly what Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Bloomberg, or even Cruz, Rubio, Kasich, Romney would have done. It's nothing special that Trump deserves credit for.

[T'Chenka]

America is about to essentially be a starving man with a gunshot wound (rampant COVID). Jimmie's galaxy brain is telling us that giving the man medical treatment "isn't worth it" because Republicans refuse to let us feed him.

[T'Chenka]

I had a great work out in the gym in the middle of the night last night! And this evening I will order take out from subway. But only to spite the pro-lockdown people!

Maybe you should re-evaluate your priorities in life. For example, doing things for your own sake instead of doing things for the purpose of spiting others. Just a thought. Take it or leave it.

[T'Chenka]

Damn, it's like, I don't know, projection or something

https://twitter.com/dpakman/status/1330998265693802497

Literally incapable of imagining an opposition that doesn't think like you

I didn't know you liked / followed / read David Pakman!

Virginia is woke / based / etc etc.

[T'Chenka]

Jimmie having a normal one.

[T'Chenka]

Jesus Christ on a cracker, we have a Russian agent in here spreading propaganda about schools closing or going on line causing children to lose years off of their lives. Can you please miss us with that s__t, Russian Puppet? Nobody's buying what you're selling. At least have the courage to start a seperate thread about it so that the community can notice it and mock you for it. If you really believe that stuff, own it and start a thread.

[T'Chenka]

Jesus Christ on a cracker, we have a Russian agent in here spreading propaganda about schools closing or going on line causing children to lose years off of their lives. Can you please miss us with that s__t, Russian Puppet?

Here you go. I quoted the post because I agree with it — school closures were a poorly-designed and poorly-executed effort to create the perception of "doing something about the problem" in a way that wouldn't affect the lives of the people who actually created the rule. Closing schools (even as restaurants and gyms remained open) was. This quite obviously impacts poor people disproportionately, which is why California public schools are still closed as the Governor's kids go off to private school.

I was born in the US and have lived here all my life; same is true for my parents and grandparents. If you disagree, perhaps you'll need to formulate an actual argument now?

Conspiracy theorists: *make insane claim*
Normal people: That's some whack-ass fake news.
Conspiracy theorists: PROVE THAT IT'S FAKE!!1

The burden of proof is in on the person making the outlandish claim. That's how this works.

[T'Chenka]

Watch this

https://youtu.be/LlQX4fmRrpI

If governments actually had balls, they'd make the big corporations that are makimg HUGE profits during COVID pay their fair share of taxes. Maybe then it won't take 60 years to pay off the debt.

Either way, the fiscally responsible aproach to economies is - and has been - spend during the bad times and pay off debts during the good times. It is not only smart to operate this way, but necessary: without the extra spending during a crisis to boost the evonomy and make sure consumers can buy basic needs, the economy will be even worse off, making it even harder to pay off debt as everybody suffers.

Think of COVID emergency spending as a necessary investment in the economy to prevent problems even bigger than debt.

[T'Chenka]

Honestly I am of the opinion nurses should walk out nationally for a few days.
It’s clear the American people don’t care about their lives, so why should they be forced to go into a war when the American people spit on them?
This is worse than how we treated our Vietnam vets, and that says something.

I know it’s awful, but they should make it clear we need politicians to acknowledge the severity of this virus and to have mask mandates in every state.

They are too nice to do it, but I wish they grew a spine because clearly they are being abused by the GOP as if they were useless pawns.

If it wasn't for all the suffering and death that would cause, I would 100% agree.

[T'Chenka]

DeSantis sabotaged Florida's coronavirus response for political ends.

Secrecy and spin: How Florida’s governor misled the public on the COVID-19 pandemic

DeSantis, who owes his job to early support from President Donald Trump, imposed an approach in line with the views of the president and his powerful base of supporters. The administration suppressed unfavorable facts, dispensed dangerous misinformation, dismissed public health professionals, and promoted the views of scientific dissenters who supported the governor’s approach to the disease.

The DeSantis administration’s approach to managing COVID-19 information carries costs. It supports a climate in which people proudly disdain masks, engage in dangerous group activities that could spread the disease, and brush aside information that conflicts with their political views. With partygoers packing Florida bars and holiday travelers filling hotels and guest rooms, the state faces a few difficult months before the possible relief of vaccines.

These findings are based on interviews with more than 50 people, including scientists, doctors, political leaders, employees of the state health department, and other state officials, as well as more than 4,000 pages of documents:

The Florida Department of Health’s county-level spokespeople were ordered in September to stop issuing public statements about COVID-19 until after the Nov. 3 election.

There's more, but in a functioning society, that one alone should see him on a swift path from governor's office to prison.

DeSantis is a piece of s__t, to put it mildly.

[T'Chenka]

https://twitter.com/HatRuben/status/1337558213273718786

F#ck Kyle, slamming Fauci.

I REALLY like 90% of what Kyle has to say, but the other 10% is pretty cringey. Imagine how much worse the pandemic might have been if Trump had fired Fauci / forced him to quit early early on and replaced him with a stooge.

[T'Chenka]

Of course Fauci will be saying that. He only cares about his spotlight now that he has been given his 15 seconds of fame he doesn't want to lose it. Fauci has always been saying we need to do ____ to end the pandemic and then not long after say that isn't enough and the pandemic will continue. If Fauci wants his way we will never return to normal.

Do you understand how health recommendations are formulated by scientists?

[T'Chenka]

Best strategy at this point is to vaccinate the elderly population and that young and healthy people should now not wear masks and throw covid parties and deliberately get infected. That would be the fastest way to achieve an end to this pandemic.

This ain't it, chief.

[T'Chenka]

The dumbest thing of all of this is that there is all this rage and hatred towards mask mandates, the mitigation measure that is low cost, low effort, and doesn't prevent anyone from doing anything. You'd think we were talking about business closures or something that actually hurt the economy and peoples' livelihoods with this kind of rancor.

The only thing masks don't prevent, is spreading Omicron. They are extremely high cost, high effort and extremely if any low efficacy. Probably high efficacy on polluting Earth, though 

There is, though, a thing extremely low cost, zero effort and extremely high efficacy. It spells:
V-A-C-C-I-N-E.

Taking the focus from vaccines to masks is dangerous.

Hearing that masks are "low cost" that don't prevent anyone from doing anything is disheartening. I'm curious to know if compucomp supports both mask and vaccine mandates. He favors the former, but may very well oppose the latter.

KN-95 masks are literally being given out for free by the government, cheap medical masks are available for free at plenty of establishments, and comfortable washable cloth masks like the kind I wear go for about $2-3 apiece.  So yes, they are low cost.

Masks have not prevented me from doing anything and I don't really see how they're preventing anyone else from doing anything.  What is the activity that requires you to be in close proximity with others AND not wear a mask?  Being in a choir?

They also don't do squat to prevent the transmission of Omicron.

Blatantly false and hyperbolic. Obviously they aren't as effective as everybody would like them to be.