COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[emailking]

The idea is to discourage these sort of close contact social gatherings, which we know help spread this virus.

Well yeah, I guess I just feel like the line should be drawn somewhere short of a $30K fine.

[Ferguson97]

Northeastern tosses 11 students without refund

Their horrible crime?

The students were caught at the Westin Hotel, which is being used as a temporary dormitory this semester, on Wednesday night without masks and not social distancing, according to university spokeswoman Renata Nyul.

Imagine using masks during social gatherings.

Just so completely immoral what these all powerful institutions are doing to Gen Z. More evidence of the absolute worst tragedy going on in our nation, "education"

The university was stupid to open to begin with, but let's not pretend like the students weren't being selfish idiots.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Northeastern tosses 11 students without refund

Their horrible crime?

The students were caught at the Westin Hotel, which is being used as a temporary dormitory this semester, on Wednesday night without masks and not social distancing, according to university spokeswoman Renata Nyul.

Imagine using masks during social gatherings.

Just so completely immoral what these all powerful institutions are doing to Gen Z. More evidence of the absolute worst tragedy going on in our nation, "education"

The university was stupid to open to begin with, but let's not pretend like the students weren't being selfish idiots.

You're a selfish idiot to go in another student's dorm with like 10 people there? BRB, gotta tell my grandmother she's a selfish idiot for going to condo neighbor's for Mahjong tournaments instead of sitting like a dead person on a sofa all day.

I'm all for going back to 19th century university discipline as soon as they bring back the 19th century educational standards and pricing.

[It’s so Joever]

Basic social distancing is now totalitarianism?
Shame on you posters, your absolute stupidity knows no bounds.

I don’t care about whatever sob story you try to DM me in an attempt to look like a good guy, your ideas are still absolutely ridiculous.

Basic f**king rules aren’t totalitarianism, do you think seatbelt laws are totalitarian?

What the f**k is wrong with America in which this type of rhetoric is not openly condemned by both sides.

Your actions have consequences. That’s not totalitarianism.

[Beet]

These steps are way too draconian.

I hope the students get support from the ACLU and/or FIRE and sues the h*ll out of Northeastern.

Your actions have consequences. That’s not totalitarianism.

Sure. The consequences should be a $200 fine, at most. Not being kicked out of school.

[It’s so Joever]

Northeastern tosses 11 students without refund

Their horrible crime?

The students were caught at the Westin Hotel, which is being used as a temporary dormitory this semester, on Wednesday night without masks and not social distancing, according to university spokeswoman Renata Nyul.

Imagine using masks during social gatherings.

Just so completely immoral what these all powerful institutions are doing to Gen Z. More evidence of the absolute worst tragedy going on in our nation, "education"

The university was stupid to open to begin with, but let's not pretend like the students weren't being selfish idiots.

You're a selfish idiot to go in another student's dorm with like 10 people there? BRB, gotta tell my grandmother she's a selfish idiot for going to condo neighbor's for Mahjong tournaments.

I'm all for going back to 19th century university discipline as soon as they bring back the 19th century educational standards and pricing.

Your concerns about the corruption in university institutions are valid. Your outrage that these students were expelled when they clearly broke a rule with full knowledge of their actions isn’t.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Basic social distancing is now totalitarianism?
Shame on you posters, your absolute stupidity knows no bounds.

I don’t care about whatever sob story you try to DM me in an attempt to look like a good guy, your ideas are still absolutely ridiculous.

Basic f**king rules aren’t totalitarianism, do you think seatbelt laws are totalitarian?

What the f**k is wrong with America in which this type of rhetoric is not openly condemned by both sides.

Your actions have consequences. That’s not totalitarianism.

A $36,000 bill for nothing is a life crippling sentence.

[It’s so Joever]

A single social media post can screw someone over. Why is that okay, but enforcing masks and social distancing isn’t?

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

A single social media post can screw someone over. Why is that okay, but enforcing masks and social distancing isn’t?

When did I ever say that is okay? I am one of the strongest voices against that on this blog.

[It’s so Joever]

Basic social distancing is now totalitarianism?
Shame on you posters, your absolute stupidity knows no bounds.

I don’t care about whatever sob story you try to DM me in an attempt to look like a good guy, your ideas are still absolutely ridiculous.

Basic f**king rules aren’t totalitarianism, do you think seatbelt laws are totalitarian?

What the f**k is wrong with America in which this type of rhetoric is not openly condemned by both sides.

Your actions have consequences. That’s not totalitarianism.

A $36,000 bill for nothing is a life crippling sentence.

Agreed. University tuition shouldn’t be so damn high anyways. Expulsion over these types of things not being followed is justified. FWIW I do think the university should return the tuition paid (but that won’t happen)

[It’s so Joever]

I had been hopeful that students would defy these edicts in such numbers that it would be the beginning of the end for public health totalitarianism. That's not looking likely so far, but it's early in the semester.

Give it time. For now, we can only show our solidarity with those unfortunate enough to be caught in the leviathan's dragnet.

This is the type of rhetoric I speak out against.
It’s dangerous and just irresponsible.
Being against shutdowns over economic concerns is valid. Being against basic social distancing rules during a pandemic when possible is not. Calling for a breach of these rules is simply unacceptable.

[It’s so Joever]

These steps are way too draconian.

I hope the students get support from the ACLU and/or FIRE and sues the h*ll out of Northeastern.

Your actions have consequences. That’s not totalitarianism.

Sure. The consequences should be a $200 fine, at most. Not being kicked out of school.

Being kicked out of the university seems acceptable to me. The tuition should be refunded.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

They should get a refund.  But simply expecting people to wear masks if they are going to have a gathering seems like a very reasonable expectation to me.

I am teaching an in-person college class right now, and while I am not privy to the students’ social lives, mask compliance on campus seems close to 100%, even outdoors.

[It’s so Joever]

They should get a refund.  But simply expecting people to wear masks if they are going to have a gathering seems like a very reasonable expectation to me.

I am teaching an in-person college class right now, and while I am not privy to the students’ social lives, mask compliance on campus seems close to 100%, even outdoors.

As a high schooler I can safely say that mask compliance here is approximately 100% on campus. It’s obviously different off-campus where it isn’t enforced, but the punishment seems to be a good deterrent.
The worst we have are the people who wear it over their mouth and not their nose, but I have yet to see someone who wasn’t eating/drinking, completely maskless.
I would think college students would be at a similar level.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

They should get a refund.  But simply expecting people to wear masks if they are going to have a gathering seems like a very reasonable expectation to me.

I am teaching an in-person college class right now, and while I am not privy to the students’ social lives, mask compliance on campus seems close to 100%, even outdoors.

As a high schooler I can safely say that mask compliance here is approximately 100% on campus. It’s obviously different off-campus where it isn’t enforced, but the punishment seems to be a good deterrent.
The worst we have are the people who wear it over their mouth and not their nose, but I have yet to see someone who wasn’t eating/drinking, completely maskless.
I would think college students would be at a similar level.

Safe to say you have no understanding of what college is. There is a difference between wearing it in class/outdoors (where there should be compliance) and wearing it in social outings, where I have yet to see anyone comply.

[Pericles]

Students who are irresponsible enough to put the lives of others and the well-being of their entire community at risk should be punished. This is a serious situation and not a joke, excess deaths are well over 200,000 already. Prioritising individual selfishness and 'rights' above all else is creating a dysfunctional and worse-off society.

[It’s so Joever]

Students who are irresponsible enough to put the lives of others and the well-being of their entire community at risk should be punished. This is a serious situation and not a joke, excess deaths are well over 200,000 already. Prioritising individual selfishness and 'rights' above all else is creating a dysfunctional and worse-off society.

Eh, they should be given their money back considering how expensive tuition is here.

[Pericles]

Students who are irresponsible enough to put the lives of others and the well-being of their entire community at risk should be punished. This is a serious situation and not a joke, excess deaths are well over 200,000 already. Prioritising individual selfishness and 'rights' above all else is creating a dysfunctional and worse-off society.

Eh, they should be given their money back considering how expensive tuition is here.

Well there should be some form of punishment.

[Calthrina950]

Students who are irresponsible enough to put the lives of others and the well-being of their entire community at risk should be punished. This is a serious situation and not a joke, excess deaths are well over 200,000 already. Prioritising individual selfishness and 'rights' above all else is creating a dysfunctional and worse-off society.

Eh, they should be given their money back considering how expensive tuition is here.

Well there should be some form of punishment.

By forcing students to carry tens of thousands of dollars in student debt for potentially decades to come, without having received their degree?

[It’s so Joever]

Students who are irresponsible enough to put the lives of others and the well-being of their entire community at risk should be punished. This is a serious situation and not a joke, excess deaths are well over 200,000 already. Prioritising individual selfishness and 'rights' above all else is creating a dysfunctional and worse-off society.

Eh, they should be given their money back considering how expensive tuition is here.

Well there should be some form of punishment.

Expulsion is a punishment.

[Pericles]

Students who are irresponsible enough to put the lives of others and the well-being of their entire community at risk should be punished. This is a serious situation and not a joke, excess deaths are well over 200,000 already. Prioritising individual selfishness and 'rights' above all else is creating a dysfunctional and worse-off society.

Eh, they should be given their money back considering how expensive tuition is here.

Well there should be some form of punishment.

Expulsion is a punishment.

Yeah I'm not clear on the details, just as long as there is some consequence.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Who are we kidding? Throughout the summer, people of all ages, all over America (maybe the world) have been socializing almost like normal - without masks or social distancing. Maybe not everyone, but a vast majority. This goes back to probably July, maybe earlier.

Is limiting what college students do really gonna stop covid? There's so many places it can spread that you can't stop it that way. Plus, I'm pretty sure herd immunity is already starting to appear, even in states like South Dakota that were only recently hot spots. Herd immunity has swept New York and Arizona for sure.

[Dr. Arch]

The updated numbers for COVID-19 in the U.S. are in for 9/5 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?

Older Numbers (Hidden in spoiler mode to make the post more compact)

Spoiler alert! Click Show to show the content.

Show

<Last Numbers for 3/26-3/28 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 3/29-4/4 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/5-4/11 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/12-4/18 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 4/19-4/25 in this post>
<Last Numbers for 4/26-5/2 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/3-5/9 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/10-5/16 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/17-5/23 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/24-5/30 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 5/31-6/6 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/7-6/13 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/14-6/20 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/21-6/27 in this Post>
<Last Numbers for 6/28-7/4 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/5-7/11 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/12-7/18 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/19-7/25 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 7/26-8/1 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/2-8/8 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/9-8/15 in this Post>
<Last Numbers from 8/16-8/22 in this Post>

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: <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: <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%)

8/28: <F>

• Cases: 6,096,235 (+49,601 | ΔW Change: ↓1.69% | Σ Increase: ↑0.82%)
• Deaths: 185,901 (+1,105 | ΔW Change: ↓37.78% | Σ Increase: ↑0.60%)

8/29: <S>

• Cases: 6,139,078 (+42,843 | ΔW Change: ↓4.16% | Σ Increase: ↑0.70%)
• Deaths: 186,855 (+954 | ΔW Change: ↓2.05% | Σ Increase: ↑0.51%)

8/30: <Sunday>

• Cases: 6,173,236 (+34,158 | ΔW Change: ↑4.40% | Σ Increase: ↑0.56%)
• Deaths: 187,224 (+369 | ΔW Change: ↓14.19% | Σ Increase: ↑0.20%)

8/31: <M>

• Cases: 6,211,682 (+38,446 | ΔW Change: ↓7.32% | Σ Increase: ↑0.62%)
• Deaths: 187,736 (+512 | ΔW Change: ↑0.39% | Σ Increase: ↑0.27%)

9/1: <T>

• Cases: 6,257,571 (+45,889 | ΔW Change: ↑14.44% | Σ Increase: ↑0.74%)
• Deaths: 188,900 (+1,164 | ΔW Change: ↓9.77% | Σ Increase: ↑0.62%)

9/2: <W>

• Cases: 6,290,737 (+33,166 | ΔW Change: ↓25.70% | Σ Increase: ↑0.53%)
• Deaths: 189,964 (+1,064 | ΔW Change: ↓14.81% | Σ Increase: ↑0.56%)

9/3: <Þ>

• Cases: 6,335,244 (+44,507 | ΔW Change: ↓3.81% | Σ Increase: ↑0.71%)
• Deaths: 191,058 (+1,094 | ΔW Change: ↓4.29% | Σ Increase: ↑0.58%)

9/4 (Yesterday): <F>

• Cases: 6,389,057 (+53,813 | ΔW Change: ↑8.49% | Σ Increase: ↑0.85%)
• Deaths: 192,111 (+1,053 | ΔW Change: ↓4.71% | Σ Increase: ↑0.55%)

9/5 (Today): <S>

• Cases: 6,431,152 (+42,095 | ΔW Change: ↓1.75% | Σ Increase: ↑0.66%)
• Deaths: 192,818 (+707 | ΔW Change: ↓25.89% | Σ Increase: ↑0.37%)

[emailking]

Herd immunity has swept New York and Arizona for sure.

Not so clear on the "for sure" part, but maybe.

[Pericles]

Who are we kidding? Throughout the summer, people of all ages, all over America (maybe the world) have been socializing almost like normal - without masks or social distancing. Maybe not everyone, but a vast majority. This goes back to probably July, maybe earlier.

Is limiting what college students do really gonna stop covid? There's so many places it can spread that you can't stop it that way. Plus, I'm pretty sure herd immunity is already starting to appear, even in states like South Dakota that were only recently hot spots. Herd immunity has swept New York and Arizona for sure.

1. Reducing social contact reduces the spread of Covid. This basic stuff should be obvious so far into the pandemic.
2. No?! Where is this coming from?
3. More like social distancing temporarily reduced the spread.

One of the most dangerous habits in this pandemic has been the reliance on wishful thinking over evidence. This post demonstrates that in spades.

Covid is not just going to disappear. Instead social contact should be limited (based on the circumstances-you don't need a full lockdown when there are few cases but some distancing is still necessary), and then when the vaccine arrives the critical mass (ideally everyone who can get it, but this is unrealistic) needs to get vaccinated so actual, safe herd immunity is achieved.