COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[GeneralMacArthur]

I am not opposed to indoor mask mandates.. like the one Pritzker just imposed..but I am worried of the slippery slope into more restrictions.

From my perspective, as someone who works with the public, I want to see businesses open (which they are) and people masked.

The thing about indoor mask mandates is that they don't actually cost anyone anything.  Almost all businesses can operate as normal with indoor mask mandates.  Here in Seattle most businesses have been requesting that you wear masks even when we didn't have a mandate.

The only ones that it won't work for are like comedy clubs and nightclubs and things like that where the point of the business is to talk or laugh or do something else where a mask doesn't work.

Shuttering businesses and going back to lockdowns obviously comes at a much higher cost.  People are much more willing to accept vaccine mandates than they are to accept a lockdown for Delta.  Especially because the point of the lockdowns was to wait until we had the virus under control, like we'd stay in lockdown until we saw the light at the end of the tunnel.  But now we have the vaccine.  We're at the end of the tunnel.  The virus could end tomorrow.  It only propagates because of idiot anti-vaxxers.  If we enter a lockdown because of the current situation then that lockdown will continue indefinitely until the anti-vaxxers get the vaccine.  And I for one am not willing to endure a lockdown just to coddle the anti-vaxxers.  I think all restrictions should be targeted at them and extremely punitive.  This is all their fault and they deserve society's wrath.

[Person Man]

I am not opposed to indoor mask mandates.. like the one Pritzker just imposed..but I am worried of the slippery slope into more restrictions.

From my perspective, as someone who works with the public, I want to see businesses open (which they are) and people masked.

The thing about indoor mask mandates is that they don't actually cost anyone anything.  Almost all businesses can operate as normal with indoor mask mandates.  Here in Seattle most businesses have been requesting that you wear masks even when we didn't have a mandate.

The only ones that it won't work for are like comedy clubs and nightclubs and things like that where the point of the business is to talk or laugh or do something else where a mask doesn't work.

Shuttering businesses and going back to lockdowns obviously comes at a much higher cost.  People are much more willing to accept vaccine mandates than they are to accept a lockdown for Delta.  Especially because the point of the lockdowns was to wait until we had the virus under control, like we'd stay in lockdown until we saw the light at the end of the tunnel.  But now we have the vaccine.  We're at the end of the tunnel.  The virus could end tomorrow.  It only propagates because of idiot anti-vaxxers.  If we enter a lockdown because of the current situation then that lockdown will continue indefinitely until the anti-vaxxers get the vaccine.  And I for one am not willing to endure a lockdown just to coddle the anti-vaxxers.  I think all restrictions should be targeted at them and extremely punitive.  This is all their fault and they deserve society's wrath.

...in the worst way.

[pbrower2a]

I am not opposed to indoor mask mandates.. like the one Pritzker just imposed..but I am worried of the slippery slope into more restrictions.

From my perspective, as someone who works with the public, I want to see businesses open (which they are) and people masked.

The thing about indoor mask mandates is that they don't actually cost anyone anything.  Almost all businesses can operate as normal with indoor mask mandates.  Here in Seattle most businesses have been requesting that you wear masks even when we didn't have a mandate.

The only ones that it won't work for are like comedy clubs and nightclubs and things like that where the point of the business is to talk or laugh or do something else where a mask doesn't work.

One can laugh through a mask. I have seen video of people singing through masks. One can drink almost any quaff through a straw, even though that is a compromise.

Shuttering businesses and going back to lockdowns obviously comes at a much higher cost.  People are much more willing to accept vaccine mandates than they are to accept a lockdown for Delta.  Especially because the point of the lockdowns was to wait until we had the virus under control, like we'd stay in lockdown until we saw the light at the end of the tunnel.  But now we have the vaccine.  We're at the end of the tunnel.  The virus could end tomorrow.  It only propagates because of idiot anti-vaxxers.  If we enter a lockdown because of the current situation then that lockdown will continue indefinitely until the anti-vaxxers get the vaccine.  And I for one am not willing to endure a lockdown just to coddle the anti-vaxxers.  I think all restrictions should be targeted at them and extremely punitive.  This is all their fault and they deserve society's wrath.

People are sick of COVID-19, and on the whole people are turning against those who have not gotten the message. One lockdown is unpleasant enough when there are no people to blame. A second one is almost as unpleasant and especially aggravating when such a lockdown results from people failing to get vaccinated.

Aside from official secrets and such obvious abuse as child porn and Streicher-like hate speech, one of the few things for which I would tolerate censorship is medical quackery. Anti-vax garbage is in that category. If one uses the SLAPS test for obscenity (Serious Literary, Artistic, Political, or Scientific) value... it's not imaginative enough to qualify as either "literary" or "artistic"; it is hardly necessary for any political purpose -- and it is in no way scientific.  

People who defy social pressures to use masks and get inoculated will increasingly be pushed to the fringe of American life -- if COVID-19 doesn't first threaten them with death and other problems.

[CEO Mindset]

people who defy social pressure in dystopias are based and better people than those who comply or worse, harass others into complying

[Person Man]

people who defy social pressure in dystopias are based and better people than those who comply or worse, harass others into complying

Don't cut yourself on that edge, mister.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

My university very thankfully seems to have reversed their policy of requiring professors to wear masks while teaching (as opposed to face shields).  I taught using a face shield most of last year, and it was fine for the most part.  I tried teaching wearing a mask this week and it sucked.  Fortunately, back to the shield next week.

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

people who defy social pressure in dystopias are based and better people than those who comply or worse, harass others into complying

What's with all these OC wannabes over the last few days?

[Hammy]

My university very thankfully seems to have reversed their policy of requiring professors to wear masks while teaching (as opposed to face shields).  I taught using a face shield most of last year, and it was fine for the most part.  I tried teaching wearing a mask this week and it sucked.  Fortunately, back to the shield next week.

I'm assuming the professors are vaccinated? This doesn't seem like too bad a decision if so.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

My university very thankfully seems to have reversed their policy of requiring professors to wear masks while teaching (as opposed to face shields).  I taught using a face shield most of last year, and it was fine for the most part.  I tried teaching wearing a mask this week and it sucked.  Fortunately, back to the shield next week.

I'm assuming the professors are vaccinated? This doesn't seem like too bad a decision if so.

The original plan was a vaccine mandate for students but not faculty and staff.  But the university amended this about two weeks ago and are mandating vaccination now for faculty and staff as well.  And rightly so! 

So presumably everyone on campus is now vaccinated.

[GeorgiaModerate]

people who defy social pressure in dystopias are based and better people than those who comply or worse, harass others into complying

What's with all these OC wannabes over the last few days?

Possibly they're bots trained on his posts.

[Mr. Morden]

The original plan was a vaccine mandate for students but not faculty and staff.  But the university amended this about two weeks ago and are mandating vaccination now for faculty and staff as well.  And rightly so! 

So presumably everyone on campus is now vaccinated.

Why would you presume that?  If the new rule only came in about two weeks ago, then even if all of the previously unvaccinated went out and got their first shot right away, not enough time has elapsed for a second shot.

[_.]

New Florida data release comes out tomorrow

Hope to see Broward's positivity rates decline for a second week

[DaleCooper]

maybe people should try losing a bit of weight, eating better in general, getting more sun, eating garlic or other stuff to boost their immune system to try preventing getting covid instead of stuff that's iffy at best like getting the [color=#ffffff]clot shot[/color] or wearing leather dog masks(cloth masks and n95s aren't enough, guys. its the cdc who makes the recommendations not me) or standing six feet apart

What does this even mean

look into the health risks of getting the covid-19 shot, especially the j&j one

Those are rare. I recommend against the J&J vaccine because it's not nearly as effective as the other ones, but literally any shot is more effective specifically against COVID than your generic health suggestions.

But I am increasingly of the belief that you are a troll, so maybe I shouldn't bother.

I was disappointed at having been given the J+J initially, but my family and I were high-fiving yesterday after NYT reported that J+J doesn't exhibit any decline in effectiveness over time.  So while all your Pfizer and Moderna shots are wearing off and you're gonna need annual boosters, my J+J seems like I'm set for life, although it also reported that a booster raises effectiveness by 800% so I'll be getting that as soon as it's approved as well.

The media had been tearing J&J a new one over the vaccine being mildly less effective and the cases of (I believe) less than ten deaths out of well over 13 million people who have taken the vaccine. While tragic, it's unclear whether these deaths were even due to the vaccine or not. It's the same thing with the (last I checked) less than 100 cases of Guillain Barré that may or may not be associated with the J&J vaccine. NYT in particular squeezed months of fear-mongering anti-vaccine headlines out of this so it's interesting that they broke the story of J&J's unique benefits and the fact that it seems to reduce chance of death in Delta cases, let alone earlier variants, by 95%.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Blood clot risk greater after Covid infection than after vaccination

[pppolitics]

Judge rules against Florida governor's ban on mask mandates in schools

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on mask mandates in schools will not remain in place, Leon County’s 2nd Judicial Circuit Court Judge John Cooper ruled Friday.

The court said that under the law the defendants “did not have the authority for a blanket mandatory ban against face mask policy, that does not provide a parental opt-out. They simply do not have that authority,” the judge said. 

The order will not take effect until the written order is issued, Cooper said. The court expected the written order to be issued early next week.

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-08-27-21/h_55ad5dfbee4d2ef803a352b6e41a156b

[emailking]

Yeah seems like something a legislature needs to do, similar to the fed eviction ban just overturned.

[emailking]

US intelligence community review does not determine origin of Covid-19

The US intelligence community reached an inconclusive assessment about the origin of the Covid-19 virus following a 90-day investigation ordered by President Joe Biden, according to an unclassified report released publicly on Friday.

The intelligence community is still divided about which of the two prevailing theories -- that the virus came from a lab leak or that it jumped from animal to human naturally -- is likely to be correct, the report found. There is unified consensus among the intelligence agencies that the two theories are plausible, according to the report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The unclassified report was released Friday by the intelligence community after Biden had asked intelligence agencies to "redouble" their efforts to determine how the Covid-19 pandemic began. Biden, who tasked them with declassifying as much of the report as possible, was briefed on the investigation earlier this week.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/27/politics/us-intelligence-covid-origins-report/index.html

[emailking]

Report also asserts Covid was not a biological weapon and China did not have foreknowledge before the initial outbreak in Wuhan.

[GeorgiaModerate]

An unvaccinated elementary school teacher who took off their mask to read to students ended up infecting more than half of them last May -- and they went on to infect other students, family members and community members, California public health officials reported Friday.
...
The teacher came to work even though they had Covid-19 symptoms and then took off their mask to read to the young students, a team at Marin County Public Health reported in the CDC's weekly report on death and disease. The teacher assumed the symptoms indicated allergies, not infection, the investigators found.

In the classroom of 22 students, 12 became infected -- including eight out of 10 students in the two front rows.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/27/health/teacher-covid-students/index.html

[_.]

New Florida data release comes out tomorrow

Hope to see Broward's positivity rates decline for a second week

Florida Data Release came out!

Great news inside, with positivity rates plummeting statewide.

Cumulative Confirmed Cases: 3,179,714

JUL 29 - 2,591,381 (+110,455 New Weekly, +4.45%) (18.9% Positivity Rate)
AUG 05 - 2,726,268 (+134,887 New Weekly, +5.21%) (19.6% Positivity Rate)
AUG 12 - 2,877,729 (+151,461 New Weekly, +5.56%) (19.8% Positivity Rate)
AUG 19 - 3,027,965 (+150,236 New Weekly, +5.22%) (20.1% Positivity Rate)
AUG 26 - 3,179,714 (+151,749 New Weekly, +5.01%) (16.8% Positivity Rate)

Cumulative Confirmed Deaths: 43,979

As for deaths, I'll just show you all the graph, and not the actual numbers, because the numbers, they just don't add up. There's a lack of data here, so older deaths are constantly being added onto the logs, and not all the newer deaths are here yet.

However, this idea that deaths peaked two weeks ago we have seen signs of in the last report as well. Very good to see!

Image Link

[Person Man]

Report also asserts Covid was not a biological weapon and China did not have foreknowledge before the initial outbreak in Wuhan.

I can believe it was a leak given how defensive the PRC has been about it. It’s better to look “bad” than “dumb”, right?

[_.]

Maps directly comparing last week's preliminary county positivity rates with this week's preliminary positivity rates county-by-county in the state of Florida:

Image Link AUG 13 - AUG 19

Image Link AUG 20 - AUG 26


Beautiful bloc in the Southeast

About to move on to the next category together!

[_.]

Another map expanding on the decline in positivity rates:

Image Link

[emailking]

190K cases today, a record for this wave.

I'm guessing deaths will be a record too once the backlog comes through.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

190K cases today, a record for this wave.

I'm guessing deaths will be a record too once the backlog comes through.

Everyone is just shrugging their shoulders at this point. I just got home from a trip to Virginia, and it basically looked like normal times.