COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Bandit3 the Worker]

7-day positives drip down again to 2.26%

[Bandit3 the Worker]

And 7-day positives are down again to 2.22%

[Bandit3 the Worker]

7-day positives down to 2.16%

[Bandit3 the Worker]

We might actually see numbers in 4 digits today. That hasn't happened since March 22, 2020.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Corona Scanner just reported over 60,000 phantom cases. The rolling averages are going to be off for a few days.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

How do mask mandates "kill the economy," exactly? I can understand being anti-lockdown for those reasons, but I can't see what negative effect masks had economically.

People are really discouraged from visiting businesses if they're forced to wear a mask.

Even at my local Kroger, I've noticed business has soared since they loosened mask rules.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

7-day positives crashed down to 2.09% yesterday.

Unfortunately they went back up today because of those 60,000 phantom cases on Corona Scanner.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I just got home from a nice little roadtrip centered on Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. Lemme tell ya, COVID has been pretty much forgotten in most of the Plains states.

Very few masks were seen, even on store and restaurant employees throughout the trip, and even at the national park. Even most park rangers didn't wear masks. There was a nice little guided tour of the cave, and very few visitors wore masks. There was also pretty much no social distancing inside the cave.

So the Midwest moves on, while the Los Angeles school system drags along.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I'll be traveling to the Midwest next week for the first time since the pandemic started and am curious what it's like on the ground to be in a grocery store with maskless people.

It's a much more pleasant experience.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

For the record, the 7-day positive rate in the U.S. crashed to a record-low 1.74% on Thursday. But it did go up a little bit on Friday because of about 15,000 phantom cases on Corona Scanner.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Nate Silver has been pretty chill about the stay-at-home stuff. That's pretty remarkable considering he works for ABC.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

There may be a bit of a disconnect between atlas regulars and folks on the ground regarding masks. Last week, I went on a big roadtrip to Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota, and during the entire week, I was never even in any venue or building that required masks. Rest areas, motels, restaurants, grocery stores, museums, even national park visitor centers - none required masks of vaccinated people (and in most cases unvaccinated too, except at the national parks). Whether it was Illinois, South Dakota, or any other state, it was always the same.

And very, very few people wore masks voluntarily. Even most park rangers. I went on a guided tour of the cave, and there was no social distancing whatsoever, but hardly anyone wore a mask (but that was one place where the ranger actually did).

I think masks just didn't really catch on completely outside the white-collar social media bubble, at least in the U.S. During the pandemic, there were people who wore a mask when there was a rule, but they tore it right off as soon as they stepped outside.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

7-day positive rate down to 1.66%

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I saw this in a campaign ad, do Americans (in blue states) actually do this? I mean under 6 y/o children wearing masks in an outdoors playground? I am as pro mask as you can get, but this seems completely insane.

I've never seen this in parks or playgrounds, but some folks who comment on other boards apparently have seen it.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

How about masking at home?

I don't know anyone who does this either.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Delta variant is more likely to put a young adult in the hospital, though the chances are still small. If you're vaccinated your chances of that are still very small.

In other words, they should stop imposing restrictions on people who are vaccinated.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

My prediction is that there'll be another wave thanks to the deplorables refusing to get vaccinated. This one will be the worst one.

Not. My. Problem. Anymore.

I got both doses of Pfizer months ago, and if they issue new lockdowns and mask mandates, they're just going to have to cram it. What was the point of getting vaccinated if we can't go right back to normal life right away?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

It looks like the only state that's not doing that great right now is Missouri. But the rest of the Midwest is doing great.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I don't think MATTROSE94 is serious. But Eric Feigl-Ding is an absolute charlatan.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

We should focus on states that are doing really good like Vermont, Maine, and the Dakotas. Or almost any other state in the U.S. that isn't Missouri or Mississippi.

Vermont usually has under 10 cases per day now. Maine and D.C. usually have under 20 each.

There's also places like Gibraltar that have hardly any cases at all now. They vaccinated almost everyone (adults at least).

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I just don't understand why masks are such a big issue.

Because people don't want to live in that sort of creepiness, and because people like being able to breathe.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Are colleges and universities going to keep punishing students for attending parties that are off campus and are not at school-sponsored events?

The only thing dumber than this is the fact that more schools weren't sued over it.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

It’s just like if a student was caught selling drugs on campus, the college has every right to expel them.

But the stuff I'm talking about didn't even happen on campus.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Meanwhile, my county just moved to the green tier (the best of 4 tiers) on Kentucky's map.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Now that the pandemic is over, "CraigTheLawyer" on Twitter is no longer providing a count of how many tests are administered, so I can no longer compile what the nationwide positivity rate is. We finished the pandemic well below 2%.