COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[T'Chenka]

Oh by the way, the pandemic is far from over and COVID will come back in force. Mask mandates will come back. My bet remains open to any takers.

It is why Republicans should put up ballot measures in blue states that ban the government from having the power to implement mask mandates.

This is an EXTREMELY stupid measure, when you don't know what kind of pandemic is right around the corner.

[T'Chenka]

If enough people ignore the rules, the rules go away. You can't kick out 95% of the stadium. Face it, masks are on their way out, rates are crashing, and we're moving on.

Good on these patriots for not letting the hygiene Nazis ruin a fun night.

If you're against law and order and rule of law, that's your prerogative, but I do NOT want to hear you claiming otherwise or see you whining about a lack of law and order in another thread sometime in the future. I no longer have patience or tolerance for people that claim to believe in something when it's convenient for them but then suddenly no longer believe in it when it no longer fits their narrative.

Also, "patriots" is a really cringe way to describe these people.

[T'Chenka]

If enough people ignore the rules, the rules go away. You can't kick out 95% of the stadium. Face it, masks are on their way out, rates are crashing, and we're moving on.

Good on these patriots for not letting the hygiene Nazis ruin a fun night.

If you're against law and order and rule of law, that's your prerogative, but I do NOT want to hear you claiming otherwise or see you whining about a lack of law and order in another thread sometime in the future. I no longer have patience or tolerance for people that claim to believe in something when it's convenient for them but then suddenly no longer believe in it when it no longer fits their narrative.

You say you "oppose murder" and "support the rule of law," and yet you do not support strict enforcement of Los Angeles County Health Officer's Order § 11(c)(ii). Hypocrisy much??

If you enter a private establishment and ignore the rules (some of which may be decided by the establishment and some of which may be decided by the government), there is SOME chance that you will be denied service and asked to leave, and you can't complain about it because it was your choice to ignore the conditions of service. It doesn't make you a patriot, it makes you a problem customer. Had some people been thrown out, they would have had ZERO right to complain about it.

[T'Chenka]

Ultimately, I understand where the restrictionists are coming from, but listen: you all aren't looking at reality.

To be fair, a lot of the restrictionists you see talking right now are people who are saying "this has not been confirmed to be endemic yet, you people need to chill out and stop demanding post-pandemic policies when we aren't even certain that we're out of the pandemic yet". Endemic policy and pandemic policy are two different things. Fauci, the WHO, and all kinds of scientists all over the place have not come out and flat out said "the pandemic is over". People are looking at the numbers and assuming it is, and they MIGHT be right, yes, but the actual scientific community has not come to that conclusion yet. If your government takes science seriously, they will wait for that announcement to move into endemic policies and keep pandemic policies for now.

[T'Chenka]

Oh by the way, the pandemic is far from over and COVID will come back in force. Mask mandates will come back. My bet remains open to any takers.

It is why Republicans should put up ballot measures in blue states that ban the government from having the power to implement mask mandates.

And if a new pandemic comes around that can kill lots more people, those governments will still have the power to lock down almost everyone.

Well id specify then banning any COVID restrictions rather than any restriction that can be used to stop a new pandemic in the future

Hypothetical: the new pandemic is an insane strain of COVID that is way different and way deadlier but did evolve from COVID, so for legal and scientific purposes, it is considered a form of COVID.

[T'Chenka]

Hypothetical: the new pandemic is an insane strain of COVID that is way different and way deadlier but did evolve from COVID, so for legal and scientific purposes, it is considered a form of COVID.

Well at the very least then put limits on the power of the government to impose Mask Mandate. It should not have been implemented since May of 2021 and its the Pro Mask Mandate people's fault that all of us are sick and tired of any restrictions not our fault.

It shouldn't really matter how sick and tired of restrictions you are, it should only matter how necessary they are. We're entering a phase now where people questioning how necessary the restrictions are, but it was pretty clear that they were necessary for a long time.
Your feelings and you being inconvenienced only matters so much. When COVID was way more of a serious problem, there were bigger fish to fry than worrying about how inconvenient some people thought masks were.

[T'Chenka]

One thing I have thought of is how Long COVID and permanent damage from COVID will be dealt with. How will this change our fiscal direction, our social insurance programs, and how will these sorts of medical conditions be dealt with on a medical grounds. Will there be treatments for these things?

I have (and have had for years) a conspiracy theory "COVID doesn't exist" anti-vaxx anti-mask customer who claims to work in insurance and claims COVID hasn't changed ANYTHING in the insurance industry. Take it with a massive grain of salt.

[T'Chenka]

To be fair, a lot of the restrictionists you see talking right now are people who are saying "this has not been confirmed to be endemic yet, you people need to chill out and stop demanding post-pandemic policies when we aren't even certain that we're out of the pandemic yet".

You don't get to say that when you just said "It's never happening. Just accept it." Seriously, do you people think we can't read or something?

I wasn't being serious in my exchange with Jimmie. When users posts insane things, I don't always respond 100% seriously.

[T'Chenka]

https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1493331606446223361

McConnell is a detestable character, but he is right here. I've said before that Democrats are recognizing that the mandates hurt them politically and that it is time to discard them. Those who think they they are driven solely by a concern over "case numbers" and the like are mistaken. But why haven't the Biden Administration and the CDC got the message yet?

Why are you dabbling in conspiracy theories now? You've always been a smart poster.

[T'Chenka]

This country couldn't win World War II today. "Food rationing?? Not being able to get nylons and clothing when I want it?!? We need to remove these restrictions because the soldiers are great and brave enough they don't need ready supplies like that!" Completely pathetic. There, I said it....

100% true.

Also, "there is no western front, they're crisis actors. The nazis just want to bring peace and prosperity, why would we risk our lives to prevent that?"

[T'Chenka]

Surely, you don't believe that Democrats are solely dropping the mandates because of cases declining? Much of the response to this pandemic has been politicized on both sides. You seem to have great and considerable faith in our public officials, even when they haven't warranted it.

Well, yeah, I do believe it actually. The same thing is happening in Canada right now. It's happening in western Europe too. As the cases drop, and look like they're probably going to stay down, restrictions are being lifted. It's basically the same thing everywhere. Occam's razor suggests that it isn't some politically motivated decision in the USA but not everywhere else. Also, in Ontario, we have a Conservative government and our premier has taken a beating in the polls over mandates, yet has still not dropped them until now when the cases are dropping.

[T'Chenka]

 This country couldn't win World War II today. "Food rationing?? Not being able to get nylons and clothing when I want it?!? We need to remove these restrictions because the soldiers are great and brave enough they don't need ready supplies like that!" Completely pathetic. There, I said it....

I’ve never understood this analogy.  Aren’t the pro-mask, pro-lockdown side the one who aren’t willing to risk their lives to protest the American way of life?  How are you going to be willing to storm the beach at Normandy if you’re not even willing to get a sore throat for a few days?

It's more along the lines of "we as a community are going to have to make sacrifices and life isn't going to be easy, but if we can all do our part (for the war effort / to reduce the spread) then our country can succeed, and we owe it to our fellow countrymen to do our part".

[T'Chenka]

 This country couldn't win World War II today. "Food rationing?? Not being able to get nylons and clothing when I want it?!? We need to remove these restrictions because the soldiers are great and brave enough they don't need ready supplies like that!" Completely pathetic. There, I said it....

I’ve never understood this analogy.  Aren’t the pro-mask, pro-lockdown side the one who aren’t willing to risk their lives to protest the American way of life?  How are you going to be willing to storm the beach at Normandy if you’re not even willing to get a sore throat for a few days?

It's more along the lines of "we as a community are going to have to make sacrifices and life isn't going to be easy, but if we can all do our part (for the war effort / to reduce the spread) then our country can succeed, and we owe it to our fellow countrymen to do our part".

But you can just as easily make the argument that the best way for the “country to succeed” now that everyone has access to vaccines is to hasten the spread.  And thus the people who unwilling to do their part in this by exposing themselves to the virus are the ones being selfish and afraid to make a minor sacrifice to their health to more quickly end the pandemic.

Getting the virus to speed up the spread has never been a good argument.

[T'Chenka]

I am panicking about hyperinflation or a great depression. I told yall the United States should have never shut down and we had to much stimulus. I am worried about the pluto return that the United States is about to experience.

Just wait until Saturn comes back around.

[T'Chenka]

The public health officials at the CDC and state-level, plus many Dem leaders have been clear over the last two weeks - The mitigations are going away for now because cases are going down, and will be brought back when they go back up.

Sounds... reasonable?

[T'Chenka]

Isn't it funny that a lot of the statements Trump made in 2020.. make a lot of sense in the Omicron era

SLOW THE TESTING DOWN

ITS JUST LIKE THE FLU

ITS JUST THE SNIFFLES

IT WILL ONE DAY DISAPPEAR

haha

So, what's your explanation for all the dead bodies?

Based on my convos with him, he doesn't have rational counter-arguments. He just WILL NOT accept COVID measures any longer, period, under any context. Whatever the implications of that are, it's irrelevant to him. The ends justify the means.

[T'Chenka]

Isn't it funny that a lot of the statements Trump made in 2020.. make a lot of sense in the Omicron era

SLOW THE TESTING DOWN

ITS JUST LIKE THE FLU

ITS JUST THE SNIFFLES

IT WILL ONE DAY DISAPPEAR

haha

So, what's your explanation for all the dead bodies?

Based on my convos with him, he doesn't have rational counter-arguments. He just WILL NOT accept COVID measures any longer, period, under any context. Whatever the implications of that are, it's irrelevant to him. The ends justify the means.

So, he's just mentally incapable?  There is quite a bit of that here.

Ehh, I wouldn't go that far. He's just a libertarian, and he thinks freedom is more important than saving lives.

[T'Chenka]

And that's their prerogative. Just like they can tell you to wear gloves, a hair net, a long sleeve shirt, or anything else that some might hate wearing all day.

We've argued enough about this already. I've said repeatedly that the Spanish Flu did not bring about permanent mask mandates. Why should there be?

Okay, I've been patient and polite(ish) long enough. Dude... who THE F__K said anything about permanant mandates? What the f__k are you talking about? Take off the tin foil hat, you're embarassing yourself. You're a smart guy, use the brain that God gave you.

[T'Chenka]

So…I am guessing you did not look at the study which was linked?

We’ve hit a societal low when scientific studies are now political propaganda.

"It doesn't fit my narrative" = "it isn't real"

[T'Chenka]

Americans Are Still Living With a 2020 Attitude Toward COVID-19 Risk. It's Time for That to Change

The attitude will change when scientists start coming out and CONFIDENTLY saying that the pandemic is over and that it's endemic. For the 95th thousandth time, North American right wingers believe in something when it fits their narrative and then suddenly are against it when it doesn't suit them. People that don't actually advocate for concepts and ideas and only support their "team' don't deserve to be taken seriously in political discourse.

[T'Chenka]

I am not a libertarian.

Libertarians oppose public roads..

Libertarians oppose taxes and the only tax they would support are flat dollar amount taxes.

Libertarians would oppose any oppose criminal statues and let people do anything they want.

Libertarians would oppose any business regulations.

Libertarians do not seem to acknowledge that actions of other people can affect others. It is too idealistic and unrealistic when used as an extreme. I obviously favor maximum freedom but it should be realized that irresponsible acts of others can hurt society as a whole.

We can't expect everyone to hire to their own private security and be responsible for their own fires.

You're a COVID libertarian. Maybe not otherwise.

[T'Chenka]

We need to repeal all mask mandates ASAP

"Need" is a really poor choice of word and factually incorrect. But I understand what you meant.

[T'Chenka]

the reality is that those recommendations have been treated as akin to law by so many, and they will only change their behaviors if the CDC gives them the "okay" to do so.

Sounds like a bunch of reasonable people that believe in science and scientists.

[T'Chenka]

the reality is that those recommendations have been treated as akin to law by so many, and they will only change their behaviors if the CDC gives them the "okay" to do so.

Sounds like a bunch of reasonable people that believe in science and scientists.

It's not just science alone. Many of these businesses and institutions are clinging to mask mandates for liability and publicity reasons. They want to guard themselves against lawsuits from employees and students who may become ill, and they want to satisfy customers who are insistent on safety protocols. It's not that they truly care for their employees or their students.

Those customers, employees and lawsuits will not be such a big cause for mandates once the CDC changes their recommendation. So, what's the problem? People want to be safe and the CDC has not quite yet recommended dropping masks.

[T'Chenka]

the reality is that those recommendations have been treated as akin to law by so many, and they will only change their behaviors if the CDC gives them the "okay" to do so.

Sounds like a bunch of reasonable people that believe in science and scientists.

It's not just science alone. Many of these businesses and institutions are clinging to mask mandates for liability and publicity reasons. They want to guard themselves against lawsuits from employees and students who may become ill, and they want to satisfy customers who are insistent on safety protocols. It's not that they truly care for their employees or their students.

Those customers, employees and lawsuits will not be such a big cause for mandates once the CDC changes their recommendation. So, what's the problem? People want to be safe and the CDC has not quite yet recommended dropping masks.

As I've said before, the vast majority of customers where I work are no longer wearing masks. This is also true for many other businesses. Moreover, many of the employees themselves resent wearing masks, and do not wear them when they are on break or on the clock. They would gladly be free of them if the mandate were to be dropped. Again, it's not fair to employees to be laid under such a mandate, when customers are not subjected to a similar requirement.

Some companies trust the CDC to give good health advice, some don't. You are free to go and work for a company that doesn't listen to the CDC. Also, it isn't the CDC's fault that some states or businesses have failed to listen to their advice. You can either blame your state or other companies for getting rid of masks, OR blame your company for NOT getting rid of masks, but blaming the CDC is illogical.