COVID-19 Megathread 5: The Trumps catch COVID-19

[GeorgiaModerate]

I am rejecting all handshakes, that's dead for a very longtime.

I see no reason why handshakes wouldn't return to norm after this pandemic ends.

I think it's likely that more people will decline to shake hands, although I don't expect them to disappear entirely.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1258829831879430149

[GeorgiaModerate]

Erick Erickson finally snaps.  Click to read the whole worthwhile thread.

https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/1258905505357082625

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/1259184336995258372

[GeorgiaModerate]

On the subject of college students learning from home, I saw this article about a music department delivering keyboards to the homes of its piano students.  It made me wonder about medical students in this situation <pictures home delivery and pickup of cadavers for study>.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/rachel_dz/status/1259273747514773505

[GeorgiaModerate]

That’s why we have to vote this p****y grabber out!

But Joe Biden has not been elected yet.

*plonk*

[GeorgiaModerate]

So the virus is apparently running amok in a place where they've been doing constant testing of the people who work there.  Just what do they expect to happen in workplaces that don't have access to that level of testing?

[GeorgiaModerate]

The rate of positive tests in the U.S. just tumbled to 7.25% today. Also the fewest deaths since March 29.

The number of new cases was just a tiny bit over 20,000, despite a lot of testing.

It appears we are now fully on the downslope. At this rate we should be back to normal by July, not even factoring in heat and treatments.

How do you define normal here?

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/JoeNBC/status/1259303029112799234

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1260618505512120320

[GeorgiaModerate]

Today is a really bad day for testing

Day isn't even over yet.

Ok and? Every state is significantly down

Looks like I take the W here.

Don't make this a competition (that goes for everyone, not just you).  This is too serious a matter.

[GeorgiaModerate]

To follow up on something I posted a while back: several weeks ago, a colleague of mine was admitted to the hospital due to an extremely high fever.  This happened three weeks after I'd spent four days sitting next to him in a small conference room, for some extended meetings during the last week our office was open. 

He subsequently tested positive for COVID-19 and was in the hospital for about 1.5 weeks,  then recovered at home for another two weeks.  He's now back on the job (from home, as we all are).  Nobody else in the meetings we were in has gotten sick.  Contact tracing has determined that he apparently caught the virus from his college-student daughter, who brought it back from Spring Break in Florida.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/bopanc/status/1260957885057695748

[GeorgiaModerate]

May 12

New cases: 318 (+14.4%)
Total cases: 20,475

New deaths: 53 (+130.4%)
Total deaths: 1,062

“Real cases”: (+51.6%)


As bad as this looks, it’s certainly not surprising. Monday’s typically are way too low anyways, so this isn’t unprecedented. I also think deaths were significantly undercounted over the past few days so this could be just backlog. Still, it’s a noticeable jump and should be monitored.

Your numbers are just for Colorado, right?  Could you label them that way so there's no confusion with the other stats that get posted in this thread?

[GeorgiaModerate]

This is how virus-truthers feel across the country. They are scared to acknowledge the truth so they stay buried under the sand in with fictitious beliefs that everything is normal and always will be. Basically a form of denial to cope with tough situations.
It’s truly an enviable way of thinking, to be able to be so willfully ignorant for your own happiness.

Their chief:

https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1261036307972833281

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/how-long-are-we-going-to-be-wearing-masks-we-asked-the-experts/ar-BB13nolJ


Some experts expect mask wearing to be heavily encouraged until Nov 2021 (18 months) - the general time frame most experts expect a fully functional vaccine to be fully distributed. I still don't know if I buy it

I'm not wasting the next 18 months of my life on this.

You're not willing to wear a mask around other people until a vaccine is available?  Please explain how wearing one would constitute a waste of your life. 

Frankly, I'm puzzled why so many people who want to be out and about (which I certainly understand) are NOT willing to also wear a mask while they're out and among other people.  They should be embracing wearing a masks as a way to get out and activity back to closer to normal!  Wanting everyone to be out in public with no masks and no vaccine is just irresponsible, and risks everyone's health.  The virus is still prevalent in the US and many other countries, and just hoping for the best will not protect you.

[GeorgiaModerate]

You're not willing to wear a mask around other people until a vaccine is available?

For 18 months?

It probably won't take that long to find a vaccine, but some say there's no guarantee it'll ever be found. Ever.

In the latter case, the population would eventually reach a state of herd immunity.  And I agree that it's likely a vaccine will take less than 18 months.  But you still haven't explained why wearing a mask is a waste of your life.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1261267252365623297

[GeorgiaModerate]

I certainly think that people should be wearing them, and that they are necessary now. But it's hard for me to see people wearing them that far into the new year, particularly since it is likely that we may have a vaccine before then. But we'll see what happens. Mandatory mask orders have continued to spread in the meantime, with Los Angeles County, California and King County, Washington now requiring them. However, they haven't spread as fast in recent days as I would have expected. It will be interesting to see also, how long it will be mandatory. Once temperatures start to hit the heights of summer-say 90 or 100 degrees-how comfortable will they be? How practical will it be? I'm not sure.

I think there's a couple counties in California that repealed the orders.

I'm still flabbergasted that anyone at all wears masks outdoors (as opposed to cramped indoor businesses).

I think the key should be whether you are going to be close to other people, which is of course much more likely if you are indoors.  I don't wear a mask when taking a walk around my neighborhood, where the houses are relatively far apart and I don't come close to other people.  I've seen pictures of solitary joggers with masks and don't think this is necessary.  But when people are in close proximity, where you can't maintain adequate distance between them, I think masks should be worn even outdoors.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/AndySlater/status/1261048907880181761

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/SGoodlookings/status/1261709584118448128

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/Thomashornall/status/1261635330760982529

[GeorgiaModerate]

Trump needs to stop being a coward and assemble a coalition of the willing to turn their full might on the Chinese government in retaliation for all this.

Assuming, for the sake of argument, that such a course of action would be desirable, there is no way that other countries would follow Trump in such an endeavor.  He's squandered America's position as leader of the free world.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Very positive results from this trial of Moderna's vaccine::

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/health/coronavirus-vaccine-moderna.html

This vaccine is zooming through trials and may be ready for widespread use very soon.

"Very soon" in this case being late this year or early next year (which is probably the best-case scenario for any vaccine).  From the article:

If those trials go well, a vaccine could become available for widespread use by the end of this year or early 2021, Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer, said in an interview. How many doses might be ready is not clear, but Dr. Zaks said, “We’re doing our best to make it as many millions as possible.”