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

[Smeulders]

I'm just shocked at the people who think everyone should wear a mask 100% of the time.

What the hell does that nonsense even mean? Is there anyone out there saying that people should wear masks in their houses? If not, then you are just babbling.

About a month ago, I actually saw an article saying people should wear masks when home alone.

No you didn't. You are just making sh**t up.

If I recall correctly, Bandit is one of those who are getting their information through a "lockdownskeptics" discussion board on Reddit. Some idiot somewhere probably did say people should always wear masks at home. The lockdownskeptics echo chamber then spent days amplifying this and pretending this was a common opinion, so they could pretend to be smarter than the people advocating for more caution.

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

They have a chip on their shoulder because they're "a grown-ass man/woman" and "someone is trying to tell me what to do."  

"It's a free country!  I have rights!!!"

I've made clear my opposition to mask mandates imposed by government, but have also emphasized my support for mask mandates imposed by businesses. As I've explained before, most of the employees at my job were not wearing masks before they were mandated to do so by the Governor's order back in April. One of my co-workers has constantly complained about it, says that he is "fine", and that he doesn't need to wear a mask. He goes maskless whenever he is not on the clock, and has it down much of the time even when he is on the clock. I saw another employee who had a scarf around his neck, but was maskless and interacting with customers. Many of these people are mental Neanderthals.

The whole macho complex surrounding these people is baffling. Attention seeking at its absolute worst.

I don't see it that way at all. I think it's that these people are literally stupid enough to think that they know better than the government and medical professionals, and they're also too simple-minded to question and challenge their own ideas and consider modifying them.

And it's not just people who are considered "uneducated".  I've seen blue-collar-looking guys in dusty construction-company t-shirts and blue jeans who are properly wearing masks and appearing to take this seriously.  

These are all things I've recently heard uttered by friends, most of whom are pursuing professional degrees:

* "Oh it's okay.  My boyfriend hasn't been anywhere in the past couple of weeks."

* "If I get it, I get it.  I'll be fine.

* "I'm actually hoping to get it just to have that immunity.

* "We've been hugging and standing closer than six feet for a while now.  I think we're okay.

And checking my Instagram this morning, there were at least ten stories (time-limited pics/videos for the uninitiated) posted by med students, dentistry students, pharmacy students, nursing students -- "educated" individuals who should know better -- eating at outdoor establishments and taking group pics where they're piled on top of each other, leaning against each other, hugging, etc. with captions like "MISSED THESE PEOPLE" and "FINALLY!!!"

I'm really not trying to be high-and-mighty or preachy.  After all, it was my own stupidity and lack of safety that led to me contracting COVID-19.  There's practically no issue with eating outdoors and enjoying the summer weather so long as businesses observe proper social distancing standards.  

But people need to do their parts, too.

[Pericles]

People saying "I'll be fine" has some dark connotations to me, due to them ignoring the risk of infecting others and generally worsening the situation for the entire community by continuing the chain of transmission. Either people are too dumb to take that risk into account (which I consider the best-case) or the spirit of selfishness has so infected American society that a large share of the population just don't care about the risk of infecting others and the well-being of their community.

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

You have got to watch this to believe. Looks like things are likely to keep getting worse, at least in Texas...

https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1276886772287442944

Isn’t this just evidence that a lot of people are getting tested?

Watch the video. There are a lot of people there waiting in line to be tested... Which is good... But what is not good is that they are all standing in a closely packed line unnecessarily close right next to each other... Despite the fact that they are in line specifically at a COVID testing site... Where you would expect that a disproportionate number of people relative to the general population are in fact infected... And especially in a state/city in which there is a high positivity rate...

The question you should be asking yourself, given this, is why are they not standing 6 feet apart? TBH, why are they not standing further apart than that, like 12 feet (why is there this obsession with 6 feet anyway, as though it is perfectly fine to stand exactly 6 feet away if you could easily be standing a bit further away at no real additional cost???)

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

You have got to watch this to believe. Looks like things are likely to keep getting worse, at least in Texas...

https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1276886772287442944

Isn’t this just evidence that a lot of people are getting tested?

Watch the video. There are a lot of people there waiting in line to be tested... Which is good... But what is not good is that they are all standing in a closely packed line unnecessarily close right next to each other... Despite the fact that they are in line specifically at a COVID testing site... Where you would expect that a disproportionate number of people relative to the general population are in fact infected... And especially in a state/city in which there is a high positivity rate...

The question you should be asking yourself, given this, is why are they not standing 6 feet apart? TBH, why are they not standing further apart than that, like 12 feet (why is there this obsession with 6 feet anyway, as though it is perfectly fine to stand exactly 6 feet away if you could easily be standing a bit further away at no real additional cost???)

OK, but we've been seeing images and videos of people not social distancing for the last two months.  At least here they are outside and they are almost all wearing masks. 

It would be nice if they were standing farther apart.  But that's not why the video has been circulating so widely.  It's because people mistakenly believe these are sick people waiting for care.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

You have got to watch this to believe. Looks like things are likely to keep getting worse, at least in Texas...

https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1276886772287442944

Isn’t this just evidence that a lot of people are getting tested?

Watch the video. There are a lot of people there waiting in line to be tested... Which is good... But what is not good is that they are all standing in a closely packed line unnecessarily close right next to each other... Despite the fact that they are in line specifically at a COVID testing site... Where you would expect that a disproportionate number of people relative to the general population are in fact infected... And especially in a state/city in which there is a high positivity rate...

The question you should be asking yourself, given this, is why are they not standing 6 feet apart? TBH, why are they not standing further apart than that, like 12 feet (why is there this obsession with 6 feet anyway, as though it is perfectly fine to stand exactly 6 feet away if you could easily be standing a bit further away at no real additional cost???)

The problem, much like with long lines at voting locations, is a lack of testing sites. If people know it's going to be a several hours long wait to get tested, they might just decide to not bother getting tested, even if they're feeling sick. That's going to make it even harder to isolate and contact trace.

[Landslide Lyndon]

https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/1277295367827136514

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

It would be nice if they were standing farther apart.  But that's not why the video has been circulating so widely.  It's because people mistakenly believe these are sick people waiting for care.

Um, no it is not... Read the tweet. It says, "If they didn’t have #COVID19 before, they probably have it now. Scene from a testing site in The Heights." And read the responses.

The problem, much like with long lines at voting locations, is a lack of testing sites. If people know it's going to be a several hours long wait to get tested, they might just decide to not bother getting tested, even if they're feeling sick. That's going to make it even harder to isolate and contact trace.

To be sure, that is a problem too. There is no shortage of problems here.

[It’s so Joever]

Anyone else still want to pretend this is the result of more testing even with positivity rates and hospitalizations soaring?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/1277295367827136514

So basically there are a number of states that are now experiencing a situation where spread of the virus will be impossible to control without a return to severe lockdowns or a substantial infection rate. Excellent job, America.

Since no one will lock down again at the scale that's necessary, looks like you folks are completely screwed. Trumpism at its finest. Don't expect deaths to stop at 200,000.

[Calthrina950]

https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/1277295367827136514

So basically there are a number of states that are now experiencing a situation where spread of the virus will be impossible to control without a return to severe lockdowns or a substantial infection rate. Excellent job, America.

Since no one will lock down again at the scale that's necessary, looks like you folks are completely screwed. Trumpism at its finest. Don't expect deaths to stop at 200,000.

This could very well be what pushes Arizona definitely into the Biden column this November. Trump has always been underwater there, and his disastrous handling of the pandemic will not escape notice by the voters there. At this point, I'm just hoping that coronavirus cases do not flare up again in Colorado. We had a slight uptick in cases this past week, but so far we are avoiding the massive increases that are being seen in Arizona and elsewhere.

[jimrtex]

You have got to watch this to believe. Looks like things are likely to keep getting worse, at least in Texas...

https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1276886772287442944

Isn’t this just evidence that a lot of people are getting tested?

This site is now listed as COVID-19 testing by appointment only. Some other sites by the same chain (of urgent care facilities) are indicating no appointment is necessary.

This is pretty close to Washington Avenue (bars/bar-hopping), and until recently the Heights (where the clinic is located was dry). Bars statewide were closed at Friday noon. It is possible that there were outbreaks at the bars, and on Friday might have urged would-be patrons to get tested and listed nearby testing locations.

Testing statewide had been pretty steady statewide around 30K per day, while the positivity rate stayed low around 5% or declined some. This could mean that testing had become fairly easy to get done, but there was less urgency when 95% were coming back negative. If a urgent care clinic wanted to drum up business, they might put on their sign out front "COVID-19 NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED".

Then all of a sudden there was a rush (statewide tests are now over 40,000 per day and positivity is up to 13%) which means people are actually experiencing symptoms before being tested just to confirm what they already suspected) and a line developed. If you have a fever or a cough, or a friend who was infected, you aren't going to think, I will wait until Monday to call my primary care physician (if you are in your 20s, particularly if male, you don't have a primary-care physician, and when you call your Mom, she will remind you that Dr. Jones was your pediatrician, and he retired 7 or 8 years ago). You are going to want it done now, and will get in the end of the line, figuring it was like the run on toilet paper.

So I drove by the urgent care facility to see if there was a line today. Absolutely nobody outside. Hah! I thought, they have switched to appointments! I pulled in the parking lot to look a little closer. On all the doors there was a white sheet of paper: "Out of COVID-19 Tests".

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

You have got to watch this to believe. Looks like things are likely to keep getting worse, at least in Texas...

https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1276886772287442944

Isn’t this just evidence that a lot of people are getting tested?

This site is now listed as COVID-19 testing by appointment only. Some other sites by the same chain (of urgent care facilities) are indicating no appointment is necessary.

This is pretty close to Washington Avenue (bars/bar-hopping), and until recently the Heights (where the clinic is located was dry). Bars statewide were closed at Friday noon. It is possible that there were outbreaks at the bars, and on Friday might have urged would-be patrons to get tested and listed nearby testing locations.

Testing statewide had been pretty steady statewide around 30K per day, while the positivity rate stayed low around 5% or declined some. This could mean that testing had become fairly easy to get done, but there was less urgency when 95% were coming back negative. If a urgent care clinic wanted to drum up business, they might put on their sign out front "COVID-19 NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED".

Then all of a sudden there was a rush (statewide tests are now over 40,000 per day and positivity is up to 13%) which means people are actually experiencing symptoms before being tested just to confirm what they already suspected) and a line developed. If you have a fever or a cough, or a friend who was infected, you aren't going to think, I will wait until Monday to call my primary care physician (if you are in your 20s, particularly if male, you don't have a primary-care physician, and when you call your Mom, she will remind you that Dr. Jones was your pediatrician, and he retired 7 or 8 years ago). You are going to want it done now, and will get in the end of the line, figuring it was like the run on toilet paper.

So I drove by the urgent care facility to see if there was a line today. Absolutely nobody outside. Hah! I thought, they have switched to appointments! I pulled in the parking lot to look a little closer. On all the doors there was a white sheet of paper: "Out of COVID-19 Tests".

If they are rationing testing, that is definitely a very bad thing, and would go a long way to explaining a rise in positivity rate.  Obviously the more difficult you make it to get a test, the fewer asymptomatic people are going to seek one out.  

Texas should certainly be doing way more than 40k tests per day right now.  That puts them well below the per capita average of the US.

[Darthpi – Anti-Florida Activist]

https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/1277295367827136514

Record cases on a day when usually we see lower case numbers than usual? That can't be good.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

https://twitter.com/StevenTDennis/status/1277295367827136514

Record cases on a day when usually we see lower case numbers than usual? That can't be good.

Case numbers don't experience nearly as much drop-off on Sundays as death numbers.
That said, these don't bode well for this state either.  Arizona reported nine deaths today, compared to just one death last Sunday.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Deaths hit a new low.  I do believe that we will see some creep up in deaths over the next 10 days, but I don't think it will be anywhere near proportionate to the increase in cases.

https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1277359729895931910

[lfromnj]

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/06/27/latest-on-covid19-in-mn

Look


Source from the article

Anyway looks like at least in MN that its more young people getting the cases.
And of course the article doesn't even the theory that protests could have caused part of this shift.

[jimrtex]

You have got to watch this to believe. Looks like things are likely to keep getting worse, at least in Texas...

https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1276886772287442944

Isn’t this just evidence that a lot of people are getting tested?

This site is now listed as COVID-19 testing by appointment only. Some other sites by the same chain (of urgent care facilities) are indicating no appointment is necessary.

This is pretty close to Washington Avenue (bars/bar-hopping), and until recently the Heights (where the clinic is located was dry). Bars statewide were closed at Friday noon. It is possible that there were outbreaks at the bars, and on Friday might have urged would-be patrons to get tested and listed nearby testing locations.

Testing statewide had been pretty steady statewide around 30K per day, while the positivity rate stayed low around 5% or declined some. This could mean that testing had become fairly easy to get done, but there was less urgency when 95% were coming back negative. If a urgent care clinic wanted to drum up business, they might put on their sign out front "COVID-19 NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED".

Then all of a sudden there was a rush (statewide tests are now over 40,000 per day and positivity is up to 13%) which means people are actually experiencing symptoms before being tested just to confirm what they already suspected) and a line developed. If you have a fever or a cough, or a friend who was infected, you aren't going to think, I will wait until Monday to call my primary care physician (if you are in your 20s, particularly if male, you don't have a primary-care physician, and when you call your Mom, she will remind you that Dr. Jones was your pediatrician, and he retired 7 or 8 years ago). You are going to want it done now, and will get in the end of the line, figuring it was like the run on toilet paper.

So I drove by the urgent care facility to see if there was a line today. Absolutely nobody outside. Hah! I thought, they have switched to appointments! I pulled in the parking lot to look a little closer. On all the doors there was a white sheet of paper: "Out of COVID-19 Tests".

If they are rationing testing, that is definitely a very bad thing, and would go a long way to explaining a rise in positivity rate.  Obviously the more difficult you make it to get a test, the fewer asymptomatic people are going to seek one out.  

Texas should certainly be doing way more than 40k tests per day right now.  That puts them well below the per capita average of the US.

Who said that they were rationing testing?

Texas is right at the national average in tests per case detected.

The highest are in remote states like Alaska and Hawaii, which have positivity rates below 1%. The lowest were states like New Jersey and New York. In the latter, they were basically bringing in the scoops and taking the bodies to the mass grave in the Bronx. Treatment involved putting lime between the layers of caskets. In the former, they could just go around sticking nasal probes up random strangers for the fun of it.

There are scores of testing sites in Houston. The official sites don't show the urgent care facilities, which do show up on Google. If you are having 30,000 people being tested, you don't distribute 60,000 tests daily. There is likely a shelf life. I explained why that particular site probably had a run on supplies. If they had been sending enough supplies to that site for the last three months they would have been throwing away the tests in a dumpster.

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

Uhhhh...what the hell happened? I was camping with my family at our cabin in the woods, came back to find cases are spiking. Last I seen daily cases were 17,000+.

[jimrtex]

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/06/27/latest-on-covid19-in-mn

Look


Source from the article

Anyway looks like at least in MN that its more young people getting the cases.
And of course the article doesn't even the theory that protests could have caused part of this shift.

That is pretty dramatic. Notice that the boom in 20-29 is pushing down the percentages for all other groups. There is also an increase in 0-19 group, which might actually be 15-19 and many children being asymptomatic or extremely mild cases (e.g. a slight fever for a day).

I had read another story, without a graph, and I was under the impression that the 20-29 had just edged past the 30-39, but nothing so dramatic.

That article had mentioned four bars where there had been outbreaks, two in Mankato and two in Minneapolis adjacent to the University of Minnesota campus. Mankato is home of Minnesota State, and it looks like the drinking establishments are downtown rather than around the campus.

Student bars and protests are likely to have an overlap.

I think the increase in Texas is likely do to increased travel and socializing. There has been a big jump in San Antonio, which has before been one of the least affected Texas city. San Antonio is a big tourist town, and it is quite normal to go there for a weekend.

Travis (Austin) has had a jump, but a bigger jump in neighboring Williamson and Hays, which suggests more suburban people driving into Austin to meet with friends. There are also upticks in all kinds of smaller counties, where 10 cases can mean a high rate. People may be traveling more after being cooped up for three months.

[Landslide Lyndon]

So, today appears to be the first day in a long time where there are reported more deaths than the same day a week before.

[It’s so Joever]

Uhhhh...what the hell happened? I was camping with my family at our cabin in the woods, came back to find cases are spiking. Last I seen daily cases were 17,000+.

We reopened too early in several places, didn’t enforce any social distancing, and didn’t enforce mask wearing. Now we are having a second (or 1.5) wave and our economy will be worse off than if we had just been more strict in the beginning.
Looks like the chickensh1t Forumlurker ended up being correct.....again.

[It’s so Joever]

So, today appears to be the first day in a long time where there are reported more deaths than the same day a week before.

It’s probably going to be on par with last week (give or take) for at least a few more days before it spikes.

Also Arizona has nearly reached full capacity in their hospitals. The death rate won’t magically improve when people are being denied ventilators. Personally I think the decision should be by age and political party (with the GOP not needing the ICU bed/ventilators since this is just a flu)

[Mr. Reactionary]

They have a chip on their shoulder because they're "a grown-ass man/woman" and "someone is trying to tell me what to do."  

"It's a free country!  I have rights!!!"

I've made clear my opposition to mask mandates imposed by government, but have also emphasized my support for mask mandates imposed by businesses. As I've explained before, most of the employees at my job were not wearing masks before they were mandated to do so by the Governor's order back in April. One of my co-workers has constantly complained about it, says that he is "fine", and that he doesn't need to wear a mask. He goes maskless whenever he is not on the clock, and has it down much of the time even when he is on the clock. I saw another employee who had a scarf around his neck, but was maskless and interacting with customers. Many of these people are mental Neanderthals.

The whole macho complex surrounding these people is baffling. Attention seeking at its absolute worst.

I don't see it that way at all. I think it's that these people are literally stupid enough to think that they know better than the government and medical professionals, and they're also too simple-minded to question and challenge their own ideas and consider modifying them.

And it's not just people who are considered "uneducated".  I've seen blue-collar-looking guys in dusty construction-company t-shirts and blue jeans who are properly wearing masks and appearing to take this seriously.  

These are all things I've recently heard uttered by friends, most of whom are pursuing professional degrees:

* "Oh it's okay.  My boyfriend hasn't been anywhere in the past couple of weeks."

* "If I get it, I get it.  I'll be fine.

* "I'm actually hoping to get it just to have that immunity.

* "We've been hugging and standing closer than six feet for a while now.  I think we're okay.

And checking my Instagram this morning, there were at least ten stories (time-limited pics/videos for the uninitiated) posted by med students, dentistry students, pharmacy students, nursing students -- "educated" individuals who should know better -- eating at outdoor establishments and taking group pics where they're piled on top of each other, leaning against each other, hugging, etc. with captions like "MISSED THESE PEOPLE" and "FINALLY!!!"

I'm really not trying to be high-and-mighty or preachy.  After all, it was my own stupidity and lack of safety that led to me contracting COVID-19.  There's practically no issue with eating outdoors and enjoying the summer weather so long as businesses observe proper social distancing standards.  

But people need to do their parts, too.

Its certainly understandable. Just remember, there are a lot of "health experts" that abandoned any claim to legitimacy by flipflopping on the appropriateness of protests during the pandemic. One week they were yelling about terrorists killing granny in Michigan for protesting the lockdown the next week a large gaggle of idiot "health experts" said "racism is JUST as deadly as Coronavirus" and you were literally "violent" if you didn't pour into the streets for mass gatherings. I never had much faith in what "health experts" said before this all started but the incredulity of some others in this thread that more and more normies are ignoring the "experts" after months of garbage wolf-crying seems dense. Trust must be earned and the "health experts" have really schat the bed the past few months. I was legally prohibited from attending 3 different funerals and months of church. My grandfather is dying of cancer and the hospital still wont let us visit. My dad has chronic medical problems and the doctors are still hesitant to schedule his appointments. I have tons of friends unemployed. And this past month the experts all but demanded everyone break the rules that caused all of this and go out and destroy public art. If they now try to reimpose lockdowns after their month of politically-motivated advice, you really think most of us are going to give a damn what some moron in a white coat says?

[It’s so Joever]

They have a chip on their shoulder because they're "a grown-ass man/woman" and "someone is trying to tell me what to do."  

"It's a free country!  I have rights!!!"

I've made clear my opposition to mask mandates imposed by government, but have also emphasized my support for mask mandates imposed by businesses. As I've explained before, most of the employees at my job were not wearing masks before they were mandated to do so by the Governor's order back in April. One of my co-workers has constantly complained about it, says that he is "fine", and that he doesn't need to wear a mask. He goes maskless whenever he is not on the clock, and has it down much of the time even when he is on the clock. I saw another employee who had a scarf around his neck, but was maskless and interacting with customers. Many of these people are mental Neanderthals.

The whole macho complex surrounding these people is baffling. Attention seeking at its absolute worst.

I don't see it that way at all. I think it's that these people are literally stupid enough to think that they know better than the government and medical professionals, and they're also too simple-minded to question and challenge their own ideas and consider modifying them.

And it's not just people who are considered "uneducated".  I've seen blue-collar-looking guys in dusty construction-company t-shirts and blue jeans who are properly wearing masks and appearing to take this seriously.  

These are all things I've recently heard uttered by friends, most of whom are pursuing professional degrees:

* "Oh it's okay.  My boyfriend hasn't been anywhere in the past couple of weeks."

* "If I get it, I get it.  I'll be fine.

* "I'm actually hoping to get it just to have that immunity.

* "We've been hugging and standing closer than six feet for a while now.  I think we're okay.

And checking my Instagram this morning, there were at least ten stories (time-limited pics/videos for the uninitiated) posted by med students, dentistry students, pharmacy students, nursing students -- "educated" individuals who should know better -- eating at outdoor establishments and taking group pics where they're piled on top of each other, leaning against each other, hugging, etc. with captions like "MISSED THESE PEOPLE" and "FINALLY!!!"

I'm really not trying to be high-and-mighty or preachy.  After all, it was my own stupidity and lack of safety that led to me contracting COVID-19.  There's practically no issue with eating outdoors and enjoying the summer weather so long as businesses observe proper social distancing standards.  

But people need to do their parts, too.

Its certainly understandable. Just remember, there are a lot of "health experts" that abandoned any claim to legitimacy by flipflopping on the appropriateness of protests during the pandemic. One week they were yelling about terrorists killing granny in Michigan for protesting the lockdown the next week a large gaggle of idiot "health experts" said "racism is JUST as deadly as Coronavirus" and you were literally "violent" if you didn't pour into the streets for mass gatherings. I never had much faith in what "health experts" said before this all started but the incredulity of some others in this thread that more and more normies are ignoring the "experts" after months of garbage wolf-crying seems dense. Trust must be earned and the "health experts" have really schat the bed the past few months. I was legally prohibited from attending 3 different funerals and months of church. My grandfather is dying of cancer and the hospital still wont let us visit. My dad has chronic medical problems and the doctors are still hesitant to schedule his appointments. I have tons of friends unemployed. And this past month the experts all but demanded everyone break the rules that caused all of this and go out and destroy public art. If they now try to reimpose lockdowns after their month of politically-motivated advice, you really think most of us are going to give a damn what some moron in a white coat says?

Ah yes, more anti-scientist rhetoric.
Yes, many healthcare workers did support the protests, but many also acknowledged full well that cases would increase because of the protests. Their logic was that this problem is so harmful to black Americans, that it is worth the extra spread. I actually disagreed, but thats it’s own story.
Regardless, not all doctors:healthcare experts did support the protests, and a large number of those who didn’t were too scared (because of likely mob “justice”) to speak up.

The people in white coats know more about the virus than you do, and while the protests were part of the problem, the rapid reopenings, Americans being idiots and having more relative mobility than literally any other current World hotspot (see Apple mobility trends) and the lack of mask mandates also contributed.