COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I don't understand the people in the media who keep insisting everyone is going to have to wear masks and practice social distancing for months after the vaccine is administered.

There are people on Reddit who have praised every covid restriction - no matter how ridiculous - and have attacked anyone who dares to oppose it. But even these folks say now they're pretty much done, now that the vaccine is out. Yet the media keeps interviewing "experts" who say the restrictions will need to continue for months, maybe over a year.

So they're saying the vaccine won't do any good? Then what was the point of even creating a vaccine?

I have noticed the goalposts have moved yet again. When states first locked down, it was "flatten the curve", and then it was "until a vaccine", and now it's...?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

My understanding is that the first few months is for nursing home residents and medical workers. So we're not even getting the sick (or those with serious conditions) or elderly in general yet. They'll be up in the next few months after that.

They said that even after the last tier is vaccinated, it will still be many months or a year before we can let up. One of the "experts" actually said masks will continue into 2022.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

What the hell happened in CA today?  They are reporting 61k cases today.  Their previous daily record was 37k, and cases are declining in most other states.

Part of it is that there was a huge backlog in L.A. County. Part of it is just that Newsom is just completely incompetent.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Anyone have projects when we will stop seeing 200,000 cases per day?

Very soon. The Plains states are already cratering, and a vaccine even for just a limited number of people should limit the spread.

California is really the main culprit in keeping the numbers high, as they keep imposing lockdowns that don't work.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Honestly, what is wrong with people like you?

You mean the states that don't threaten to throw people in jail just for leaving the house?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Teachers should be a high priority.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

At the end of this interview, Fauci says vaccinations of the general public will probably begin in late March or April and will take several months. He thinks they will done by late summer and restrictions may be able to be eased in the Fall.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/12/27/fauci-coronavirus-herd-immunity-range-estimate-shift-intv-sotu-vpx.cnn

Fall??? Sorry Fauci but no.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

with WV and SD at the top with just over 2%.

So now can we all stop dumping on these states and acting like they're full of reactionary weirdoes just because they didn't lock down harder? Remember, Bernie Sanders won every county in West Virginia in 2016.

Instead of blaming covid on some farmer in South Dakota who wasn't wearing a mask when he plowed his field, blame the FDA for declaring that it's not approving the Oxford vaccine until April (even though Britain already approved it yesterday).

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Polis is right this time.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Why do you think states with Republican governors are doing better with actual application of vaccinations?

Because my once-great Democratic Party has turned into a complete joke. The Democratic Party of 1991 would have administered many times the number of vaccines. All they care about now is painting social distancing circles on the grass at a park where they have a rally - if they're not too terrified to even have the rally. In 1991, we would have laughed right in their faces if they did this.

Recently I saw a piece on a Democratic blog about how we should all be following orders and doing what we're told without questioning anything. Blindly following authority is not why I declared myself to be a liberal Democrat in 1991.

I refuse to be dragged over the cliff with this joke of a party, because I practice critical thinking.

In the meantime, here's a story about New York letting vaccines spoil:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/10/nyregion/new-york-vaccine-guidelines.html

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Why are we so far behind on opening schools? Montana let schools reopen way back on May 7, and the ones that chose to open back then pretty much opened like normal. I think they used hula hoops for social distancing, but you didn't see 6-year-olds walking around in hazmat suits.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

In Vermont, the decision has mostly been left to the districts, and when I last checked all but the largest ones were open for in-person classes. The kids who live across the street from me are getting on the bus at least a couple of days per week.

The rhetoric in Biden's reopening plan suggests that the administration will not be particularly sympathetic toward teachers' unions that insist on keeping schools closed for as long as possible.

I've seen a lot of empty school buses in northern Kentucky. At most, they might have one student or something. A lot of kids just aren't enrolled, so they basically just roam around town.

I've always been a very strong union supporter, but I am completely disgusted at teachers' unions that won't allow in-person schooling, especially because every teacher I know wants to go back in-person and have completely normal classes. What are the unions doing to represent teachers? I call it controlled opposition.

Some other unions in other industries are also taking stances that are the same as large corporations (and in opposition to other unions). Someone on Reddit said they're a stage actor, and most stage actors want to go back to work, but their union has supported canceling all plays until September. But the union for producers wants to go ahead with plays.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Dodge City, Kan., just repealed its mask ordinance because "people are tired of it." Granted, the case count there did drop by 90%, so the situation isn't as bad there as it was.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Presidents have more power over federal property. If it's just some local bus service, the federal government doesn't have much power over that.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

The federal government does have the power to regulate local buses.  They are considered part of interstate commerce even if they don't literally cross state lines.  This is the exact power used to justify the civil rights act which outlawed segregation on buses.

Wasn't the civil rights act different though because it was a legislative (not executive) action?

There are some fields of the law where it wouldn't be practical to have everything done by legislative action. For instance, if a new radio or TV station wants a license, they would apply to the FCC, not Congress. I just thought having CDC orders for local buses was different from that.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Cuomo's status as the Good COVID Governor last spring looks quainter and quainter the more time passes. What a feckless monster.

I used to like him back last March, back when he vowed not to issue a lockdown. But that was before I discovered he sent covid patients to nursing homes.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Over a week ago, my HMO sent me a home covid test, although I didn't ask for one. I did take the test, and today it came back negative.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

We've had our fill of events that aren't scheduled for months from now being canceled already. Bunbury in Cincinnati wasn't scheduled until June, and they already decreed a few weeks ago that it would be canceled. The baseball opening day parade is canceled 2 years in a row.

With the vaccine out now, there is absolutely no reason to be canceling events that far into the future. None.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I don’t agree. I think that a permanent lockdown is necessary for the foreseeable future even once we hit heard immunity due to variants in COVID that may occur. It would be terrible for all the progress that has made combating the disease to be erased due to a new variant.

I don't know whether this post is serious or a joke.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

In the past few days, I've been to Boston, San Francisco, Barcelona, Dubai, Paris, Tampa, Budapest, and Portland. How did I accomplish this? Through the miracle of Snap Map! I like to look at Snap Map to see how different places around the world deal with life during the pandemic. In all those cities, I found people who were partying down!

I've even found some good parties on college campuses!

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Cancelling something in June seems a bit premature. But it's possible the new strains may swamp progress made with from the vaccines, so we may be dealing with cancellations for a while.

The strains shouldn't be considered anything unusual. This virus is mutating slower than the flu, and several news reports say the vaccine is just as effective with these new strains.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

There's not going to be another peak as bad as the past couple months. Guaranteed.

Also, I've heard that the flu is down by 98%. Where are all the flu cases going?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Flu doesn’t really exist anymore because of mask-wearing.

Then covid shouldn't exist either.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Maybe flu particles are more transmissible than Covid particles ... what other reason would there be that the flu has perished other than masks and social distancing ?

Also, there's a lot of people who simply don't practice masks and social distancing. Social distancing couldn't have wiped out the flu when people just don't practice it anymore.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

What's the end?  I can't see it lol.

For real though, it does seem like every time we get a little bit ahead, something comes to drag us back down.

covid19-projections.com says every state in the U.S. now has a R0 below 1. Most states aren't even close.