COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron

[GeorgiaModerate]

Still a looong way to go for herd immunity.

Fewer than one in ten Americans have antibodies to the virus that causes Covid-19, indicating relatively low rates of immunity to the pathogen that has killed more than 200,000 people in the U.S.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-25/covid-immunity-remains-low-with-under-10-of-u-s-adults-exposed

 Why does Trump keep calling it herd mentality?

Maybe because he's exposed to a herd mentality every time he has a rally with his supporters?

But what on Earth is herd mentality?

Merriam-Webster's definition: "The tendency of the people in a group to think and behave in ways that conform with others in the group rather than as individuals."

So what does this have to do with Covid-19?

Ask Trump; he's the one misusing it for "herd immunity".  Although I suppose the widespread opposition to masks and social distancing among Trump's supporters might be considered an indication of herd mentality.

[GP270watch]

Still a looong way to go for herd immunity.

Fewer than one in ten Americans have antibodies to the virus that causes Covid-19, indicating relatively low rates of immunity to the pathogen that has killed more than 200,000 people in the U.S.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-25/covid-immunity-remains-low-with-under-10-of-u-s-adults-exposed

 Why does Trump keep calling it herd mentality?

Maybe because he's exposed to a herd mentality every time he has a rally with his supporters?

But what on Earth is herd mentality?

Merriam-Webster's definition: "The tendency of the people in a group to think and behave in ways that conform with others in the group rather than as individuals."

So what does this have to do with Covid-19?

Ask Trump; he's the one misusing it for "herd immunity".  Although I suppose the widespread opposition to masks and social distancing among Trump's supporters might be considered an indication of herd mentality.

Oh, so The President of The United States was just being a moron during the middle of a pandemic, ok got it.

[Del Tachi]

https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1309529806145490945

Florida reported 2,851 new cases yesterday.

Good. The more overwhelmed hospitals, the better for Biden.

See folks, it really is true...liberals don't want America to get better unless there's a Democrat in the White House.  The reaction to the pandemic is (and always has been) overtly political. 

[It’s so Joever]

https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1309529806145490945

Florida reported 2,851 new cases yesterday.

Good. The more overwhelmed hospitals, the better for Biden.

See folks, it really is true...liberals don't want America to get better unless there's a Democrat in the White House.  The reaction to the pandemic is (and always has been) overtly political.  

I can’t control stupid decisions here, so I may as well find the positive side of it, and that happens to be political.
To be honest, the fact you think I want Covid-19 to be worse is outrageous. I have been the one who has promoted tough policies on the virus since the beginning. Of course, you are just looking to score a point in some imaginary game you created in your head.

[emailking]

https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1309529806145490945

Florida reported 2,851 new cases yesterday.

Good. The more overwhelmed hospitals, the better for Biden.

See folks, it really is true...liberals don't want America to get better unless there's a Democrat in the White House.  The reaction to the pandemic is (and always has been) overtly political. 

Dr. Lurker is the only one taking that position.

[Del Tachi]

https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1309529806145490945

Florida reported 2,851 new cases yesterday.

Good. The more overwhelmed hospitals, the better for Biden.

See folks, it really is true...liberals don't want America to get better unless there's a Democrat in the White House.  The reaction to the pandemic is (and always has been) overtly political. 

Dr. Lurker is the only one taking that position.

Just like Obama was the only one who believed rural Americans "clinged to guns and religion?"  or Hillary Clinton the only one who believed Trump's supporters were "a basket of deplorables?"

No, Forumlurker is only giving voice to how the liberal establishment and their supporters have turned COVID into a political weapon and how they justify unequally applied restrictions and lockdowns. 

[emailking]

Just like Obama was the only one who believed rural Americans "clinged to guns and religion?"  or Hillary Clinton the only one who believed Trump's supporters were "a basket of deplorables?"

No, Forumlurker is only giving voice to how the liberal establishment and their supporters have turned COVID into a political weapon and how they justify unequally applied restrictions and lockdowns. 

She said half were deplorable. Yes I know this makes no difference to you, but it's still important to get the facts right.

Dr. Lurker is the only one on this forum taking that position. Your generalization from that appears to be based on supposition and not rooted in any evidence. If politicians have expressed similar sentiments then I apologize, but I haven't seen anything like that.

[It’s so Joever]

https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1309529806145490945

Florida reported 2,851 new cases yesterday.

Good. The more overwhelmed hospitals, the better for Biden.

See folks, it really is true...liberals don't want America to get better unless there's a Democrat in the White House.  The reaction to the pandemic is (and always has been) overtly political. 

Dr. Lurker is the only one taking that position.

Just like Obama was the only one who believed rural Americans "clinged to guns and religion?"  or Hillary Clinton the only one who believed Trump's supporters were "a basket of deplorables?"

No, Forumlurker is only giving voice to how the liberal establishment and their supporters have turned COVID into a political weapon and how they justify unequally applied restrictions and lockdowns. 

...The lockdowns were politicized by right wingers. You people started the politicization of this virus, I hope you are happy.

[Landslide Lyndon]

https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1309529806145490945

Florida reported 2,851 new cases yesterday.

Good. The more overwhelmed hospitals, the better for Biden.

See folks, it really is true...liberals don't want America to get better unless there's a Democrat in the White House.  The reaction to the pandemic is (and always has been) overtly political. 

Dr. Lurker is the only one taking that position.

Just like Obama was the only one who believed rural Americans "clinged to guns and religion?"  or Hillary Clinton the only one who believed Trump's supporters were "a basket of deplorables?"

No, Forumlurker is only giving voice to how the liberal establishment and their supporters have turned COVID into a political weapon and how they justify unequally applied restrictions and lockdowns. 

Be careful or you'll hurt yourself clutching those pearls so hard.

[Pericles]

It didn't need to be political to save hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of lives. This is the latest example of the Republican Party-not Trump in particular but the whole party-being a dangerous ideologically extremist outlier, incapable of good governance. Hopefully they receive a landslide defeat, and this election can begin to repair the damage and shift the Republican Party into becoming a sane centre-right party.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

There’s virtually no country in the Western world that has succeeded at truly controlling the virus.  The only realistic policy that would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives would have been vaccine challenge trials. 

[Pericles]

There’s virtually no country in the Western world that has succeeded at truly controlling the virus.  The only realistic policy that would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives would have been vaccine challenge trials. 

That is not true, do I really have to explain this to you?

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

There’s virtually no country in the Western world that has succeeded at truly controlling the virus.  The only realistic policy that would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives would have been vaccine challenge trials. 

At this point, it seems like the decision is largely between extended strict lockdowns and a lower number of deaths, or an open economy and more deaths. None of the countries that had been held up as better at handling it than the US have actually conquered it and they won't until there's a vaccine. It's too good at spreading.

Which of those two options is the right one? We're going to be debating that long after this is in the rearview mirror.

[Calthrina950]

There’s virtually no country in the Western world that has succeeded at truly controlling the virus.  The only realistic policy that would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives would have been vaccine challenge trials. 

At this point, it seems like the decision is largely between extended strict lockdowns and a lower number of deaths, or an open economy and more deaths. None of the countries that had been held up as better at handling it than the US have actually conquered it and they won't until there's a vaccine. It's too good at spreading.

Which of those two options is the right one? We're going to be debating that long after this is in the rearview mirror.

Sweden appears to have taken this path, while in this country, it seems like states like Indiana and Florida, after having utilized the lockdown approach, are now doing so as well. Other states however-i.e. Michigan and California, remain in virtual lockdown mode, and probably will be until the vaccine arrives. It's clear at this point that this is going to consume much of 2021 as well. What an ominous start to the decade this pandemic has been.

[Holmes]

https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1309529806145490945

Florida reported 2,851 new cases yesterday.

Good. The more overwhelmed hospitals, the better for Biden.

See folks, it really is true...liberals don't want America to get better unless there's a Democrat in the White House.  The reaction to the pandemic is (and always has been) overtly political. 

Dr. Lurker is the only one taking that position.

Just like Obama was the only one who believed rural Americans "clinged to guns and religion?"  or Hillary Clinton the only one who believed Trump's supporters were "a basket of deplorables?"

No, Forumlurker is only giving voice to how the liberal establishment and their supporters have turned COVID into a political weapon and how they justify unequally applied restrictions and lockdowns. 

Wow you’re really over here connecting dots that don’t really exist. Your mind!

[It’s so Joever]

There’s virtually no country in the Western world that has succeeded at truly controlling the virus.  The only realistic policy that would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives would have been vaccine challenge trials. 

At this point, it seems like the decision is largely between extended strict lockdowns and a lower number of deaths, or an open economy and more deaths. None of the countries that had been held up as better at handling it than the US have actually conquered it and they won't until there's a vaccine. It's too good at spreading.

Which of those two options is the right one? We're going to be debating that long after this is in the rearview mirror.

Sweden appears to have taken this path, while in this country, it seems like states like Indiana and Florida, after having utilized the lockdown approach, are now doing so as well. Other states however-i.e. Michigan and California, remain in virtual lockdown mode, and probably will be until the vaccine arrives. It's clear at this point that this is going to consume much of 2021 as well. What an ominous start to the decade this pandemic has been.

I hope that regardless of political party, we can all agree that this year has been pretty bad. I know people complain every year, but this is honestly much worse.

[Del Tachi]

It didn't need to be political to save hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of lives. This is the latest example of the Republican Party-not Trump in particular but the whole party-being a dangerous ideologically extremist outlier, incapable of good governance. Hopefully they receive a landslide defeat, and this election can begin to repair the damage and shift the Republican Party into becoming a sane centre-right party.

What does this even mean?  Lockdowns were always a political choice, and it will be a political decision to end them.  The only way they can be justified is by a subjective weighting of the associated costs and benefits, and such an assessment is inherently debatable

[Dr. Arch]

The updated numbers for COVID-19 in the U.S. are in for 9/26 per: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/

I'm keeping track of these updates daily and updating at the end of the day, whenever all states finish reporting for that day.

ΔW Change: Comparisons of Weekly Day-to-day Growth or Decline of COVID-19 Spread/Deaths.

• IE: Comparing the numbers to the same day of last week, are we flattening the curve enough?

Σ Increase: A day's contribution to overall percentage growth of COVID-19 cases/deaths.

• IE: What's the overall change in the total?

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9/13: <Sunday>

• Cases: 6,708,458 (+31,857 | ΔW Change: ↑9.48% | Σ Increase: ↑0.48%)
• Deaths: 198,520 (+392 | ΔW Change: ↓9.26% | Σ Increase: ↑0.20%)

9/14: <M>

• Cases: 6,749,289 (+40,831 | ΔW Change: ↑61.23% | Σ Increase: ↑0.61%)
• Deaths: 199,000 (+480 | ΔW Change: ↑69.01% | Σ Increase: ↑0.24%)

9/15: <T>

• Cases: 6,787,737 (+38,448 | ΔW Change: ↑34.17% | Σ Increase: ↑0.57%)
• Deaths: 200,178 (+1,178 | ΔW Change: ↑136.55% | Σ Increase: ↑0.59%)

9/16: <W>

• Cases: 6,828,301 (+40,564 | ΔW Change: ↑15.09% | Σ Increase: ↑0.60%)
• Deaths: 201,348 (+1,170 | ΔW Change: ↓3.07% | Σ Increase: ↑0.58%)

9/17: <Þ>

• Cases: 6,874,553 (+46,252 | ΔW Change: ↑19.55% | Σ Increase: ↑0.68%)
• Deaths: 202,213 (+865 | ΔW Change: ↓20.57% | Σ Increase: ↑0.43%)

9/18: <F>

• Cases: 6,925,941 (+51,388 | ΔW Change: ↑6.87% | Σ Increase: ↑0.75%)
• Deaths: 203,171 (+958 | ΔW Change: ↓12.35% | Σ Increase: ↑0.47%)

9/19: <S>

• Cases: 6,967,403 (+41,462 | ΔW Change: ↑2.75% | Σ Increase: ↑0.60%)
• Deaths: 203,824 (+653 | ΔW Change: ↓7.64% | Σ Increase: ↑0.32%)

9/20: <Sunday>

• Cases: 7,004,768 (+37,365 | ΔW Change: ↑17.29% | Σ Increase: ↑0.54%)
• Deaths: 204,118 (+294 | ΔW Change: ↓25.00% | Σ Increase: ↑0.14%)

9/21: <M>

• Cases: 7,046,216 (+41,448 | ΔW Change: ↑1.51% | Σ Increase: ↑0.59%)
• Deaths: 204,506 (+388 | ΔW Change: ↓19.17% | Σ Increase: ↑0.19%)

9/22: <T>

• Cases: 7,097,937 (+51,721 | ΔW Change: ↑34.52% | Σ Increase: ↑0.59%)
• Deaths: 205,471 (+965 | ΔW Change: ↓18.08% | Σ Increase: ↑0.19%)

9/23: <W>

• Cases: 7,139,553 (+41,616 | ΔW Change: ↑2.59% | Σ Increase: ↑0.59%)
• Deaths: 206,593 (+1,122 | ΔW Change: ↓4.10% | Σ Increase: ↑0.55%)

9/24: <Þ>

• Cases: 7,185,471 (+45,918 | ΔW Change: ↓0.72% | Σ Increase: ↑0.64%)
• Deaths: 207,538 (+945 | ΔW Change: ↑9.25% | Σ Increase: ↑0.46%)

9/25 (Yesterday): <F>

• Cases: 7,244,184 (+58,713 | ΔW Change: ↑14.25% | Σ Increase: ↑0.82%)
• Deaths: 208,440 (+902 | ΔW Change: ↓5.85% | Σ Increase: ↑0.43%)

9/26 (Today): <S>

• Cases: 7,287,561 (+43,377 | ΔW Change: ↑4.62% | Σ Increase: ↑0.60%)
• Deaths: 209,177 (+737 | ΔW Change: ↑12.86% | Σ Increase: ↑0.35%)

[Hammy]

https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1309529806145490945

Florida reported 2,851 new cases yesterday.

Good. The more overwhelmed hospitals, the better for Biden.

This is going to disproportionately affect lower income people who have to choose between going to work and getting infected, or living on the street. But yes, do cheer on the deaths of tens of thousands for short term political gain to show how much better you are than Trump.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1310190199339655168

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Pretty compelling evidence for reopening schools:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/coronavirus-outbreaks-schools-europe/2020/09/27/0dd19bf6-ff48-11ea-b0e4-350e4e60cc91_story.html

Viral spread in school appears rare enough, he said, that Belgian policymakers think having in-person class might actually be safer than virtual schooling, assuming students tend to be less rigorous about social distancing when they’re not being supervised in classrooms.

“The school environment, in our perception, is still quite a controlled environment,” he [Steven van Gucht, the head of viral diseases at Sciensano, Belgium’s national public health institute] said. “We think it’s better to have schools open than to send kids home, have them meet on the street and give them more opportunities to spread the virus.”

[GeorgiaModerate]

Seen on a church sign this morning:

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

WEAR THY MASK

[It’s so Joever]

Pretty compelling evidence for reopening schools:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/coronavirus-outbreaks-schools-europe/2020/09/27/0dd19bf6-ff48-11ea-b0e4-350e4e60cc91_story.html

Viral spread in school appears rare enough, he said, that Belgian policymakers think having in-person class might actually be safer than virtual schooling, assuming students tend to be less rigorous about social distancing when they’re not being supervised in classrooms.

“The school environment, in our perception, is still quite a controlled environment,” he [Steven van Gucht, the head of viral diseases at Sciensano, Belgium’s national public health institute] said. “We think it’s better to have schools open than to send kids home, have them meet on the street and give them more opportunities to spread the virus.”

As long as school districts provide an equitable online-schooling option when possible and enforce masks, I have no problem with the opening of schools when case rates aren’t too high.

Also, distinctions need to be made between primary and secondary students. The former should be returning as they are actually less likely to be infected and have smaller schools in general. The latter should be dealt with more carefully.

[It’s so Joever]

https://reuters.com/article/idUKKCN26G2YA
The Johnson and Johnson vaccine has moved into phase three trials.

[It’s so Joever]

...And the Midwest wave has materialized. Even if you want to try to deflect with “muh positivity rates” (now at over 25% in several states) or “muh hospitalizations” (surging in the region).
https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2020-09-27/positive-covid-19-test-rates-top-25-in-some-us-midwest-states%3fcontext=amp

The Rocky Mountain wave is also starting.