COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron (user search)
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  COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron (search mode)
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Author Topic: COVID-19 Megathread 6: Return of the Omicron  (Read 526241 times)
President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« on: October 29, 2020, 07:21:46 PM »

The more time people spend in their homes, the likelier it is we see a huge spike in numbers. Outdoor transmission rates are considerably lower than indoor.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2021, 02:21:19 PM »

Golden (D-ME)
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2021, 03:02:20 AM »

Do yourself a favor and look at the replies: bunch of anti-masker psychos




I said it before and I will say it again

Twitter is not the real world and the idiots who are replying to a Bidens post with anti-mask or anti Vaxx BS do not a reflect how the vast majority of the American people really feel about the president's handling of covid
The kinds of people who take to Twitter to express their opinionated nature also tend to be the types who aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2021, 07:59:16 PM »

Wonderful news!
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2021, 08:36:31 PM »

If this would get black people to get COVID-19 vaccines, I would do it.

I would dress up in a Klan robe and tell black people that COVID-19 serves my dream of exterminating a large number of black people so that they can never vote. Right in front of a burning cross.

what
The idea is to link Covid with the KKK to get more AAs vaccinated.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #5 on: June 07, 2021, 09:01:42 PM »
« Edited: June 07, 2021, 09:05:39 PM by Southern Deputy Speaker Punxsutawney Phil »

If this would get black people to get COVID-19 vaccines, I would do it.

I would dress up in a Klan robe and tell black people that COVID-19 serves my dream of exterminating a large number of black people so that they can never vote. Right in front of a burning cross.

what
The idea is to link Covid with the KKK to get more AAs vaccinated.

The idea is clear but nevertheless disturbing. There are better ways to get the point across.

In isolation it would probably work in a narrow sense, but in the real world it would inevitably cause a media firestorm and only end up being counterproductive more broadly.
So yeah, definitely too weird and too disturbing.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #6 on: June 13, 2021, 08:45:03 PM »

Looking at the numerical trends over the last week and the fantastically low numbers today, this might be the last week of my regular COVID stats posts.

Biggest sign yet of the pandemic's ebb: Dr. Arch reducing his update frequency. Smiley

Seriously, you've done a fantastic job providing these updates on a daily basis for well over a year.  I'm sure most of the forum would join me in saying a big Thank You!
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #7 on: June 21, 2021, 04:36:11 PM »

What we could do is very very easy: implement a national vaccine mandate.

It is absurd that we put up with economic shutdowns for months and a mask mandate for over a year, but we are unwilling to mandate something that will literally just inconvenience people for a few hours but solve the problem completely.
I would be all for a nationwide vaccine mandate, but at least judging by its rulings on other cases regarding COVID restrictions, the Supreme Court would strike down a vaccine mandate in a 5-4 ruling.
Not only would it not be in line with SCOTUS rulings, merely trying to implement it would be a shot in the arm (unintentional pun hahaha) to anti-vax movements and harm the vaccination efforts.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2021, 04:38:12 PM »
« Edited: June 22, 2021, 04:43:16 PM by Southern Deputy Speaker Punxsutawney Phil »

What we could do is very very easy: implement a national vaccine mandate.

It is absurd that we put up with economic shutdowns for months and a mask mandate for over a year, but we are unwilling to mandate something that will literally just inconvenience people for a few hours but solve the problem completely.
I would be all for a nationwide vaccine mandate, but at least judging by its rulings on other cases regarding COVID restrictions, the Supreme Court would strike down a vaccine mandate in a 5-4 ruling.
Not only would it not be in line with SCOTUS rulings, merely trying to implement it would be a shot in the arm (unintentional pun hahaha) to anti-vax movements and harm the vaccination efforts.

The Supreme Court has already ruled that vaccine mandates are constitutional.
I would agree that this would have to come from congressional legislation and not a mere executive order to be assured of SC approval.

And how would a vaccine mandate harm vaccination efforts?  It's not like mask mandates led to fewer people wearing masks.  A lot of people were only wearing them because they had to, and took them off as soon as mandates were lifted.  I'm pretty sure the same thing would happen for most vaccine hesitant people.
Well that is news to me.

Anyway, the big problem with a nationwide vaccinate mandate is that from a PR position it pushes those who may have skepticism but aren't sure or are very undecided and puts a propogranda tool in the eyes of anti-vax activists to have additional wiggle room to make persuasive arguments to these people. And what would be the way this would be enforced? I admit that it's definitely possible it would be a net health benefit for the public, the greatest good for the greatest number, but people are still getting vaccinated even without that sort of mandate as it is, or at least, with "soft mandates" (people getting the shot as a requirement to check in for work, etc.) that are looking likely, at this point in time, to do the same job with more steps, together with massive PR campaigns. I don't think at the moment it's wise to risk radicalizing more people and mint the anti-vax movement more followers when it's not at all clear that it's even necessary to get the job done. The vast majority of people still plan to get vaccinated even if the government isn't requiring it from every citizen.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2021, 12:25:49 PM »

If you are fully vaccinated you ought to be able to have all the liberties of a free citizen. Delta variant go brr...
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2021, 08:06:51 PM »

The only reason people put particular doubt in Florida's data is because a lady with a rotten moral compass decided to grift and categorically claim that DeSantis was tampering with it and she was a victim, a narrative that to anyone simultaneously clear-minded and well-informed on the topic, is a bunch of bull.
People like her are actively harmful to public health.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #11 on: September 20, 2021, 08:11:22 PM »

If you are seriously "pro-science" in any principled way, a prerequisite for that is to trust FL's covid data.
Can you walk the walk? Yes or no?
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #12 on: September 20, 2021, 08:28:06 PM »

If you are seriously "pro-science" in any principled way, a prerequisite for that is to trust FL's covid data.
Can you walk the walk? Yes or no?

Whether Florida's data are right or wrong, trusting them is not a prerequisite for doing science.
Being "pro-science" in relation to how you see the pandemic does imply you reject things on par on QAnon conspiracy, no?
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #13 on: October 03, 2021, 02:08:43 PM »

Colorado has long struck me as a state with a particularly good COVID response.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #14 on: October 03, 2021, 05:16:20 PM »

Colorado has long struck me as a state with a particularly good COVID response.

Polis has had one of the more reasonable and sensible responses of any Democratic Governor. He's avoided the more onerous restrictions that some of them imposed, while also avoiding the mistakes made by Republican Governors.
If we had more people like Jared Polis, then we'd be out of Covid by now.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #15 on: October 30, 2021, 02:45:11 PM »

Quote
Video.
Covid-19 vaccine or her marriage: The impossible choice she had to make.

https://us.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/10/28/covid-19-vaccine-conspiracy-theory-divorce-jg-me-orig.cnn


Crazy situation.
This poor woman had her husband tell her not to get vaccinated, because hanging-around people who are vaccinated, will change your DNA.
Click the link above for a short story video on this.
Sad stuff.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #16 on: November 26, 2021, 03:18:11 PM »

Skipping Nu is understandable, but after that is Xi. Obviously, the WHO is completely stuck in Winnie's ass.

Clearly the development of a new variant is nothing Nu.
Is this the start of something Nu? Only history can tell us.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #17 on: November 26, 2021, 06:47:49 PM »

Last night I said Joe Biden should institute an international travel ban, and Ds got very upset at me.  I don't know why they would become upset about a policy that is absolutely necessary to slow the spread of a virus.  That's just commonsense.  I guess it's cause Trump supported the travel bans last year, so they thought it was racist or something.


A travel ban alone is not enough

It may buy us some time, but ultimately what we really need is for Our public health agencies to get off their butts and start quickly approving booster shots and the covid pills

I think we also need a stronger consensus among every state when it comes to how we are fighting this virus because what we are currently doing is not working and this state-by-state patchwork Covid-19 response is failing all of us

I think Lincoln said at best "A house divided against itself cannot stand." and there is little chance we will ever beat covid if we are not even united on how to fight the virus in the first place

A travel ban provides you with more time.  If the travel ban had gone in place sooner in 2020, the country could have had more time to prepare for it before the massive outbreaks in NY.  The disaster in NY was not just a symptom of Nursing Home policy. 

Boosters, antibodies, and pills are needed.  I said that last night. 

I think people were hoping Biden would be a much more moderate individual when he came to office with a +17 approval rating (53-36%).  He did a bad job playing the cards he was dealt. Like we all want unity, but whose version of it?  lol. 

Houses are divided all the time, and still manage to function.  Not all disagreements rise to the level of barbarism. 

With this line I think you just summed up the biggest problem with our current politics

Everybody claims they want unity, but as you said whose version of Unity is it?

Also, even when there has been unity, it's never as easy or satisfying as TV shows like the West Wing makes it look. Honestly, I get the sense that the Americans people are more in love with the concept of unity than they are with the reality of it. Just look a recent bipartisan infrastructure bill that just passed, That is the first time I ever saw Mitch McConnell actually vote for a Major bill by a democrat president

But when you look at the process it was long and not everybody got what they wanted in the end. Americans said they were not happy with how the process played out, but that is what real unity looks like. Its mostly an unsatisfying process, where both sides give up something they want in order come to a consensus on a bill

Unity is not the great hollywood fairy tale ending that the american people seem to think it is

Good post.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #18 on: December 10, 2021, 04:20:42 PM »



Polis is my favorite Democratic governor by a mile.
Polis is among the best governors in the country...especially on Covid.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #19 on: February 03, 2022, 07:24:32 PM »

A team of 15 infectious disease experts and pediatricians drafted a statement calling for a full return to normal in public schools by February 15, including rolling back mandated masking. It has been co-signed by nearly 1,000 medical professionals in the 7 days it has been live.


It'll be great to be able to tar those opposed to this as  ”anti-science". It might not be completely fair, but it's no more unfair than calling those who oppose keeping schools closed nasty names.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #20 on: February 14, 2022, 08:26:32 AM »

Here's some good news using the NYT data. This is the percent of hospitalized COVID patients at the start of each month since August 2020 that are in the ICU. Omicron and improved treatments have brought that number to an all-time low in a way that even the vaccination of most of the country was unable to achieve.


That’s the final straw, it’s time to end all mask mandates with practically no exceptions.

No, Biden should have Mask Mandates until the midterms. FoLloW the sCIencE!
Precisely!
The Science™ is always, so conveniently, synonymous with my preconceived notions anyway. I'm always right! Oppose me and you are against both my priors, AND scientists!
You wouldn't want to be against science, would you?
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #21 on: February 22, 2022, 01:16:12 PM »

This article discusses how the CDC has withheld much of the data concerning the effectiveness of the vaccine and of boosters among 18-49 year olds. This decision has been justified on the fear that such data could be "misinterpreted", in a manner that would cast doubt on vaccine effectiveness and fuel conspiracy theories regarding them. But I also feel that it is an abdication of duty on the agency's part, particularly since many health officials and experts say that their efforts would have been boosted by having access to this data.

They believe we're too stupid for it. Only the "experts" can see. This is why we rely so much on other countries' data. The CDC is an absolute dumpster fire of an institution.

This is the same sanctimonious attitude that led to Fauci and co. saying "masks don't work" in March of 2020 in an attempt to save them for healthcare workers. Because regular people are too stupid to be told accurate information that might be inconvenient for the short-term.

My opinion of the CDC certainly has declined in recent months. In the article, someone notes that the CDC is as much a political organization as it is a medical or health organization, and the pandemic has shown that to be very true. The shifting stances on mask wearing, the withholding of data, the eviction moratorium, and the favoritism given to Pfizer, with regards to vaccine contracts, all demonstrate this. What is frustrating is that so many businesses and institutions continue to maintain mandates and restrictions based upon CDC recommendations, and they will only change when the CDC does. Fortunately, the CDC is supposed to be changing sometime this week.
There was always something preposterous about the CDC doing an eviction moratorium.
The CDC is ultimately a tool of politicians and should probably be seen as such. When Trump was president, he would use the CDC to bolster Operation Warp Speed, and Biden has used the CDC to bolster his plans as well.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #22 on: February 23, 2022, 02:53:40 AM »

This looks interesting



-As expected, a lot of vaccinated Trump voters in retirement areas of Florida and a lot of unvaccinated Biden voters in the cultural South (particularly in Atlanta)

-Less well known is the high concentration of vaccinated Trump voters in Appalachia (!)

-On the other hand, vaccination rates are even lower than would be expected in the Ozarks

-Little or no evidence of an anti-vax granola left effect as NorCal and the Pacific NW have higher vaccination rates than predicted by election results

-Western NM/Eastern AZ are doing really well and look like the Northeast here

-Southside VA looks like the Deep South here and it spills into NE NC

Image Source: https://twitter.com/Mill226/status/1490438915156676610/photo/1
Fascinating map.
Why no data from VT?
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #23 on: February 23, 2022, 02:13:29 PM »

This looks interesting



-As expected, a lot of vaccinated Trump voters in retirement areas of Florida and a lot of unvaccinated Biden voters in the cultural South (particularly in Atlanta)

-Less well known is the high concentration of vaccinated Trump voters in Appalachia (!)

-On the other hand, vaccination rates are even lower than would be expected in the Ozarks

-Little or no evidence of an anti-vax granola left effect as NorCal and the Pacific NW have higher vaccination rates than predicted by election results

-Western NM/Eastern AZ are doing really well and look like the Northeast here

-Southside VA looks like the Deep South here and it spills into NE NC

Image Source: https://twitter.com/Mill226/status/1490438915156676610/photo/1
Fascinating map.
Why no data from VT?

IDK.  VA also didn't have county level vax data until about 6 months ago.  Based on the statewide data and the population distribution, VT is likely to be near uniformly high like the rest of of New England.
Ah I see.
That makes sense.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
TimTurner
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« Reply #24 on: March 16, 2022, 06:05:04 PM »


Democrats will be hurt electorally if they use BA.2 as justification to reimpose restrictions or mandates.

I'm already seeing some covid fear porn ratcheting back up with "spring break fears" and stuff like this. And inevitably, some pollsters will show Americans want restrictions back.

But Democrats' behavior will tell the real story. It's clear they know the real numbers, because this rush to lift restrictions didn't come with any public polls showing their policies were unpopular, but they did it anyway in a very coordinated way.

I've seen it as well. The media certainly doesn't want to let this go.
The division-generating press is the real opponent of the American people's welfare re:Covid at this point. We can only overcome this by working together across party lines and telling them "no cigar".
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