COVID-19 Coronavirus UPDATES, BANS, CLOSURES, ADVISORY, etc.

[Wheels]

Brilliant - I am stealing it.

It's not mine.

I just stole it first.

 

[Saul]

Almost no one in this part of the world is wearing them. Maybe 10%? Were at our favorite restaurant Sunday - staff had them - sort of - not a single patron. Most have figured out this is ridiculous. I am getting tired of my fellow citizens (babies?) who apparently are unable to do the math for themselves and continue to perpetuate this nonsense.

The math has been saying what medical professionals have known since they started wearing masks in hospitals--THEY WORK. I bet you would not be comfortable having surgery if your doctor did not have on a mask. To deliberately flaunt the guidelines put in place so that our country can get back on its feet because you do not want to play along is unpatriotic. Even if you decide that you will not wear a mask no matter what anyone says, then I invite you not to enter any store that has a sign requiring a mask. Businesses are allowed to do as they please. If you disagree with their policy, shop somewhere else.

 

[Red Leg]

The math has been saying what medical professionals have known since they started wearing masks in hospitals--THEY WORK. I bet you would not be comfortable having surgery if your doctor did not have on a mask. To deliberately flaunt the guidelines put in place so that our country can get back on its feet because you do not want to play along is unpatriotic. Even if you decide that you will not wear a mask no matter what anyone says, then I invite you not to enter any store that has a sign requiring a mask. Businesses are allowed to do as they please. If you disagree with their policy, shop somewhere else.

The outrage. No, the typical mask or bandana does virtually nothing with respect to a virus. Besides, I'm eating lunch or buying a bag of fertilizer - not having surgery. But if it makes you feel comfortable, wear it. As I say, small and medium size town Texas is over this nonsense. You will be too - you just don't realize it yet.

 

[Saul]

The outrage. No, the typical mask or bandana does virtually nothing with respect to a virus. Besides, I'm eating lunch or buying a bag of fertilizer - not having surgery. But if it makes you feel comfortable, wear it. As I say, small and medium size town Texas is over this nonsense. You will be too - you just don't realize it yet.

We will have to agree to disagree on this because the scientists and doctors I listen to are strongly in support of masks. I will continue to wear them until it is deemed safe. You can do as you please in public and I will not say anything. With that said, I firmly believe that there is absolutely no excuse to violate the posted rules of a business and still demand service.

 

[SafariA]

So here is the latest from the EXPERTS .... Now they aknowledge A Sympthomatic carriers do not easily infect others ....

https://bit.ly/37j8rPd

 

[lwaters]

I think you have to wear a mask at military bases. The way I do it if the store checkers are wearing a mask I'll put mine one but if the store employees are not neither will I. It's there store so they can have their rules.

 

[MarkB]

The math has been saying what medical professionals have known since they started wearing masks in hospitals--THEY WORK. I bet you would not be comfortable having surgery if your doctor did not have on a mask. To deliberately flaunt the guidelines put in place so that our country can get back on its feet because you do not want to play along is unpatriotic. Even if you decide that you will not wear a mask no matter what anyone says, then I invite you not to enter any store that has a sign requiring a mask. Businesses are allowed to do as they please. If you disagree with their policy, shop somewhere else.

We have the same here in Canada. I would NEVER call someone unwilling to follow blindly unpatriotic, especially after every thing we have been told for months has NOT materialized. Our Canadian professionals have and continue to spend millions with advertising by the minute telling all their sheep what to do, then they attend a rally with 5000 other people and break every preached rule or go to their cabin with family and friends 3 hrs after taking National stage and telling the sheep to stay home. A sane person shakes their head and says WTH or maybe they have the real info? The real test of all our medical professionals sermons will be loud and clear in the next 3 weeks. For their BS to be validated Covid deaths and new cases better go thru the roof. If not their fake/flake guidelines will scream BS. One could ask= There has been no new cases on Vancouver Island in a month, why are we still being caged??? Just in case??

Each to his own, lock your self up, clean, wash and sanitize, wear a rag/bandana or medical mask. Me= We only have 1 life, I am living mine, no more sheep following for me. I am pissed that this Covid BS has delayed my long planned and awaited for summer safari. That is real and sucks.

MB

 

[Rock375]

Texas is the next California. God bless Kansas and stay away.

Geez I hope not! If Texas falls the Country turns blue!

 

[Saul]

We have the same here in Canada. I would NEVER call someone unwilling to follow blindly unpatriotic, especially after every thing we have been told for months has NOT materialized. Our Canadian professionals have and continue to spend millions with advertising by the minute telling all their sheep what to do, then they attend a rally with 5000 other people and break every preached rule or go to their cabin with family and friends 3 hrs after taking National stage and telling the sheep to stay home. A sane person shakes their head and says WTH or maybe they have the real info? The real test of all our medical professionals sermons will be loud and clear in the next 3 weeks. For their BS to be validated Covid deaths and new cases better go thru the roof. If not their fake/flake guidelines will scream BS. One could ask= There has been no new cases on Vancouver Island in a month, why are we still being caged??? Just in case??

Each to his own, lock your self up, clean, wash and sanitize, wear a rag/bandana or medical mask. Me= We only have 1 life, I am living mine, no more sheep following for me. I am pissed that this Covid BS has delayed my long planned and awaited for summer safari. That is real and sucks.

MB

It is not about your life. It is about the lives of the 100,000+ people who have already died in the United States and the scores more that would have died if we had not responded the way we did.

 

[lwaters]

Geez I hope not! If Texas falls the Country turns blue!

That what's bothersome. Just campaign in three states. As the country gets more urbanized the more socialist we will become. I don't think it can be stopped.

 

[Red Leg]

It is not about your life. It is about the lives of the 100,000+ people who have already died in the United States and the scores more that would have died if we had not responded the way we did.

Spare me the ridiculous guilt trip. The media and politicians have even begun to back away from that nonsense as the facts about this epidemic have begun to emerge. We clearly did a lot of things wrong that actually contributed to that total. And that reality is more clearly revealed every day - and I have a son and two nieces in the front lines in hospitals in NYC and Dallas. Had we known the actual rather than fanciful mortality rate, had we known who was actually truly vulnerable, had we not believed a now proven corrupted mortality model, then we should have focussed the resources of government on the real threatened percentage of our population. We didn't. Imagine what the mortality count would be had we decided to protect nursing homes, assisted living, etc from the beginning. Instead, we did generational damage to our economy, killed a bunch of people with heart disease and cancer, and likely added accelerant to the current violence. Governors, mayors, the media and epidemiologists will continue to draw out their wrong choices because to do otherwise is to admit their error. Spare me the lecture.

 

[Saul]

Spare me the ridiculous guilt trip. The media and politicians have even begun to back away with that nonsense as the facts about this epidemic have begun to emerge. That is more clearly revealed to be absolutely BS every day - and I have a son and two nieces in the front lines in hospitals in NYC and Dallas. Had we known the actual rather than fanciful mortality rate, and had we known who was actually truly vulnerable, then that is where we should have focussed the resources of government. We didn't. Imagine what the mortality count would be had we decided to protect nursing homes, assisted living, etc from the beginning. Instead, we did generational damage to our economy and likely added accelerant to the current violence. Governors, mayors, the media and epidemiologists will continue to draw out their wrong choices because to do otherwise is to admit their error.

And yet over 100,000 are still dead. Call it what you want, but you cannot argue with that number. The death toll has not been as great as was originally predicted, but that is only because we acted. And you are correct, more should have been done for the highly vulnerable, but I do not fault the scientists for that, I fault the politicians. Everyone in medicine knew from the beginning that any strain of flu would hit them the hardest. Politicians just do not see the point in helping those who will not vote.

 

[Red Leg]

And yet over 100,000 are still dead. Call it what you want, but you cannot argue with that number. The death toll has not been as great as was originally predicted, but that is only because we acted. And you are correct, more should have been done for the highly vulnerable, but I do not fault the scientists for that, I fault the politicians. Everyone in medicine knew from the beginning that any strain of flu would hit them the hardest. Politicians just do not see the point in helping those who will not vote.

And yet you are still buying into the protective kabuki dance they foisted on you nearly three months ago. How many heart, cancer, diabetes deaths were worth saving a covid patient? .5? .75? One for one? Those choices had real consequences for real people. And it was all hidden by media and political driven hysteria.

 

[Brent in Az]

I wear mine in the bank, because they make me if I want to enter

 

[EricB]

Funny how all the deaths from the flu this year went down to zero with all this Covid nonsense going around.....

That, and the fake inflation of the numbers of Covid deaths makes me think it's all bullshit used to control people.

 

[Saul]

And yet you are still buying into the protective kabuki dance they foisted on you nearly three months ago. How many heart, cancer, diabetes deaths were worth saving a covid patient? .5? .75? One for one? Those choices had real consequences for real people. And it was all hidden by media and political driven hysteria.

I do not disagree. The goal was to prevent hospitals from being overrun so as to avoid needless deaths of non-COVID patients. For the most part, that was successful. I will not tell you how to live, you are free to do as you please. I will continue to do what is asked of me for as long as I see fit. HOWEVER, I cannot stand people flaunting the wishes of private business owners in the name of "freedom."

 

[Brent in Az]

It has been rumored that the covid mortality rate has been inflated by 25%

Funny how all the deaths from the flu this year went down to zero with all this Covid nonsense going around.....

That, and the fake inflation of the numbers of Covid deaths makes me think it's all bullshit used to control people.

 

[Hank2211]

It is not about your life. It is about the lives of the 100,000+ people who have already died in the United States and the scores more that would have died if we had not responded the way we did.

@Saul, I have to respectfully disagree with you here.

While scientists and medical professionals have a great deal of good advice to give, they do not have all of the answers, and the answers that they do have, change from one week to the next, or even one day to the next, as the science improves. What is important to understand, though, is that the science virtually never improves in a straight line, and scientists, and doctors, can and do disagree on some very fundamental things. For example, the World Health Organization (say what you will), says that the safe 'social or physical distance' between people is one metre, not two (about 3 feet rather than 6 or 6.5 feet (see: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public). Obviously, those extra three feet make a huge difference on the economic impact of the response to the virus. So whose advice should I follow?

People are saying that Sweden, which essentially did not shut down, has a terrible death rate and seeing their results justifies our actions. But when I look at death rates in Sweden (deaths per million population), they are still well below those in the UK, Italy and Spain, all of which essentially crippled their economies (ref: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/), not to mention Belgium, San Marino and a few others.. If I told you that the UK could have had the same result that it had without shutting down, would you still shut down?

Here's the problem: We actually know a lot about this virus, and we know that if you are under 70 and not living in a long term care facility and have no other co-morbidities, you stand about as much chance of dying of Covid as you do of being struck by lightening. Remember, the death rates we are seeing are for a population overall, and those are about o.5% to 1% of cases. When we are looking at groups which are not particularly at risk, of course, the numbers are much, much lower, perhaps by one or more orders of magnitude. We also know that the actual numbers are even lower still because so many of those who have the disease are asymptomatic.

So what should we have done? We should have taken some of the money we have spent on compensating people and businesses for the income lost because of our over-reaction, and we should have targeted that money - a very small fraction would likely have been enough - to those who are most vulnerable to negative outcomes. That includes oder people in long term care facilities, the poor and those with health conditions. Imagine how many lives we could have saved if we'd done that, instead of squandering our resources on people who were never at real risk.

Let me give you an example. About one-half of one percent (0.6% to be exact) of people globally have a peanut allergy. That allergy is one of the worst, and exposure is often fatal unless immediately treated. That is more people than are likely dying from the corona virus, by the way. But do we ban peanuts and peanut butter? No, we don't (well, maybe in some school lunches). We address the issue by providing assistance to those at risk, not by making the rest of us stop eating our favourite food and all carry epi-pens. What's different here? A death is a death, surely?

Back to masks. We are asking people who are not at any real risk to wear masks around other people who are not at any real risk, and we don't even care what types of masks they wear. Have you seen people walking around with N-95 masks with what looks like a valve on them? I see plenty of those, and I even have some. They are issued to people who will be in an environment where they need to be cautious about what they inhale. The valve only works one way. It is closed when you inhale, and opens when you exhale. So these masks, which are intended for industrial or certain health applications, are of no use in protecting those around the wearer from the wearer. They protect the wearer from others. Yet no one questions those masks. Yes, you should certainly wear a mask if you are visiting your aging relative in a ing term care facility, but wear the right mask. What we have now seems to be some sort of social solidarity thing, proving that "we're all in this together." Well, guess what? We're not! Not even close! Healthy people, young people, are not in the same boat as older people or sick people. Heck, they aren't even in the same ocean.

If you are given a choice, then do whatever you want, but don't criticize me if I choose not to follow the crowd when it serves no useful or medical purpose. And I won't criticize you.

 

[Saul]

I would argue that the global mortality rate is severely DEFLATED. China has not been dishonest about this since day one. They report shockingly low numbers when scientists estimate it to actually be in the millions. Those "hospitals" they built in a few days were actually giant morgues. I doubt we will never know the true damage wrought as long as the WHO is in the pocket of China. I am happy to see England, Germany, and Australia joining the calls for transparency about China's involvement and response.

 

[Saul]

@Saul, I have to respectfully disagree with you here.

While scientists and medical professionals have a great deal of good advice to give, they do not have all of the answers, and the answers that they do have, change from one week to the next, or even one day to the next, as the science improves. What is important to understand, though, is that the science virtually never improves in a straight line, and scientists, and doctors, can and do disagree on some very fundamental things. For example, the World Health Organization (say what you will), says that the safe 'social or physical distance' between people is one metre, not two (about 3 feet rather than 6 or 6.5 feet (see: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public). Obviously, those extra three feet make a huge difference on the economic impact of the response to the virus. So whose advice should I follow?

People are saying that Sweden, which essentially did not shut down, has a terrible death rate and seeing their results justifies our actions. But when I look at death rates in Sweden (deaths per million population), they are still well below those in the UK, Italy and Spain, all of which essentially crippled their economies (ref: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/), not to mention Belgium, San Marino and a few others.. If I told you that the UK could have had the same result that it had without shutting down, would you still shut down?

Here's the problem: We actually know a lot about this virus, and we know that if you are under 70 and not living in a long term care facility and have no other co-morbidities, you stand about as much chance of dying of Covid as you do of being struck by lightening. Remember, the death rates we are seeing are for a population overall, and those are about o.5% to 1% of cases. When we are looking at groups which are not particularly at risk, of course, the numbers are much, much lower, perhaps by one or more orders of magnitude. We also know that the actual numbers are even lower still because so many of those who have the disease are asymptomatic.

So what should we have done? We should have taken some of the money we have spent on compensating people and businesses for the income lost because of our over-reaction, and we should have targeted that money - a very small fraction would likely have been enough - to those who are most vulnerable to negative outcomes. That includes oder people in long term care facilities, the poor and those with health conditions. Imagine how many lives we could have saved if we'd done that, instead of squandering our resources on people who were never at real risk.

Let me give you an example. About one-half of one percent (0.6% to be exact) of people globally have a peanut allergy. That allergy is one of the worst, and exposure is often fatal unless immediately treated. That is more people than are likely dying from the corona virus, by the way. But do we ban peanuts and peanut butter? No, we don't (well, maybe in some school lunches). We address the issue by providing assistance to those at risk, not by making the rest of us stop eating our favourite food and all carry epi-pens. What's different here? A death is a death, surely?

Back to masks. We are asking people who are not at any real risk to wear masks around other people who are not at any real risk, and we don't even care what types of masks they wear. Have you seen people walking around with N-95 masks with what looks like a valve on them? I see plenty of those, and I even have some. They are issued to people who will be in an environment where they need to be cautious about what they inhale. The valve only works one way. It is closed when you inhale, and opens when you exhale. So these masks, which are intended for industrial or certain health applications, are of no use in protecting those around the wearer from the wearer. They protect the wearer from others. Yet no one questions those masks. Yes, you should certainly wear a mask if you are visiting your aging relative in a ing term care facility, but wear the right mask. What we have now seems to be some sort of social solidarity thing, proving that "we're all in this together." Well, guess what? We're not! Not even close! Healthy people, young people, are not in the same boat as older people or sick people. Heck, they aren't even in the same ocean.

If you are given a choice, then do whatever you want, but don't criticize me if I choose not to follow the crowd when it serves no useful or medical purpose. And I won't criticize you.

I am entirely against the country shutting down. I think that was a poor, reactionary decision with extremely little benefit. I am also completely against the massive bailouts that have exploded our national debt. The countries that have been the most successful are those that stayed at least mostly open, invested early and heavily in testing, and adhered to face masks in public.