COVID-19 News and Discussions

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

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[wjfox]

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

IT'S ALMOST LIKE WE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THIS SERIOUSLY INSTEAD OF PARROTING "IT'S MILD" BASED ON THE TESTIMONY OF A SINGLE DOCTOR

[Yuli Ban]

[wjfox]

[erowind]

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[caltrek]

I almost died of scarlet fever as a child. I had a fever of 104F.

Wow. I always thought that you and I had something in common beyond just posting in this forum. When I was a child, I also came down with some sort of disease. My father was in the military at the time, so I was a military dependent. The military doctors who saw me indicated it was either scarlet fever or German Measels. Later doctors were absolutely disgusted with the incompetence of the military doctors who could not even tell the difference between scarlet fever and German Measels.

I don't think I came near dying, but I did have a fever and was quarantined. On an ocean liner no less during a trip across the Atlantic. Miserable experience. I always felt cheated of having what might have otherwise been a highly enjoyable ocean cruise adventure.

Apologies for the digression.

[caltrek]

Well, I hope this article puts things back on track a little.

Red States Fight School Vaccine Mandates
Sophia Cai
January 9, 2022

https://www.axios.com/red-states-fight- ... 687e8.html

Introduction:

(Axios) One in three states has already prohibited COVID-19 vaccine mandates in schools — even before the FDA has fully approved vaccines for children.

Why it matters: The Biden administration hoped to rely on schools as a "trusted messenger" in support of coronavirus vaccines, but schools have become a political battleground as the Omicron variant roars across the U.S.

The big picture: The laws passed to date take different approaches, but the result is that schools in 17 states cannot require COVID-19 vaccines, according to the latest data compiled by the National Academy for State Health Policy.

• For some states, that's the case even as schools expect students to receive other recommended childhood vaccinations like measles, polio and chickenpox.

What we're watching: The issue of vaccinations in schools is set to dominate the agendas as legislatures resume their 2022 sessions.

caltrek's comment: I am actually a little bit uncomfortable about this issue. I am really not anxious to tell parents what they should or should not do regarding their children's health. Too much risk of colliding with what admittedly might be misguided maternal instincts. There is also the issue of mandatory school attendance layered on top of mandatory vaccinations in order to allow attendance. I think such a package should be rethought. Perhaps more options for at home and remote learning so that we don't have situations of unvaccinated kids mixing with each other and with vulnerable adult teachers. Or maybe magnet schools that only allow the vaccinated to attend and other schools where there is no such mandate. Additional hazard-pay and volunteer only for the teachers at the schools with mixed populations.

Part of the problem is that it would require negotiations in which people actually talk to each other rather than just shout past each other. Something that simply no longer seems to exist in today's political culture.

[caltrek]

I Saw Firsthand What It Takes to Keep COVID Out of Hong Kong
by Caroline Chen
January 5, 2022

https://www.propublica.org/article/i-sa ... ent-planet

Introduction:

(ProPublica) As I walked off the jet bridge into Hong Kong International Airport, I stepped into another world. I was home for Christmas, to see my parents for the first time in two years. But first, I had to get through a gantlet of COVID-19 precautions that envelop the city like a protective bubble.

Incoming travelers were greeted by gowned, gloved and masked workers, who directed us through the terminal. As I followed the passengers ahead of me, I was unnerved by the shuttered stores. Every other time I’ve flown in and out of Hong Kong, the airport hums with thousands of travelers, children scampering across the polished floors, announcements intoned in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. The terminal was now eerily still. My feet made too much noise as I trudged along the path marked by guardrails.

A PPE-covered worker sent me to a series of stations. First, I pulled my mask down for a nurse to swab my nose and throat for a PCR test. Then I presented my documents — preflight negative COVID-19 test, proof of hotel booking, Hong Kong resident ID and vaccination card — to an officer who scrutinized them before declaring me up to par. The worker at the next station checked for a functioning phone, test-dialing my U.S. number. Then I was presented with a sandwich and water bottle and directed to a waiting area with chairs and desks placed in a grid as though ready for an exam. I checked my lanyard to find my seat: G205.

As I waited for my COVID-19 test results, I could see the sky through the arched windows turning bright, revealing a beautiful, cloudless December morning. I texted my parents: “Landed!” They responded with clapping emoji. I would see them in 21 days.

caltrek's comments: I think that the article in its entirety, and not just the introduction I cited, paints a very dystopian picture of the measures taken to fight Covid in Hong Kong. This is important because it may help us to understand the somewhat legitimate fears that anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers may have about the situation. Issues like wearing a mask take on a symbolic importance. The old slippery slope argument. "Sure, if I give in on vaccinations, then what else will I have to give in on.'

Ditto masks.

Arguments that these temporary measures are laser focused on Covid can be seen as beside the point. They fear Covid is here to stay, and thus that short-term "emergency" measures will become more permanent. Trying to explain to them that short term containment measures will actually help to prevent more onerous long-term measures will likely fall on deaf ears. It will sound too much like a threat, or like a part of some grand conspiracy, then it will a sincere concern over public health.

Concluding that Covid is here to stay is also a more fatalistic approach. "If it is here to stay, then sooner or later I will get it. Might as well get it now, get that part over with, and hope for a full recovery." The tension of the unknown -"will I survive getting Covid?" - can be unbearable. Better to find out sooner rather than later. Better to get it behind me rather than face a future of "it" being in front of me.

In the mean-time - damn it - let's just party. Or so goes that attitude.

Edit: Minor revisions made for sake of clarity and proper grammar.

[Xyls]

South Africa's cases have been rising for like 5 days now

Who are the motherfucking death cultists pushing this blatantly, shamefully false "it's mild and over" narrative?!

The usual suspects ofc.

[Cyber_Rebel]

On the plus side, at least we get to enjoy some early transhuman tech, e.g. chips in our hands, futuristic masks, etc.!

These weren't exactly the "augments" I was hoping for I suppose the conversation would have started eventually though, so maybe getting it in the public mind now will make progress a little easier in that regard?

Just wish it wasn't the blatantly obvious "chip" the conspirators have been bitching about for decades, it could backfire (at least in America) for that reason. Is anyone here gonna get chipped? Any benefits to doing so? (Faster processing time for passports/public services etc.) Would it lead to an eventual wetware smartphone replacement?

[Xyls]

I have no intention to get chipped. The benefits would have to be major vs. mere gimmicks you get from it.

[weatheriscool]

I have no intention to get chipped. The benefits would have to be major vs. mere gimmicks you get from it.

It would literally have to double my life span or give me the ability to do work that gets me millions of dollars per year.

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[Yuli Ban]

[wjfox]

[Ken_J]

many are being outright told they need to come in. Employers are treating this like it's any other cold that the peons are supposed to just through.