Coronavirus Freakout 50: Oh, fuck it.

Previous thread

This is going to keep going until we get a new administration.

The White House is killing us.

[quote]The public health order here requires you be masked unless you are in your own home or in your car. Step outside, mask up is what's required.

Thank God NJ never had an outdoor mask order if you can social distance. I take a 4.5 mile walk every morning. If I had to wear a mask I would never do it. Breathing your own breath is unhealthy.

If I am required to wear one indoors in shops, fine, no problem, I'm happy to comply...but please, not outdoors if I am going for a walk.

A requirement to wear a mask outdoors at all times, no matter what, is excessive.

I'm coming for you Iowa.

🤒 There's nothing like shopping in a grocery store with the air conditioning almost non existent on a 92° day. It's such a relief to step outside the store and take off that mask, and get inside the car and crank up the air conditioning.

Can't wait for the cold winter temps, and the 150+ inches of snow we get every winter.

Cold and flu season is coming!

Yes, flu season is upon us. I just got a flu shot. Hard to believe we are 8 months into COVID and it continues to infect and kill. I posted now and then in the prior threads. Never thought we’d still be held hostage by this.

💉 Flu Shots Available Everywhere .........

Get yours tomorrow !

It is actually better to wait a little longer before getting the flu shot because it only lasts about 6 months and you want to make it through March. Sometime in the next few weeks though.

They need to shut down the schools and get serious before this wipes out the economy.

Just post 50. We will be up to post 500 in no time. This is not going to be easy to get rid of.

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ SEPTEMBER 4 ~ 1:00 PM EST

🐯 NATIONAL WILDLIFE DAY

🥧 EAT AN EXTRA DESSERT DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 26,612,743

DEATHS: 875,583

CRITICAL: 60,831

🇺🇲 UNITED STATES

CASES: 6,351,246

DEATHS: 191,392

CRITICAL: 15,042

📊 WORLDOMETER

😷 CELEBRATE SAFELY !

[quote] Who would have thought we'd still be here, 50 threads on and absolutely no end in sight to this clusterfuck?

Anyone who's read anything about the influenza pandemic that lasted from February 1918 - April 1920.

These threads are struggling to breathe without a respirator.

Maybe it's time ..................

R14, that's just because they keep getting locked down. Do you think the virus is over?

No one is forcing you to participate in threads with which you are bored, R14.

India will surpass Brazil in number of cases by Labor Day.

India has nearly 7 times the population of Brazil.

I wish I could be bored by the Corona Virus because it was over, and I was just tired of the endless think pieces about the Quaranteens and their issues, post virus.

[quote]Cold and flu season is coming!

I am hoping wearing masks and washing hands will minimize colds and the flu.

192,289 deaths in the US as of yesterday.

:(

Maine reports more than 140 new Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Sheena Jones

There are now 147 Covid-19 cases in Maine and three deaths associated with an outbreak from an August wedding in Millinocket, the state’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson Robert Long told CNN.

Those numbers include an outbreak at a building that houses York County Jail and cases associated with the Maplecrest Rehabilitation Center, Long said.

The state has a total of 4,667 cases of Covid-19 and 134 deaths associated with the virus, according to the state’s Covid-19 website.

“ Anyone who's read anything about the influenza pandemic that lasted from February 1918 - April 1920.”

That’s true. I was thinking in terms of all the health and medical advancements since then to address this pandemic. It just seems like a slow response and no breakthroughs: treatments and vaccine yet. I’ll keep wearing my mask.

I think when this is all over we'll find out that a sizeable number of anti-maskers will turn out to be claustrophobic and literally psychologically unable to stand wearing masks. A proper public health program would have anticipated this. In Scotland the public is being told not to hassle each other over this issue.

Give me a break, R25.

Those psychologically unable to stand wearing them wouldn't ridicule others for wearing them.

I don't see how lumping that segment of maskless people with those who gather and protest and harass others who wear masks does any good. Could it be people see fewer of those psychologically unable to stand wearing them because those maskless people have, six months later, been accommodated by purchase and pickup, consultation options outside entering an enclosed space containing multiple people, where social distancing isn't possible?

Travel shaming -- another 2020 plague

From CNN's Terry Ward

For many people, travel these days is fraught with second-guessing, extra research and plenty of confusion by way of logistics, travel restrictions and safety -- and that's before you add in what everyone else has to say about your decisions.

Travelers who choose to share what they're getting up to on vacation right now may find themselves beset with a case of 2020's latest plague -- travel shaming, where friends and followers on social media question the wisdom of taking a trip during the pandemic.

For Sarah Archer, a 27-year-old from the Boston area who works as a content marketing manager, travel shaming gave her "a pit in my stomach" during recent travels in Europe -- and even served to shape some of her behaviors. "I have a boyfriend in Switzerland, so I was trying to figure out a way into Europe. It was difficult with a US passport," she said in a phone call with CNN."

Serbia, not yet part of the European Union, had reopened to travelers, including Americans, in late May. So Archer decided to fly there on July 10 to meet her boyfriend, who flew in from Switzerland.

510 cases in South Korea have been linked to last month's anti-government protests

From CNN's Yoonjung Seo

South Korea recorded 168 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Friday, of which 10 were imported, said the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) on Saturday.

That brings the national total to 21,010 cases, said KCDC Vice Director Kwon Joon-wook in a briefing. There are 159 patients still in critical or serious condition.

The country's coronavirus death toll stands at 333.

Clusters in Seoul: So far, 1,156 confirmed cases have been linked to Seoul’s Sarang-jeil Church, and 510 cases are linked to Seoul’s anti-government rallies on August 15, Kwon said.

Kwon added that Level 3 social distancing restriction measures, the highest national restriction level, must be a last resort, and urged the citizens to continue taking precautions like avoiding social gatherings.

Time for people to grow up and stop being so selfish and self centered.

There's a pandemic out there. And it's not going away any time soon.

CNN: Trump's new Covid-19 adviser responds to critics

[quote]Breathing your own breath is unhealthy.

Yes, that's why surgeons only live to age 45 or so.

Andy Slavitt, who helmed Obama's health care initiative, points to a disturbing new trend: "a growing refusal to participate in any public health activities not just social distancing:masks—but testing & contact tracing. And it definitely means no quarantining."

A Minnesota wedding that resulted in 56 (and counting) infections is thought to have infected even more: "health officials had come to believe that some guests were not being tested in order to keep the case numbers low, thereby allowing further spread."

Colleges are now infamous for kids who are testing positive refusing to allow contract tracing. Slavitt asked Deborah Birx about this and she estimates the rate of compliance at colleges at about 0%

A Minneapolis family doc shared this message:

"I have parents coming in with sick kiddos wanting me to check for ear infections and strep and refusing the COVID test because if it is positive then it might force the school/daycare to close. I find that incredibly frustrating – but the individual rights of patients need to be respected, so we can't "force" anyone into a test."

Americans really are selfish bastards.

R34 Jesus Christ that's appalling. The schools should be in charge of administering tests to students. Never leave anything up to breeder assholes.

R34 - so kids with strep would be allowed back into schools?

R24 Yes, but conversely we have a much larger, global population compared to 1918-20 with people today having the ability to fly all over the place and spread it everywhere. Remember how they were tracking so-called "super=spreaders" in the beginning? That was kind of an omen of what was to come. Plus, even if Big Science develops a vaccine, how long will it take to roll it out across the country, worldwide to poor, undeveloped countries? I can imagine it being with us for awhile.

She went peacefully after eating about a quarter pound of liverwurst and turkey cold cuts. Euthanized here at home by a housecall vet.

She was proud of her late-in-life title, Coronavirus Thread Mascot. Love to you all.

Over 100 cases and 3 deaths from that one wedding in Maine....

First death tied to Sturgis motorcycle rally

R40 - S. Dakota and N. Dakota's COVID cases have skyrocketed immediately after Sturgis. Like 10x.

The shit-for-brains Republican governor said she doesn't go by positive cases, she goes by hospitalizations and capacity and that they're fine. They're going forward with the State Fair with no restrictions this weekend.

Y'know, I knew it would take awhile to hit the heartland and rural areas, but they're doing a fine job accelerating it. God knows the former Confederate states have fucked this up massively.

Gotta love Florida - this is a Jacksonville high school football game last night, stands full, people packed in tight, and not a mask in sight,

Wait, there was one mask, but she was wearing it below her nose.

Not a brain or 32" waist either.

Condolences for your loss R38. Corey was a wonderful mascot and I am sure a very good girl.

[quote]The shit-for-brains Republican governor said she doesn't go by positive cases, she goes by hospitalizations and capacity and that they're fine.

No acknowledgement whatsoever of the long-term health consequences -- and associated medical costs -- that may afflict non-hospitalized victims.

[quote]Colleges are now infamous for kids who are testing positive refusing to allow contract tracing. Slavitt asked Deborah Birx about this and she estimates the rate of compliance at colleges at about 0%

Instant death penalty would be fine with me. Let's speed up evolution a bit here. And, that Florida football game? Lock the gates, machine gun the lot of them. America and the world will be better off.

Very sorry, R38. You kept an animal from being aware that we're living in a world of shit, and that is a fine and noble thing.

R41 Deaths per 1 mil pop:

South Dakota: 169

NY: 1,700

R49 - and? So they're behind but there's been a surge due to Sturgis. Yes, NYC got hit early and first before anyone knew how to stop or treat it.

What's your point? My point stands - you're just being a dick and throwing together two unrelated pieces of data.

Deaths per 1 mil pop: Massachusetts 1,323.....Connecticut 1,253.....NJ 1,811..........South Dakota: 169. They've really got to try harder.

Sylvia you cunt, if you have not the heart for a proper title then stop hogging the spot, bitch. Focus on your move to VT hon.

Love the thread title Sylvia. Keep it up!

Sylvia and ElderLez have really done a good job updating these threads and sharing good information. Thank you both.

As opposed to the trolls like R52, whose grasp of the English language is tenuous at best.

RIP Corey. Thank you for your service.

r51, you might want to look at population density. And that a disportionately large number of people who have died are black. Of course it won't be as much of a problem in a rural, white state. Compared to some other rural, white states, their numbers aren't good

It’s absolutely amazing to me how the US just gave up. We gave up!

Our infection and death rates layer bare our horrendous health disparities and how it’s compounded by unequal access to healthcare.

I pray we wake up and repair our disastrous healthcare system

I we really wanted to get rid of this, we’d have a three week complete shut down.

Instead, we let it fester for months and months and months and months

[Quote] Deaths per 1 mil pop: Massachusetts 1,323.....Connecticut 1,253.....NJ 1,811..........South Dakota: 169. They've really got to try harder.

What was the death per 1 million in the last month?

And why are you using death as the main measurement? Thousands have horrible symptoms but haven’t died—don’t they matter?

⏳ CORONA TIME ~ SEPTEMBER 5 ~ 8:00 PM EST

🐎 KENTUCKY DERBY DAY

🍕 CHEESE PIZZA DAY

🌎 GLOBAL

CASES: 27,042,935

DEATHS: 882,985

CRITICAL: 60,905

🇺🇲 UNITED STATES

CASES: 6,429,580

DEATHS: 192,817

CRITICAL: 15,010

📊 WORLDOMETER

😷 LOOKING BRILLIANT !

What's going on in Iowa? A lot of cases for a small state

R59 A lockdown even earlier in the year would have to be way longer than 3 weeks.

Melbourne's hard lockdown due to end next weekend has been extended for another 2 weeks. And then it will be extended further if the number of new cases has dropped to acceptable levels. Also, the process out of lockdown is to be done very slowly for a variety of reasons.

Today the state of Victoria for which Melbourne is the capital recorded 63 new cases. Doesn't sound like many but that number quickly goes up if no handled very carefully.

Guardian-Mexico has recorded an extra 122,765 deaths above expectations during the pandemic up to August, the health ministry said on Saturday in a report about excess mortality rates, suggesting Mexico’s true coronavirus toll could be much higher, Reuters reports. Mexico has recorded 67,326 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus.

After a record in May of 4,019 cases reported daily for Illinois, we appear to be again creeping upward: 5,538 cases were reported 4 September. Though a slight backlog has been claimed to have increased the figure, other days have been hovering between 2800-3900 per day. Twelve hours ago, our tally is again 2806 in a 24 hr. period. No signs yet of diminishing positive test results.

I believe Illinois is certainly one of the worst states in the Midwestern group forecasted to spike.

So sorry for your loss. Wishing you peace during this heartbreaking time.

^ Meant for R38 xoxo

Illinois cannot get their shit together. I had to cancel my gym membership because they make a fuss about wearing a mask when you are walking around the facility but then say you can remove your mask when working out. How does that make sense? Restaurants and shops were packed yesterday due to the nice weather like there is no problem.

Here is an article from USA Today that outlines how complex the distribution of a vaccine will be. Near as I can see, there will be 2 shots21 days apart.

And interesting note, “ Moderna’s candidate vaccine has to be stored at minus 4 Fahrenheit but Pfizer’s requires it be stored at minus 94. If either of them are among the first vaccines available, that 90-degree difference means they must be distributed differently.”

Reuters reports:

India added more than 90,000 cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, a global daily record, according to data from the federal health ministry.

There were 90,632 new cases in the 24 hours to Sunday, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Famlily Welfare, while the number of deaths rose by 1,065 to 70,626.

The country is set to pass Brazil on Monday as the second most affected country by total infections and will be behind only the United States, which has 6.4 million cases and nearly 193,000 deaths.

A bit more vaccine news.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will receive the first doses of an AstraZeneca and Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine in January 2021 if trials prove successful, after Canberra agreed a deal to purchase a second potential vaccine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison will say on Monday.

Australia said in August it had signed a preliminary agreement with AstraZeneca for enough doses for its population of nearly 26 million, which would be manufactured locally by pharmaceutical company CSL.

That deal appeared in some doubt when CSL said its priority was manufacturing an alternative potential vaccine developed with the University of Queensland (UQ).

Continued: Agreeing a deal to overcome the potential roadblock, Australia will now also buy 51 million doses of the UQ vaccine.

It will take possession of the first 3.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in January and February 2021, and then receive a further 30 million doses, Morrison will say in extracts from an announcement sent to Reuters.

AstraZeneca’s candidate is seen as a frontrunner in a global race to deliver an effective coronavirus vaccine.

"Australians will be among the first in the world to receive a safe and effective vaccine, should it pass late stage testing," Morrison will say.

Under the deal with UQ and CSL, Australia will buy 51 million doses of that tie-up's vaccine. The UQ and CSL candidate is scheduled to begin phase two trials in late 2020 and if all trials are successful it could be rolled out to Australians in mid-2021.

Both deals will cost in total A$1.7 billion ($1.24 billion), Morrison will say. Should both vaccines prove successful, Australia has secured to right to donate or sell on without a mark-up.

Health officials are discussing who will receive the first doses if trials are successful, Morrison will say. Vulnerable people, and front-line health care workers likely to be first in line, a source familiar with the details told Reuters.

The supply agreements come as Australia grapples with a second wave of infections in its second most populous state, Victoria. Australia has recorded more than 26,000 infections and 753 deaths.

My understanding is none of the most advanced vaccine candidates actually prevent infection and most of them have different mechanisms of action and only some will have any impact on upper respiratory complications, so it is possible that people might choose to get multiple vaccines. Australia might not have a lot of extra vaccines to donate Even if they both work well.

[quote]After a record in May of 4,019 cases reported daily for Illinois, we appear to be again creeping upward: 5,538 cases were reported 4 September. Though a slight backlog has been claimed to have increased the figure, other days have been hovering between 2800-3900 per day. Twelve hours ago, our tally is again 2806 in a 24 hr. period. No signs yet of diminishing positive test results.

Why are you lying about the numbers? That huge 5000+ number was a huge outlier explained by a large backlog from earlier in the week due to some issues with reporting. The 2800 number was still representing some of that backlog the following day. We've been averaging between 1300 and 2300 cases daily for most of August and that has continued into September. A huge number of those cases are from southern Illinois, aka fucking Hickville.

Really, the numbers suck but why would you lie about them being higher than they are?

R74 is Triggered.

A-holes like this couple are why we will not quell the virus in the US. They are from a borough of NYC:

The epitome of NY ^^

No, r77, they're not.

I think there will still be a big spike in NY after this holiday weekend, though. Praying there isn’t another lockdown.

Epitome of outer borough NY then.

Is New York still mostly shut down? They have to open up at some point. They'll get their second wave. The scary thing is, this is only the first wave in the South and most of the West. Their second wave is going to hit in late Fall/early Winter.

R75, go ahead and explain why someone would lie about the numbers like that when it is easy to look up? There's an agenda there. Maybe you should learn to think more critically.

QUE ? R82 ......

You're far more than 🐎 TRIGGERED.

Unbelievable, r76, the couple claimed they had a medical condition that prevented them from wearing a mask, then the guy asks the cops for a cigarette after they are removed from the ferry.

In other words, R83, you have no answer.

Perhaps r85, because I'm not the person quoting the numbers, truth, lies, or otherwise.

Finito .

A hundred thousand here, a hundred thousand there, no mask-wearing everywhere. I would think we'd be at herd 🐂🐃🐂🐄 immunity by now. This is getting so boring.I'm tired of Covid19.

The coronavirus outbreak has pushed millions of Americans, especially young adults, to move in with family members. The share of 18- to 29-year-olds living with their parents has become a majority since U.S. coronavirus cases began spreading early this year, surpassing the previous peak during the Great Depression era.

Make of this new theory what you will.

R38 I'm so sorry. She was a doll.

R88- what's buried in that article is that the percentage of young adults living with their parents BEFORE Covid was almost the same as during the Depression and has been since 2010.

Covid just pushed it over from 47 to 52%, a 10% increase but not massive. Particularly as colleges are on break and many students are distance-learning.

It's not like things were going great for them prior to this - those numbers should be very worrying.

[quote]Covid just pushed it over from 47 to 52%, a 10% increase

Not sure I agree with you 100% on your police work there, Lou.

That was a fascinating read Sylvia. Thanks for posting it.

Although speculative, it provides at least a glimmer of hope in this mess.

R92 - it's overall 5% more, but slightly more than a 10% increase. What's wrong with my math?

[quote] Covid just pushed it over from 47 to 52%, a 10% increase

[quote] Not sure I agree with you 100% on your police work there, Lou.

Actually, going from 47% and 52% IS a 10% increase (though it is a 5 percentage point increase): (52-47)/47 X 100 = 10.6

[quote] This is getting so boring.I'm tired of Covid19.

Oh, okay. I’ll stop then.

Great read Sylvia. NOT “just a cold” like my nitwit neighbor says. I’ll keep wearing a mask and coating the inside of my nose with Vick’s Vapo Rub/antibiotic gel. I always had a hunch ( not scientific) that the primary entry was thru the nose.

👃 [italic] Just Say Nose To Corona !

“Just Say Nose To Corona !” LOL, heee heee.....yeah, I guess we all have some oddball quirks to stay sane thru this. Truth be told, I smell like my grandmother. She’s a Vick’s Vapo Rub freak too!!!

I just noticed yesterday that my regular supermarkets have removed the directional signs in the aisles. The 6 ft spacing lines at the registers have also been removed. Walmart seems to be the only store with one-way aisles. Not that many people observe them. I’m in northwest NJ. Anyone else notice this?

Vicks Vapo Rub .........

[italic] The Number #1 Choice of Coroners, Morticians, & Grandmother's Everywhere !

Getting harder and harder to find these threads. I signed up for the annual fee long ago. But still? Muriel, what in the world is going on? Why is it SO hard to find this thread via a simple search on YOUR database?

R102 What are searching for? Just try searching for 'freakout.'

Sylvia, the supercomputer analysis R89 is an amazing read. Thanks for adding it. It took a week for the world’s second fastest computer to make sense of what it really going on when the virus enters our bodies. Giving a list of which medications can reduce the severity of suffering hopefully will help doctors around the world. The only treatment we can buy over the counter is Vitamin D3. There are 20% of people not supplementing this valuable aid.

For several years I’ve been taking 5,000 International Units of D3 daily, along with several other things our bodies need, simple things like metabolites. Five years ago I restructured my diet and added certain supplements to the daily intake. Since then I have not been sick one day. Hopefully, this regimen will also help me survive the Coronavirus, if/when I get it. I hope more people will read the article and see we may be able to get through the pandemic.

Great article, thanks also.

So a Bradykinin storm rather than Cytokine storm. 🤔🥱

Agreed - excellent article and really shows the potential for computer intelligence in upcoming medical research and faster techniques.

R105 - yeah, the problem is trying to explain those two in any conversations you'e going to have about COVID. Not gonna lie, it's gonna be a struggle for me.

Thanks Sylvia!

So if the issue is bradykinin and not cytokines, does that mean I didn't need to stock up on Pepcid and Benadryl? Oh well, my dog will use it.

I raise a glass of raspberry Emergen-C Immune Plus to you all!

Ha!

Ha!

CNN: The United Kingdom recorded 2,988 new Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour period on Sunday -- the highest daily number since May. Another 2,948 new cases were reported on Monday.

"The rise in the number of cases we've seen over the last few days is largely amongst younger people … under 25's – especially between 17 and 21," Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, adding the rise has been most noticeable among “more affluent, younger people”.

"Don't kill your gran by catching coronavirus and then passing it on."

Pfizer and BioNTech are confident they can have a vaccine against the novel coronavirus ready for regulatory approval by the middle of October, BioNTech CEO and co-founder Ugur Sahin has told CNN.

"It has an excellent profile and I consider this vaccine ... near perfect, and which has a near perfect profile," Sahin said, adding that he believes regulatory authorities will quickly grant approval for emergency use.

Elderlez, it occurs to me that you could also have signed your posts at r109 and r110 as Nelson Muntz.

What makes a super-spreader? Can there be a test for that? (Thinking of the wedding in a remote part of Maine, 137 cases, 3 non-attendee deaths).

Why was the Wuhan spread—to S E Asia—so much less lethal (outside of Wuhan)? Is everyone is SEAsia asymptomatic? Number of deaths in densely populated Thailand still at 58, has been for months. They didn’t have a case of in-country transmission for a hundred days.

They wear masks. I've never seen an Asian American without one.

This documents all the damage done by the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

Exactly R115

If most people wear masks, they either won't get it at all OR they'll get it and be asymptomatic because they're receiving low viral loads. The ideal end result is a high number of people who now have a level of immunity because they've been infected, but who never got truly sick, because they wore masks.

In Europe cases are soaring but notice that there is no more talk about flattening the curve.

Flattening the curve is sooo last May.

Pennsylvania restaurants can move to 50% indoor capacity later this month, governor says

From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia

Pennsylvania restaurants can increase their indoor capacity to 50% beginning Sept. 21, the governor said Tuesday.

Gov. Tom Wolf is requiring restaurants to commit to complying to public health safety guidelines by submitting through a self-certification process.

Restaurants must complete the online self-certification by Oct. 5.

Starting Sept. 21, restaurants with alcohol sales will stop those sales at 10:00 p.m. local time, Wolf's office said in the release.

Bergen is hit hard, they think it's because of university starting. Lots of students there have it now. New rules about home office and use of face masks.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is now the largest superspreader event

Hey, Italy, you were one of the first countries to have suffered through the Covid-19 infection.

So how you doin' now?

[quote] Six months ago, (the Italian city) Bergamo was a startling warning sign of the virus’s fury, a city where sirens rang through the night and military trucks lined up outside the public hospital to ferry away the dead.

[quote] Bergamo has dramatically curtailed the virus’s spread, but it is now offering another kind of warning, this one about the long aftermath, where recoveries are proving incomplete and sometimes excruciating.

[quote] Those who survived the peak of the outbreak in March and April are now negative. The virus is officially gone from their systems. “But we are asking: Are you feeling cured? Almost half the patients say no,” said Serena Venturelli, an infectious-disease specialist at the hospital.

[quote] “How are you feeling?” a doctor recently asked the next patient to walk in, a 54-year-old who still can’t ascend a flight of steps without losing her breath.

[quote] “I feel like I’m 80 years old,” the woman said.

AstraZeneca halts COVID-19 vaccine trial after possible serious side effect

LA County bans trick-or-treating due to coronavirus

From CNN's Sarah Moon

Trick-or-treating will not be allowed in Los Angeles County this Halloween due to the risk of spreading the coronavirus, according to new guidance from the local health department.

“Door to door trick or treating is not allowed because it can be very difficult to maintain proper social distancing on porches and at front doors especially in neighborhoods that are popular with trick or treaters,” the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a news release.

“Trunk or treating” events where children trick-or-treat from cars are also not allowed.

Under the guidance, gatherings or parties with non-household members are prohibited even when conducted outdoors. Carnivals, festivals, live entertainment, and haunted house attractions are also prohibited.

The county’s public health department is encouraging alternative ways to celebrate Halloween this year, including online parties and car parades that comply with public health orders. Individuals must remain in their vehicles during these drive-thru events.

As the nation’s most populous county with over 10 million residents, Los Angeles County remains in the first tier of the state’s four-tiered reopening system.

To date, Los Angeles County has reported a total of 249,241 Covid-19 cases and 6,036 deaths.

That's a good call, but I know parents are going to do it anyway.

SKY NEWS: Tough new lockdown restrictions on social gatherings across the whole of England were announced today as Prime Minister Boris Johnson tries to control a spike in COVID-19 infections. From Sept. 14, groups of more than six people will be banned from meeting and fined if they fail to comply.

The legal limit will be reduced from 30 in the prime minister's biggest coronavirus crackdown since lockdown rules were eased.

Once more unto the breach UK

So what are we going to do 5-10 years from now when half the population has lung or heart damage? Some of those people are young, and they may never recover. What about all the older people who will have to go to nursing homes younger than expected due to this damage? Who’s paying for it?

I haven't been out shopping since March. I get things delivered or curbside pickup. I'm a former heavy smoker and I have no confidence in my ability to survive COVID, at least without severe consequences.

Not us, r128, we're not paying for a fucking thing!

Maybe some of these families who want their kids to go to school so they can work can hire a live in nanny, a Mexican woman or college age person to care for the kids so they can work. In the long run, maybe it’s more affordable than it used to be. People are unemployed and might work cheap for room and board and a small stipend. Evictions started again in some areas.

With so many people living with their parents again, maybe living with somebody else would be a better alternative for young people living in dysfunctional households that need to get out of there. At least it’s not your own parents driving you nuts.

I wish that my parents were still here to drive me crazy or otherwise, r131.

And I would happily drive them anywhere they wanted to go.

Yes, bringing a stranger into your home in the middle of a pandemic is an excellent idea. Put a roof over their head, give them some pocket change, and they will always be honest and true.

And they will never, ever sneak out of the house to party with 50 or 60 "close" friends. Your family will be perfectly fine.

[quote]So what are we going to do 5-10 years from now when half the population has lung or heart damage?

Well, the Republicans are going to spend the next 5-10 years trying to erase health insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions – so if they get their way, "we" won't do anything but watch the afflicted get sick, declare bankruptcy and die at an early age.

About long-haulers, didn't this happen before with tuberculosis and polio? If not worse. People will struggle through... If the situation is bad enough, the gov't will do more (like the Great Depression made it where FDR could get away with setting up a lot more gov't programs)

R135, how do you get through the day with such a low IQ? Your right wing lunacy shines through no matter how hard you try to sound sane.

R136, this did happen with polio. Many years after the initial illness, it came back with other effects. I don’t know about TB but maybe. I don’t know why, other than as people get older their immune system weakens. Like shingles.

I agree, people will struggle through with little help unless Biden can pass some sort of healthcare the Republicans can’t reverse. Probably Medicare at a younger age would help some. But people still have to eat if they can’t work.

I think this is the end of the nuclear family. As these sufferers age, a lot of them may have recurring health issues and families a couple generations ahead will be caring for sickly old Aunt Martha. And that may be our best case scenario. Worst case is these vaccines don’t work for long or are too expensive, and there are millions of crippled people living in the streets because they can’t work any more. And some Republican President or Governor in the future does little or nothing to help them, just tells their families to suck it up. If you don’t have a family, too bad. A lot of elders may end up in abusive households because it’s that or the sidewalk.

I saw some video this weekend on CNN of a sheriff evicting people who lost their jobs. Double the normal number. He threw a crying, fragile looking, very old lady out of her apartment, as a man threw her much loved furnishings away. She had nobody to help her and sat on a kitchen chair in the parking lot crying as some man threw away everything she owned. Probably the landlord.

The sheriff called social services to let her stay one more day, so they could meet her there. She was alone and helpless. His excuse was, it’s over a hundred degrees and it’s a health hazard, so I’ll give her one more day. They said afterwards that locals were offering private assistance for the newly evicted and had raised over $100,000 to help them.

People will help if it’s a novelty of a few locals. But what if it’s half the population, or the majority over 50? People will harden their hearts then.

[quote]I think this is the end of the nuclear family.

How so? It would seem that the crisis and the aftermath would make relying on family more important.

Yesterday, it was reported that more 18-29 year olds are living with their parents today than at any point since the Great Depression.

The nuclear family is the opposite of the extended family, r138

[quote]The nuclear family is the opposite of the extended family

What a bizarre notion. Does the nuclear family cease to exist because aunt Martha moves in?

R8 just got mine, and my free $5 coupon from CVS. Mmmm, gummy bears here I come.

[quote] Does the nuclear family cease to exist because aunt Martha moves in?

Pretty much

[quote] A nuclear family, elementary family or conjugal family is a family group consisting of two parents and their children (one or more). It is in contrast to a single-parent family, the larger extended family, or a family with more than two parents.

The concept of a “Nuclear Family” was always just propaganda to cover the destruction of the extended family.

R138, the “nuclear family” refers to mom, dad and kids living alone in a house, while grandparents, uncles and aunts have their own homes. I think that’s pretty much over. We will become multigenerational households again, like our ancestors that first immigrated here were. People won’t be able to afford multiple households if not everyone can work.

I read recently of two gay couples who chose to live as family. Two brothers and their bfs. They pooled their money to buy meds for each other, pooled their food money. Some were disabled and they all took care of each other. That’s a good model.

And I think the worst of the recession (or Depression) may be to come. Some retail and restaurants have been struggling for months and will go under in the next year or so. They’re hanging on by their fingernails now and slowly sinking.

My dad had scarlet fever as a child and his heart was damaged. He recovered from that and it didn’t come up again until he was older. Then he had to have heart surgery. They can do a lot to repair damaged hearts now. But it’s very expensive if you’re talking about potentially millions of people.

Several people in my family have long term heart issues, so here’s my advice: don’t get fat, ever. If you are fat, lose the weight. Exercise, if you can’t go out walk up and down the stairs, do aerobics in front of the TV, whatever you can do. Get an exercise bike or a treadmill if you have to exercise indoors. You don’t have to do violent exercise if you’re not up to it, walking or swimming is about the best thing you can do. But if walking is your choice, do it every day.

If you do damage your heart, do whatever light exercise you can every day. Even if it’s just leg lifts in bed. Your heart is a muscle. Do some kind of exercise, just keep it up daily, it will strengthen your heart. We should probably all do that now.

💉 What's this r141, about a $5 coupon and Gummy Bears for getting a flu shot @ CVS ?

Out of my way, bitches, I'm there !

A Trump administration appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services is trying to prevent Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, from speaking about the risks that coronavirus poses to children.

Emails obtained by POLITICO show Paul Alexander — a senior adviser to Michael Caputo, HHS’s assistant secretary for public affairs — instructing press officers and others at the National Institutes of Health about what Fauci should say during media interviews.

Alexander’s lengthy messages, some sent as recently as this week, are couched as scientific arguments. But they often contradict mainstream science while promoting political positions taken by the Trump administration on hot-button issues ranging from the use of convalescent plasma to school reopening.

“Can you ensure Dr. Fauci indicates masks are for the teachers in schools. Not for children,” Alexander wrote yesterday. “There is no data, none, zero, across the entire world, that shows children especially young children, spread this virus to other children, or to adults or to their teachers. None. And if it did occur, the risk is essentially zero,” he continued — adding without evidence that children take influenza home, but not the coronavirus.

Darfur O - $10 at Publix.

R1;7, poor Fauci.

Is even Faux going to agree that children shouldn’t wear masks because the risk is “zero”? And what about the risk to the teachers? Half of them are obese or old. Doesn’t matter, they are expendable.

R74 Lies? Really. Where are you coming from with that?

A new study offers the first evidence that in some people, the coronavirus invades the *BRAIN*, hijacking cells to make copies of itself and starving neighboring cells to death.

40 to 60% of people with Covid have neurological symptoms, including delirium, confusion, dementia... infection in the brain may explain some of these. Could also be at play in long-haul Covid.

This is why Repugs want as many people infected as possible

Only brain-damaged people vote for dump

R151, just wait until their mom gets Corona brain damage and they need to pay for a nursing home. They’re going to be pissed.

The U.S. government on Monday will stop conducting enhanced screening of passengers on inbound international flights for COVID-19. The screening operations have been held at select airports since January, when the first cases of the disease began to emerge from Wuhan, China.

Since March, incoming international flights from select high-risk countries, including much of Europe, China and Iran, among other regions, have been funneled through 15 designated airports in the United States.

As of Monday, however, international flights will no longer be funneled into select airports for screening purposes and all screenings will come to a halt. All screenings and rerouting of select international flights will cease at exactly 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 14.

The White House can try to cover up the facts regarding Covid19 and children, but give it a a few weeks when the numbers explode among the youngsters. Our public school system opened for classes following labor day with long lines waiting outside the building to have their temps taken. I did see plenty of masks, but very little social distancing. I can't even imagine the situation in hallways, classrooms, and cafeterias. It's not going to work, no matter how or what they try. Schools should even have considered reopening until 2021. It's just another sad and unfortunate truth in the Covid19 era.

Wait until a few kids die, R154. Trump will be calling it fake news.

Meanwhile the situation in India is spiralling out of control. +95K cases today! They have already passed Brazil and will most likely pass the US in the coming month for #1

And yet, India still has one-tenth the deaths per capita as the US does.

r157 that's because India has nearly four times the population of the United States

Larger population and they still have fewer cases than us

R157. Based on REPORTED deaths....so far. As recently reported in this thread, excess deaths for Mexico are nearly 2x the number of reported deaths for the virus. Sadly, the TRUE deaths around the world are much, much worse than reported. Don't be fooled by false numbers

This is not over!

Guardian-France’s daily new Covid-19 infections rose by more than 8,500 for the third time in six days on Wednesday, with the disease spreading at its fastest pace since it emerged in the country. Health authorities have reported 8,577 new confirmed coronavirus cases, the second-highest number of daily additional infections on record since the disease started to spread in the country. The number of people taken to hospital with the virus was also up, by 43 - increasing for the 11th day in a row to reach a one-month high of 5,003. The number of patients in intensive care units with Covid-19 was up 25 to 599, a level not seen since the end of June.

And my boss in Belgium has planned a meeting tomorrow to discuss returning to work at the office. Seriously??? School has just started again and cases are already on the rise here BEFORE the fall/winter. A lot of people are still in denial! Today's numbers do not reveal anything about the future. I feel as if I am living a nightmare. What will it take for people to wake the fuck up?

R140 nuclear and nucleus come from the same root word. You start adding Aunt Martha in and suddenly you have a whole cell.

R150 Goddamnit, I really didn't need to read that after spending 45 minutes at Costco today.

R157 - they haven't been able to test and determine who has had COVID.

India's numbers are MUCH higher than what is reported. Particularly deaths.

I can’t watch the news anymore. It’s too disturbing

A third grade teacher in South Carolina just died

Holy shit. That's awful.

Another person murdered by the “must open schools now” crowd

Haven't seen WaPo article posted, but I found it to be an interesting read. It's subject is on:

‘The 1918 flu is still with us’: The deadliest pandemic ever is still causing problems today"

[quote] Experts say there’s this natural progression where a virus often — but not always — becomes less lethal as time wears on. It’s in the best interest of the virus for it to spread before killing the host.

It wasn't behind a paywall (for me at least).

WaPo: One month into the forced reopening of Florida's schools, dozens of classrooms — along with some entire schools — have been temporarily shuttered because of coronavirus outbreaks, and infections among school-age children have jumped 34 percent. But parents in many parts of the state don't know if outbreaks of the virus are related to their own schools because the state ordered some counties to keep health data secret.

THE GUARDIAN: The countries of central Europe, having come out of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in much better shape than most of their western European counterparts, are now facing higher numbers than during the spring peak of Covid-19, as restrictions return to the region.

On Tuesday, the Czech Republic passed the milestone of more than 1,000 Covid-19 cases in a day for the first time, while Hungary has closed its borders for September to counter rapidly rising daily infection rates. Cases rose in Poland in August too, though numbers have since dropped.

The rise in the Czech Republic is a sharp setback for a country previously hailed as among Europe’s most successful in tackling the pandemic, prompting the authorities to intensify face-mask requirements.

^Ha ha! You see?! There was no need to act in February. All those countries that got gold stars for handling the virus are back to being fucked. We're all in this together.

Well after U.S. economies began reopening this year, Americans continued to stay home.

By the latter half of August, 130 million Americans said they avoided eating at restaurants, a new U.S. Census Bureau survey analyzed by Bloomberg News shows. Only about 21 million of the nearly 250 million people had resumed dining out, according to the data gathered in collaboration with multiple federal agencies.

Asked if they were still making fewer trips to stores in late August than before the pandemic, 70% said “yes.” Even among the youngest adults aged 18 to 24, 68% said they were shopping less.

Technology around developing Covid-19 vaccine may improve flu vaccine effectiveness, health expert says

From CNN's Amanda Watts

If there is a silver lining to the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s that the technology around developing a vaccine could change the effectiveness and universality of the influenza vaccine.

During a Thursday webinar with the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said there “has been an unprecedented use of new platforms to develop vaccines.”

“Remember, the flu vaccine, we still develop in eggs — chicken eggs,” she said. “Which seems really archaic, given that in six months we've developed Covid vaccines using these incredible platforms.”

“I think that if there's any silver lining to the Covid pandemic, it will be — at least one of them will be — hopefully transferring some of these rocket-sort of science, really, really dramatically fast technologies and platforms to the influenza vaccine arena.”

Marrazzo said the pause taken for the AstraZeneca trial “should give people more reassurance that we will be sure to get a safe vaccine out, that we think is effective.”

“Studies are being conducted very, very cautiously and carefully,” she said.

Marrazzo said Operation Warp Speed’s name may have caused undue vaccine hesitancy among Americans, saying that the moniker, which gave people “confidence that we were moving fast, also made a lot of people nervous, because in some ways you would like a vaccine to come at warp speed, but you also don't want the safety measures sacrificed.”

“The messaging has been the problem throughout this pandemic,” she said.

“We have not had a consistent national message for almost any aspect of pandemic control — whether it relates to how severe the illness is, whether it relates to whether masks are important, and whether it relates to when we're going to get a vaccine.”

“If we could do anything for this winter season, it would be to have a reliable, trusted, consistent national message from trusted, scientifically informed leaders to get us through this and that's what we need,” she said.

🤕 [italic] Nobody Knows Nothin'Bout The Corona

More teacher deaths:

Operation Dwarf Speed

Coronavirus: Speaking quietly can reduce COVID spread, study finds.

A reduction of six decibels can have the same effect on cutting transmission as doubling a room's ventilation.

🤫 Speak softly and carry a big stick.

We could all wear little microphones under our masks.

Sometimes I wish I were in manufacturing. I’d be making the microphones, face shields using the fog free technology in ski masks and extra roomy face shields for indoor dining

Ski goggles, not ski masks. Oy

[quote] Coronavirus: Speaking quietly can reduce COVID spread, study finds.

NOW it's exceptional virulence in Italy makes sense!

(I can say these things; I have a throng of loud Italian relatives.)

If you can’t wear a mask, or claim so, do you think a shawl-like cloth, like a burka, for just the head, would resolve the conflict? I mean, serve to curb the spread of the virus while being more comfortable for the person wearing it? I’m thinking of Jackie Kennedy’s funeral shawl, or just something hanging from the head.

Or, do these people who refuse to wear masks simply object to following other’s instructions?

Upthread there was an article that I can’t find now, about a couple who were physically removed from a ferry over their refusal to wear masks.

R178, if can smell someone’s breath, you are too close. How often can you smell cigarette smoke at building entrances? I notice that a lot. That’s too close. I don’t even like taking elevators with others, after I was in one at a hospital with a guy with a bad breath, but I might just give-up and hope for the best.

R184 - well, there are a ton of COVID cases in Saudi Arabia (with very questionably low death rates). Of course, it could be all men doing the spreading, but the women's attire doesn't seem to help the spread.

Of course, the women don't wear those outfits at home.

For the last few months, I feel like I’ve been mourning in advance.

Will Trump kill anyone else besides Herman Cain?

Things you already knew, confirmed by the CDC- from the Hill.com, 9/10/20:

[quote] CDC report: dining out increases risk of contracting coronavirus more than other activities

[quote] Dining out is one of the riskiest possible activities during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday, citing the fact that masks are not used while people are eating and drinking.

[quote] CDC officials interviewed about 314 people who experienced symptoms of the virus and got tests, about half of whom were positive. Both the positive and the negative subjects said they had engaged in activities such as attending church and in-person shopping.

[quote] However, people who tested positive were about twice as likely than those who tested negative to say they had dined at a restaurant. People who tested positive but could not identify a specific occasion when they were exposed to the virus were also more likely to have recently visited a bar or coffee shop.

R189 - dining outside, 6 ft apart, seems to be relatively low-risk compared to many, many other activities. I don't buy that. Depends on the state and the guidelines.

Here's a link for the Dining Out article. The Hill.com link wouldn't post, but here's another source for the CDC study.

I think the big problem is that masks are protective, but you take off your mask to eat, so at some point you are no longer wearing a mask in an indoor public space. That's the theory, I believe.

The eating thing might not be so bad if people just sat there and ate quietly with their heads down and left as soon as they were done. The problem is when it's combined with active socializing where you've got a whole table of people yakking back and forth, laughing it up and sputtering from their juicy salivating mouths.

And here in Manhattan, many of the outside tables are only a few feet apart, not six.

R186, those women go to visit their women friends and the covering comes off. They have parties where women are all in one room and men are all in the other room. So they don’t have to cover anything. And the women are dressed very elaborately with tons of makeup, nails done, the works. So once they get to their destination, it’s pretty much the same, as far as socializing goes.

It would be interesting to know if they’re wearing masks at social gatherings there, or if there even are any right now.

I will not dine inside at a restaurant again until we have treatment or a safe vaccine. My state CT, is doing a great job of controlling spread but why roll the dice? I am happy to bundle up and sit myself outside or just get takeout.

Yesterday the U.S. passed hard-hit Italy in terms of per-capita Covid-19 deaths, according to worldometers. The self proclaimed "greatest country in the world," possessor of unparalleled medical and technological might, has the world's 11th worst death rate.

Or, as Trump calls it, "rounding the final turn" on beating the virus.

I'm not going to dine in again either until this is under control, and admit I'm having fun getting takeout and delivery, I can eat in sweatpants and have my own wine with it. As for groceries, even with tips and delivery charges I'm spending less than I did when I went shopping on my own.

Anyone else buying less stupid processed crappy food now that they're ordering online?

The Twitter account Health Nerd is pretty good for info on Covid, he has said that the main difference in death rates is based almost entirely on ages of those who contract the virus, so a country where people who are younger are contracting the virus will have a lower death rate than a country where older people catch it. That may very well be what's going on in Saudi Arabia.

I ate inside in the restaurant last weekend. It was in a small town I was visiting, still it gave me pause.

Israel is preparing to enter a second nationwide lockdown in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus after the country’s effort to reopen society and the economy led to soaring daily infections.

Israeli ministers voted earlier this week to impose a nationwide lockdown starting sometime next week ahead of the fall holidays observed across the country, The Times of Israel reported. The Times reported that details of the plan are expected to be voted on this weekend, but the lockdown will likely shutter all nonessential businesses and keep people mostly confined to near their homes for at least two weeks.

I haven't eaten a meal not prepared by myself since March. Today my boss wants to take me to lunch (outside).

None of my clients are back in the office yet, but one invited me to "meet with the team" at the manager's home. "We'll be on the patio unless the weather is bad. If so, we'll move inside -- but don't worry, I have a big open plan house."

I politely declined the invitation.

Here in L.A., so many restaurants have exterior dining on sidewalks and parking lots. They'll put shields up between the diners and pedestrians, but not separating the tables. They really should do shields between tables, or put them in jewel boxes like they did in Amsterdam:

"It's a fake pandemic, created to destroy the United States of America."

Coronavirus long-hauler describes what it's like to have "scary" symptoms for six months

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

Jenifer Johnston, a 40-year-old Oregon mother who has been battling coronavirus for six months, has been in the hospital multiple times after experiencing symptoms including extremely high blood pressure, trouble standing and loss of memory.

“I can only stand for a few minutes at a time. I turn purple, my hands and legs, and I get lightheaded,” she said on CNN’s “New Day.” “My heart rate doubles just standing, and I have blurry eyes. I feel like I'm going to faint, in and out, most days … I can't watch TV or read, and my memory's gone,” she added.

Johnston said she tries not to go to the emergency room, “otherwise I’d be there every night,” but last weekend, her symptoms got so bad for days that she had to call a doctor.

“At night, I wake up and I gasp for air pretty often, and my whole left side goes numb, my blood pressure skyrockets to really scary ranges and my heart rate gets to like 180, which is really fast,” she said.

Doctors seem flummoxed by her situation, she said, and are treating her symptom-by-symptom. She’s on heart medication and multiple vitamins to try to help.

JPMorgan asks senior sales and trading staff to return to the office

From CNN’s Alexis Benveniste

Executives at America's largest bank are calling its senior managers back into the office after months of remote work, according to a person familiar with the plans.

JPMorgan Chase conducted calls with senior managers in its sales and trading unit in London and New York Wednesday, the person said. Those managers have been asked to return to the offices starting Sept. 21, with some exemptions allowed.

Employees will not be asked to come in if they are high-risk, live with someone who is high-risk or have issues coordinating child care or homeschooling, this person said.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and most of the firm's operating committee have been in the office for most of the summer, the person said.

The decision to call senior managers back was important for training, the person said, especially with a new analyst class joining the company.

Russia’s sovereign wealth fund announces agreement with Brazil’s Bahia state to supply up to 50 million doses of Sputnik-V

From CNN’s Zahra Ullah and Matthew Chance in Moscow

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Brazil's state of Bahia have signed a cooperation agreement to supply up to 50 million doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik-V.

Deliveries are expected to start in November 2020 subject to approval by Brazil’s regulators with the consideration of results of post-registration trials.

The agreement, made through the state's Health Secretariat, will also enable the parties to distribute the vaccine across Brazil in the future, the Russian Direct Investments Fund (RDIF) said in a statement on Friday.

“The Government of the State of Bahia, in Brazil, is very pleased with the agreement signed with the Sovereign Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation, which will guarantee access to the Sputnik V vaccine for the Brazilian people, as soon as it is approved by the Brazilian national regulatory authorities,” Dr. Fabio Vilas-Boas Pinto, Health Secretary of the State of Bahia, said in the statement released by RDIF.

“As it is a vaccine built using human adenovirus, which is one of the safest and most effective vaccine development platforms in the world, we believe that the results of the ongoing phase 3 clinical trials will confirm the data observed in phases 1 and 2,” he added.

The RDIF told CNN they expect to announce deals to supply tens of millions of doses of Sputnik-V to other countries around the world in the coming days.

Here's some background: Russia drew criticism when it announced the world's first approved coronavirus vaccine for public use in August -- even before crucial Phase 3 trials had been completed.

Results from Phase 1 and 2 studies of the vaccine, published in The Lancet medical journal, showed the vaccine generated neutralizing antibodies in dozens of study subjects.

According to the study, the vaccine generated neutralizing antibodies in dozens of study subjects, and while it often caused side effects such as fever, those side effects were mostly mild.

Scientists not involved in the study said that, while the results are a positive sign, only larger, Phase 3 trials can confirm whether the vaccine actually prevents illness with Covid-19.

Still, the researchers are already distributing the vaccine to high-risk groups, according to Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is financing Russian vaccine research.

Russian authorities have singled out teachers -- as well as doctors -- as key workers who will get access to the vaccine first, even before crucial phase 3 human trials have finished.

R207 - oh fuck Brazil - don't do it girl!

Does Lancet just publish anything without fact-checking? We all know what they're doing - releasing it in order to cause confusion and create a crisis before the election.

I wouldn't drink the water in Russia.

Vodka r208?

By not only withholding his knowledge of the true dangers of COVID but deliberately lying about how harmless it is, Trump gave the public permission to engage in magical thinking, disregard everything they heard from sources who know what they're talking about like Dr. Fauci and WHO and either engage in freeform fantasies or select your favorites from the buffet of disinformation out there.

Covid-19 school closings linked to increase in depression and suicide, study finds

From CNN's Jen Christensen

Primary school students in China experienced more depressive symptoms and made more suicide attempts after schools closed for the pandemic, a new study found.

When Covid-19 hit China in January, the ministry of education postponed the start of spring semester to late April. That closure separated children from their friends and their broader community network, and seems to have had an impact on their mental well-being.

The study, published Friday in JAMA Network Open, compared reports of mental health problems in November — before the pandemic started — to mid-May, two weeks into the new spring semester when schools had reopened.

Researchers from Anhui Medical University got results back from surveys for 1,241 students who were in grades 4 through 8, and in junior high. The kids lived in Chizhou, Anhui Province, an area that did not have a large number of Covid-19 cases.

Nearly 25% of the students reported depressive symptoms in May, when only about 19% did in November. Suicide attempts more than doubled — at 6.4% in May compared to the 3% who made suicide attempts in November. There were no similar increases seen in reports of children who reported feeling an increase anxiety.

Researchers hope school leaders will use this research to prepare the necessary mental health services to help children as they return to school following the lockdowns.

This study is consistent with others that have found that enforced social isolation can cause mental health challenges for children.

A group of Miami U students knew they had Covid-19 and still had a party, anyway

R199, I live in one of those small towns, and they are not taking this shit seriously. We're just now getting to Phase 2 in mine. People were not wearing masks or social distancing here.

R150 link makes me more convinced than ever this was a "boutique" bioweapon created in a Chinese lab, on purpose.

The Jews of Israel in lockdown? Welcome to our world, oppressors.

just read on CNN that you CAN get the flu and covid at the SAME TIME!!!

Had a harrowing time today at the hospital for my partner's varicose vein removal. They told everyone who had a morning surgery to show up for check-in at the same time! It was a zoo. A masked zoo, but way too many people milling around. The family waiting room had chairs blocked off but was still crowded, so I divided my time between the wide, empty hallway and an outdoor courtyard.

At least all of the people with their masks below their noses had the decency to pull them back up when given a Significant Look.

Between this and Costco, I'll be amazed if I don't have the 'rona by Sunday.

We live in the age of Significant Looks Sylvia.

And meanwhile, Allegheny County's new case numbers were back in the triple digits today, no one seems to give a fuck, and our chickenshit Governor says restaurants can go back to 50% capacity.

It's like everyone simultaneously stopped caring (present company excepted.)

Our "chickenshit" governor is getting shit on by conservatives for being too strict, now I guess some people are attacking him for not being strict enough

PA hasn't had bad numbers compared to a lot of other places

Has that oleander extract thing cured everything yet?

[quote] just read on CNN that you CAN get the flu and covid at the SAME TIME!!!

Look at it this way- If you're protecting yourself against COVID, you're protecting yourself against flu, also. So if you're doing everything you need to, you'll be fine.

Was there ever any question that you could get both? Why wouldn't you be able to be infected with both? Like R222 said, though, you'll be protected from both by doing what you need to do to protect yourself from Covid. So, basically, the morons who aren't doing that will simultaneously be getting a cold, the flu, and Covid. Hope they enjoy the rest of the year.

R222 - makes sense doesn't it? If it is more contagious than the flu, then wouldn't we be in good shape if we're following protocols?

But didn't something say that the flu shot can help with COVID? I certainly wouldn't want to contract both at the same time.

Still getting a shot.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Well, I think the type of person who goes out to eat will also go to the beach, supermarket, gatherings with friends and other activities...so it's hard to just blame eating at restaurants.

R226 I could not fully wrap my head around it at first either really, yet reading the CDC report, they claim comparisons with those going to gyms, supermarkets, as well as various other places.

I still feel I'm taking risks with all food prepared outside my own home, though I've had four pizzas delivered, picked up Thai food twice, and went through a Popeye's drive-thru twice now since this began.

I'll try to C&P their risk info, since link doesn't work.

Those testing positive for Coronavirus were about twice as likely to have recently visited restaurants, compared to people who tested negative (third from left), CDC data reveals

The CDC collected data on 314 Americans who got tested for coronavirus.

Participants were asked about where they had spent their time in the past two weeks and with whom they had been in contact.

Of the entire group 154 people had tested positive and 160 people tested negative.

There was little difference in the percentage of people who tested positive or negative and had recently been to salons, offices, gyms or to stores to shop.

Positive and negative test results were also about equally common among people who lived with a few people, compared to those who shared their homes with 10 or more others.

Unsurprisingly, those who had had close contact with someone they knew had COVID-19 were about three times as likely to test positive as negative.

I’m assuming they mean sitting indoors to eat, not outside.

But they don’t specify.

A CDC report found that among people who had eaten at a restaurant in the past two weeks, 41% tested positive for coronavirus and 27% tested negative

Another 26% of study participants had not recently visited restaurants

People were not at significantly greater risk of catching coronavirus if they had recently ridden buses or gone to salons, gyms or offices

Positive tests were also 70% more common among those who had been to a bar or coffee shop in the prior 14 days

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this week that New York City restaurants can reopen their indoor dining at 25% capacity on September 30

Florida bars will be allowed to have patrons indoors at 50% capacity starting Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday

There's a graph as well, but was unable to find @ cdc.gov, even using the advanced search option.

R227 types fat.

I hate to say it but I find myself avoiding the small specialty stores I moved to this neighbourhood to exploit. Even the big supermarket, big by 1950's standards. I'm driving more than ever - to those huge supermarkets with the wide aisles.

Before the pandemic I thought I might get a few more years out of my ancient Camry. It's about dead.

Good note, I've come to a good agreement with my produce guy, who I've known for 8 years. He's giving me and his other regulars a personal shoppers' deal, meaning he's our shopper and he delivers twice a week. Good guy. Hot too.

R231 I had suspected that much was coming, or much worse. I'm not at all fat though, which probably makes you hate me all the more that I can eat such foods and burn it all off. (32" waist, 43" chest.)

I live by IF, and keeping carbs low; most days 24g or less. I subject myself to punishing exercise as well. I've been biking 4mi daily since my self-imposed lockdown. Many days I only eat once.

Today is such a day. I've had a small rocket and radicchio salad, one chicken thigh, and side of succotash. I had tea earlier, and may have a slice of Ezekiel Sesame bread if I finish the pot.

[quote]New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this week that New York City restaurants can reopen their indoor dining at 25% capacity on September 30

This was a mistake in Illinois. Indoor dining is stupid. You give them an inch and they'll all take two miles. Too many restaurants to police. It's easier to enforce if it's just closed because then any restaurant that's open indoors is in violation. No one is going around counting how many people are inside.

Illinois also has the huge misfortune of being surrounded on all sides by a bunch of red states filled with stupid hicks. Southern Illinois might as well be Mississippi.

Agreed R234. I'm bugging out near the Indiana border, and their restaurants have all been packed with diners since opening.. Simply driving by, one can see they're not at all enforcing a head count in most places. (especially large chains.

There's crazy stuff all around: a nail salon I passed where they're seated right up in the window of a storefront: no mask on patron, nail tech's nose sticking out... and in the very same stretch of strip mall, an old school barbershop with three men waiting on a bench in the window. (this is in Munster) I spied all this stopped at a light. Who knows what else goes on inside. There is most definitely something to be said of "rednecks"... almost all the people not wearing masks happen to be white, and a certain type. From the beginning in this community, Blacks, Hispanics, Indians, and Asians ALL wear masks; I only see whites without them. Hmmmm.... Deplorables perhaps?

Interesting article R205, and not the first time I've read descriptions of Covid long-haulers and thought that they may have developed sleep apnea after being sick. Wonder if there could there be chronic inflammation in the throat or tonsils causing obstruction? There's also a type of sleep apnea that is related to damage in the brainstem, which is frightening.

R230 I don't get how going to an office is any safer than eating indoors at a restaurant. Both are poorly ventilated and full of yapping humans. I suppose more offices may be doing a better job of de-densifying, but I doubt it. I'm sure the offices where R235 lives are business as usual, with weekly potlucks and frauen gathered 'round the coffee urn every morning.

I'm avoiding both. Only take-out food and take-out coffee, a quick once a week trip for groceries, and miscellaneous medical appointments. No public transit, no flying. So far I've lived to tell about it. *knock on wood* And my department head has decided to keep us home until January!

That's great, SF! Enjoy your break from the students!

R237 It doesn't quite make sense entirely to me either. The only thing I came up with was more traffic of different individuals each day in the restaurants as opposed to the regular staff in offices. Stores have as much traffic as restaurants, but perhaps infected people don't linger as long as they would whilst dining and drinking. There must be some reason for the figures.

I'm both R230/R235 (and guilty of typing fat, amongst other things) I figured it was interesting, and something to ponder, so I shared it. Glad of your good fortune to continue working from home. I'm retired, and still desperately trying to avoid other people for the most part. I'm still active and out each day, on a bike, or on a horse, or on a hike in Forest Preserves.

R239 Sounds idyllic! Do you own your own horse?

I both type fat and am fat, by DL "Anyone heavier than Timmy Chalamet is a sow" standards, so no shade from me.

Oh Sylvia, one need only *think* svelte to *be* svelte.

Well people don't wear masks while dining so there is increased risk especially indoors. Last night we went out to eat - outdoors - and the server asked us to put masks on as she approached and she kept her distance from us like we were infected. I guess it was smart of her, she kept saying she had short arms and to assist her passing the food to us.

The move to indoor dining as winter approaches is going to cause numbers to explode. The issue is the VOLUME people speak, not wearing masks, while eating and drinking.

Most retaurants are very noisy environments, or were, before COVID-19 hit.

Are we still supposed to be washing our hands for 20 seconds? I am but not one else in my office is.

R244 All the more reason why you should be doing it; you're going around the office picking up their filth! If nothing else, it'll keep you from getting the flu this winter.

Trump officials interfered with CDC reports on Covid-19.

HHS' politically appointed communications aides have demanded the right to review and seek changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly scientific reports charting the progress of the coronavirus pandemic, in what officials characterized as an attempt to intimidate the reports’ authors and water down their communications to health professionals.

In some cases, emails from communications aides to CDC Director Robert Redfield and other senior officials openly complained that the agency’s reports would undermine President Donald Trump's optimistic messages about the outbreak.

Since Michael Caputo, a former Trump campaign official (and Russian stooge) with no medical or scientific background, was installed in April as the Health and Human Services department's new spokesperson, there have been substantial efforts to align the reports with Trump's statements, including the president's claims that fears about the outbreak are overstated, or stop the reports altogether.

Joe Biden has created a war-cabinet-in-waiting on the coronavirus pandemic, with major figures from the Obama, Clinton and George H.W. Bush administrations drafting plans for distributing vaccines and personal protective gear, dramatically ramping up testing, reopening schools and addressing health-care disparities.

🤔 If your too busy and/or don't care enough about yourself to wash your hands frequently, at least carry sanitizer and apply often. That will only take 5-6 seconds. Think of the time you'll save!

Lots of people have tested positive for covid in Bergen. It's a local outbreak.

Got my flu shot today. Ain’t taking no chances.

R243, I can only imagine those family style Italian restaurants.

Is it too soon to get the flu shot? Just spoke with my pharmacist on the phone (regarding another matter) and she said they have already run out once and are working on administering their second batch. I though it only lasted 6 months? If I get it now, will I not be protected through March?

^thought not though

I'm actually not too concerned with getting flu this year, and I always get an annual flu shot. The precautions I'm taking to prevent COVID also prevent flu.

CNN, 9/7/20

[quote] After record low flu season in Australia, US hopes for the same

[quote] Australia and other countries in the Southern Hemisphere just finished their easiest flu seasons on record, and the United States and other nations in the Northern Hemisphere could have an easy time, too -- if people get flu shots, practice social distancing and wear masks.

[quote] "This could be one of the best flu seasons [we've had]," Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Journal of the American Medical Association in August. "Particularly if [people] do one more thing, and that is to embrace the flu vaccine with confidence."

[quote] The Southern Hemisphere, which generally has its flu season generally from April to September, just experienced a record low flu season, according to the World Health Organization.

Take Australia, for example.

In August 2019, there were 61,000 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza in Australia.

In August 2020, there were 107.

[quote] "This is virtually a non-season," said Ian Barr, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Melbourne. "We've never seen numbers like this before."

[quote] South Africa and the southern cone of South America have had similar experiences.

I’m getting my flu shot Monday, a couple of weeks earlier than I usually get one, but I’m concerned they will be hard to find in a month

Yes, the flu shot only lasts about six months so I am thinking of waiting until mid-October. I don’t think flu season will start early or be bad this year, but I am for sure getting the shot and not taking chances.

A couple of years ago we went to Scotland in early September and wound up on a tour of the Highlands with some ladies from Australia who were sick and of course we wound up getting the flu from them. That was a miserable experience and it would be nice if early flu shots were easily available to people with international travel plans whenever international travel recommences.

Glad you can stay home Sylvia. We’ve been instructed to stay home if possible also through January. However, there are a few things I can only do in the office and since it is September this is the month I have to do them.

The difference between offices and restaurants is masks. People, for the most part, are being required to wear a mask at the office unless they are alone.

The thing that makes no sense to me is the DMV. What the fuck are they thinking making everyone stand in massive lines to renew their driver's licenses right now? Then, you have to take your mask off in the small, badly ventilated area where the hundreds of other people before you just took their masks off in order to get a picture taken. It's insane.

Another big difference that makes restaurants/bars worse is that the act of eating and drinking stimulates salivary flow, which in turn means more droplets spewing into the environment. Additionally, alcohol consumption lowers inhibitions and contributes to more lax attitudes.

That is crazy R258. In New York drivers licenses can be renewed on-line so no issue, I don’t see why other States can’t do something similar.

I got my new license in the mail here in PA. Only people who've never had one before have to report in person.

I'm in Illinois. The only way you can renew online is if you have the safe driver renewal code and you can only do that once every eight years before having to show up in person again. I had it four years ago and would have it again this year except for that stupid rule. They are even waiving the eye test because, I assume, they don't want people sticking their face in the eye test machine but they seem fine with making us all stand in line for hours (I'm talking 6-8 hour wait times) and then removing our masks to get the picture taken. Tons of DMV locations have been closed for two weeks at a time because they do that every time an employee gets sick.

All they have to do is send everyone a code and we could all renew online. They're bastards and I've been fighting with them for months now. Also, they've told everyone who hasn't renewed since March that they have until Nov 1st. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like in October, right before that deadline, when mine actually expires. And, our numbers keep going up and up. Wonder why.

I had an appointment to get my California REALID this past March in LA, which I had made in November of 2019 (and that was the earliest I could get). My appt was somewhere around the end of March, and my trip to NYC had already been canceled because of the shutdown on Broadway, but we were still being somewhat cavalier/uninformed here in Los Angeles. I think my last trip outside to a store was maybe March 23rd and I wore a mask and gloves and for some reason, it freaked me out so badly that I went home and vowed not to go into any public place again unless I had to.

I canceled my REALID appt and tried to reschedule for later in the Spring and they didn't have anything available until midsummer, so I didn't bother. I can't even imagine having to go and stand in the DMV line in Hollywood and NOT catching COVID.

In California, you have to make an appointment.

I needed a RealID, and was in and out in half an hour.

I know you have to make an appointment, I said I had an appointment and I canceled it because I didn't want to be in the DMV after COVID had become a problem.

R262, don’t let it expire no matter what.

I know someone who was sick and let it expire. They had to take the drivers’ test again and they had to qualify for the RealID. Then, their birth certificate had their name spelled wrong, which was never a problem before, but now it’s a big deal and they had to get their birth certificate corrected which took about six months because they kept throwing their applications away at the home state (which was too far away to go in person) and then asking them to send another one. Also, an expired drivers’ license isn’t a valid ID at the DMV, even though they issued it. So you can’t just renew it, or even get a non-drivers’ state ID, unless all your other paperwork is in perfect order and you have all the documents. This is why old people don’t have ID.

If you just keep renewing, a lot of it is automatic. But starting from scratch is horrible. Just make an appointment and get it over with. It’ll be worse this winter, and the next thing you know, you’ll be right up against the deadline.

Do you not understand the words “[bold]have to[bold] make an appointment”?

Walk ins are not an option

R266, Illinois gives you up to a year after expiration to renew without having to redo everything. Illinois also doesn't have appointments for anything related to driver's licenses. You just go and stand in line, which are currently endless, packed together, and filled with Covid, no doubt. I've emailed everyone in the state, up to and including the governor. My state rep is looking into it. Big whoop. It's a clusterfuck. I'm seriously thinking of contacting the local news stations.

I always get my flu shot the first week in September.

Never been a problem getting it early. I, myself don't consider that too early.

I think the immune response lessens more quickly in older people so they have to worry more about getting it too early. They should also get the stronger dose shot made for the elderly. October is usually the ideal time to get it but, then again, flu season came early last year and peaked in October.

I wonder if there will be any issues with getting the eventual Covid vaccine and having it interact in some way with the flu shot. Would they need to spread them out a bit? Are they studying that? I assume so.

R247 I love thinking that more and more, Trump’s ass-kissing enablers are just smiling and nodding because they KNOW the clock is counting down to his removal from office. He’ll continue to shout but no one will be listening.

[quote] Do you not understand the words “have to make an appointment”? Walk ins are not an option.

Actually, yes they are, dumb ass.

No need to worry about interaction between the flu vaccine and the Covid vaccine. I don't think we're going to see an safe, approved Covid vaccine anytime in the near future.

NYC Alive not Dead - a walk around the Upper West Side showing the restaurants with outdoor seating.

There's going to be another spike. Look at all of the people gabbing without masks on.

My doctor told me my flu shot loses effectiveness by the end of June.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Israel is back in lockdown.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna (Romney) McDaniel argued on NBC's Meet the Press today that we would not know that people are dead of Covid-19 if we didn't run so many damn tests:

Chuck Todd: “How do you account for the fact that it’s the United States of America that accounts for 25% of the world’s deaths?"

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel: “Well, we have, we do have more testing.”

AP:

As Trump played down virus, health experts' alarm grew

R276 Just another weekend in Wash. Sq. Park, especially after the students have all returned for the semester.

[quote]Washington Square Park is left littered with empty alcohol containers and fast food wrappers after hundreds of young revelers packed the space for a second weekend in a row

If the police are afraid of starting a riot by showing up to disperse these assholes, why don't they send the fire department to hose them all down? No huge pressure anything that could hurt anyone. Just continuously spray the hoses in the air over the entire area.

Bob Woodward on 60 Minutes: on January 27, an aide told Trump his Chinese contacts said this virus would be like the Spanish flu in terms of devastation.

Police aren't afraid of a riot, they're afraid of putting themselves in a high risk situation for catching The Corona.

I'm in favor of a good hose-down for the offending scofflaws. Fast and easy way to clear the streets of unwanted trash.

Kristi Noem needs to EAT SHIT

The plague is here for keeps.

And while she's eating shit she should also get a skin peel

CNN: The WHO reported the highest single-day increase in global infections since the pandemic began on Sunday.

The WHO's European director said the crisis is going to get "tougher" in October and November, with more daily deaths. University of Washington researchers predict the U.S. will experience 3,000 deaths a day in December.

Israel will enter another lockdown starting Friday. In Britain, a government adviser is warning that failure to contain a surge of cases could put the country "right back in hard lockdown in short order." The government has reduced the number of people allowed to meet from 30 to six. The Austrian chancellor says his country is experiencing a second wave of infecitons,

[quote]U.S. will experience 3,000 deaths a day in December.

Oh god.

1 of every 1,125 Black Americans have died of COVID-19, per Andy Slavitt.

R288, that was what it was back in April.

The difference is, back then we didn’t know how to save them, a lot of the people on ventilators died because we didn’t know ventilators were bad for them. Now we do.

If 3,000 die now, it means many more cases with a much lower fatality rate and many more case of lifetime disability and heart and neurological damage. I’m more afraid of millions of cripples than deaths. It could be economically unsustainable.

"University of Washington researchers predict the U.S. will experience 3,000 deaths a day in December."

It is what it is

Honestly, that University of Washington forecast is so fatally flawed that it should be ignored. It's been consistently wrong from the very beginning, including their prediction that we'd be at virtually zero deaths by the middle of July. It's not based on epidemiology or a solid understanding of how people behave in a pandemic; it's based on trying to fit the numbers to a rather arbitrary curve, regardless of whether the curve makes sense.

Trump told Woodward in August that they had done everything about the pandemic they could do. They closed early. And the stock market is great, so everything is great.

Woodward sounded like he could barely control himself and was struggling mightily.

R293, and yet none of this will make a damn bit of difference with his asshole supporters. It’s infuriating.

Do you think that's why they don't give a fuck? That it hits black people so hard? I remember on some of the first few freakout threads and reading about it on reddit when it was still confined to Wuhan that they said "black people are immune". Idris Elba had to come out and say that yes, black people can definitely get it, quit spreading rumors that they can't. It was bizarre.

I do think in the beginning Dump didn't want to do anything because it was wreaking havoc in blue states. He's pretty much admitted as much.

but then he realized it was hitting black people and Latinos the hardest so it wasn't so important. Add to that that he is an idiot and had/has no idea what to do anyway. He left a 39 year old idiot in charge of the pandemic who was so stupid that he thought it would only affect blue states.

[quote]that University of Washington forecast is so fatally flawed that it should be ignored. It's been consistently wrong from the very beginning

A sampling:

August 6: IHME COVID-19 Forecasts see Nearly 300,000 Deaths by December 1. (Certainly possible.)

July 15: Over 224,000 COVID-19 Deaths Forecast in U.S. by November 1, Says University of Washington's IHME (it will be more than that).

June 24: New IHME COVID-19 Model Projects Nearly 180,000 US Deaths by October 1 (we blew right through that one).

May 10: IHME Projects 137,184 Cumulative COVID-19 deaths through the beginning of August (there were around 150,000).

Flu shots stay in effect for about six months, so you want to calculate your shot to take you through the worst of flu season, which where I live is October-March. I got mine today at a drug store. There was a little girl who was making a big production out of refusing to get her shot. She watched me get mine and I told her it didn't even hurt (which it didn't--I've got to remember that pharmacist.) I wonder if she believed me.

R394, there's a reason why most hardcore Trump believers are Evangelicals. They're people who have been taught that you are blessed when you believe stupid things. "Facts," to them, are just there to test their faith.

[quote] The researchers report today in the journal Cell that Ab8 is highly effective in preventing and treating SARS-CoV-2 infection in mice and hamsters. Its tiny size not only increases its potential for diffusion in tissues to better neutralize the virus, but also makes it possible to administer the drug by alternative routes, including inhalation. Importantly, it does not bind to human cells—a good sign that it won’t have negative side-effects in people.

R240 Technically no, the horses belong to my partner, along with the chickens. An update for Illinois: It would appear daily new cases are slightly down over the past two weeks. In certain counties, the deaths are up however.

R262 There is a reprieve for drivers 75+ in Illinois; they can have an additional year to have either driver's course, and rules test. I'm not sure of the details how one goes about it, just that a lady friend was concerned about riding in a car with a stranger, going in etc. Her local DMV had been closed due to a breakout of virus.

R302, yeah, they announced the 75+ year old extension a couple of weeks ago. I feel sorry for the 74 year olds who might have to die to renew their license. The very last line of the press release about that from the SoS's office said that the SoS has the legal authority to extend ALL driver's license expirations for one year. They are choosing not to for some fucking reason. They've closed close to 20 DMV faciliites now since the end of July due to Covid infections. It's ridiculous.

R303 Much of what's going on is ridiculous. Relaxing the rules for an extended period seems the smart choice for everyone. I heard from my older friend that there were previously problems with the social distancing at the DMV... and I'm not at all surprised one had to be shuttered.

The solution to queue around the building didn't seem fair given the heat at the time here in the SE suburbs of Chicago. Then they began calling 65+ drivers first. Unless someone had been involved in a recent serious infraction, I don't see the problem extending everyone's renewal.

R304, if you're in Illinois, please email the SoS and your IL state rep and IL state senator. Hell, I wrote the governor. The more they hear from people about this, the more likely they'll do something.

It literally says in the FAQ on the Illinois SoS's website that all drivers license expirations will be extended 90 days past the end of the governor's disaster order. That would be 90 days after we move to level 5. The last time the disaster order was renewed was August 24th or thereabouts. But, the SoS's office can't seem to figure out their own rules. The email response I got from them included an explanation of how I could wait until it wasn't so hot out and bring some water. Do they understand that Fall and Winter are WORSE times to group us all together and then have us remove our masks inside a public building? I am incensed over this.

R305 I did follow up with Sec of State for my friend, as she had simply assumed she would need to go in. Then I had learnt the damned place was shuttered anyhow. I shall follow up with the Reps as well.

Another issue forcing older people into compromising situations is Doctor visits. So many people I know in their 60s and 70s have been "ordered" to have office visits, or else their medications would not be renewed. These were prescriptions mainly for blood pressure and tranquilisers. Two had been taking these long term without any issues whatsoever, and their dose hadn't been changed for YEARS.

The DMV, not unlike these doctors want their revenue. That's my acerbic take on it.

CNN: NIH officials says AstraZeneca "needs to be more forthcoming" about the individual who fell ill during the vaccine trial. Apparently, the company is not being transparent with government health officials.

R306, I had to go to the doctor in person to get a surgery ok, after I’ve seen the doctor about this surgery for a year and he already okayed it. They said the insurance company wouldn’t pay for it unless I went in person. I just did a telehealth with the doctor a couple of weeks ago and he told me (again) I needed the surgery. This has been ongoing and it’s perfectly obvious there’s no alternative but surgery. Who in the hell is having surgery now unless they really need it?

Since March, I have been to the dentist 4 times (for an implant and root canal), a for-profit clinic twice (for antibiotics), and the dermatologist three times. All places were safer than a "bar and grill" or a day at the beach.

R308 I’ve been to the dr, dentist and eye doctor in person since July but my area has had very low infection rates.

I have a huge leak under my sink and the maintenance man is coming today to fix it. I'm making him remove his shoes, giving him a fresh pair of gloves to put on and if he needs a mask, I'll have one for him. As soon as he leaves, I'm bleaching everything in the kitchen.

[quote]I have been to the dentist 4 times (for an implant and root canal), a for-profit clinic twice (for antibiotics), and the dermatologist three times. All places were safer than a "bar and grill" or a day at the beach.

A day at the beach, if you maintain social distancing, is objectively safer than anything happening indoors.

The state of Michigan reports 20 outbreaks -- an instance in which two or more cases are linked by a place and time -- at health-care sites, which would include hospitals, medical and dental offices, dialysis centers and other facilities providing health-care services.

Zero outbreaks reported at beaches.

I assume you'll be presenting hole from a 6' distance, r311.

Nope, I'll be locked in my bedroom. I'm wondering whether or not to turn the AC off and open the windows. I'm in CA and the fires have made the air horrible.

[quote]As soon as he leaves, I'm bleaching everything in the kitchen.

Spare the potato chips!

Shame, nice body....

Scientific American has never endorsed a presidential candidate in our 175-year history—until now.

"The 2020 election is literally a matter of life and death. We urge you to vote for health, science and Joe Biden for President."

New York's streak of staying under 1 percent of positive CV test results is broken after more than a month. Today's positivity rate was 1.04%.

Currently, the US is just a few hundred deaths away from 200K in total. Feeling a bit numb and hopeless tonight.

r319, don't worry! A lot of them are old and sick so they deserve to die!

The governors with the lowest Covid-19 ratings. Almost all are Republicans

That wedding in Maine has now killed 7 people

The Hill:

Pelosi seeks to put pressure on GOP in COVID-19 relief battle

75% of coronavirus deaths under age 21 were black, Latino, or indigenous

[quote]Shame, nice body....

Man that guy was finneeeeeeee. Too bad he's a nutcase...

Crazy HHS official, Michael Caputo, has released a new video.

Momcilo Krajisnik, a Bosnian Serb former politician convicted of war crimes for persecuting non-Serbs during the Bosnian War from 1992-95, has died following coronavirus infection, the hospital where he was being treated has said

Suggestion for the next thread: Herd Mentality

Guardian-US president Donald Trump said Covid-19 would go away without a vaccine. This would happen because of “herd mentality”, he said in an ABC town hall. It is unclear whether he meant herd immunity, as he repeated the phrase several times. “It would go away without the vaccine, George,” he said speaking to ABC journalist George Stephanopoulos. “With time it goes away. And you’ll develop like a herd mentality. It’s going to be herd developed, and that’s going to happen. That will all happen.”

I almost feel bad for the evil idiot when he does things like this but that only lasts for about five seconds until I remember exactly how evil this idiot actually is.

Nice work, Indonesia!

Brazil announce sharp increase in the number of deaths in the past 24 hrs, and Indian cases now surpass 5M.

NBC News: A new report looks at a total of 121 Covid-19 deaths in children and adolescents from Feb. 12 through July 31. Of these cases, 15 were confirmed to have MIS-C, an inflammatory condition linked to Covid-19.

The majority of deaths — 85 total — were in those ages 10 to 20, and patients 18 to 20 years old were particularly vulnerable. Similar to mortality in adults with Covid-19, young males were more likely to die. There were 24 deaths in children ages 1 to 9, and 12 deaths in infants.

Young people with at least one underlying condition were more likely to die, and nearly half of the deaths were in those with two or more underlying health conditions. Asthma and obesity were the most commonly reported underlying conditions among young people who died. A quarter of the deaths were in people who were considered previously healthy.

Hispanic, Black and American Indian/Alaska Native patients accounting for 75 percent of the deaths, though they represent just 41 percent of the American population under 21 years of age.

Early on, I thought we'd have treatment breakthroughs before we had a vaccine, including treatments for patients before they were sick enough to warrant a hospital stay. But one by one, "promising" treatments fell by the wayside, even though they were highly touted by the president.

Now, Eli Lilley is working on a monoclonal antibody that in early testing appears to reduce patients' odds of ending up in the hospital. Just 1.7% of patients who received the drug, called LY-CoV555, eventually went to the emergency room or were hospitalized, compared with 6% of those who took placebo. That amounts to 72% relative reduction in risk.

Aspen Idea Festival

USA Covid-19 deaths are now over 200K.

200,280 Americans have died so far with 36,447 new confirmed cases yesterday.

R335 At least 200,280 people have died in the U.S. The real death toll is higher and we'll have more of an idea once monthly deaths for 2020 are compared to average monthly deaths of the last five years.

ABC News: US records highest daily death toll in weeks

An additional 1,422 coronavirus-related fatalities were recorded in the United States on Tuesday, a more than threefold increase from the previous day, according to a real-time count kept by Johns Hopkins University.

An internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency obtained by ABC News on Tuesday night identified some areas in the northeastern United States as "emerging hotspots," including parts of Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Thanks, PA deplorable hillbilly cunts.

White House correspondent Raquel Krähenbühl"

The White House called the journalists from the pool 30 minutes late to get our routine covid test. I was told they were late because "It was a very busy morning. We had a couple of positives today"

We said fuck everything four years ago. Corona is just the icing on the cake.

CDC Director Redfield told senators this morning that wearing a face mask might provide more protection against Covid than a vaccine will.

Love the message r341.

Do you have a link?

Anti-mask idiots invade a Florida Wal-Mart

[quote]Love the message [R341]. Do you have a link?

Oops.

Thanks r345!

CDC Director Redfield told senators this morning that wearing a face mask might provide more protection against Covid than a vaccine will.

How does this translate? We won’t have any vaccines in the near future, especially not before the elections, so we’re switching the narrative and Trump will now promote masks?

[quote]How does this translate? We won’t have any vaccines in the near future?

Redfield told Senators he sees a vaccine being "generally available to the American public" in the "late second quarter, third quarter 2021."

But I doubt very much whether Trump will suddenly start promoting masks.

N95 mask makers are still struggling to meet the demand, 3M CEO says

From CNN's Aditi Sangal

3M is a company known for scotch tapes and post-it notes but during the coronavirus pandemic, it has become the largest producer of N95 masks. However, even as the company ramped up production and is on its way to produce 95 million masks a month this fall and 2 billion by the end of 2020, it’s still facing a challenge to meet the demand for the masks, CEO Mike Roman says. "“Even today, the demand for N95s is greater than not only our production capacity, but the entire industry. So we're still facing a challenge to meet that demand,” he told CNN Wednesday."

“We are working in partnership with other companies to look at ways that you can reuse N95s. We're also exploring ways to bring other kinds of respiratory solutions. We have reusable respirators, which are another solution. They can't meet all of the demand either but there are other things we're doing to fight them at every angle,” he added.

A lesson already being learned from this pandemic and production process is that investing in inventory and capacity is key.

“It's public-private partnerships that are doing that. Part of the investment with the DoD is to be able to have capacity to build an inventory of N95s. It’s also true that we’re doing that in partnership with health care providers, making sure that they have sufficient inventory.”

“Broadly, we were not ready for the demand,” he told CNN about pandemic preparedness at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.

Supreme Court will hear oral arguments by phone in new term beginning in October

From CNN's Ariane De Vogue

The Supreme Court announced Wednesday that when the new term begins in October, the justices will hear oral arguments by phone, continuing the format it used for arguments last May due to the pandemic.

“In keeping with public health guidance in response to COVID-19, the Justices and counsel will all participate remotely,” Kathy Arberg, the court’s public information officer, said in a statement. She noted that the court would also provide live audio feed for the October arguments as it did last term.

When does the new SCOTUS term start: The new term will launch the first Monday of October with the backdrop of possibly the most litigious presidential election in recent years playing out on the public scene. Emergency election related petitions are likely to come to the high court before the election and possibly after the vote.

The court has not yet determined plans for the November and December argument sessions.

Last spring marked the first time the justices heard their cases over the phone and the experiment significantly changed how arguments played out.

Instead of a free for all with the justices interrupting each other and peppering advocates with a barrage of questions, the court proceeded in order of seniority with each justice having time to ask a series of questions.

For the most part, the experiment won good reviews with advocates expressing satisfaction that they were able to get their answers out without interruption. In addition, the new system attracted Justice Clarence Thomas who rarely asks questions in open court, but spoke up frequently by telephone. The session marked the first time, the public could listen in to a live audio feed.

Nine English soccer games will pilot allowing fans to attend this weekend

From CNN’s Aleks Klosok in London

Nine clubs in England's Football League will be allowed to admit up to 1,000 fans in this weekend’s games as part of a pilot scheme to test the return of supporters, the English Football League (EFL) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The games will be spread out across English football’s second tier Championship (hosting two games), third tier League One (hosting four games) and fourth tier League Two (hosting three games).

EFL Chair, Rick Parry said: “It’s encouraging that we are in a position to move forward with the next phase of the pilot programme and give a small number of our Clubs the opportunity to welcome back up to a 1,000 fans this week."

“By extending across more EFL Clubs we hope to further demonstrate that the measures developed can allow fans to return in greater numbers from as early as next month," he continued.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last week that plans for stadiums to be up to a third full starting Thursday, Oct. 1 would be reviewed.

Wales locks down one of its biggest regions after a spike in Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Samantha Tapfumaneyi

The Welsh government has locked down one of the nation’s biggest regions — barring people from entering or leaving — following a sharp increase in coronavirus cases.

Rhondda Cynon Taf, in the south of Wales, is the second county to be locked down. It has a population of nearly 240,000 people.

In a statement on Wednesday, Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething said:

“We now have evidence of wider community transmission in the borough, which means we need to take urgent action to control and, ultimately, reduce the spread of the virus and protect people’s health.”

The new measures will be imposed on Thursday from 1 p.m. ET. The rules apply to everyone living within the Rhondda Cynon Taf.

The government said people will not be allowed to enter or leave the Rhondda Cynon Taf Council area without a reasonable excuse.

Enforcement of the new restrictions will be undertaken by the local authority and by the police.

holy shit, i can't go another 12 months being locked up in my apartment. i'm never gonna make it.

You CAN and you WILL, r353!

And it looks like Miriam is having ALL the fun.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

200K deaths on the wall. 200k deaths! If one 1K of those deaths Should happen to fall. 199K deaths on the wall

199K deaths on the wall ....

Your little ditty has the math backwards r357.

The Big Ten football conference has reversed course and will now start Fall Football in October.

I think football is going to be a major cluster fuck.

You’ll make it, R353. Just take it one day at a time and be sure to take your vitamin D. And take some walks outside, a lot of people are doing it where I live. Make a routine up and follow it.

This is a good time to start weatherproofing the house, and have repairs done because you’re not going to want anybody in the house this winter. Buy some exercise equipment you can use in the house. I’m getting an exercise bike.

R358. Not so sure. Maybe Chump and his buddies will try to revise the numbers before the election.

CNN: The WHO is warning that a “very serious situation” is unfolding in Europe, as "alarming rates of transmission" of the coronavirus surge across the continent.

More than half of Europe's countries have reported an increase of more than 10% in new cases in the past two weeks. Of those, seven countries have seen newly reported cases increase more than two-fold in the same period.

“Although these numbers reflect more comprehensive testing, it also shows alarming rates of transmission across the region," said WHO Regional Director Hans Kluge today.

Chris Rock blames Democrats for letting COVID-19 ‘pandemic come in’

Chris Rock blamed the Democrats for letting “the pandemic come in” by focusing too much on trying to impeach President Trump, according to a new report.

The comedian, 55, opened up in a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times in which he touched on the current state of politics and discussed his new show “Fargo.”

Rock said it was up to leading Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to keep Trump in check, using the 1987 Academy Award-winning movie “The Last Emperor” to compare Trump to the 5-year-old who takes the throne in China in the flick.

“So I’m like, it’s all the Democrats’ fault. Because you knew that the emperor was 5 years old,” Rock told the New York Times. “And when the emperor’s 5 years old, they only lead in theory. There’s usually an adult who’s like, ‘OK, this is what we’re really going to do.'”

He continued, “And it was totally up to Pelosi and the Democrats. Their thing was, ‘We’re going to get him impeached,’ which was never going to happen. You let the pandemic come in. Yes, we can blame Trump, but he’s really the 5-year-old.”

The funnyman then slammed both parties.

“Put it this way: Republicans tell outright lies. Democrats leave out key pieces of the truth that would lead to a more nuanced argument,” he said. “In a sense, it’s all fake news.”

Rock also shared his thoughts on the job Trump is doing.

“Part of the reason we’re in the predicament we’re in is, the president’s a landlord,” he said. “No one has less compassion for humans than a landlord. And we’re shocked he’s not engaged.”

Meanwhile, Rock called protests happening now around the country against police brutality and racial inequality “the second great civil rights movement,” adding that racism is “real.”

“It’s not going away,” he continued. “I said this before, but Obama becoming the president, it’s progress for white people. It’s not progress for Black people. It’s the Jackie Robinson thing. It’s written like he broke a barrier, as if there weren’t Black people that could play before him. And that’s how white people have learned about racism.

“They think, when these people work hard enough, they’ll be like Jackie. And the real narrative should be that these people, the Black people, are being abused by a group of people that are mentally handicapped. And we’re trying to get them past their mental handicaps to see that all people are equal.”

Former Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher refuses to wear a mask amid pandemic

Former Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher is calling “f–king bulls–t” on the coronavirus pandemic.

The 53-year-old said he refuses to wear a mask inside stores and on public transportation because he feels the rules are infringing on his rights.

“There are too many civil liberties being taken away from us now,” he said, according to the UK’s Sun. “I went to Manchester the other week on the train and the guy was like, ‘Can you put your mask on, because the Transport Police are going to come on and fine you £1,000? But you don’t have to put it on if you’re eating.’

“I was saying, ‘Oh right, this killer virus that’s sweeping through the train is going to attack us but it’s going to see me having a sandwich and go, leave him, he’s having his lunch.”

The “Wonderwall” singer also admitted he chartered a private jet for a vacation last month so he wouldn’t have to wear a mask, as the protective covering is required on all commercial flights.

“There was six of us and we were like, ‘F going to Heathrow and being marched around and being told what to do,'” he said. “So we went by private jet and it was very pleasant.”

In an attempt to be humble, Gallagher played down his private jet charter.

“It’s not something I do often because they are expensive for what they are but the ballache of having to get on a plane in a mask,” he explained. “I was just like, ‘F–k it.'”

Qantas is offering a sightseeing flight around Australia for people who miss flying

From CNN's Chandler Thornton

Australian airline Qantas is offering a seven-hour "scenic joy flight" around Australia for people who miss flying.

"Qantas will operate a special scenic joy flight above the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales in response to strong demand from frequent flyers who miss the experience of flying and just want to take to the skies," a news release from Qantas said Thursday.

Tickets went on sale Thursday and sold out within 10 minutes, a Qantas spokesperson told CNN.

“It’s probably the fastest selling flight in Qantas history," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said. “People clearly miss travel and the experience of flying. If the demand is there, we’ll definitely look at doing more of these scenic flights while we all wait for borders to open.”

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane will fly low-level to popular Australian sites like Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney Harbor.

"No passport or quarantine required," the news release said.

The flight will take off October 10 from Sydney and make its way up the New South Wales coast, cross the Queensland border to fly over the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Sunshine Coast before continuing north to fly over the Whitsundays and Great Barrier Reef. It will then track across the country to Uluru and Kata Tjuta to showcase the iconic red center before returning to Sydney.

"The special scenic flight is designed to fulfil the travel experience that many Australians have been missing throughout the COVID pandemic. Frequent flyers have said they just want to get on a Qantas aircraft and experience the joy of flying again without having to navigate border restrictions or quarantines," the news release said.

For months, Australia has closed borders to almost all foreigners, and any Australian citizens wanting to go overseas need an exit visa to leave the country.

I don't understand why the powers-that-be try to equate wearing masks with no smoking in public places/indoor bars/resto/gyms/planes, bike helmets, or seat belts?

WaPo: Back in April, the US post office drafted plans to send five face coverings to every household in America.

The WH nixed it.

"There was concern from some in the White House Domestic Policy Council and the office of the vice president that households receiving masks might create concern or panic,” one administration official said in response to the scrapped mask plan.

Look, I don't want people to panic!

But you better lock your doors so Antifa doesn't murder you in your sleep!

One of the Gallagher bros being a right cunt?! Imagine!!

Yesterday,+11K cases in Spain and +239 deaths. Today, +11K cases and +162 deaths. Belgium is reporting +1.1K new cases today. Yes, it is happening again despite the masks and precautions. There is a reason why WHO Europe is predicting a lot of deaths in the region in October/November. Covid-19, 2.0! It's going to be a wild ride during these final months of the year

It's the fact that it's Noel in this case r370, and not Liam who's the usual culprit. I'm surprised he took this tack - Noel is usually the practical, sensible Gallagher.

Liam's actually been pictured on Twitter wearing his mask and urging his followers to do same.

Last evening's COVID Film Festival screening: JEZEBEL (1938). Contagion in New Orleans, 1852: quarantine violations! Unmasked vs. the face-covered! Henry Fonda gets sick in a bar with no social distancing or masks! Pozzes shipped to plague island! Mostly Black people die!

R372 I lost the ability to tell them apart sometime in the late 90s.

In other news, I can't wait until these fuckers get the Mussolini treatment.

Chris Rock is an asshole who doesn't understand how government works. He should stick to making shitty movies no one sees.

A pastor who held large congregations and encouraged people not to wear masks is now in the hospital with Covid. His wife and a bunch of parishioners are now sick

Florida looks poised to become the new New York.

33 more White House staffers have tested positive for Covid-19

A two month old baby in Michigan died from the coronavirus

[quote]Florida looks poised to become the new New York.

That may be true but the IHME predictions are basically garbage. They've been wrong over and over again and it's long past time for news organizations, in particular, to stop paying attention to them. They don't have a clue and haven't really learned anything since they began their projections.

You keep saying that, R380, but the projections at R298 aren’t that far off.

R381, the IHME model has been dramatically wrong so many times I've lost count. They keep changing it, often massively, which you shouldn't need to do with an accurate model. They started out wrong and they just haven't gotten much better.

If you want a model, pick one that has been much more accurate, like that at the link.

Or if you want to look at the IHME model, look only 30 days out.

[quote]In 6 IHME model runs between April and August, the average difference between the number of projected deaths and actual deaths 30 days later was only 2.6%. In other words, the model was within 2.6% of the actual number of deaths 30 days later. The forecasts got much worse from there, though, with an average miss of 14% at 60 days, 24% at 90 days, and 36% for the forecasts predicting out 120 days.

Missing so badly beyond the 30-day mark is not the hallmark of an accurate model.

Well, I certainly prefer the model at R383 because it projects a much lower death count than IHME. We’ll see who’s right.

R385, the number of deaths in the U.S. is already below the best case curve of the IHME model, with results *outside the confidence level*, meaning that the IHME model is already proved to be wrong.

R215 It may interest you to know that the Israelis have been sending medical supplies to the Palestinians to help them deal with the pandemic.

I want to buy every person on Mike Bloomberg's ad team a round of drinks.

"His people are going to suffer and that's their problem."

That's Jared Kushner referring to residents of New York in a meeting with Silicon Valley leaders in March.

One attendee explained to Kushner that due to the finite supply of PPE, Americans were bidding against each other and driving prices up. To solve that, businesses eager to help were looking to the federal government for leadership and direction.

“Free markets will solve this,” Kushner said dismissively. “That is not the role of government.” The same attendee explained that although he believed in open markets, he feared that the system was breaking. As evidence, he pointed to a CNN report about New York governor Andrew Cuomo and his desperate call for supplies. “That’s the CNN bullshit,” Kushner snapped. “They lie.”

According to another attendee, Kushner then began to rail against the governor: “Cuomo didn’t pound the phones hard enough to get PPE for his state. His people are going to suffer and that’s their problem.”

Damn, what an awful person he must be. But then, I suppose we all knew that.

Yeah.

You couldn't cast a more perfect villain in looks and demeanor than Jared.

I dunno r392.

What about me?

Jared's effete, effeminate elitism would be perfect for a Bond villain.

R353 You mustn't stay locked indoors; that'll drive you mad for sure. As R361 said, you need to get out for walks, and get fresh air and sunshine. Go to a park and pack yourself a nice little picnic. Find a trail nearby, or some woods. You can do it!

Michigan pandemic death toll is thousands higher than official counts.

MLive: It was six month ago this week that Michigan announced its first death from coronavirus. Since then, the state has tallied 6,632 confirmed deaths from coronavirus and another 320 probable deaths.

But the true death toll of the pandemic appears to be thousands of deaths higher, based on “excess death” numbers calculated by the federal Centers for Disease Control.

According to death certificates filed to date, Michigan had 56,301 deaths between March and August. That’s 9,117 more than the 47,184 expected deaths based on the 2017-19 averages for those months -- a 19% increase in deaths. And that 9,117 number is expected to grow, since not all the death certificates for July and August have been filed yet.

The sheer number of excess deaths this year belies the myth that coronavirus death statistics are “fake,” and doctors have been simply assigning coronavirus as the cause of death for people who actually died of other causes, experts say. That conspiracy theory can’t explain why Michigan deaths suddenly started spiking in late March, and why other states have seen similar spikes following a surge of coronavirus cases.

The numbers also underscore another point: The official death toll of 6,532 confirmed coronavirus deaths -- or 6,952, if probable deaths are included -- may well understate those killed by COVID-19.

At least 21 deaths reported in Illinois for 17 September. 2,088 new cases. Seven day average has been 1,828, a decrease of 2% over last week's average.

271,370 cases, 8,643 deaths

Phase IV reopening still to proceed.

From NYT Interactive for Illinois.

Israel back under lockdown.

A kid was sick with coronavirus. His parents sent him to school anyway

Interesting that most of the infections in Illinois are happening in the Central and Southern parts of the state.

Plan

More good news .....😉 UK was hit very hard and only 6% antibodies! Very confident immunity only lasts 2-3 months.

*sigh* I’m in CA and our dipshit Governor is allowing schools to apply for waivers to reopen. Our county had 80+ cases yesterday and our area is purple.. but somehow schools can open if they apply for waiver ?! Also movie theaters and indoor dining at 25% capacity .. makes no sense

Trump promised at his press conference today that there will be "enough vaccines for every American by April" of 2021.

Reporters in the room had to stifle a laugh, I'm sure.

Jared and his brother are fucking pieces of shit. Their real estate company kicked out rent controlled residents in NYC and turned the apts into market rate apts. Thousands of families were displaced.

They don't give a shit about anyone. Fuck him!

Anecdotal I know but my friend had it in April and he still has plenty of antibodies.

[quote]Interesting that most of the infections in Illinois are happening in the Central and Southern parts of the state.

Central and Southern Illinois might as well be Kentucky.

For those like R402, before spreading doom and gloom, can you go look up T cells. Antibodies are the soldiers. T cells are the generals. The generals are always there, planning for scenarios, ready to react and send the soldiers into battle. When the soldiers aren't called upon to fight in a current battle, they are back at camp awaiting their next assignment. Of course your antibodies diminish over time. The generals are still on keeping an eye on things and will deploy their armies if necessary.

Still like a raging wildfire here in California. Riverside County ( includes Coachella Valley, Palm Springs) just can’t get a handle on it. There’s no lull or control here.

I live in Europe and several of my pets (family to me) are sick. First my cat and then two of my four dogs. Lots of vomit everywhere, weight loss and strange behavior. I don't know what to make of it. Will take them to the vet if the situation continues but I am honestly troubled.

That sounds more like they were poisoned, R408.

Brianna Keilar calls out Fox News guest's Covid-19 misinformation

In France we had 13000 new cases and 150 deaths reported today (about 75 actual deaths, 75 lagging data). End of August we had about 5000 cases a day and 10-20 deaths.

Schools have reopened two weeks ago and it's not going well. The government is insisting that children are not infectious, but they are. In a week, 5000 kids were infected. 89 schools are closed due to covid cases. 10 days ago, "only" 28 schools were closed. But the protocol so that schools can still be open even if there are covid cases among the kids.

This is going to be a disaster. I'm really worried.

*the protocol might be changed so that schools can stay open even if there are covid cases

[quote] The government is insisting that children are not infectious

Nice to know that the French government also just pulls "facts" out of its ass.

For the first time since the war, there will be no Oktoberfest in Munich.

Nonetheless, people will be celebrating - and fears of ill-advised parties to replace the festival are mounting.

story at link

Does anybody seriously think we need thread #51 ?

These threads are starting to read like a school newspaper.

Yeah, but this thread series and the "Shopping for Groceries is Like Hell Right Now" series have become a staple in my daily life over the last several months. I think I simultaneously hate them but feel attached to them in some strange way and if would be weird if they were gone.

R415, what agenda do you have that you would 1) give a shit about a thread on DL or 2) seem to think that the virus is no longer something worthy of discussion? Hm, that's hard to figure out.

Call me, r416.

I can help.

I already had R415 blocked. No great loss, obviously.

😍 Still sporting that massive hard on, r419 ?

[quote]Still sporting that massive hard on

Pics please.

Coronavirus can spread on airline flights, two studies show

By CNN's Maggie Fox

The young woman and her sister had traveled across Europe just as the coronavirus pandemic was taking off there, visiting Milan and Paris before heading to London.

When the woman left London on March 1, she had a sore throat and cough as she boarded a flight home to Vietnam. But no one noticed.

By the time she got off the flight in Hanoi 10 hours later, 15 other people who had been on the plane with her were infected, researchers reported Friday.

This story is one of two published Friday demonstrating how coronavirus can spread on airline flights, and suggesting that simply spacing people out a little will not fully protect them.

In another incident, passengers on a flight from Boston to Hong Kong appear to have infected two flight attendants.

Both cases involved long flights early in the pandemic, before airlines began requiring face masks.

Read more here:

Read more...

Why the fuck are governments lying to the people about schools??

Funny how it’s all hunky dory in China while the rest of the world suffers..

“ “A senior Trump administration official in May disclosed that China is working in secret on biological weapons, including arms capable of targeting specific ethnic groups with pathogens.

“We are looking at potential biological experiments on ethnic minorities,” the official said.

Chinese military publications since 2017 have described biology as a new domain of warfare, and one report warned that a future war could involve “ethnic genetic attacks.”

Who in their right mind would trust "A senior Trump administration official"?

Why is CNN publishing stories like the one at R422? We KNOW Covid can spread on an airplane. That incident was from March 1, before anyone was really taking Covid as a serious threat or taking any precautions against it and before there were any lockdowns put into place. Surely there's more happening in the world, even in the world of Covid, that's more current than something that happened March 1.

According to a friend who works at Westminster the UK will very likely have a four week lockdown by the middle of next month.

R415 is the Corona Poll Troll.

I thought you guys worshipped him, THANKING him for copying-and-pasting from another website?

I told you MONTHS AGO he was a Trumper Troll. Look at his Ignore-dar.

Told you.

So, I totally did that r429. Nary a Trumper post in the lot.

I would worry about you, but you seem to manage that just fine all by yourself.

Never worshipped him. Always went to worldometer on my own. Didn't need him.

But I certainly never wasted time hating him.

If you haven't been in the threads where he is pro-Trump, you won't see his posts in your Ignore-dar.

At R415, he is calling for the end of your precious series of threads, even though he is "one of you."

What will ElderLez do when she realizes the Poll Troll is a disgusting fake?

R427 - I have notice that there are some COVID doomsayers as of late that are posting articles that are back in the early days of the pandemic before anyone knew anything and trying to pass them off as current.

As well as the Corona Poll Troll advocating shutting down this series of threads where he is so important and vital and needed.

France uncovers mutant, fast-moving COVID-19 strains

Mutant strains of COVID-19 that are more contagious, but less serious, have turned up in France, possibly explaining why Europe is reporting a spike in confirmed cases.

The chief of a leading French research hospital revealed the discovery to French lawmakers last week, the Sunday Times of London reported.

Microbiologist Didier Raoult, who heads IHU Méditerranée Infection in Marseilles, told senators that the hospital’s infectious disease experts found seven coronavirus mutations during an analysis of COVID-19 tests over the summer.

One strain, Raoult theorized, was brought in by people coming from North Africa after France lifted its lockdown in June. The mutation has now disappeared, though others have popped up, the outlet reported.

“They are less severe, so something is happening with this virus, which makes it different,” Raoult testified. “The mutations we have are a rather degraded version of the initial form. At least that is our impression.”

Several scientists are disputing Raoult’s claim because of his endorsement of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 cure after President Trump touted the anti-malaria drug. He has been roundly criticized for insisting that his small trial of hydroxychloroquine proved its effectiveness.

Still, Raoult’s team sorted out the strains from mountains of mass testing that the research hospital put in place after France confirmed the first cases of the virus in February.

In the past few weeks, France has seen COVID-19 intensive care admissions and deaths grow. To try to curb the numbers, the cities of Nice, Marseille and Bordeaux have imposed new restrictions on bar hours and the size of gatherings.

NBC News: The United States has surpassed 200,000 coronavirus deaths.

Florida bar owner bans masks, will eject patrons who wear face coverings

The owner of a bar in Florida has outright banned any patrons from wearing masks or face coverings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, saying he doesn’t “agree” with the idea.

Gary Kirby, the owner of Westside Sports Bar and Lounge in West Melbourne, told Fox News that he’s been getting death threats for prohibiting masks at his establishment but claimed that the people in his town have “for the most part been in 100% support” of his decision.

“I personally don’t agree with it. So that’s why I made the decision to… I don’t want them here,” added Kirby in a previous an interview with Fox 35 Orlando.

Kirby reportedly began banning patrons with masks as of Sept. 11, claiming that the CDC-recommended safety precaution is “hindering our lifestyle as we know it.” In a statement to Fox News, he added that he doesn’t agree with mask mandates because face coverings make it harder for his bartenders to identify if a patron has been overserved.

Kirby, however, claims he has another reason he’s wary of face coverings: He alleges that his bar was burglarized after hours on Aug. 9 by a man in a surgical mask. When asked whether he believed the suspect would have just shown his face prior to the pandemic, Kirby claimed that police told him that “criminals would be capitalizing on the mask mandate all over using it to their advantage to get away with crimes.”

He also admitted to Fox News that the police suspected the burglary was an “inside job.”

A spokesperson for the West Melbourne Police Department told Fox News on Friday morning that a police report was filed following the alleged burglary. Police also said that Kirby has been “uncooperative” with any attempts to investigate the burglary further and has refused to meet with detectives.

The bar’s new ban on masks has received mixed reviews on social media, with people as far away as Texas and California writing bad online reviews for the business, Kirby says. However, he told Fox News he also has “hundreds” of messages of support from fans on Facebook.

“I’m getting messages on my Facebook saying, ‘Hey, football, we’re coming there to watch the game,’” he told Fox 35.

But even with Kirby’s mask ban in place, customers won’t be able to walk into the bar without any type of screening at all. According to Kirby, a doorman greets guests out front and takes patrons’ temperatures before they can enter.

Once inside, any patron who dons a mask will be asked to remove it, WESH 2 reported. If they refuse to comply, they will be thrown out.

West Melbourne, which is located in Brevard County, does not mandate that businesses require patrons to wear masks before entering. Instead, county commissioners decided in July that businesses must clearly state their own mask policies — and whether they require them — at entrances.

“We simply encourage residents to follow CDC recommendations — which is to wear a mask. Period,” said Don Walker, the communications director for Brevard County, in a statement shared with Fox News. “There is no enforcement, etc., on mask wearing.”

Chris Hayes:

More or less everyone in the GOP understood that Trump was completely unfit for the presidency and would represent a possibly mortal peril to the nation if elected. They said as much! Over and over and over.

But for the entire institutional GOP, the electeds, the donors, the lobbyists, staffers and the like, the danger was worth it for three reasons:

1) Holding power is itself an end

2) Judges

3) Tax cuts/deregulation

Trump delivered on all this, and so the bargain worked.

But of course, the worst-case-scenario also came about: a epochal crisis he could not and would not solve. Instead, he has sabotaged efforts to manage the crisis at every turn. It continues as I type this.

Because of Trump's failures (failures that stem from obvious character flaws plainly visible to all back in 2015) we've lost *at least* 100,000 Americans who did not have to die. That's a very conservative estimate. It's almost certainly considerably more than that.

But the awful truth everyone has to recognize right now is that for the institutional GOP, everyone who made their peace with the bargain, *****the bargain has still been worth it.*****

They traded the health & safety & lives of Americans for this. That is the price we've paid for this bargain.

The horrifying truth is: I don't really think there are many regrets on the GOP side.

And I fear that were it to take a hundred thousand more, that'd be worth it too.

R434 Raoult is a quack and a lying, manipulative piece of shit with a God complex. He's still touting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for covid. His studies are a national embarrassment. Please do not quote him here.

😘 Yesiree, I AM, R429, and damn proud of it !

🤔You keep harping on the fact that you blocked me long ago, yet your still DL's #1 stalker.

😍 And you're still sporting that massive hard on for me. I know you on any and every thread because of your tone.

🤥 You lie like a whore, and you have no facts to back up your repetitive idiocy. Same lies, different day.

😴 Whatever a Sylvia Fowler and ElderLez are they don't run this Lounge. Neither do you, little no-balls. You're a legend in your own mind.

😱 BTW, your caftan's on fire.

✋ We're all done here. Finito.

R439

R439, you've done it. You've created the most annoying post I've ever seen on DL. That's a real fucking accomplisment considering the competition.

[quote] Does anybody seriously think we need thread #51 ?

R415 I suppose it's okay to still have a main thread to talk about things, but I don't think "Freakout" really describes things any longer.

Give it another month or two - there'll be plenty of reasons to Freakout again (no, I don't mean the election). The COVID fat lady isn't close to singing her final aria just yet.

I now officially know someone who has tested positive for Covid.

R443 She's only just begun.......

The one sibling I have (I have many, many siblings) who had it in the Spring is sick again. He tested positive for antibodies three months ago so probably a long hauler recurrence. He never 100% recovered fr all symptoms. But possibly reinfection. Or maybe he just has a cold.

R446 Very sorry to hear that.

I wish people would start to realise that we really have little idea with what we are dealing with. Possible long term effects for some people and very probable reinfection. Too many unknowns that may not reveal themselves for a considerable time to come.

R442 I agree, but the title continuity helps people find and follow the new threads.

Coronavirus Masterthread?

Coronavirus Conglomerate?

😷 #CoronaCentral . . . . . . .

[italic] Your Go-To Source for All Things Corona

I was expecting white lace and promises, r445.

You'll only get black crepe and broken promises from me.

New Zealand reported three new cases this morning, all family members of a man who returned from overseas and went through 14 days quarantine but never produced a positive Covid-19 result.

Two theories:

1. The man caught COVID-19 overseas or on his international flight, and had an above-normal incubation period, developing symptoms after three weeks.

2. He was infected on his flight from Canterbury to Auckland after completing his isolation. Contact tracers are reaching out to all passengers on that Air New Zealand flight.

Just another reminder that ain't nobody know nothin' 'bout the 'rona!

Be best, Fort Mason!

To the poster upthread that talked about the UK going in lockdown again soon, the word is that they're trying to coincide the lockdown with when schools would normally be out.

CNN: The CDC updated its guidelines today, acknowledging that the main way in which COVID-10 spreads is through aerosols:

"aerosols [...] produced when an infected person [...] sings, talks, or breathes can be inhaled and cause infection.

**This is thought to be the main way the virus spreads**

The difference between spread by droplets and airborne particles:

[italic]This will sound familiar to anyone who's observed Trump's appointments.[/italic]

The meritocracy has had its day. How else to explain the rise of Dido Harding?

. . .

Harding could not see a foreseeable crisis because she has no qualifications for running a public health service in a national emergency. She’s in post because she is a Tory peer and supporter of the governing regime. Far from firing her, ministers have promoted Harding to head their new National Institute for Health Protection. She didn’t apply for the post, she admitted to parliament. The institute is not a meritocracy, whose jobs are filled in open competition. Harding was a political appointee to a role you might think demands specialist knowledge.

. . .

A defining feature of the authoritarian governments that are stamping down on peoples around the world is that they reward their supporters with jobs in public service that were once reserved for men and women who knew what they were doing. There’s more than calculated payoffs involved, I believe. Strongmen are weak men who want to be surrounded by sycophants who will not make them uncomfortable with hard truths.

more at link

An interesting take.

Apparently Boris Johnson is going to set out new national restrictions for the UK tomorrow. It's starting to feel as though we've gone back to March. Being an introvert, I didn't find lockdown particularly difficult on a personal level, but I'm frightened about the impact on the economy.

Bill Gates: "The end of the epidemic, best case, is probably 2022"

From CNN's Andrea Diaz

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said that even though he expects vaccine approvals to come by early next year, and see the US begin to return to normal by summer 2021, he believes we will not see the end of the pandemic until 2022.

"The end of the epidemic, best case, is probably 2022. But during 2021, the numbers, we should be able to drive them down, if we take the global approach, " Gates said on Fox News Sunday. "So, you know, thank goodness vaccine technology was there, that the funding came up, that the companies put their best people on it. That’s why I’m optimistic this won’t last indefinitely."

Gates also expressed his frustration with how the US has handled its approach to the pandemic.

"Unfortunately, we did a very poor job, and you could of see that in the numbers if you compare the Asian countries like South Korea and Australia," Gates said.

Additionally, Gates noted the way testing was handled at the beginning of the pandemic, and the way is still being handled today, played a big role in the spread of the virus in the US.

"You know what happened was that 40,000 people came out of China, because we didn't ban the residents and citizens from coming in. We created this rush. And we didn't have the ability to test or quarantine those people, so that seeded the disease here," Gates said. "Even today, people don't get their results in 24 hours, which is outrageous that we still have that."

Remember: the "Spanish" Influenza pandemic persisted in 1918, 1919, and 1920 before it flared out.

Gates is probably correct.

Dr. Campbell's take on the UK situation.

Syracuse doctor, 28, dies after COVID-19 battle, family says

A 28-year-old doctor from Syracuse has died after battling a serious bout of COVID-19 for more than two months, according to her family.

Dr. Adeline Fagan, who was completing her second year of residency as an OB-GYN in Houston, had become infected in July while doing a rotation treating coronavirus patients in the emergency room, Syracuse.com reported.

“That morning, she went into work feeling well and excited to see patients, but by the evening she began to feel under the weather,” her family wrote on a GoFundMe page. “What started as intense flu-like symptoms escalated within the week to a hospital stay.”

When her condition didn’t improve, she began an experimental drug and then was placed on a life-support device called an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, or ECMO.

“Before we could see if this new drug was effective, her lungs could no longer support her,” her family wrote.

Fagan spent the last several weeks on a ventilator in the intensive care unit, where she was doing well before the family received the news over the weekend that she was suffering from a “massive brain bleed” and required emergency surgery.

“The doctor said they have seen this type of event in COVID patients that spend time on ECMO,” they added.

Her family was told that she had a “1 in a million” chance of making it through the procedure and that even if she survived, she would have several severe cognitive and sensory problems.

The CDC has now removed the guidance it posted on Friday about airborne transmission (see R455). It says the update "was posted in error" from a draft document.

What a shit show,.

That's so sad R463, our frontline healtcare workers are dropping like flies.

[quote]The CDC has now removed the guidance it posted on Friday about airborne transmission (see [R455]). It says the update "was posted in error" from a draft document.

Such fucking liars. One of the Trumptards put out a directive to hide the truth yet again. Of course this shit is airborne.

[quote]our frontline healtcare workers are dropping like flies.

That's what Trump calls a "fantastic job."

R467, then I wish the entire Repug party was doing a "fantastic job". I wish I believed in karma but these motherfuckers never get what's coming to them.

Today is two weeks since Labor Day; will be interesting to see if cases spike.

NYT: At least 73 countries are seeing surges in newly detected cases, and in regions where cold weather is approaching, worries are mounting.

The coronavirus death toll in the United States is now roughly equal to the population of Akron, Ohio, or nearly two and a half times the number of U.S. service members who died in battle in the Vietnam and Korean Wars combined, and about 800 people are still dying daily.

“There are many countries we might consider our economic peers, or that are far less developed in terms of economy or health care systems, that are having far less mortality,” said Dr. Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

😷[italic] Nobody knows nothin 'bout The Corona

CNN: Bob Woodward drops new audiotape in which Trump gives himself an A grade for his handling of the pandemic. At time (July), 142,000 had died. Woodward calls it “saddest” taped statement by a president, including Nixon.

He's such an egomaniac that he makes Nixon look like a shy wallflower with low self-esteem

CNN's Jeremy Diamond:

Ohio's Republican Lt. Gov. Husted tried to encourage Trump supporters to wear masks. Here's how it went:

"I'm trying to make masks in America great again and I've got President Trump's masks," Husted said as he whipped out Trump-branded masks.

He was immediately & loudly booed.

Even as he showed off several Trump 2020 branded masks, Husted was repeatedly booed by the mostly maskless crowd that is tightly packed into an airplane hangar in Vandalia, OH

"I know we all don't like wearin' em," he said as he face more boos. "Hang on now, hang on. I get it."

Wow, that sucks. Even when Republicans try to do the right thing they get slapped down by "the base"

[quote]😷 Nobody knows nothin 'bout The Corona

Just stop. You're like the idiot kid who tells the same joke 20 times in a row because someone laughed once.

Meanwhile everyone else just ignores it r476.

Now we know to ignore your idiotic ass too.

R476 - I was going to say the same thing. I hate everything about that phrase and the constant repetition. It's so annoying.

An NIH employee has reportedly been using a pseudonym to bash Fauci on a conservative website

It turns out the prolific managing editor for the conservative website RedState, who has spent months bashing Dr. Anthony Fauci for his role in the U.S.'s coronavirus response, actually works for the same federal agency as the target of his criticism, The Daily Beast reports.

The Daily Beast discovered the writer, who uses the pseudonym "streiff" for his posts, is William Crews, a public affairs specialist for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, the same National Institutes of Health branch that is headed by Fauci. On RedState, Crews has described the pandemic as a "massive fraud" and baselessly accused his colleagues at the NIAID of contributing to a left-wing conspiracy to undermine President Trump and destroy the U.S. economy.

When it comes to Fauci, Crews has grown increasingly aggressive in his criticism. Back in March in the early days of the pandemic, one post actually heaped praise on Fauci, calling him one of "the most respected experts on infectious diseases in the world," but Crews eventually went on to refer to Fauci as a "mask Nazi" who failed Trump "at every turn."

Through his posts insisting virus mitigation efforts have no basis in science, Crews has reportedly been contributing to the coronavirus disinformation campaign about which his superiors at NIAID have expressed concern. After the Daily Beast informed NIAID of some of Crews' posts, the agency said he would "retire" from his position, but did not elaborate further on the situation. Read more at The Daily Beast.

The truth will out

R477, I ignored it the first 499 times.

Months before Bob Woodward’s book “Rage” documented President Trump’s efforts to deceive Americans about the peril posed by covid-19, Robert F. Kennedy’s twenty-six-year-old grandson tried to blow the whistle on the President’s malfeasance from an improbable perch—inside Trump’s coronavirus task force.

In April, Max Kennedy, Jr., despite having signed a nondisclosure agreement, sent an anonymous complaint to Congress detailing dangerous incompetence in the Administration’s response to the pandemic. On the phone recently from Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, Kennedy explained why he’d alerted Congress. “I just couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I was so distressed and disturbed by what I’d seen.”

“If you see something that might be illegal, and cause thousands of civilian lives to be lost, a person has to speak out.” The Administration’s coronavirus response, he said, “was like a family office meets organized crime, melded with ‘Lord of the Flies.’ It was a government of chaos.”

WaPo: Pentagon used taxpayer money meant for masks and swabs to make jet engine parts and body armor.

A $1 billion fund Congress gave the Pentagon in March to build up the country’s supplies of medical equipment has instead been mostly funneled to defense contractors and used to patch up long-standing perceived gaps in military supplies.

Some defense contractors were given the Pentagon money even though they had already dipped into another pot of bailout funds, the Paycheck Protection Program.

R483 I hate these motherfuckers so much. And I hope that finally pokes holes in the "The military will save us! They secretly hate Trump!" narrative that optimists love to push.

Daily Beast: Trump and co have hyped the vaccine, saying it is coming "very soon". But Fauci says no one in the USG has seen the data.

He says there's some distrust around the vaccine because of all of the "mixed signals" from from fed gov.

Trump spoke about the virus at his Swanton, Ohio rally yesterday:

[quote]“It affects elderly people, elderly people with heart problems and other problems. That’s what it really affects."

[quote]"But it affects virtually nobody. It’s an amazing thing."

28-year-old Houston doctor Adeline Fagan died of COVID-19 this past Saturday, after a months-long hospital stay. She first fell ill on July 8.

Fauci responds to Trump's idiocy:

“It isn’t just the elderly and those with underlying conditions,” Fauci told CNN's Sanjay Gupta this morning. “Because it can be serious in young people.”

“And if you look at the two groups that are at risk for serious conditions, it’s the elderly and people at any age with underlying conditions,” he said. “Underlining any age.”

“So, don’t just think the elderly are the problem,” he said. “True, people with underlying conditions, but those are not just isolated to the elderly. There are plenty of younger people who have underlying conditions that put them at risk.”

No one associated with Trump seems to have the balls to remind him that he is one of the "elderly."

But he's also not human, which explains why he's never gotten Corona, and probably never will.

NYT reporter Maggie Astor on being sick with covid for six months:

[quote]It affects elderly people, elderly people with heart problems and other problems. That’s what it really affects.

In other words, the very people cheering him on as he said it. He wasn’t lying when he said he could shoot one of them in the middle of Fifth Avenue.

Microsoft has patented a cryptocurrency mining system that leverages human activities, including brain waves and body heat, when performing online tasks such as using search engines, chatbots, and reading ads. “A user can solve the computationally difficult problem unconsciously,” the patent reads.

Also read: 2x Bitcoin — Wanna Double Your BTC to the Moon? Forget About It

Crypto System Leveraging Body Activity Data Microsoft Technology Licensing, the licensing arm of Microsoft Corp., has been granted an international patent for a “cryptocurrency system using body activity data.” The patent was published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on March 26. The application was filed on June 20 last year. “Human body activity associated with a task provided to a user may be used in a mining process of a cryptocurrency system,” the patent reads, adding as an example:

A brain wave or body heat emitted from the user when the user performs the task provided by an information or service provider, such as viewing advertisement or using certain internet services, can be used in the mining process

McHugh et al. developed dissolvable microneedles that deliver patterns of near-infrared light-emitting microparticles to the skin. Particle patterns are invisible to the eye but can be imaged using modified smartphones. By codelivering a vaccine, the pattern of particles in the skin could serve as an on-person vaccination record. Patterns were detected 9 months after intradermal delivery of microparticles in rats, and codelivery of inactivated poliovirus led to protective antibody production. Discrete microneedle-delivered microparticle patterns in porcine and pigmented human skin were identifiable using semiautomated machine learning. These results demonstrate proof of concept for intradermal on-person vaccination recordkeeping.

“ The work was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and came about because of a direct request from Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates himself, who has been supporting efforts to wipe out diseases such as polio and measles across the world, Jaklenec says. “If we don’t have good data, it’s really difficult to eradicate disease,” she says

^^^^

Was really trying to understand the pushback against Bill Gates. I thought he was just a computer man with loads of money who cares about public health. That said when we look into him he’s not the altruistic person I thought. from his creepy bitcoin body mining patent and funding a bioluminescent vaccine tattoo, to numerous cases of vaccine injury to children in the developing world. Very strange robot times ahead.

[quote]Was really trying to understand the pushback against Bill Gates.

Of course you were!

Door-to-door trick-or-treating, indoor haunted houses, costume parties and "trunk or treating," where children go from car to car to receive treats, are among the traditional Halloween activities the CDC has deemed "higher risk activities" that should be avoided this year.

Because COVID-19 is spread through particles in the air, the CDC has issued a special warning for another staple of Halloween festivities: Screaming.

"If screaming will likely occur, greater [social] distancing is advised,” the CDC advises. “The greater the distance, the lower the risk of spreading a respiratory virus."

A bunch of fucking morons in my neighborhood are asking where their kids can go to trick or treat because “this is another thing that’s being taken away.” Fucking idiots! They refuse to understand it’s not politicians doing this, it’s a fucking disease that doesn’t give a shit about them or their kids. If their kids get Covid, they will too, and while the kids may come through it okay, they’re the ones that could be crippled and unable to work or support their kids. Assuming they live. What kind of assholes deliberately put their ability to raise their kids in jeopardy, for no reason?

If they drop dead, little Johnny will be in therapy at age fifty because he’s the one that killed his parents, so he could wear a costume and go trick or treating. Little kids are not responsible for their parents being morons, but if your parents died because you brought a disease home, that might get lost in translation.

Do these people think this year is the end of the world and if they don’t go now, they can never go again? They are literally too stupid to live.

For what it's worth, though, I don't see the danger in trick or treating. It's outdoors, if they're doing it correctly the kids would be wearing masks anyway, and they just interact with people long enough to grab candy and leave.

What am I missing? It sounds safer than going to Costco.

The kids all crowd around the doorstep.

Half the people giving out candy are Deplorables which means they refuse to wear masks. Each one of them may be breathing on dozens of kids. And vice versa. They don’t wear masks anywhere else either because they think masks are evil.

Half the kids’ parents are Deplorables and they will deliberately make sure their kids don’t wear masks because they want to pass the virus.

Some of these freakish Deplorables may refuse to give candy to kids that wear masks. Deplorable businesses already refuse to serve customers that wear masks. There’s a business I used to follow on Instagram that refuses to allow anyone inside that wears a mask. What do you think little kids are going to do if they want candy and can’t get it unless they take their masks off?

These people are sociopaths. They don’t care about kids, they don’t care about anything but the virus is a “hoax” and they intend to prove it by going everywhere without masks and insisting everyone around them is maskless too. Don’t believe me, go on Reddit and look at their posts about weddings. Post after post from people whose relatives are high pressuring them to go to weddings without masks. As in, do it or you’re cut off from the family. These people are like zombies. Nothing reaches them.

I'm waiting for the evangelical deplorables who usually condemn Halloween to start endorsing it.

Ralph Baric: We can engineer a virus without leaving any trace. In 2015 with Zheng-li Shi of Wuhan we left a signature in Chimera, otherwise is impossible to distinguish from a natural virus. The answers are in disappeared archives of the Wuhan laboratory.

CNN: Dr. Deborah Birx has confided to aides and friends that she has become so unhappy with what she sees as her diminished role as coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force that she is not certain how much longer she can serve in her position.

Birx has told people around her that she is "distressed" with the direction of the task force, describing the situation inside the nation's response to the coronavirus as nightmarish.

Birx views Dr. Scott Atlas, a recent addition to the task force, as an unhealthy influence on President Donald Trump's thinking when it comes to the virus.

"The President has found somebody who matches what he wants to believe," a source close to Birx said of her view of Atlas's relationship with Trump. "There is no doubt that she feels that her role has been diminished."

Please explain to me how it would make any fucking difference if COVID 19 was engineered in a lab as opposed to evolving in nature.

Metropolitan Opera cancels 2020-2021 season due to Covid-19 concerns

From CNN’s Javi Morgado

The Metropolitan Opera announced they have canceled the entire 2020-21 season due to the “ongoing health crisis,” according to a news release issued Wednesday.

The 2021-22 season will open with the premier of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. Blanchard’s opera is the first by an African American composer to be performed at the Met.

According to the release the Met’s decision to cancel the season was based on the advice of health officials.

The release said “because of the many hundreds of performers who are required to rehearse and perform in close quarters and because of the company’s large audience, it was determined that it would not be safe for the Met to resume until a vaccine is widely in use, herd immunity is established, and the wearing of masks and social distancing is no longer a medical requirement. Health officials have said this will likely take at least five to six months after a vaccine is initially made available.”

More like a couple of years. When the vaccine first comes out, a lot of people will be afraid to take it because of Trump’s constant pushing of meds that have never been tested, or meds that have been found to be harmful.

Remember Hitler’s scorched earth theory: these people don’t deserve to live because they don’t support me.

There's a COVID-19 Task Force??!! You'd never know it! No one even mentions it anymore.

🧟 I average 80-90 trick or treaters every year.

There is no way I'm exposing myself to that many kids because they can't give up their candy for a year. It's up to their parents to find an alternative solution.

Why doesn’t Dr Birx put on her big girl panties and give a press conference and lay it all out. Burn that bridge with a bang.

It matters for so many reasons ! Treatments, taking it seriously, trust in what we are dealing with! So much of the early response was based on false information from China. I can’t believe you are not concerned with the origins of sars-Cov2

“ Some will say: why does knowing the origin matter? It matters for several reasons. First of all, it will help us plan for the future. If this indeed was a virus that arose from close contact with wildlife and humans, this contact in the future will have to be managed. Secondly, if in the unlikely event this was perhaps escape from a lab, then lab procedures will have to be evaluated, and lab experiments with infectious possibly pandemic viruses will have to be additionally regulated. Finally, if this again was an unlikely escape from a lab, then knowing the exact type of virus we are dealing with would help us manage the current pandemic”

[quote]Why doesn’t Dr Birx put on her big girl panties

Pics please.

Fauci fires back at Sen. Paul: You're not listening to the CDC director

Doctor at "maskless" Florida clinic dies

Thoughts and prayers!

The (Repug) Governor of Missouri tested positive

So did his wife

He was visiting a grandparent's nursing home last week and just heard positive cases went from zero to 16

R501: It matters because if it was manmade there should be sanctions against China. Stop importing their manufactured shit. Let the US ramp up manufacturing. I would gladly pay more for something made here.

Maybe we could....I don't know, r513.....WAIT on those retaliations for a bit? No, no, you're right. Let's throw all of that on our already over-flowing plate....RIGHT NOW!!!

R513, maybe you would pay more, but most people wouldn't

They all wear MAGA hats that were made in China

Thoughts and prayers to Indiana residents.

Gov. Eric Holcomb on Wednesday announced the state will move to the final phase, Stage 5, Saturday, as the statewide mask order remains in place indefinitely.

Restaurants, bars, fitness centers and stores will now be able to operate at full capacity, but people will be expected to maintain social distance in these places and keep their masks on except while eating or drinking.

Improvements in the state's positivity rate over recent months helped drive the decision to further open the state, Holcomb said. In July, the seven-day positivity rate for all tests was 6 to 6.5%, he said. Today, it's around 4%.

Experts say a positivity rate under 3% is needed to stem community spread.

[quote]people will be expected to maintain social distance in these places and keep their masks on except while eating or drinking.

Yeah, I'm sure they'll get right on that.

r510 He named his clinic "Eau Gallie"? Oh, Golly that's fancy!

[quote]Amazon city of Manaus may have reached 'herd immunity': study . . .

[quote]"Community immunity via natural infection is not a strategy, it's a sign that a government failed to control an outbreak and is paying for that in lives lost," tweeted Florian Krammer, professor of microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

story at link

Way to go UK!

As coronavirus cases began to surge in France, Spain and the U.K. this month, there were question marks over why Italy — the epicenter of Europe’s first outbreak in spring — and Germany, Europe’s largest economy, weren’t seeing similar increases.

But looking at the most recent data, it appears Italy and Germany won’t be able to avoid a second wave of the pandemic after all.

R517, you know the "dude bros" will be chest-bumping when someone does more reps than the other at the gym. And how the hell can you wear a mask while in a spinning class?? It's hard enough to breathe WITHOUT one. There will be a lot of huffing and puffing and spreading of COVID-19.

Classy r5518

🗣️ [italic] .......And you'll huff, and you'll puff, and I'll shut this place down !

The number of coronavirus cases in The Netherlands hit a daily record of 2,544 on Thursday.

Poland was hit by a record daily rise in coronavirus cases on Thursday, reporting the biggest daily numbers since the start of the pandemic in March.

The French health ministry reported Thursday that the number of people in intensive care due to the coronavirus jumped over 1,000 for the first time since June 8.

Iran this week is recording the highest number of new daily coronavirus infections since the virus was first identified in the country in late February.

So many countries just don't seem to have any idea how to deal with this. Outside of some Asian countries as well as Australia & New Zealand most of the rest of the world seem to think they can talk the fucking thing away.

Sure South Korea had it take off in Seoul but quickly got it under control and Melbourne in Australia started flying up and they too are now down with very small numbers though lockdown is still to remain for at least another month.

Naturally you can't and frankly I don't know what they can do to get rid of it because it is so widespread across Europe, North, South & Central America, the Middle East, North & South African countries as well as poorer Asian countries like India, Pakistan, the Philippines & Indonesia. Honestly, I don't know what the answer is. I wish I knew but I don't. And the possible long term health implications for some people could prove devastating in years to come (heart disease, lung disease, kidney failure, the onset of Parkinson Disease on a mass scale).

‘West Side Story,’ ‘Black Widow,’ more films stalled by COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic keeps pummeling the already-hobbled film industry, with Disney now postponing numerous big box-office premieres to 2021.

Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” reboot has been pushed back a full year by the company — to Dec. 10, 2021, from Dec. 18, 2020 — and Marvel’s highly anticipated “Black Widow,” starring Scarlett Johansson and previously postponed to Nov. 6, won’t spring into action until May 7 of next year, according to Variety. Other Marvel superhero flicks are later still: The debut of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” starring Simu Liu, is being pushed two months, to July 9, 2021, while “Eternals,” featuring the newly buff Kumail Nanjiani, will be released Nov. 5, 2021, nine months after its original premiere date.

“Marvel made the right & responsible decision. There’s a pandemic. Nothing is more important than health & lives,” Nanjiani wrote in a Twitter post on Wednesday afternoon. “I can’t tell ppl to go to a movie theater until I feel safe going to one. Take care of yourselves. I promise it’ll be worth the wait!”

The hold put on “West Side Story” has another effect: It will no longer be in contention for the 2021 Oscars race.

In addition, Kenneth Branagh’s “Death on the Nile” — a 20th Century Studios sequel to 2017’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” both based on Agatha Christie mysteries — has been pushed to Dec. 18 from its Oct. 23 spot. However, kiddie filmgoers won’t have to wait any longer for Pixar’s heart-stirring animated movie “Soul” — featuring Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Questlove, Daveed Diggs, Angela Bassett and Phylicia Rashad — which retained its Nov. 20 premiere.

COVID-19 has substantially disrupted film production — as well as TV and Broadway schedules — alongside most movie theaters remaining closed and projects like Disney’s live-action “Mulan” getting pushed to streaming (for a price). The coronavirus has forced other high-profile schedule changes, too, including the Gal Gadot-starring “Wonder Woman 1984” (moved by Warner Bros. to Christmas Day from Oct. 2) and the Universal horror remake “Candyman,” which has been booted from its Oct. 16 release to an unspecified date in 2021.

The new moves indicate some soul-searching taking place by the film industry in the wake of Christopher Nolan’s big-budget ($200 million) film “Tenet,” which nabbed less than $30 million in US ticket sales since its Sept. 3 premiere.

Here is where 2020 movie premiere dates currently stand.

October 9

The War With Grandpa (101 Studios) October 16

2 Hearts (Freestyle)

Honest Thief (Open Road) October 23

The Empty Man (20th Century Studios) October 30

Fatale (Lionsgate)

Come Play (Focus/Amblin) November 6

Let Him Go (Focus) November 13

Freaky (Universal/Blumhouse)

The Comeback Trail (Cloudburst) November 20

No Time to Die (MGM)

Soul (Disney) November 25

Voyagers (Lionsgate)

Happiest Season (Sony/Tri-Star)

The Croods: A New Age (Universal/Dreamworks Animation) December 11

Free Guy (20th/Disney) December 18

Death on the Nile (20th Century Fox)

Coming 2 America (Paramount)

Dune (Warner Bros./Legendary) December 25

Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros.)

News of the World (Universal) December 30

Escape Room 2 (Sony/Screen Gems)

There is also the issue of conflicts of interest. Although Daszak declared in The Lancet that he has “no competing interests” on Covid-19, and likewise told the Washington Post he has “no conflicts of interest”, Alina Chan, a molecular biologist at the Broad Institute, points out that he is a “long-time friend, collaborator and funder of the Shi lab” – the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) lab led by Shi Zhengli that is most often identified as the probable source of any lab leak.

In fact, Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance has helped finance both the WIV’s bat coronavirus surveillance and its bat coronavirus gain-of-function research (research aimed at making a virus more infective), with the help of multi-million dollar grants from the US government. This, of course, means Daszak’s own activities are material to the subject he is investigating: the origins of a bat-derived coronavirus pandemic that broke out in the very city to which he helped lab workers bring bat coronaviruses for storage, analysis and experimentation.

As Richard Ebright has noted, “For persons who were directly involved in funding, promoting, and/or performing bat coronavirus research and bat coronavirus gain-of-function research at WIV, avoiding a possible finding of culpability for triggering a pandemic is a powerful motivator.” And Daszak would be at the very top of the list of those involved in funding, promoting and collaborating in that research.

More broadly, as Ebright also notes, Daszak's EcoHealth Alliance has received over $100 million in funding from US government agencies for a variety of virus surveillance and virus gain of function work – the kind of work that could be brought into serious question if Daszak found any evidence it contributed to causing the pandemic.

How did The Lancet manage to overlook such an enormous conflict of interest, Ebright wonders, while Dr Filippa Lentzos, an expert on biological threats at King’s College London, tweeted, “Goodness. I can't imagine a lead investigator with more vested interests!”

How can the world bear to wait for all those reboots?

If there is one thing I know about, it is how long it takes to get GOF experiments approved on an NIH award under the new post-pause framework. There is no way WIV was using NIH subaward funds for GOF so soon after the type 2 was funded.

The Daily Beast's Sam Stein:

[quote]On call just now HHS Sec Azar makes clear Trump’s forthcoming executive order on preexisting conditions will not carry weight of actual law should SCOTUS strike down the ACA. Said it is a "defined statement of U.S. policy that people with preexisting conditions are protected."

Meaning that it has no teeth whatsoever, and once Trump's hand-picked Supreme Court judges strike down Obamacare, anyone with a preexisting condition (like a positive covid test) is going to pay through the nose for health insurance ... if they can get it at all.

Democrats better jump on this.

They are they're framing the SCOTUS pick about Healthcare and losing your Healthcare

Forgot to link the article

n several long and detailed “tweetorials,” Chan began to cast a cloud of suspicion on the WIV’s work. She pointed out that scientists there had discovered a virus that is more than 96 percent identical to the COVID-19 coronavirus in 2013 in a mineshaft soon after three miners working there had died from a COVID-like illness. The WIV didn’t share these findings until 2020, even though the goal of such work, Chan pointed out, was supposedly to identify viruses with the potential to cause human illnesses and warn the world about them.

Even though that virus had killed three miners, Daszak said it wasn’t considered a priority to study at the time. “We were looking for SARS-related virus, and this one was 20 percent different. We thought it was interesting, but not high risk. So we didn’t do anything about it and put it in the freezer,” he told a reporter from Wired. It was only in 2020, he maintained, that they started looking into it once they realized its similarity to COVID-19. But Chan pointed to an online database showing that the WIV had been genetically sequencing the mine virus in 2017 and 2018, analyzing it in a way they had done in the past with other viruses in preparation for running experiments with them. Diplomatic yet deadpan, she wrote, “I think Daszak was misinformed.”

For good measure, almost in passing, Chan pointed out a detail no one else had noticed: COVID-19 contains an uncommon genetic sequence that has been used by genetic engineers in the past to insert genes into coronaviruses without leaving a trace, and it falls at the exact point that would allow experimenters to swap out different genetic parts to change the infectivity. That same sequence can occur naturally in a coronavirus, so this was not irrefutable proof of an unnatural origin, Chan explained, “only an observation.” Still, it was enough for one Twitter user to muse, “If capital punishment were as painful as what Alina Chan is doing to Daszak/WIV regarding their story, it would be illegal.”

Wouldn’t let me link

Fox News told them the virus wasn't a threat

Then they got sick

🤥 Who believes Fox News ?

I think I understand the pattern now: COVID-19 is setting up a huge number of humans who will be significantly weakened in 5-10 years' time so that they won't be able to survive the harsh conditions brought on by climate change. Result: Mass deaths.

The planet has said, "ENOUGH!"

Sounds like a plan to me Sylvia!

Democratic Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam and First Lady Pamela Northam have tested positive for COVID-19. The two were notified Wednesday evening “that a member of the Governor’s official residence staff, who works closely within the couple’s living quarters, had developed symptoms and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19,” a press release from the Governor’s office says.

"Governor Northam is experiencing no symptoms. First Lady Pamela Northam is currently experiencing mild symptoms. Both remain in good spirits."

Kudos to those willing to be guinea pigs for the good of humanity.

UK May Try COVID-19 Vaccine 'Challenge Studies' The British government says it may take part in a study that tries to deliberately infect volunteers who have been given an experimental vaccine against the coronavirus in an effort to more quickly determine if the vaccine works. The approach, called a challenge study, is risky but proponents think it may produce results faster than typical studies

OP you need to add black licorice to the mix

California is now the first US state to surpass 800,000 cases of Covid-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. At least 15,405 people have died.

The most populous state in the nation has now recorded more than 800,273 infections. Texas, the second-most populous state, has identified 747,366 cases and at least 15,510 deaths. The third, Florida, has identified 693,040 cases and at least 13,795 virus-related deaths.

Ron "Duh" Santis is now opening up all Florida restaurants

Orlando Sentinel: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order today lifting all remaining coronavirus restrictions.

The state added 2,847 coronavirus cases Friday to push the statewide total to 695,887 infected. With 120 new virus fatalities reported statewide, 13,915 Florida residents are now dead.

The latest positivity test rate is 5.39%.

took the subway downtown to financial district in NYC. the train was not busy. the streets were so quiet. not many people around at all.

coming back uptown, there were more people on the trains but quite a few were not wearing masks. I had to move to a different subway car a few times.

The set medic on a "high-profile" Netflix series quoted in Vulture:

"On my pre-shutdown Netflix job, the lead actor got sick. Apparently four people — two from the crew and two cast members — died from COVID. It’s a good feeling being back to work, but jobs work differently now. We’ve been getting an awful lot of condolence emails this year from the union about people who have been passing on."

Any idea what show?

2 cast members? Shit! How did we not hear about this?

The Witcher

UK has had a more CV19 infections on their productions: The Witcher, Jurassic Park and The Batman. U.S. (so far) hasn't had any.

The US just lies better, R550.

Has Cavill confitmed a Covid infection?

Criminal charges brought in coronavirus outbreak that killed dozens at Massachusetts veterans home

[quote]Two former leaders of a state-run veterans home in Massachusetts where dozens of residents died in a coronavirus outbreak were indicted on criminal charges and face possible jail time, the state’s top law enforcement official said Friday.

. . .

[quote]In particular, Healey said, the consolidation of two dementia units put patients who had tested positive for the coronavirus “within feet” of others who had not. One unit that typically had 25 residents was packed with 42, including nine whose beds were in a dining room, she said.

more at link

So, when do the manslaughter charges against TrumpCo., FoxNoise, and the Repug governors start coming down?

R554- charges against democratic governors - PA, NY, NJ, Michigan will surly be first. Considering they required nursing homes to take covid patients, which created at least 40 percent of the deaths in their respective states.

Most states have a lot of nursing home deaths, not just the ones with "Democratic Governors"

Repugs lied. Everyone died. Let's just watch Florida and Indiana and Wisconsin (where the Repug court and legislature have purposefully undermined the Democratic governor's orders over and over) over the next few months.

Bergen and Oslo are now red cities. A ton of people there have tested positive. For once I'm glad I live in flyover country.

We also had an accident where some pensioners went on a bus trip and they somehow got infected. The owner of the bus company said he followed the protocols and he had no idea how the virus got onboard.

I had no idea Norway even has a flyover country.

I am sooo ready for CF 51. It's taking forever to scroll down to the latest info here. Keep on keeping on. 2020 has been such a goofy year. I love these threads.

R560 We don't. I just call it that. Basically, I don't live in a big city is what I wanted to say. I live in a small town, a 2 hour drive southwest of Oslo. Few people are infected here. The bigger cities are much harder hit. Like I said, Oslo and Bergen are both red.

R560 We don't. I just call it that. Basically, I don't live in a big city is what I wanted to say. I live in a small town, a 2 hour drive southwest of Oslo. Few people are infected here. The bigger cities are much harder hit. Like I said, Oslo and Bergen are both red.

3 people in Bergen have died in the last 4 days. Just read another article saying there was another death there yesterday. Bergen is one of the cities hardest hit by the virus.

Bergen is beautiful.

Covid-19 is a total nightmare!

The Trump Pandemic: A blow-by-blow account of how the president killed thousands of Americans.

It’s hard to believe a president could be this callous and corrupt. It’s hard to believe one person could get so many things wrong or do so much damage. But that’s what happened. Trump knew we weren’t ready for a pandemic, but he didn’t prepare. He knew China was hiding the extent of the crisis, but he joined in the cover-up. He knew the virus was spreading in the United States, but he said it was vanishing. He knew we wouldn’t find it without more tests, but he said we didn’t need them. He delayed mitigation. He derided masks. He tried to silence anyone who told the truth. And in the face of multiple warnings, he pushed the country back open, reigniting the spread of the disease.

Sylvia make the new thread please!

Like I posted in the London thread, we have 8 kids under the age of 9 in the ICU in France, all admitted in the last week. Back to school is the real cause of second waves everywhere. What's the solution ? If they close schools again parents can't work.

R568 that is very sad. I must have missed the link. The problem here too is journalist shilling for the notion that kids do not get sick or transmit the virus ..could you repost the link? I’d like to share it because I keep seeing articles such as this pushing for reopening schools!

1,700 students told to self-isolate for 2 weeks at UK university after 127 Covid cases are confirmed

From CNN's Niamh Kennedy

About 1,700 students have been told to self-isolate at Manchester Metropolitan University in northern England or risk facing “disciplinary action,” after 127 Covid-19 cases were confirmed on campus, according to the university and local authorities.

Students living in two main dorms were asked via email on Friday night to self-isolate in their accommodation for 14 days regardless of whether or not they have symptoms.

A statement from Manchester City Council on Friday said a joint decision had been taken along with the university and Public Health England to “implement a local lockdown for student accommodation at the Birley campus and Cambridge Halls” in a bid to “stop the transmission of the virus among students and prevent it getting into the wider community.”

In a press release, city councillor Bev Craig acknowledged that the lockdown would “be difficult for all of the young people involved,” saying that the city council would be working with public services to “make sure that any of the students affected get the support they need.”

The university tweeted that it was working with local health authorities to help the students in the two dorms concerned. "If you are not directly affected, you MUST NOT try to visit friends who live in these halls," it added.

The move comes after students in Scotland were banned Friday from visiting pubs, restaurants and cafes this weekend, as several universities across the country report major outbreaks of infections.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that although Scotland “will see campus cases continue to rise in the days to come” these measures “can help stem that flow.”

London police ask anti-lockdown protesters to disperse, say social distancing rules were broken

Police have told anti-lockdown protesters in central London's Trafalgar Square to disperse after they failed to follow the rules on social distancing.

Images from Trafalgar Square show large crowds of people packed together, with few if any face coverings to be seen. Protesters carried placards with slogans such as "No to mandatory vaccines" and "Where is the pandemic?"

"We want to be clear, this protest is no longer exempt from the regulations. We are asking those attending to disperse," the Metropolitan Police Service said on Twitter.

"Sadly, some officers have been injured while engaging with people."

While it is currently illegal in England for people to gather in groups of more than six, there is an exemption for protests. However, protest organizers must submit a risk assessment and comply with social distancing.

According to the police, those conditions have not been met.

"Crowds in Trafalgar Square have not complied with the conditions of their risk assessment and are putting people in danger of transmitting the virus," the force said.

"This has voided their risk assessment and we have informed the event organisers they are no longer exempt from the regulations."

Some protesters are now moving toward Hyde Park, police said.

Less than a fifth of Brits self-isolated after showing key Covid-19 symptoms -- preliminary research

From Zahid Mahmood and Schams Elwazer in London

Preliminary research indicates less than half of the British public could name the key Covid-19 symptoms and fewer than one in five self-isolated after experiencing symptoms, despite government guidelines.

The pre-print study from King’s College London found that around 70% of people said they “intended to self-isolate if they were to develop key symptoms," but in fact only 18.2% of those who developed symptoms in the last week actually reported self-isolating.

The study -- which has yet to be published or peer-reviewed -- collected data from 30,000 people in the United Kingdom between March and August. It found “just under half of the sample were able to name the key Covid-19 symptoms as being a persistent new onset cough, fever or loss of sense of taste or smell.”

Released on the university’s website Friday, the findings coincided with the UK reporting its highest single-day infection rise since the pandemic began -- with 6,874 new infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 423,326.

“The UK public have good intentions to adhere to a test, trace and isolate system but, when they do develop symptoms, there are a number of factors that affect their decisions and their behaviour,” said James Rubin, an author of the study from King’s College London.

The study indicated “financial constraints and caring responsibilities are common barriers to adherence,” Rubin added.

Men, young people, those with children, key workers, those with lower socio-economic status and those experiencing greater economic hardship during the pandemic were less likely to adhere to protective measures, the research indicated.

The results suggest adherence could be improved by clearer public health messaging and financial assistance to reduce the pressures of self-isolation, the study's authors added.

This is what happens to your body over months in isolation

From CNN's Scottie Andrew

Since the pandemic officially began in March, we've been told staying home is the best way to avoid catching Covid-19. And it is. But life in confinement can cause physical ailments on its own.

Being homebound for so long contorts the body, weakens the heart and lungs and even impairs brain function. The effects of life in isolation may stay with us beyond the pandemic's end (whenever that may be).

A week homebound, whether you're working, eating or sleeping, may feel comforting and necessary. But all the inactivity can undo hard-won progress.

That's because it can take months to build muscle and just one week to lose it. Humans, for all of our hardiness, also lose muscle more quickly the older we get, said Keith Baar, a professor of molecular exercise physiology at the University of California - Davis.

When you lose muscle, you're not necessarily losing bulk, but you are losing strength, which Baar said is one of the "strongest indicators" of how long you'll live.

"The stronger we stay, the easier it is for us to maintain our longevity."

America doesn't have a monopoly on idiots: thousands of Britons gather in Trafalgar Square today to protest against Covid-19 prevention and mitigation measures.

AP: More than 1,000 New Yorkers tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday – the first time since 5 June the state has seen a daily caseload that high, the Associate Press reports.

R574 The problem is especially in the UK and USA is the government's terrible response, with atrocious mixed messaging and rules for the masses but exceptions for those in power or “the elite” .. especially in UK telling everyone to holiday and enjoy life over summer now back to harsh rules? Societies cannot function this way. Humans are social creatures virus or no, and I don’t know how we shall get through this.

r551. I'm in the film industry- we are the biggest gossips evah. There have been a lot of people in the US film industry that had it or have died prior to productions starting up again in late July starting with Tyler Perry, but I haven't heard of any production here having any infections yet- crew are quick to report it on our union FB page.

R575 what else to be expected with schools opening up? We cannot propaganda a virus away. WTF

Florida is close to surpassing 700,000 cases of coronavirus as it moves into phase 3 reopening

From CNN's Melissa Alonso

Florida health officials reported at least 2,795 new cases of Covid-19 and at least 107 deaths on Saturday, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The state has reported at least 698,682 Covid-19 cases and 14,022 deaths since the pandemic started, according to the department.

Remember: These numbers were released by Florida’s public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database, which is drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project

On Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the state would move to phase three of reopening, which includes the immediate opening restaurants and other venues to 100% capacity and suspending citations for face mask violations.

"On Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the state would move to phase three of reopening, which includes the immediate opening restaurants and other venues to 100% capacity and suspending citations for face mask violations."

Well we can only hope this diminishes the conservative base.

R570 Same shit happened here in Norway. Lots of students got infected within the first week of the new semester. We have somethikg called fadderuke, first week of fall semester for new students. Lots of partying and drinking. No wonder they got infected.

I'm sorry r569, my sources are all in French. Yound children with severe cases of Covid indeed don't seem to gather a lot of interest.

A while ago we talked about discarding the 'Freakout' and starting over with a new thread series. I feel like it's time; we're not in freakout mode anymore, we're all grimly soldiering on in survival mode.

Thoughts?

Plastic surgery on the rise as patients use COVID-19 masks to hide

People have the right to their fatalist freakouts.

Others have the right to share what the medical research they learned over the last six months, as long as they know the crazy queens will out-yell and outpost them, employing their science-illiteracy, fear and ignorance as privilege.

Gonna have a 30-minute gym workout for every day the US Covid-19 fatalities end above 900.

[quote] A requirement to wear a mask outdoors at all times, no matter what, is excessive.

Agreed. I don't understand 10pm curfews the UK and other areas have: how crowded are side streets with pedestrians at that hour? What's the probability of infecting someone 90 ft away outdoors, or someone with an alley-facing screen window getting in some air?

People put up avatars on their social media as if the camera they use for their selfie is at risk of Covid. It is recommended to disinfect devices if you've used them outdoors, if they're that concerned.

It's quite crowded on the weekends. They are not observing any fucking thing. I follow an actor's insta and he was in London, the streets outside were packed with people drinking...no social distancing at all. and if you're not wearing a mask, you walk past someone just as that person coughs or sneezes...you get virus, bad luck! and I read an article where they said some people are not isolating even when they have symptoms. fucking cunts!

Yeah I'll echo r588 observations. A lot of people drinking outside, even in winter, so they can smoke.

Just call it the Coronavirus Mega Thread from now on, Sylvia. You can still have the fun part of the titles.

I am sure there will be complaints whatever you do, but these threads have been comforting and informational, and need to continue.

Keep numbering the threads whatever you do.

Sylvia I don’t care what you title but freak out seems apt still, since we keep getting news, and issues around this damn virus to freak out over

But just as long as you make it searchable and keep numbers! Thank you. These threads have helped me so much. I am sick of the propaganda with most news sources DL is the absolute best !

Here were go

R577 are you located in Los Angeles?

So long, thread

you've been an ok thread

not great

......

Dasvidaniya

and Bajour!