OT: COVID-19 thread #3

[Dez]

11 days with zero new cases, down to 4 total active cases.

Is everything back open there? Or are there still restrictions?

I was shocked the other day when Scott Gottlieb said that the 100k cases a day is actually a low number and that the US is actually at 500k a day we just aren't testing enough. Using logic behind that I would assume you still have quite a few restrictions because you never know.

12 zeroes in a row now.

Restrictions are still in place, they've been slowly easing over the past month and will ease further over the next couple of weeks.

[dougthonus]

Not for either, but definetly could have been withheld until after the election so that Trump wouldn’t get votes. Feels more like a personal preference from Pfizer than a support for either side imho but the timing surely didn’t help Trump!

Maybe, or maybe its just when they were ready to announce.

[Chi town]

My Dad just tested positive. He’s 63. Said he was tired for about half a day. No other symptoms and now he’s fine.

Meanwhile a close friend that is 42 tested positive and he been in bed for a week and is now having trouble breathing. He’s a surfer and in great shape.

So weird how it effects everyone Differently.

[Michael Jackson]

Not for either, but definetly could have been withheld until after the election so that Trump wouldn’t get votes. Feels more like a personal preference from Pfizer than a support for either side imho but the timing surely didn’t help Trump!

Maybe, or maybe its just when they were ready to announce.

Honestly I am usually an Occam’s razor type person, but this one seemed almost too convenient to not take notice and giggle a little about. It truly might be coincidental too but also still funny with the timing regardless.

[Michael Jackson]

My Dad just tested positive. He’s 63. Said he was tired for about half a day. No other symptoms and now he’s fine.

Meanwhile a close friend that is 42 tested positive and he been in bed for a week and is now having trouble breathing. He’s a surfer and in great shape.

So weird how it effects everyone Differently.

I know a lot more people getting infected this time around, none have been serious, but the numbers seem to be climbing. I do agree that it might be because of more testing, as there are a good number of asymptotic cases in the people I know.

[Ccwatercraft]

My Dad just tested positive. He’s 63. Said he was tired for about half a day. No other symptoms and now he’s fine.

Meanwhile a close friend that is 42 tested positive and he been in bed for a week and is now having trouble breathing. He’s a surfer and in great shape.

So weird how it effects everyone Differently.

I know a lot more people getting infected this time around, none have been serious, but the numbers seem to be climbing. I do agree that it might be because of more testing, as there are a good number of asymptotic cases in the people I know.

Had 3 relatives test positive but all are young-ish. One interesting situation is a friend in IL that is living with two positives and has tested negative twice so far.

[Michael Jackson]

My Dad just tested positive. He’s 63. Said he was tired for about half a day. No other symptoms and now he’s fine.

Meanwhile a close friend that is 42 tested positive and he been in bed for a week and is now having trouble breathing. He’s a surfer and in great shape.

So weird how it effects everyone Differently.

I know a lot more people getting infected this time around, none have been serious, but the numbers seem to be climbing. I do agree that it might be because of more testing, as there are a good number of asymptotic cases in the people I know.

Had 3 relatives test positive but all are young-ish. One interesting situation is a friend in IL that is living with two positives and has tested negative twice so far.

We shut down our office because one persons husband tested positive, he was asymptotic and no one else in the house tested positive, after we shut down the office another person did get it from her sons hockey team (they all got it). Now no serious cases, where hospitalizations were needed but they were indeed sick for a few days. I have a few customers downstate Illinois where the whole place became infected, which doesn’t surprise me as they were all in the “hoax” crowd. Like I said no serious cases but a lot more people I know have gotten it, which is bad but also good I guess because more antibodies... I get not being in crippling fear over Covid, but I don’t understand the hoax crowd. I mean even if you feel this is just the flu, who wants to get the flu? Wouldn’t you wear a mask if you thought a bunch of people had the flu? Wouldn’t you sanitize? These precautions help with ALL transmittable diseases. Maybe it’s jus me but I don’t want to even catch a common cold if I can help it.

[dougthonus]

I know a lot more people getting infected this time around, none have been serious, but the numbers seem to be climbing. I do agree that it might be because of more testing, as there are a good number of asymptotic cases in the people I know.

I don't think it is because we are doing more testing. Has the amount of testing changed meaningfully since August? I don't think that's true.

It feels far more likely to me that numbers are climbing because people are sick of social distancing and are engaging in way more risky behaviors than they were 3 months ago.

[Chi town]

Just wait for the spike coming after Thanksgiving. Cold weather is moving people in doors.

Stay safe.

[Dresden]

My Dad just tested positive. He’s 63. Said he was tired for about half a day. No other symptoms and now he’s fine.

Meanwhile a close friend that is 42 tested positive and he been in bed for a week and is now having trouble breathing. He’s a surfer and in great shape.

So weird how it effects everyone Differently.

I hope your dad and your friend make full recoveries. It's weird how different people are affected so differently by this.

My nephew, a resident at the Mayo Clinic, tested positive over the weekend, along with his 1 year old son, but both are just about over it now. Somehow, my nephew's wife, living with those two, did not test positive.

[Dresden]

I know a lot more people getting infected this time around, none have been serious, but the numbers seem to be climbing. I do agree that it might be because of more testing, as there are a good number of asymptotic cases in the people I know.

I don't think it is because we are doing more testing. Has the amount of testing changed meaningfully since August? I don't think that's true.

It feels far more likely to me that numbers are climbing because people are sick of social distancing and are engaging in way more risky behaviors than they were 3 months ago.

The positivity rate has been climbing too, so it's not just testing. And we're at around 1,300 deaths per day too, and hospitalizations are at an all time high.

[Dresden]

Not for either, but definetly could have been withheld until after the election so that Trump wouldn’t get votes. Feels more like a personal preference from Pfizer than a support for either side imho but the timing surely didn’t help Trump!

Maybe, or maybe its just when they were ready to announce.

Honestly I am usually an Occam’s razor type person, but this one seemed almost too convenient to not take notice and giggle a little about. It truly might be coincidental too but also still funny with the timing regardless.

It's possible that they delayed it not so much to hurt Trump as that they just didn't want to make it a factor in who won the presidency. If they had announced a few days before the election, everyone would be saying they timed it to help Trump. So either way they get criticized.

[Chi town]

My Dad just tested positive. He’s 63. Said he was tired for about half a day. No other symptoms and now he’s fine.

Meanwhile a close friend that is 42 tested positive and he been in bed for a week and is now having trouble breathing. He’s a surfer and in great shape.

So weird how it effects everyone Differently.

I hope your dad and your friend make full recoveries. It's weird how different people are affected so differently by this.

My nephew, a resident at the Mayo Clinic, tested positive over the weekend, along with his 1 year old son, but both are just about over it now. Somehow, my nephew's wife, living with those two, did not test positive.

It sure is. Crazy how people sleep in the same bed and don’t get it. Four couples I know have had one spouse get it and the other not.

[ImSlower]

I know a lot more people getting infected this time around, none have been serious, but the numbers seem to be climbing. I do agree that it might be because of more testing, as there are a good number of asymptotic cases in the people I know.

I don't think it is because we are doing more testing. Has the amount of testing changed meaningfully since August? I don't think that's true.

It feels far more likely to me that numbers are climbing because people are sick of social distancing and are engaging in way more risky behaviors than they were 3 months ago.

http://www.dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics?regionID=4
In my county, our positivity rate has gone from a 5.4 7-day rolling average as of 10/9 to currently a 11% as of 11/8. Each day has gotten noticeably higher all week, near 14% on the most recent date reported. We currently have an outbreak I know first-hand about shooting through all our illegally-open local restaurants. Several people I know have contracted it this week, all workers or regulars at the bars on our town's little strip of bars. I didn't find out publically.

I am getting tested tomorrow morning because I was around someone recently who's in the same social circle, and flippantly said she probably has it but feels fine. Of course I have one guest stay over the entirety of 2020, and immediately have placed myself at risk and had to tell my parents, very embarrassed, just why I won't be coming over for dinner until I've tested negative twice.

Anyways, basically I agree with doug. People are behaving badly because, hey, everyone else is, right? And it's just snowballing. And yet, the hatred for Pritzker grows. My local friends on my FB feed continue to rant about the shutdown (which they're ignoring anyway). One local restaurant blatantly advertised their free lunch for veterans - with the words "DINE INSIDE!" in all caps with flag emojis. Ugh.

I have no good answer, either. This thing is going to end up killing half a million Americans before widespread access to a vaccine can help alleviate the avalanche of stupidity that won't let up.

[Michael Jackson]

I know a lot more people getting infected this time around, none have been serious, but the numbers seem to be climbing. I do agree that it might be because of more testing, as there are a good number of asymptotic cases in the people I know.

I don't think it is because we are doing more testing. Has the amount of testing changed meaningfully since August? I don't think that's true.

It feels far more likely to me that numbers are climbing because people are sick of social distancing and are engaging in way more risky behaviors than they were 3 months ago.

I am not referring to August as much as when Covid had its initial peak. I think there were a lot of cases that were untested because of the availability. Asymptomatic cases were not being test because of the limited availability.

I do agree that the increase is definitely due to people just giving in and not believing it’s real still or that it isn’t fatal. Back in the spring I remember the stat from Denver in the 1918 pandemic, how it dropped and after the drop, it rose to a higher amount. I always felt that would be the case well because people are pretty predictable. I look at the bars and restaurants that are taking the fine and remaining open (I empathize truly because many of them likely would have to close for good but c’mon). There are plenty of cars in the lots of those places. That’s a problem that multiplies obviously because those people aren’t taking any precautions and are a fertile ground for this to spread. It isn’t like there really is a win in this situation, people are going to lose jobs etc... yet that is recoverable, you can’t do anything when you are deceased.

[Wingy]

My Dad just tested positive. He’s 63. Said he was tired for about half a day. No other symptoms and now he’s fine.

Meanwhile a close friend that is 42 tested positive and he been in bed for a week and is now having trouble breathing. He’s a surfer and in great shape.

So weird how it effects everyone Differently.

I hope your dad and your friend make full recoveries. It's weird how different people are affected so differently by this.

My nephew, a resident at the Mayo Clinic, tested positive over the weekend, along with his 1 year old son, but both are just about over it now. Somehow, my nephew's wife, living with those two, did not test positive.

It sure is. Crazy how people sleep in the same bed and don’t get it. Four couples I know have had one spouse get it and the other not.

I feel like we hear about false positives semi-regularly, especially being pro sports fans following high profile people who have the means/jobs to easily get retested.

I’ve often thought about, but can’t recall hearing about false negatives....ever. Makes me wonder how prevalent those might be.

Then again, like anything, I suppose some folks might be predisposed to avoiding it. I would hope there are some studies in progress.

[Bullflip]

My Dad just tested positive. He’s 63. Said he was tired for about half a day. No other symptoms and now he’s fine.

Meanwhile a close friend that is 42 tested positive and he been in bed for a week and is now having trouble breathing. He’s a surfer and in great shape.

So weird how it effects everyone Differently.

I hope your dad and your friend make full recoveries. It's weird how different people are affected so differently by this.

My nephew, a resident at the Mayo Clinic, tested positive over the weekend, along with his 1 year old son, but both are just about over it now. Somehow, my nephew's wife, living with those two, did not test positive.

It sure is. Crazy how people sleep in the same bed and don’t get it. Four couples I know have had one spouse get it and the other not.

I read somewhere that people of a certain blood type are more susceptible in getting infected compared to other blood types. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe it said type AB has the most chance of getting infected while type O has the least chance.

[jmajew]

I know this may not be politically correct, but the people that are most at risk of dying from COVID are people over the age of 65, much as they are more susceptible to dying form the regular flu too. I have long thought we are better off putting a stay at home order for anyone 65 or older, and put strict safety precautions in for assisted living facilities/ senior living facilities. I understand why we didn't go that route and aren't now, but it would have been interesting to see that in action. My gut says we will be in lockdown again in Illinois in the next two weeks.

[Ccwatercraft]

I know this may not be politically correct, but the people that are most at risk of dying from COVID are people over the age of 65, much as they are more susceptible to dying form the regular flu too. I have long thought we are better off putting a stay at home order for anyone 65 or older, and put strict safety precautions in for assisted living facilities/ senior living facilities. I understand why we didn't go that route and aren't now, but it would have been interesting to see that in action. My gut says we will be in lockdown again in Illinois in the next two weeks.

An over 65 stay at home order would help perhaps, but that would include a list that includes a good chunk of our politicians (starting with the president elect) and news broadcasters just for starters, half of our NFL head coaches are over 65. That's maybe a few hundred people that would probably balk at the suggest, then add 49 million more just in the US, good luck.

Most people over 65 that I know are being cautious already, but "cautious" really means many just being a little more cautious than those of us in the 50-65 bracket. Even many that tell me they are being super careful are still going to the grocery and department stores with regularity. I'm just guessing but those that are actually doing it "right" are in the single digit % and some of those are still going to catch it.

[_txchilibowl_]

I know this may not be politically correct, but the people that are most at risk of dying from COVID are people over the age of 65, much as they are more susceptible to dying form the regular flu too. I have long thought we are better off putting a stay at home order for anyone 65 or older, and put strict safety precautions in for assisted living facilities/ senior living facilities. I understand why we didn't go that route and aren't now, but it would have been interesting to see that in action. My gut says we will be in lockdown again in Illinois in the next two weeks.

An over 65 stay at home order would help perhaps, but that would include a list that includes a good chunk of our politicians (starting with the president elect) and news broadcasters just for starters, half of our NFL head coaches are over 65.

Most people over 65 that I know are being cautious already, but "cautious" really means many just being a little more cautious than those of us in the 50-65 bracket. Even many that tell me they are being super careful are still going to the grocery and department stores with regularity. I'm just guessing but those that are actually doing it "right" are in the single digit % and some of those are still going to catch it.

Have you changed your mind regarding precautions that need to be taken? Because I remember that you were of the "I'm going to do what I want" mindset earlier during the pandemic.

Btw, this isn't meant to be confrontational. I'm genuinely interested to see if people's thought processes are open to change. Especially in places like Florida where I have many friends and family.