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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 / COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday/Wednesday, September 22-23

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday/Wednesday, September 22-23

by Anne Laurie|  September 23, 20204:53 am| 46 Comments

This post is in: COVID-19, Foreign Affairs

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More than 6.8 million Americans have tested positive for coronavirus. 200,000 are dead.
They aren’t “nobody.”https://t.co/UpMA3Ad0uQ

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 22, 2020

200,000 dead.

Here's our latest with Fauci.

Re: summer surge–

"People went to the bars. They got infected. Then they went back into the community and transmitted it to vulnerable people. That's the reason why we saw the sharp increase in … deaths."https://t.co/dnY8yWfjUX

— Erin Banco (@ErinBanco) September 22, 2020


Is the US doing a good job fighting Covid? pic.twitter.com/6Sd58D3uzg

— Erik Brynjolfsson (@erikbryn) September 23, 2020

Key change: "to discuss, in general, the development, authorization and/or licensure of #vaccines to prevent #COVID19. No specific application will be discussed at this meeting."
This means the Oct 22 meeting will NOT approve a specific vaccine for use in USA b4 Nov 3 election.

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) September 22, 2020

U.S. FDA to tighten coronavirus vaccine authorization standards ahead of election – paper https://t.co/uaWMHvmjG7 pic.twitter.com/1B0Ja5Flb7

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 23, 2020

Independent government watchdog GAO says the U.S. still faces PPE and testing supply shortages, and HHS and FEMA have not taken sufficient action to mitigate supply gaps for pandemic response.https://t.co/iv3J0ABmon

— Josh Michaud (@joshmich) September 22, 2020

The real toll of Covid-19 is even higher than 200,000. Between mid-March and late August, 259,000 more Americans have died than would in a normal year. https://t.co/el2F4irjhD @DeniseDSLu @jshkatz pic.twitter.com/63CA1cd7bt

— Margot Sanger-Katz (@sangerkatz) September 22, 2020

======

COVID-19 infections are still rising in 71 countries.

See where infections are trending ⬆️ or ⬇️ relative to the size of the outbreak in each country https://t.co/q6tx5LV8Aw pic.twitter.com/l8gpd4Gm5Z

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 23, 2020

New cases in US, EU now getting closer. Though EU has a more people and an older population…should be other way around. pic.twitter.com/grxAggakxw

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) September 22, 2020

Virus contact tracing apps were meant to be a part of Europe's pandemic response. As virus cases spike again, only a few countries have embraced them while adoption lags in others due to privacy concerns and lack of interest, @chanman reports https://t.co/zSGapU8ihk

— AP Business News (@APBusiness) September 22, 2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the British people to work from home where possible and ordered restaurants and bars to close early to tackle a fast-spreading second wave of COVID-19 https://t.co/0EMJiDy4qV pic.twitter.com/E3NMKvQT7R

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 23, 2020

Covid: Sturgeon announces Scotland-wide ban on household visits https://t.co/2Twru4ju1o

— Guardian World (@guardianworld) September 22, 2020

India has reported more than 83,000 new coronavirus cases, showing some decline after reaching a record a week earlier. The country has now confirmed more than 5.6 million cases. It also reported 1,085 new deaths, raising the tally to over 90,000. https://t.co/x6Au4RumrW

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 23, 2020

Japan to further ease COVID-19 entry curbs but not for tourists: Asahi https://t.co/MWbFhtIwB2 pic.twitter.com/MDpJAu5NQQ

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 23, 2020

Australia’s coronavirus hot spot of Victoria is considering easing curbs sooner than previously flagged, the state’s premier said, as the two-week average of new infections in the city of Melbourne dropped below 30 https://t.co/SQcjYDwwE3

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 23, 2020

As the US struggles, Africa's collective response to the COVID-19 pandemic is being praised. https://t.co/RiWRhxKbac

— AP Africa (@AP_Africa) September 22, 2020

My latest.

As America hits 200,000 deaths from coronavirus, Africa has managed to avoid the human catastrophe that everyone predicted.

Yet the media continues to overlook the continent's successes with the virus. https://t.co/sPbmuFivPJ

— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) September 22, 2020

Just yesterday I heard a report on @NPR about how "no scientist knows why the pandemic has been so mild in Africa".

Despite the fact that countries that had Ebola/AIDS response infrastructure in place were just better prepared for a pandemic. https://t.co/SImMw3ODKH

— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) September 22, 2020

======

Attempting to achieve herd immunity to COVID19 though natural infection is an impractical public health strategy & dangerous, according to a new model developed by the Univ of Georgia. Results reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences https://t.co/EVwZrsbAwr

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 22, 2020

SARSCoV2 infection can block pain, opening an unexpected avenue of #coronavirus research. The flu & other viral infections trigger aches/pains. But SARS2 blunts pain & this may help explain how people spread it far & wide without realizing they're infected https://t.co/BDUYryObCe

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 22, 2020

NEW article from me: People in non-Western countries might fare worse with Covid-19 vaccines because of how they are made https://t.co/X9rX96Mzfl

— Roxanne Khamsi (@rkhamsi) September 22, 2020

The key to a successful Covid-19 vaccine will be twofold. First, it’s gotta work, and not hurt people in the process. But the second thing may be just as important—you need a communications strategy that explains what the drug does and how it does it https://t.co/fRN3Rnr7yg

— WIRED (@WIRED) September 22, 2020

A Covid19 vaccine for children may not arrive before Fall of 2021 https://t.co/kjXqXVb7Z0

— delthia ricks ? (@DelthiaRicks) September 22, 2020

======

“All the world’s leaders took the same test, and some have succeeded and some have failed,” said @RealCedricDark, an emergency physician at @bcmhouston who has seen death firsthand. “In the case of our country, we failed miserably.”https://t.co/GWE2Zeezvb

— Seth Trueger (@MDaware) September 22, 2020

We’re happy to have helped source information for the @nytimes! Their article highlights the seriousness of the pandemic within the first few weeks of schools being open by meticulously analyzing the data.https://t.co/CZ196AfFSD

— The COVID Monitor (@thecovidmonitor) September 22, 2020

By not collecting data, we missed the opportunity to learn from the daycares open to essential workers in the spring. Are we are now missing the opportunity to learn from K12 reopening? Great new project by NYT. https://t.co/W9PBStcKoE pic.twitter.com/QW6Wv7saz4

— Caitlin Rivers, PhD (@cmyeaton) September 22, 2020

Colleges reopenings in-person likely added 3,000 U.S. COVID-19 cases per day: study https://t.co/6lf8W6648L pic.twitter.com/o2HjajsvDg

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 23, 2020

NEW: Fauci says students sick with COVID19 should not return home and should instead remain quarantined in a separate dormitory. If schools don't do this, they are in big trouble, Fauci sayshttps://t.co/ft0tTRe8XQ

— Erin Banco (@ErinBanco) September 22, 2020

New York City officials are concerned about a new cluster of COVID-19 cases in a southern part of Brooklyn with a 4.71% rate of positive test results. The city is also concerned about the Williamsburg neighborhood, which has a 2% positive rate https://t.co/3IHpvL65Aj pic.twitter.com/PQOepw0kon

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 23, 2020

Louisiana court keeps mask-free pastor out of his hearing for defying pandemic safeguards https://t.co/iKPS5Ptyhe pic.twitter.com/tXNBRJ3Mc5

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 22, 2020

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Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    YY_Sima Qian

    September 23, 2020 at 6:17 am

    Yesterday, China reported 0 new domestic confirmed cases and 0 new domestic asymptomatic case, 10 new imported confirmed cases and 18 imported asymptomatic cases:

     

    * Guangzhou in Guangdong Province – 4 confirmed cases, 2 Chinese national each returning from Indonesia and Bangladesh; 3 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Indonesia and Bangladesh, and 1 from Zambia
    * Dongguan in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, both Chinese nationals returning from India
    * Foshan in Guangdong Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Singapore and Chad
    * Chengdu in Sichuan Province – 3 confirmed cases (all previously asymptomatic), all Chinese nationals returning from Nepal
    * Deyang in Sichuan Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Russia (the case had arrived in China at Shenzhen on 9/5, passed through the mandatory 14 day centralized quarantine and tested negative, returned to Deyang on 9/20 and entered into medical quarantine, tested positive on 9/22; this is the second such case in the past week)
    * Tianjin Municipality – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from Spain
    * Qingdao in Shandong Province – 1 confirmed case, a Chinese national returning from the UK; 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from the Philippines
    * Zhengzhou in Henan Province – 1 confirmed and 3 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    * Nanjing in Jiangsu Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, no information released
    * Xiamen in Fujian Province – 2 asymptomatic cases, 1 Chinese national each returning from Russia and Kazakhstan
    * Fuzhou in Fujian Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Japan
    * Xi’an in Shaanxi Province – 1 asymptomatic case, a Chinese national returning from Canada

     

    Today, Hong Kong reported 3 new cases, 2 from local transmission, all has clear sources of transmission identified.

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 23, 2020 at 6:25 am

    New York City officials are concerned about a new cluster of COVID-19 cases in a southern part of Brooklyn with a 4.71% rate of positive test results. The city is also concerned about the Williamsburg neighborhood, which has a 2% positive

    Misery: You lucky bastahd.
    NYC: Who’s that?
    Misery: You lucky, lucky bastahd.
    NYC: What?Misery: Proper little Covid pet, aren’t we?
    NYC: What do you mean?
    Misery: You must have slipped him a few immigrants to infect, eh?
    NYC: Slipped him a few immigrants? We have a 4.7% infection rate in one neighborhood. Besides, you saw him spit in my face! He’s infectious!
    Misery: Ohh! What wouldn’t I give to be spat at in the face! I sometimes hang awake at night dreaming of being spat at in the face by infectious people.
    NYC: Well, it’s not exactly friendly, is it? They had me in manacles!
    Misery: Manacles! Ooh oooh oh oh. My idea of heaven is to be allowed to be put in manacles… just for a few hours. They must think the sun shines out o’ your arse, sonny.
    NYC: Oh, lay off me. I’ve had a hard time!
    Misery: You’ve had a hard time?! I’ve been here five months! They only hung me the right way up yesterday! So, don’t you come ‘rou–
    NYC: All right. All right.
    Misery: They must think you’re Lord God Almighty.
    NYC: What will Covid do to me?
    Misery: Oh, you’ll probably get away with slow death by strangulation.
    NYC: Slow death by strangulation?!
    Misery: Yeah, you liberal blue states always get off easy.

    Sorry, right now the absurdity of our daily lives has a constant Monty Python refrain running thru my head.

  3. 3.

    Geminid

    September 23, 2020 at 6:31 am

    Well, the NFL is not messing around. They require masking for all sideline personnel. On Sunday and Monday night, five  head coaches did not mask properly. They were each fined $100,000; the teams were fined $250,000 each. Two of the coaches pointed out that they have had Covid-19 already, but that did not cut any ice with the league.

  4. 4.

    Gvg

    September 23, 2020 at 6:32 am

    Well, I consider it positive news that my large state University employer just announced employees and students may have a weekly Covid test if we want it at no cost. Previously it was with symptoms. They also announced we are starting to use the saliva test, not just the nasal swab. I had been concerned, still am, but they seem to be improving things. Cases went up when school started but are trending down now for 2 weeks. We have 1000 quarantine dorms. When cases were highest they were 14% filled, now they are down to 11%. There were some snafus with food delivery to those dorms so I know they do that. The University said it was their fault and they are fixing it. Acknowledging the fault calmly, makes me feel better about it. The campus seems pretty empty, so I know most classes are still online. The mask guidelines keep getting stricter.
    Football starts soon which is idiotic. 17% capacity and I have realized that since the students only get 2000 seats of that, it’s mostly going to be out of towners spreading it among themselves maybe. Hard to say until I see it (on the news, I am not going anywhere near it) The plans call for social distancing between groups. I could go on, but overall the news is improving here and not meeting my dire fears.
    I plan to test weekly and try to time it so I can see my parents on weekends. That will cheer me up.

  5. 5.

    Amir Khalid

    September 23, 2020 at 6:54 am

    Malaysia’s daily CoviD-19 numbers. 147 new cases, for a cumulative reported total of 10,505 cases

    143 new cases from local infection.  114 Malaysians. 105 cases in Sabah: 90 from the Benteng Lahad Datu cluster, five from the Bangau-Bangau cluster, two from the Pulau cluster, four cases screened for severe acute respiratory infections, three healthcare workers, one person in police custody. One in Kelantan, screened on returning from Sabah. One case in KL: a person returning from a high-risk area. Two cases in Selangor: one close contact of another case, and one screened at work. Five cases in Kedah: four from the Sungai cluster and one detected in community screening.

    29 non-Malaysians, all in Sabah: 15 from the Benteng Lahad Datu cluster, three from the Bangau-Bangau cluster, eight from the Laut cluster, two from the Udin cluster (a new cluster), one case screened for severe acute respiratory infection.

    Four imported new cases: three Malaysians, all returning from India; one non-Malaysian, arriving from Indonesia.

    39 more patients recovered and were discharged, for a total of 9,602 patients discharged — 91.40% of the cumulative reported total. 770 active and contagious cases are currently being isolated/treated in hospital; eight are in ICU, two of them on respirators.

    Three new deaths were reported today, two in Sabah and one in Kedah, the most CoviD-19 deaths in one day since 21st April, for a total of 133 deaths — 1.27% of the cumulative reported total, 1.37% of resolved cases.

  6. 6.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 6:56 am

    Herd immunity an impractical strategy, study finds

    This headline pissed me off, so I read the article, and I still don’t understand where this herd immunity would be coming from.

  7. 7.

    Amir Khalid

    September 23, 2020 at 7:01 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I think you mean herd mentality. That is the new terminology, according to Deplorable in Chief Donald Trump.

  8. 8.

    Amir Khalid

    September 23, 2020 at 7:07 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Update on the three deaths. Two of them were at Tawau Hospital in Sabah: a 48-year-old woman with co-morbidities i.e. diabetes and hypertension, and a 54-year-old man. The third, at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Kedah, was a 72-year-old man who had suffered a stroke but was asymptomatic.

  9. 9.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 7:10 am

    @Geminid: “It’s cool. I’ve already had this new deadly virus that’s sweeping the globe.”

    Selfish assholes.

  10. 10.

    Amir Khalid

    September 23, 2020 at 7:13 am

    @Geminid:

    Kudos to the NFL for strictly enforcing the rules.

  11. 11.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 7:13 am

    @Amir Khalid: Seriously, I don’t understand.

    And fuck the Soviet shitpile mobster conman who’s currently in charge of 1/3 of the world’s most powerful government.

  12. 12.

    Robert Sneddon

    September 23, 2020 at 7:15 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Until one or more vaccines are approved and manufactured and used widely across the entire planet (not just the rich countries) then “herd immunity” is all we’ve got to stop this disease.

     

    Closures, travel restrictions, quarantining, distancing, masks, hand-washing and other prophylactic measures can slow down the spread of this disease and the consequent deaths and serious after effects, they can’t stop it by themselves. Once most folks have had the disease then it won’t spread as fast or as far — that’s herd immunity. The folks saying “let’s get this over with, take the hit and get back to normal” forget that slowing down the spread and the infection rates by lockdowns, quarantining etc. prevent medical systems being smashed into the ground under the peak load — we came close to this happening here in the UK and, I believe, in places in the US too. They also mean more people will still be unexposed to the virus when the vaccines do become available.

  13. 13.

    Amir Khalid

    September 23, 2020 at 7:18 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    That’s what Trump called it, at the Pennsylvania town hall.

  14. 14.

    rikyrah

    September 23, 2020 at 7:18 am

    @Geminid:

     

    ????

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    September 23, 2020 at 7:21 am

    @Gvg:

    The football thing is crazy ??

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    September 23, 2020 at 7:22 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Herd immunity is reached when a certain percentage of the populace (i forget what the # is) carry antibodies and hence are immune to the disease such that it can no longer easily infect large numbers of people.

    Herd immunity is reached either thru vaccinations or infections. If it is reached thru infections, many people die. If thru vaccinations, few people die.

  17. 17.

    rikyrah

    September 23, 2020 at 7:23 am

    @Robert Sneddon: ????

  18. 18.

    rikyrah

    September 23, 2020 at 7:24 am

    Herd immunity is immoral ??

  19. 19.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 7:27 am

    @Robert Sneddon: It’s the immunity without a vaccine that’s tripping me up.  Seems like a crapshoot to be magically immune or get the virus and recover with minimal damage (which doesn’t mean lifelong immunity from what we currently know.)

  20. 20.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 7:29 am

    @Amir Khalid: I know.  Not really in a “Look at the orange dumbass” mood right now.

  21. 21.

    Amir Khalid

    September 23, 2020 at 7:29 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    a certain percentage of the populace

    Around 70%, if I recall correctly.

  22. 22.

    zhena gogolia

    September 23, 2020 at 7:31 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I hate him so much that I can’t live like this. I hate him so much. I hate the media so much. Why isn’t “it hardly affects anybody” 24/7 screaming news????

  23. 23.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 7:36 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Herd immunity is reached either thru vaccinations or infections. If it is reached thru infections, many people die. If thru vaccinations, few people die.

    Yes, but through infection we’d have to ensure retransmission can’t happen from those who recovered.

    (Mmmm….cheery mass death morning conversation.)

  24. 24.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 7:42 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Why isn’t “it hardly affects anybody” 24/7 screaming news???? 

    Aren’t you forgetting that Upchuck Todd needs to scream about Hillary’s emails 25/7 (yes 25)?

    Seriously, I share your anger about this and I’m sure many other things over the past 4+ years of this shitshow.  (I include the election.)

  25. 25.

    Robert Sneddon

    September 23, 2020 at 7:55 am

    @mrmoshpotato: On average, most people who get infected will develop sufficient antibodies to be immune for a few months at least and it’s likely that if they do get re-infected they’ll suffer less than someone who is exposed for the first time. Herd immunity is not perfect, it’s statistical. Note however that this disease, like plague and many other oldey-timey diseases is going to be with us for the next few decades at least (breakthrough treatments might eliminate it from the world but we’re not going to get rid of it with what we know or can do today — it’s not like smallpox or rinderpest).

     

    With SCIENCE! and precautions we can keep the infection rate and death toll down and not overwhelm our medical facilities with the peak loads we’ve been seeing from the first and subsequent waves this year. Once there are workable vaccines with some efficacy then the uncontained spread will stop and the typical caseloads will drop down to the sorts of numbers we get from influenza, the common cold and other regular seasonal disease outbreaks.

  26. 26.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 7:59 am

    @Robert Sneddon: I hope you’re right.

  27. 27.

    Princess

    September 23, 2020 at 8:06 am

    The other problem with herd immunity (“if you leave aside all the deaths” as Ross Douthat would say) is tht there is no certainty that even if 70% of the population contracted covid, there is no guarantee that they would have immunity to reinfection for any usefully long period. We don’t have herd immunity to the common cold, and we’ve all been infected with that.

  28. 28.

    Sloane Ranger

    September 23, 2020 at 8:11 am

    @Amir Khalid: Hum, this new concept of Herd, Mentality has reached the UK. I saw it used in a tweet from a British person concerning the new restrictions here. Obviously Trump curious.

    Now, here are yesterday’s figures from the UK.

    There were 4926 new cases. This is the highest new case count since early May. Our cumulative case number is now 403,551. Of the new cases, 4187 were in England, 75 in Northern Ireland, 281 in Wales and 383 in Scotland.

    There were 37 new deaths, 36 in England and 1 in Scotland. This is the largest number for quite some time.

    Testing – 188,865 tests were processed yesterday out of a capacity of 263,689. That’s low compared with previous days.

    Hospitalisations -237 people were admitted to hospital in England on 20 September, 2 in Northern Ireland and 28 in Wales. No figures available for Scotland. On the same date, there were 1141 people actually IN hospital in England, 33 in Northern Ireland, 63 in Scotland and 82 in Wales. 142 people were in ventilators in England, 9 in Scotland and 11 in Wales. These figures all show an increase from even a week ago.

    Reaction to BoJo’s announcement here has been mixed. some say it’s gone too far others, not far enough. Just listened to a woman on a phone in programme spouting the usual RWNJ stuff you’re used to in the US and saying that Johnson is now the captive of the cover and cower consortium and has lost her vote. God knows who she will vote for if she really means it. Others are angry, saying that he’s blaming the public for his own incompetence, lack of decisive leadership and refusal to sack Cummings after he broke the rules.

    Here endeth the report from the UK.

  29. 29.

    gvg

    September 23, 2020 at 8:15 am

    @rikyrah: Yes. the NFL managing not to blow up means the colleges aren’t being warned off.  But colleges have a highly variable amount of competence and resources.

    I really think they should have banned concessions except drinks with straws. I think you could stick a straw under a mask without totally losing protection.  But allowing people to take off masks while eating is one of the problems I see.  I loved live football games, but eating and drinking stuff was a good amount of the time and when it’s still so hot I can see people using it as an excuse to take off masks more.

    I am not sure about the crowd distancing measures. They are doing pretty well on campus.

  30. 30.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 8:19 am

    @Sloane Ranger:

    Hum, this new concept of Herd, Mentality has reached the UK. I saw it used in a tweet from a British person concerning the new restrictions here.

    Was it BoJo The Bonehead?

    ETA – was this person yelling about “tyranny” and “my rights are being violated?”

  31. 31.

    charon

    September 23, 2020 at 8:19 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

     

    Herd immunity is based on assumptions that really are inapplicable to the COVID-19 situation.  Good explanation here:

    https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/07/herd-immunity-coronavirus/614035/

  32. 32.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    September 23, 2020 at 8:19 am

    @Robert Sneddon: With SCIENCE! and precautions we can keep the infection rate and death toll down and not overwhelm our medical facilities with the peak loads we’ve been seeing from the first and subsequent waves this year.

    That’s the problem, treating SCIENCE! as nothing more than an opinion is deeply offensive to many people, see Creationism. So we are going to screwed on this thing for years to come.

  33. 33.

    charon

    September 23, 2020 at 8:23 am

    @Amir Khalid:

     

    Inappropriate word substitutions are a symptom of senile dementia, specifically frontotemporal dementia.  Donald is doing that with accelerating frequency as his dementia progresses.

  34. 34.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    September 23, 2020 at 8:27 am

    @charon: Actually I think that was Trump was stoned out of his gord on Adderall and anti depressants and anciently told the truth.  Basically if Trump doesn’t do shit, some point people will become numb to the death and chaos, thus herd mentality.

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 8:31 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: anciently told the truth

    Autoincorrect: Good morning words!  Time to fuck some shit up!

  36. 36.

    mad citizen

    September 23, 2020 at 8:36 am

    Must have football!

     

     

     

    We failed.

  37. 37.

    Sloane Ranger

    September 23, 2020 at 8:37 am

    @mrmoshpotato: More, it’s here, it’s effects are being exaggerated, let’s get on with our lives. Let’s get Herd Mentality. Probably, a BoJo supporter (until last night at least). He’s upset a lot of his own base with the new restrictions and pundits are saying he can’t go much further without losing the business friendly Tory backbenchers.

  38. 38.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 8:45 am

    @mad citizen: ?Are you ready for some completely unnecessary death and destruction because enough of you hated the woman running on the Democratic ticket??

  39. 39.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 8:47 am

    @Sloane Ranger: Can’t he and Nigel just write a lie on the side of a big red bus that the virus can be voted out of the UK and it will fund the NHS?

  40. 40.

    charon

    September 23, 2020 at 8:48 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

     

    What about the “hydrosonic” or whatever it was he said very recently?  As for drugs or senility –

    ¿Porqué no los dos?

  41. 41.

    mad citizen

    September 23, 2020 at 8:55 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Ha!  Good one.  We have our local Colts.  I’m very much a fair weather tv-only fan, and on a day like last Sunday, which was a beautiful fall day, always wonder why anyone would want to sit inside watching sports.

    It is funny how having a crowd makes it seem more exciting, though, while an empty stadium or sparse crowd makes it seem like “Why I am watching this on teevee if people can’t be bothered to watch it in person?”

    Perhaps we’ve seen peak NFL.  The TV audience is continually splitting apart anyway…

  42. 42.

    Fair Economist

    September 23, 2020 at 9:06 am

    @Princess:Oh, it’s stronger than that. No respiratory virus produces long-term sterilizing immunity, and you can catch any of them again after a year or so. Repeat infections are normally milder, but 2 of the 3 re-infections definitively confirmed so far were actually worse the second time. It’s a biased sample (because people mildly sick are less likely to be tested) but it looks like COVID is still dangerous on repeat infections. Herd immunity just won’t work for this respiratory virus at all.

  43. 43.

    mrmoshpotato

    September 23, 2020 at 9:06 am

    @mad citizen: The lack of crowd hasn’t affected my love of baseball.  The canned crowd noise is annoying.

    I saw the Lions blow it versus the Bears, but only the last minute, so I can’t opine about the football.

  44. 44.

    bluefoot

    September 23, 2020 at 9:34 am

    @Robert Sneddon:

    If EVERYONE followed masking, social distancing, people had appropriate & sufficient PPE, etc and we got the infection rate low enough, the disease would essentially die out except for new hotspots, because no one new would be infected.  In hotspots/new outbreaks, we could trace and stop the spread.

    And then we would have time to distribute a good vaccine and continue testing treatments.

  45. 45.

    Helen

    September 23, 2020 at 9:51 am

    Big 10 starts football in October. Stadium seating is restricted. I’m afraid the Covid exposure won’t be at the game but at the sports bars and at football-watching parties. There will definitely be a SPIKE.

  46. 46.

    Robert Sneddon

    September 23, 2020 at 3:38 pm

    @bluefoot: Ummm, no. That’s facile of me, I know but this is a respiratory disease with low immunity in the general population, high communicability and sufficient “hang time” in shared spaces to give it a window of opportunity to infect others even in edge cases. This makes it ineradicable in humans, pretty much and that’s not even taking possible animal reservoirs of this virus into account.

     

    Presuming everyone will do the right thing all the time in terms of prophylactics to defeat this disease is what I call “engineering solutions to people problems”. My own such solution is that everyone on the planet, no exceptions, goes into individual quarantine for twenty-one days simultaneously. That would cut cross-infection to zero and the virus would die out in the human population. It won’t, it can’t work, same with the “everyone wears a mask and washes their hands and…” solution because people are people and this disease is a people problem at its heart.

     

    I can’t blame people for being people though. It’s easy to condemn the Other for not doing the right thing that you are certain is needful and necessary. That attitude is cult-like and leads to groupthink of the nastiest sort and I am myself constantly checking my own presumptions about this disease and what others are saying and doing about it even if I’m sure they’re not good for all of us.

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