Just imagine how many fewer people would fall ill each year with the flu if we didn’t shake hands as our default greeting?
Demolition Man was prescient.
Social distancing slowing not only Covid-19, but other diseases too
81–90 of 234 posts
Re: Social distancing slowing not only Covid-19, but other diseases too
#82I've noticed this anecdotally. My son usually goes to preschool (and Sunday school and playdates and museums and parks). He has had an almost constant runny nose for a while... as soon as one virus is fought off, another takes its place. Nothing major, but clearly annoying to him (cheek red due to him wiping his nose, in spite of our efforts to keep his face clean). A few days to a week after soft-quarantine (school…
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Re: Social distancing slowing not only Covid-19, but other diseases too
#83Just imagine how many fewer people would fall ill each year with the flu if we didn’t shake hands as our default greeting?
This will be a very good silver lining. Bows, elbow bumps. Not sure what the standard greeting will be, but getting away from handshakes and cheek kissing will make all of us healthier.
Something strikes me as so cowardly about that line of thinking.
Re: Social distancing slowing not only Covid-19, but other diseases too
#84"Social distancing" is such a weird and ambiguous phrase. Are we not socializing right now over the Internet while maintaining physical distance? Arguably, we're socially closer than before because of this crisis.
Which is why the WHO changed their recommended terminology to "physical distancing". Previous HN discussion:
Re: Social distancing slowing not only Covid-19, but other diseases too
#85"Social distancing" is such a weird and ambiguous phrase. Are we not socializing right now over the Internet while maintaining physical distance? Arguably, we're socially closer than before because of this crisis.
Which is why the WHO changed their recommended terminology to "physical distancing". Previous HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22665506
Difficult to replace a phrase that's already caught on. Good to know, though.
Re: Social distancing slowing not only Covid-19, but other diseases too
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Due to the emergence of the coronavirus, Kinsa is receiving two to three times more thermometer readings per day than in previous flu seasons. Historically, Kinsa’s methods have been able to account for a sharp rise in the number of people taking tests, said Benjamin Dalziel, a professor at Oregon State University who studies infectious diseases. For his research, Dalziel has ensured that a spike in testing didn’t…
That'll teach me to rush to comment when I see something "off" instead of reading the whole thing. I'm tempted to delete a post that isn't useful now, but I should leave it as a minor embarrassing lesson to myself. I wish people would stop upvoting me though... Each one makes me cringe: another person who didn't read very carefully.
I think your parent, parent post should stay up. This discussion is valuable. So many show up in the comments when the first thing seems amiss before having a full understanding of what is linked. It's a cycle that repeatedly plays out. It's something I've done before, too. We could all collectively do better.
Re: Social distancing slowing not only Covid-19, but other diseases too
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Due to the emergence of the coronavirus, Kinsa is receiving two to three times more thermometer readings per day than in previous flu seasons. Historically, Kinsa’s methods have been able to account for a sharp rise in the number of people taking tests, said Benjamin Dalziel, a professor at Oregon State University who studies infectious diseases. For his research, Dalziel has ensured that a spike in testing didn’t…
That'll teach me to rush to comment when I see something "off" instead of reading the whole thing. I'm tempted to delete a post that isn't useful now, but I should leave it as a minor embarrassing lesson to myself. I wish people would stop upvoting me though... Each one makes me cringe: another person who didn't read very carefully.
> I wish people would stop upvoting me though... Each one makes me cringe: another person who didn't read very carefully.
I don't think upvotes mean something's correct, I think they mean that something (and the ensuing discussion) is worth reading.
Even though you were a little off base, it was a useful chain of discussion because presumably a large nonzero number of people would think the same thing. :)
Re: Social distancing slowing not only Covid-19, but other diseases too
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
That'll teach me to rush to comment when I see something "off" instead of reading the whole thing. I'm tempted to delete a post that isn't useful now, but I should leave it as a minor embarrassing lesson to myself. I wish people would stop upvoting me though... Each one makes me cringe: another person who didn't read very carefully.
Eh, the response isn't exactly a slam dunk. There's a difference between saying "I thought of that, and it's not a problem" and whatever it is actually not being a problem.
The reply doesn't necessarily have to be a slam dunk or complete rebuke. Quoting the single sentence, without the next 5, impartially paints the story. It's imbalanced. It denies the reader the level of nuance necessary to pass fair judgment.
Re: Social distancing slowing not only Covid-19, but other diseases too
#89It's fascinating data, and I'm glad it's being taken, but...I am a bit skeptical that we can draw any reasonable conclusions from it without limiting the data to long-term users.
It seems implausible that there has not been a significant change in the health-consciousness of the typical purchaser in the last month or two, vs. prior to that. I can't tell you what the change would be, but I find it highly implausible that it would be not at all different, given the biggest spike in public awareness of a health issue in several decades.
It's nice to see that Dalziel has thought of the issue, but the article doesn't tell us much about _how_ he accounted for that. I could think of ways, but I could also think of ways to screw it up, and it doesn't say in this article how he "ensured" that the effect is real.
Re: Social distancing slowing not only Covid-19, but other diseases too
#90A worldwide fast through slow