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The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

theatlantic.com

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Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#531

Post by gowld »

autokad wrote: post #521

There is lots of competition for the top of the stupidity list. NYC locking down all summer and then 'opening up' in September seemed top of the list to me. It's not that I thought they should have stayed locked down the entire time, its that they should have opened in the summer so they could lock down in the winter if they really needed it. But seriously though, locking down in the summer to only open up in flu sea…

Blaming the US Southern border for coronavirus spread is a racist and Republican (anti-immigration excuse-making) trope.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#532

Post by mmcdermott »

resource0x wrote: post #528
thaumasiotes wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> can someone write a script to compare current covid cases among countries as a function of vaccination rates This isn't really a good idea, because cases as a function of vaccination rates won't tell you anything meaningful. Vaccinations aren't distributed at random - they are heavily skewed towards people at risk of serious health effects from the virus, and skewed away from people with low risk. So if you were to…

So, there's no way to figure out the effectiveness of vaccines from the data? Then how?

It would have to be a multivariate analysis. That's sort of the problem with x over y analysis - the question presupposes a very narrow range of answers.

There are good reasons to believe the vaccines help, but you don't want to beg the question when you start the analysis.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#533

Post by pengaru »

simonw wrote: post #458
rayiner wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It boggles my mind why there is pushback on mandating kids to wear masks in schools. It really shouldn’t if you’re an educated person who is following what scientific authorities are saying. The science here is still uncertain, but leaning towards masks for kids in schools not being worth it. See: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/08/the-science-of-maski... > At the end of May, the Centers for Disease Control an…

How is "the science here is still uncertain" an argument against masks in schools? If it turns out they are useful, wearing them will have been a good idea. If it turns out that they weren't useful, what harm has been caused? (I'm aware that there are people out there who think wearing masks for a year or two will scar children for life, but for the most part I don't think those people are arguing in good faith. The…

> If it turns out that they weren't useful, what harm has been caused?

If masks are ineffective, wearing them amounts to theatrics/fiction.

If that fiction creates a false sense of safety, it can encourage people to take risks like interacting in closer proximity than they would otherwise.

I have no knowledge or expertise on if masks are effective nor have any children, this is just an observation of what seems like an obvious potential harm.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#534

Post by staticassertion »

NonContro wrote: post #381
staticassertion wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UK seems to have a 62% full vaccination rate with 71% having at least one dose[0]. That sounds really low to me. "Close to full vaccination" to me would imply close to 100% or, reading "full" as "reaching herd immunity" I'd think 70-80% fully vaccinated - still a very long way to go. I hear you that we will eventually reach a point where we've hit the new normal. It's just going to be whether that point is reache…

92% of Brits have COVID antibodies, either through exposure or immunity: https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-around-nine-in-10-adults...

That feels a little selective.

> Latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show 89.8% of adults in England are likely to have the antibodies, with the highest percentage of adults testing positive for them estimated to be the age groups 60 to 64, 70 to 74 and 75 to 79 (all 96.8%).

> The lowest percentage was for 16 to 24-year-olds at around 59.7%.

The 92% (91.8% cited) is presumably from this sentence?

> In Wales, 91.8% of adults are estimated to have antibodies in their system

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#535

Post by bobsomers »

commandlinefan wrote: post #496
adrr wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People aren’t scared up. Concern is around ICU usage and that elective surgery in hot areas are put on hold which include critical cancer removal surgeries. Also we have a large group of unvaccinated group which are under kids under 12. With life going back to normal, the standard diseases are back like RSV, paraflu and others. Get two at the same time and it’s a emergency room visit. Get 3 at the same time and it’s…

> mandating kids to wear masks in schools There's no evidence that wearing masks prevents contracting Covid (or any other airborne virus). It does a bit toward preventing spreading it if you already have it, but if you already have it, the schools send you home anyway. It's also not as if masks are themselves neutral either - constant mask wearing is associated with higher rates of bacterial pneumonia. Even medical p…

> There's no evidence that wearing masks prevents contracting Covid (or any other airborne virus). It does a bit toward preventing spreading it if you already have it

What you just described is the same thing, it's simply a matter of perspective. If you wear a mask, it helps me by reducing the chances that you spread it to me if you have it but aren't experiencing symptoms yet. It works the same way in reverse. I don't wear a mask to protect myself, I wear it to protect others in the case that I'm shedding virus and don't know it yet.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#536

Post by [deleted] »

tootie wrote: post #319
Miner49er wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe because the vaccines are looking like they aren't going to be be as effective as they were originally made out to be, but I still think we need to return to normal at some point.

They are as effective as we thought they were. Delta is just more virulent than previous strains and we're at barely 50% vaccination rate. We're still waiting on safe doses for children and the millions of stubborn people who think public health is a personal decision.

[deleted]

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#537

Post by swader999 »

jmull wrote: post #413
User23 wrote: post #132

What baffles me is the total failure to highlight one of the best ways to mitigate the risk of severe covid complications: don’t be obese[1]. It’s also a good life choice for those who also prefer not to die of non-covid conditions. Edit: And it increases your risk for long covid[2]. [1] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/latest-evidence-on... [2] https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20210608/obesity-increases-r...

Do you really think there are a lot of obese people around that can simply stop being obese but just haven't had a reason to yet? Where do people come up with this stuff?

I was 35 pounds overweight. Saw the writing on the wall and in three months I'm down 25-30 pounds. Stopped eating sugar and bread and only eat one meal 2-4 times a week.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#538

Post by russdpale »

gowld wrote: post #531
autokad wrote: post #521

There is lots of competition for the top of the stupidity list. NYC locking down all summer and then 'opening up' in September seemed top of the list to me. It's not that I thought they should have stayed locked down the entire time, its that they should have opened in the summer so they could lock down in the winter if they really needed it. But seriously though, locking down in the summer to only open up in flu sea…

Blaming the US Southern border for coronavirus spread is a racist and Republican (anti-immigration excuse-making) trope.

Those types of contents are becoming more and more common on this forum. Doesn't seem like mods care.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#539

Post by datameta »

linuxftw wrote: post #530
nvrspyx wrote: post #520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you reply with such confidence in something you clearly know nothing about? Chicken pox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which can certainly be fatal if contracted as an adult (i.e shingles) and never been exposed to it as a child. _Now_, most people are exposed to it when they're children, when it's much less serious, but vaccination is still the preferred method because it can still be deadly in c…

> FYI, ~6.4K people still die every year to chicken pox and shingles BS. Maybe if you have AIDs or are terminally ill or have some genetic abnormality.

So those people aren't worth taking into account and can be written off? The number of Americans with an autoimmune condition is in the single digit millions.

Re: The Coronavirus Is Here Forever

#540

Post by masklinn »

beloch wrote: post #489

"The transition to endemic COVID-19 is also a psychological one. When everyone has some immunity, a COVID-19 diagnosis becomes as routine as diagnosis of strep or flu—not good news, but not a reason for particular fear or worry or embarrassment either. That means unlearning a year of messaging that said COVID-19 was not just a flu. If the confusion around the CDC dropping mask recommendations for the vaccinated earli…

> Diseases that are endemic today, such as chicken pox, once caused epidemics with massive body counts, notably in North America. No vaccines, no advanced medical care, and no natural immunity meant that some villages just ceased to exist.

You may be confusing chickenpox and smallpox? Chickenpox is generally considered a pretty mild disease (many countries still don't routinely vaccinate against it), and was so historically as the infectiousness ensured essentially everybody would be infected as a child.

WHO guidelines are actually to only vaccinate if rates can be kept above 80% consistently, otherwise it'll likely hit older populations with much more dire consequences.

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