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Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

publichealth.verily.com

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Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#131

Post by yucky »

gernb wrote: post #114
rayiner wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For vaccinated individuals, being sick for two weeks is unusual. When I got covid the first time, before vaccines were available, I was sick less than a week. I had a few weeks of brain fog after that but it cleared up. I got it again last week and I was sick for only a day. Not any worse than any cold I’ve had before. Indeed I’ve had fewer sick days the last couple of years than I did the year my daughter started da…

Quoted post unavailable.

If it makes you feel better, the majority of people dying of COVID now are actually vaccinated. So at least you can stop splitting people into in-groups and out-groups to wish death upon.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/23/vaccinate...

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#132

Post by sn0wf1re »

haswell wrote: post #84
sn0wf1re wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How else would they get food? Not everyone can afford to order in. Is your opinion that these people should just starve?

While I agree that the parent comment is making huge assumptions about delivery options people have access to (both for geographical and for cost reasons), there are options in the middle. The majority of stores (grocery and otherwise) introduced curbside pickup options early in the pandemic, which at least provides more options for someone who doesn't have access to or can't afford delivery, while removing or minimi…

Can you provide a reference to a discount grocer (since you are replying to a comment about affordability) that offers curb-side or delivery without fee? I am not aware of any.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#133

Post by fullmoon »

gernb wrote: post #114
rayiner wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For vaccinated individuals, being sick for two weeks is unusual. When I got covid the first time, before vaccines were available, I was sick less than a week. I had a few weeks of brain fog after that but it cleared up. I got it again last week and I was sick for only a day. Not any worse than any cold I’ve had before. Indeed I’ve had fewer sick days the last couple of years than I did the year my daughter started da…

Quoted post unavailable.

Please consider seeking the help of mental health counseling both for your own sake and for those close to you.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#134

Post by fullmoon »

spookthesunset wrote: post #53
dxhdr wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How would you characterize the costs associated with wearing a mask most of the time when in public? I tried it for a year and it's dehumanizing. Not sure how you'd rate that vs the unknown chance of long covid but I've made my choice.

It’s sad you get downvoted. Mask wearing is incredibly dehumanizing in my opinion. It is a symbol of fear and control. It never ever should never have been mandated, only recommended.

Culturally? That would be interesting to think through.

I can be sold on the idea that covering one face (by any means) removes a lot of communication and social clues that are inherently human.

But control?

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#135

Post by sn0wf1re »

dietr1ch wrote: post #129
sn0wf1re wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How else would they get food? Not everyone can afford to order in. Is your opinion that these people should just starve?

Most could ask friend or family for help. Not wanting to bother someone else is silly, since it results in bothering way more than one person.

> Not wanting to bother someone else is silly, since it results in bothering way more than one person

I agree with you.

> Most could ask friend or family for help

Most but not all. An alternative is asking a stranger (government programs where I am ended almost a year ago), strangers are kinder than people realize. But asking for help is challenging for many people.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#136

Post by gjsman-1000 »

jltsiren wrote: post #119
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, imagine if said hard hat caused unknown long-term effects by itself. We know, for a fact, that some plastic fibers from masks end up in the lungs permanently. What happens when they go there? Nobody knows. How many of them are there in the average person? Nobody knows. What are the long term effects? Nobody knows. How does it affect lung development in both short-term and long-term, particularly in young people…

Disposable masks have been routinely used in healthcare since at least the 1960s. I would be extremely surprised if there are no studies of the long-term health effects of mask use. Especially since the people who could do such research are the ones who would suffer most from any adverse effects.

There are some, even from this pandemic. They aren't great.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8072811/

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#137

Post by TaylorAlexander »

howinteresting wrote: post #65
fullmoon wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We Europeans are continually surprised that talking about masks is still a thing.* Except for 1 or 2 outlier countries masking is over. * Unless they are familiar with U.S. politics

Indoor masking is quite common in the SF Bay Area.

I live in the SF Bay Area. Yes you will always see masks but I’m surprised how many people you see who don’t wear them.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#138

Post by ropeladder »

jdadj wrote: post #14
ropeladder wrote: post #7

Wastewater surveillance is a pretty crazy technology. My neighbor works on projects using it for wildlife tracking, and they can get startling amounts of information about what is going on in a given watershed. What (e.g endangered) animals are present, what animals humans are eating, etc. And all the way down to the viral level, obviously.

I’m confused. How is wastewater from endangered animals ending up in the sewage system? Surely they’re not using toilets…

Sorry, my comment was a bit misleading: as the other commenter noted, they are doing testing in rivers, etc. When animals defecate/urinate onto the ground, some of it eventually gets carried and aggregated into flowing water.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#139

Post by TaylorAlexander »

kjksf wrote: post #71
Diederich wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being sick two weeks is a very clear cost. Less clear are the long-term costs associated with long-covid. How would you characterize the costs associated with wearing a mask most of the time when in public?

Being killed by a falling brick is a very clear cost. How would you characterize the costs associated with wearing a hard hat most of the time when in public? Talking about cost without normalizing for probability of prevention is meaningless yet you want to frame the discussion to be purely about (low) cost of wearing masks. We had a year of a pretty tough lockdown, most people wearing masks, distancing in grocery s…

If I was surrounded by falling bricks I’d definitely consider it!

For me the costs aren’t just wearing a mask or getting sick. I also have vulnerable people in my life. My partner, their partners, my elderly parents, friends with unknown connections.

If I walked around the grocery store without a mask I could at any time pick up the virus and even if I don’t get very sick I could give it to friends or loved ones. So then there is a mental load of worrying if I’m feeling fatigue due to poor sleep or onset of the virus (which is how it happened when I actually had it), and wondering if I should cancel social plans when I’m not feeling 100% normal.

If I am always wearing masks in public I can relax about it more when seeing friends. I’m being responsible and while accidents do happen I’m at least not being negligent.

I notice a lot of people not masking are only talking about themselves. It’s like they don’t think about how transmitting the illness affects others.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#140

Post by potatochup »

dxhdr wrote: post #43
TaylorAlexander wrote: post #13

I am continually surprised at how many people don’t wear masks at places like the grocery store even as cases are rising. I got covid over the summer and it was horrible! I lost two weeks of work which was a lot of money to lose, missed multiple dates with my partner I would have really enjoyed and felt totally isolated. Then I felt fatigue and brain fog for months afterwards. Afterwards I got the bivalent vaccine so…

I'd rather be sick for 2 weeks than wear a mask every day. Surveying those around me I'd say 98% came to the same conclusion.

It doesn't have to be that dichotomous though. I don't wear a mask at work (which is well ventilated and people are pretty responsible about staying home when sick) but I do in higher risk situations (E.g. a plane flight)
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