Welcome to the fourth wave

[BIGUN 1,042]

2 minutes ago, Phil1111 said:

Current CDC guidelines "After unpacking groceries,

Operative word: "Current." That was not the case at the beginning. 

[wolfriverjoe 1,339]

Just now, BIGUN said:

...In the end; a friend of mine is the CMO for a large hospital here (former combat surgeon) and I sent him my process for review and he said he wished everyone did it. And, that was during a time when the ICU's were maxed out. 

The bottom line is: We didn't know and it was better to do too much and be wrong, than not enough and be wrong. 

^This. 

"An abundance of caution". 

As we learn more (we're still in the learning process), we have adjusted protocols to stay reasonably safe. 

On the 'kinda funny' side, this has been the mildest flu season on record.
The precautions we are taking to prevent the spread of Covid are equally effective against influenza.

I saw a stat where child deaths are usually in the 'mid-hundreds' by now. There have been less than 50.

A quick search found this from back in January:
https://www.today.com/health/flu-season-2020-2021-flu-activity-historic-lows-mask-wearing-t207131

[Phil1111 905]

3 minutes ago, BIGUN said:

Operative word: "Current." That was not the case at the beginning. 

Yes my sister follows more or less the same thing you do. Wiping down groceries when home. The only action i take in that regard is to choose produce thats at the back and covered by other produce.

I learnt yesterday that a friend got covid together with his wife. He was always rather careless about safety.

[kallend 1,619]

Given the regular reports of e-coli, listeria, salmonella, etc., and other pathogens on food, it seems to me a very good idea to treat all groceries as potential sources of disease, Covid or no Covid.

[wmw999 2,114]

1 hour ago, BIGUN said:

The bottom line is: We didn't know and it was better to do too much and be wrong, than not enough and be wrong. 

I did it, too. My sister-in-law the infection control nurse, along with my sister-in-law the public health doctor, told me when I asked them that it was over-the-top, but that didn't bother me much. I did quit eventually.

Wendy P.

[billvon 2,379]

11 hours ago, Westerly said:

Wiping down your groceries accomplishes absolutely nothing. The virus does not spread that way. It spreads by airborne contact from another infected human. 

When the pandemic began, public health experts made the (reasonable) assumption that contact was a primary transmission vector i.e. that it was like most other viruses.  Turns out it's actually pretty minor in this case, and that aerosol transmission was a much bigger vector - which is unlike other viruses.

So it was a good call early on; better to do too much than too little, especially when it's easy to do.  Nowadays it's still a good idea, although it is less effective than earlier thought.

[kallend 1,619]

5 hours ago, billvon said:

When the pandemic began, public health experts made the (reasonable) assumption that contact was a primary transmission vector i.e. that it was like most other viruses.  Turns out it's actually pretty minor in this case, and that aerosol transmission was a much bigger vector - which is unlike other viruses.

So it was a good call early on; better to do too much than too little, especially when it's easy to do.  Nowadays it's still a good idea, although it is less effective than earlier thought.

2020 is the first year I can remember (and I can remember a lot) that I haven't had a common cold all year (usually I get 2 or 3 a year).  I figure that's on account of masking, distancing and far more hand washing.

[JoeWeber 2,294]

50 minutes ago, kallend said:

2020 is the first year I can remember (and I can remember a lot) that I haven't had a common cold all year (usually I get 2 or 3 a year).  I figure that's on account of masking, distancing and far more hand washing.

Fully agree. I usually don't get colds but I'm always irritated when people who are sick get in my space. Haven't had that experience in over a year now. I have also come to enjoy the masks. It's always big fun to go into banks wearing one and lovely to not need to smile at assholes. Same with shaking hands. You never know where the damn thing was or which orifice it was picking at before it's offered with a smile. Let's end that, too.

[murps2000 86]

Got my first Pfizer jab this morning. One of my favorite delicatessens is a few blocks away from the vaccination site so afterward I promptly headed over and grabbed a huge pesto chicken sub. Then I went for a medium 6 mile hike. I'm home now enjoying a chilly pale ale. My shoulder smarts a bit but not as bad as the other jabs I got from some stinging nettle along the trail.

I lost a very good friend to the fourth wave on Friday. He was as good as they come, a mentor and role model, and I was lucky to know him. I wish he could have gotten a vaccine in time. I wish more precautions would have given him that extra time. 

[Westerly 61]

11 hours ago, wmw999 said:

For a short while, and not that many doctors.

The thing is, it doesn't impact westerly in the least, what headoverheel's friend does. Except that it gives them an "opportunity" to make cheap fun of someone. And if it makes h/h's friend more comfortable with managing his health, then who cares? Frankly, the interchange says a lot more about westerly than to h/h's friend.

I soaked my greens for awhile (never did wipe down boxes etc). But then I grew up overseas, and soaking the greens was something we just did anyway, because everyone else did, and people who soaked their greens generally didn't get sick.

Wendy P

I am not making fun of anyone, I am pointing out that popular and factually correct are rarely the same. When the virus first came out there was this rush to buy cleaning supplies because people thought that if they dident clean every surface in their house at all times then they might get sick. The science now says that cleaning surfaces has little to no effect on the likeliness of you getting infected. Avoiding other people can singularly reduce your risk more than all other factors combined.

Edited April 15, 2021 by Westerly

[billvon 2,379]

4 hours ago, Westerly said:

When the virus first came out there was this rush to buy cleaning supplies because people thought that if they dident clean every surface in their house at all times then they might get sick.

Right.  It was the best advice we had at the time - and undoubtedly saved lives.  Just not as many as we thought it would.

Quote

The science now says that cleaning surfaces has little to no effect on the likeliness of you getting infected. 

Uh - no. The CDC now recommends soap and water to clean surfaces rather than disinfectants, because it turns out that's sufficient.  Which is very different than "cleaning has little to no effect."  The risk from surface contamination is much lower than originally thought.  It is not zero.

[billvon 2,379]

On 4/10/2021 at 6:31 AM, sfzombie13 said:

now with the 100% chance of not dying from it, it feels better. 

BTW 74 fully vaccinated people have died in the US so far from COVID-19, and 396 have been hospitalized with COVID.  So the odds are still very good that the vaccine will protect you - but it's not 100%.

[headoverheels 291]

2 hours ago, billvon said:

BTW 74 fully vaccinated people have died in the US so far from COVID-19, and 396 have been hospitalized with COVID.  So the odds are still very good that the vaccine will protect you - but it's not 100%.

It would be interesting to see the medical condition of those folks tabulated.  e.g., did they have immune system problems, cancer, other conditions, or were they just unlucky.

[Baksteen 84]

8 hours ago, JoeWeber said:

Fully agree. I usually don't get colds but I'm always irritated when people who are sick get in my space. Haven't had that experience in over a year now. I have also come to enjoy the masks. It's always big fun to go into banks wearing one and lovely to not need to smile at assholes. Same with shaking hands. You never know where the damn thing was or which orifice it was picking at before it's offered with a smile. Let's end that, too.

Pre-2020 we politely sneezed in our hands.
Then COVID happened and alternatives were sought.
Sneezing in your elbow, for instance.

Pre-2020 we shook hands.
Then COVID happened and alternatives were sought.
The elbow bump for instance.

For the time being, I'll wave at you, thanks.

Edited April 16, 2021 by Baksteen

[kallend 1,619]

3 hours ago, billvon said:

BTW 74 fully vaccinated people have died in the US so far from COVID-19, and 396 have been hospitalized with COVID.  So the odds are still very good that the vaccine will protect you - but it's not 100%.

77 million in US are estimated to have been vaccinated, so about 1 in a million chance of dying from Covid after vaccination.  Much the same as the odds of being struck by lightning.

[sfzombie13 307]

3 hours ago, Baksteen said:

Pre-2020 we politely sneezed in our hands.
Then COVID happened and alternatives were sought.
Sneezing in your elbow, for instance.

Pre-2020 we shook hands.
Then COVID happened and alternatives were sought.
The elbow bump for instance.

For the time being, I'll wave at you, thanks.

and just how fucking stupid is it to sneeze into your elbow and then BUMP IT with someone else?  that is one of the things i just can't understand.  stop fucking touching one another!! 

[sfzombie13 307]

6 hours ago, billvon said:

BTW 74 fully vaccinated people have died in the US so far from COVID-19, and 396 have been hospitalized with COVID.  So the odds are still very good that the vaccine will protect you - but it's not 100%.

are we really doing this again?  do the math, it works out to 0.000037313989761% chance to die from the covid after being vaccinated.  again, working in real numbers and rounding to three decimals brings it to effectively zero.  so, zero it is.  i also doubt those numbers, not that they are really folks who died from covid after the vaccine, just that there comorbidities involved that never affected me in the first place.  also, out of the 74, how many had not yet reached the full effectiveness of the vaccine?  if they died before the two weeks after the 2d shot, that wouldn't really count as far as being fully vaccinated.  the question becomes, how many fully vaccinated folks have died from covid?  sounds like time to look things up.

that didn't take long.  i found that it says 75 mil have been fully vaccinated in the us, and 74 have died.  the article says that is 1.4%, but after doing the math, i found it to be 0.0000986~%.  not sure how they are calculating the total, but it is just wrong, or i am.  ratios are easy, so unless i am missing a fundamental point in the math, it is still zero. 

Edited April 16, 2021 by sfzombie13
looked it up

[kallend 1,619]

Stupid is as stupid does:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/17/us/vaccine-hesitancy-politics.html

 

Least Vaccinated U.S. Counties Have Something in Common: Trump Voters

[billvon 2,379]

On 4/16/2021 at 4:04 AM, sfzombie13 said:

are we really doing this again?  do the math, it works out to 0.000037313989761% chance to die from the covid after being vaccinated.

So in other words, the odds are very good but not 100%.

Thanks for confirming that.

[jakee 1,254]

On 4/16/2021 at 12:04 PM, sfzombie13 said:

that didn't take long.  i found that it says 75 mil have been fully vaccinated in the us, and 74 have died.  the article says that is 1.4%, but after doing the math, i found it to be 0.0000986~%.  not sure how they are calculating the total, but it is just wrong, or i am.  ratios are easy, so unless i am missing a fundamental point in the math, it is still zero. 

True, but using the same basic system your total chance of dying from covid in the US is less than 0.2%, which can also be rounded down to zero. So why not then make the argument that the vaccine makes no difference 

[sfzombie13 307]

28 minutes ago, jakee said:

True, but using the same basic system your total chance of dying from covid in the US is less than 0.2%, which can also be rounded down to zero. So why not then make the argument that the vaccine makes no difference 

because there are all sorts of other complications from getting covid.  it makes no difference to dying, but i am certainly not in a hurry to get neurological damage or lung damage.  for me, the chance of dying, either from covid or the vaccine was always 100%, no decimals to round up from.  for you guys, whatever makes you comfortable.

[brenthutch 383]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjuzYCA9ofwAhXOB80KHSNMDv4QvOMEegQIERAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.texastribune.org%2F2021%2F04%2F14%2Ftexas-coronavirus-mask-order-abbott%2F&usg=AOvVaw1QGl9Eouku4CFxLzmsRqpl

Abbott’s decision to end most statewide restrictions went into effect 35 days ago, on March 10. The seven-day average for daily new confirmed cases was 3,020 on that day; it was 2,456 on Tuesday. The seven-day average of the state’s positivity rate — the ratio of cases to tests — was 6.24% on March 10; it was 5.89% on Monday. (The latest positivity-rate figures are considered preliminary and subject to recalculation as more test results come in from the date in question.)

Deaths and hospitalizations, which lag new cases, have seen steeper drops since March 10. The seven-day average of new daily deaths was 187 on March 10; it was 64 on Tuesday. There were 4,556 Texans hospitalized with the virus on March 10; there were 3,002 on Tuesday.

Looks like Texas is opting out of the fourth wave

[jakee 1,254]

11 hours ago, sfzombie13 said:

for me, the chance of dying, either from covid or the vaccine was always 100%, no decimals to round up from.  

But you're not dead?

[kallend 1,619]

1 hour ago, jakee said:

But you're not dead?

You don't know that.  He might be spending some dead time for tax reasons.

[headoverheels 291]

2 hours ago, jakee said:

But you're not dead?

Hard to tell with zombies.