COVID-19

[ItsaZoo]

Total stupidity and politics running COVID testing. If this logic was applied to health care in general, we would never do any preventive care. Wait for chest pains, then get screened for heart disease. Wait for diabetic coma, then have a blood sugar test.

My friend who works in a hospital call center mentioned that fewer people are calling to schedule tests because the results are taking 10 days. At that point you know if you have it, and unless you're deathly ill you can't get any medical care anyway.

[Lynx]

Some encouraging news reviewing mask wearing. With universal mask wearing, those people who contract the illness are more likely to be either asymptomatic or have a more mild case:

Masks Do More Than Protect Others During COVID-19: Reducing the Inoculum of SARS-CoV-2 to Protect the Wearer
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-020-06067-8

[Bookfan]

Very interesting!!!

[Sef]

We are saved. "Herd mentality" will make it go away:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-herd-mentality_n_5f618e1ac5b6e27db134a42b

[Lynx]

That is a hoot! Herd mentality indeed!

I am adding a quote from your link:

Herd mentality is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the tendency of the people in a group to think and behave in ways that conform with others in the group rather than as individuals.”

Herd immunity is when enough people are immune to a virus that it’s no longer able to effectively spread. It can happen either from a vaccine or from so many people getting sick that the virus runs out of people to infect.

Last month, The Washington Post estimated that a herd immunity strategy without a vaccine would lead to nearly 3 million deaths in the United States.

[Bookfan]

Herd mentality really does describe his base.

[Sef]

Interesting article about how the virus may be mutating:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/09/23/houston-coronavirus-mutations/?arc404=true

[Lynx]

The washington post doesn't like me (I do not have a subscription).

Hoping it does not become more deadly or harder to develop a vaccine for.

[Sef]

It works for me, and I don't have a subscription. But I now recall that the Post can be quirky. I will see if I can find a similar story elsewhere.

[bpatters]

You generally get a number of free articles per month, I think.

[Sef]

Couple of other sources to try:
https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2020/09/23/massive-genetic- ... d-us-spread/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2020/09/23/coronavirus ... 3f01df64365c


I am a little stunned. Our governor announced today that he's lifting restrictions on businesses and crowd size even further, starting on Saturday. It'll pretty much be 'business as usual' for everybody, as I think this is the final "re-open" phase for the state.

[Lynx]

Locally, the University of Virginia is cracking down harder on students in several ways and will do so further if necessary.

I hate that your governor is not taking this seriously.

[Bookfan]

Our governor, who doesn't care if anyone wears masks, has just tested positive for the virus along with his wife.

[Sef]

Damned shame.

[Lynx]

Isn't it though.

Still hoping trump gets it - primarily for information purposes so he has some idea of how bad it is.

[Bookfan]

Ditto on trump getting it. It would be interesting to see how he'd react. I can't help but wonder if Boris Johnson retiring at the end of the year has something to do with his bout with covid.

Just recently this gov. said "Send the kids back to school. They'll get sick & then they'll get better." As if that's all there is to it.

[GPIG]

Trump getting the virus - I don't know I've believed form some time there is health care available that is not available to us. Why does every president after doing the most stressful job in the world live to be like 100. Or the queen, the queen mum etc and all that too. They live forever and I'm sure the king would have but I think all bets are off when non filter cigarettes are smoked.

[mmeadow]

My theory about long-lived politicians is that they tend to be more healthy (and therefore more energetic) than the average person to begin with.

[Sef]

trump is not healthy (physically or psychologically). He's morbidly obese and reportedly has heart disease, and who-knows what other health problems that nobody will talk about. How he doesn't catch Covid-19 despite members of the WH and others close to him testing positive, and despite trump not wearing a mask at heavily-attended rallies and other public events, boggles my mind.

But hope springs eternal.

[Bookfan]

:-)