Coronavirus Thread VII: Jagged Little Pill (READ OP)

[Xmara]

Thanks everyone, for the get well messages.

Also, WV dems speak out against calls for covid special session. Apparently this session would involve passing legislation that would prohibit businesses, school systems, and colleges from requiring vaccines and other covid prevention measures.

[San Lumen]

Thanks everyone, for the get well messages.

Also, WV dems speak out against calls for covid special session. Apparently this session would involve passing legislation that would prohibit businesses, school systems, and colleges from requiring vaccines and other covid prevention measures.

Do Democrats have the votes to prevent the session? Does WV have quorum rules like in Texas?

[Xmara]

Thanks everyone, for the get well messages.

Also, WV dems speak out against calls for covid special session. Apparently this session would involve passing legislation that would prohibit businesses, school systems, and colleges from requiring vaccines and other covid prevention measures.

Do Democrats have the votes to prevent the session? Does WV have quorum rules like in Texas?

Idk. I know that the Democrats are the minority in the WV legislature.

I hope they don’t pass it. We’re already lagging behind the nation in vaccination rates.

[San Lumen]

Do Democrats have the votes to prevent the session? Does WV have quorum rules like in Texas?

Idk. I know that the Democrats are the minority in the WV legislature.

I hope they don’t pass it. We’re already lagging behind the nation in vaccination rates.

http://www.wvlegislature.gov/house/rules.cfm
http://www.wvlegislature.gov/senate1/rules.cfm

I looked up the rules and it appears only a majority of those elected to either chamber is needed therefore Democrats would have no power to stop the special session.

[Xmara]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

[San Lumen]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

It’s endemic now. At some point we have to accept that and move on like South America and Europe are beginning to do .

That article is also pure speculation.

[North Washington Republic]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

It’s endemic now. At some point we have to accept that and move on like South America and Europe are beginning to do .

That article is also pure speculation.

The difference is that the United States has higher rates of vaccine hesitancy and that hesitancy is embraced by one of our two major political parties. Europe doesn’t really have that.

[Xmara]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

It’s endemic now. At some point we have to accept that and move on like South America and Europe are beginning to do .

That article is also pure speculation.

I don’t think a fifth wave is “pure speculation” at this point

[Loeje]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

It’s endemic now. At some point we have to accept that and move on like South America and Europe are beginning to do .

That article is also pure speculation.

Europe did more. It's not possible to move on until it's safe.

[San Lumen]

It’s endemic now. At some point we have to accept that and move on like South America and Europe are beginning to do .

That article is also pure speculation.

Europe did more. It's not possible to move on until it's safe.

Define safe

[Kannap]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

It’s endemic now. At some point we have to accept that and move on like South America and Europe are beginning to do.

You keep using that word endemic but I'm not quite sure you know what it means. COVID-19 is still very much pandemic, not endemic.

That article is also pure speculation.

Real fucking rich coming out of your keyboard, this gave me a good laugh.

[Xmara]

Europe did more. It's not possible to move on until it's safe.

Define safe

Uh, not having thousands of people dying every day from covid?

[Senkaku]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

It’s endemic now. At some point we have to accept that and move on like South America and Europe are beginning to do .

That article is also pure speculation.

https://youtu.be/Gm2x6CVIXiE <<< just repost this every couple hours and save us the tedium of having to read your posts

[Antipatros]

Europe did more. It's not possible to move on until it's safe.

Define safe

I'd say that we've accomplished our mission once we can resume life as normal (or as close to normal as possible) without hospital ICUs getting overrun with COVID patients. We have the means to do that, just not the will.

[Esalia]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

It’s endemic now. At some point we have to accept that and move on like South America and Europe are beginning to do .

That article is also pure speculation.

I'm bored, so I threw "covid restrictions europe" into Google.

First link was seemingly about current restrictions, not if they're being lessened.

Second one was a BBC article from back in June, which doesn't really mention any easing beyond that so isn't particularly helpful in knowing if Europe is still committed to moving on or have changed course in the past three months.

The next couple were select EU countries tightening restrictions on foreign tourists which sounds like the opposite of "accepting that and moving on", since they're still attempting to restrict the spread of covid via restrictions on people coming from potential hotspots.

And then one on Ireland lifting its restrictions in October, but - and this is key - after 90% of Irish adults being fully vaccinated. A similar case in Denmark, too, again because of a high vaccination rate (over 80% of over 12s).

It seems like, if "Europe is moving on", it seems to mainly be select countries ditching restrictions because they've hit 80-90% rates of vaccinations. Which if we absolutely must "move on", sounds like the most reasonable course of action.

It also doesn't sound much like "accept it and move on", more "minimise it and move on". They're not just throwing in the towel, they're reaching a point where with the vast majority of people vaccinated and their hospital systems fine, there just isn't a need for restrictions any more.

[95X]

There is no excuse or circumstance for the suspension of democracy. What we should do is mandate mail-in ballot as an option[…]

I've lived in two states with all mail-in voting (Oregon and Washington), which works just fine. Washington started including postage-paid ballot return envelopes, and there's always been free ballot drop-off boxes. So voting during Coronavirus is no different than voting normally.

Update: covid test came back negative. I think I have a sinus infection. I feel slightly better but I’m still miserable.

Glad to know! Hope you feel better soon.

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

My guess in two words: mandatory vaccinations.

[Tinhampton]

Ron loses again!

Second Circuit Judge John Cooper has ruled against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appeal, allowing Florida schools to continue to have mask mandates while the case is appealed at a higher level.

Effective immediately, the state of Florida must stop their enforcement of a mask ban, which ends sanctions against several school districts who have implemented mask mandates...

Christina Pushaw sez:

BREAKING: 1st District Court of Appeals just granted the State of Florida's request to reinstate the stay -- meaning, the rule requiring ALL Florida school districts to protect parents' rights to make choices about masking kids is BACK in effect!

ruling

[Maricarland]

Europe did more. It's not possible to move on until it's safe.

Define safe

Fauci says we will be out of a nation-wide pandemic in the U.S. once we get cases down to less than 10,000 a day (over what I assume is a week or two).

[Maricarland]

There is no excuse or circumstance for the suspension of democracy. What we should do is mandate mail-in ballot as an option[…]

I've lived in two states with all mail-in voting (Oregon and Washington), which works just fine. Washington started including postage-paid ballot return envelopes, and there's always been free ballot drop-off boxes. So voting during Coronavirus is no different than voting normally.

Update: covid test came back negative. I think I have a sinus infection. I feel slightly better but I’m still miserable.

Glad to know! Hope you feel better soon.

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

My guess in two words: mandatory vaccinations.

Agreed, with everything

[Luminesa]

Europe did more. It's not possible to move on until it's safe.

Define safe

Mrs. Norris says...

[Neanderthaland]

Europe did more. It's not possible to move on until it's safe.

Define safe

Lets say once Covid only kills as many people per year as the average flu does.

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

Another one?! I shouldn’t be surprised.

[Maricarland]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

Another one?! I shouldn’t be surprised.

I would guess that by the end of the pandemic we will have the number of waves in the teens (maybe even early twenties if things go really bad).

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

Another one?! I shouldn’t be surprised.

I would guess that by the end of the pandemic we will have the number of waves in the teens (maybe even early twenties if things go really bad).

Sometimes it feels like that's exactly what will happen. >o<

[Forsher]

The fifth covid wave in the US could be worse than the current fourth wave

Fifth? FIFTH!? When will it end?

It’s endemic now. At some point we have to accept that and move on like South America and Europe are beginning to do .

That article is also pure speculation.

If it was endemic, it wouldn't be causing waves. That's the whole point.

Q: Many experts have said they expect COVID-19 to become an endemic disease. How does a disease go from being acute to endemic? What factors shape the transition to endemicity? What’s a likely timeline for COVID-19 to become endemic?

A: The expectation that COVID-19 will become endemic essentially means that the pandemic will not end with the virus disappearing; instead, the optimistic view is that enough people will gain immune protection from vaccination and from natural infection such that there will be less transmission and much less COVID-19-related hospitalization and death, even as the virus continues to circulate.

The expected continued circulation of SARS-CoV-2 stands in contrast with the first round of SARS in 2003 and with the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa in 2014, when public health measures ultimately stopped spread and brought both outbreaks to an end. While there are important differences among the viruses and the contexts, this comparison underscores the critical need to improve our global public health infrastructure and surveillance systems to monitor for and help respond to the inevitable next potential pandemic virus.

Since viruses spread where there are enough susceptible individuals and enough contact among them to sustain spread, it’s hard to anticipate what the timeline will be for the expected shift of COVID-19 to endemicity. It’s dependent on factors like the strength and duration of immune protection from vaccination and natural infection, our patterns of contact with one another that allow spread, and the transmissibility of the virus. So the patterns will likely differ considerably from what we saw with the other pandemics because of the heterogeneous responses to COVID-19 across the world—with some places engaging in “zero-COVID” policies, others with limited responses, and widely variable vaccine availability and uptake.

Alternatively:

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus will not be eradicated but will become endemic, continuing to circulate in pockets of the global population for years to come and causing outbreaks in regions where it had been eliminated, scientists working in the field believe.

But the impact of the virus on the world in terms of deaths, illness, and the need for social isolation will lessen, they say, as more of the population acquires some immunity to it through exposure to the virus or from vaccination.

The predictions come from a survey carried out in January by the journal Nature of more than 100 immunologists, infectious disease researchers, and virologists working on SARS-CoV-2.1 Almost 90% of respondents said that they expected the coronavirus to become endemic, although more than a third thought that it would be possible to eliminate SARS-CoV-2 from some regions of the world.

While there would be a continual risk of covid-19 outbreaks in areas where the virus had been eliminated, these could be stifled quickly by herd immunity if most people had been vaccinated, said Christopher Dye, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, UK. He told Nature, “I guess covid will be eliminated from some countries, but with a continuing and maybe seasonal risk of reintroduction from places where vaccine coverage and public health measures have not been good enough.”

Covid-19 is still classed as in a pandemic phase because infections continue to increase worldwide and many people are still susceptible. In an endemic phase the number of infections becomes relatively constant across years, with occasional flare-ups.