Covid, the "lockdowns" etc.

[Mistwell]

While everyone was witnessing the spectacle of a demented old hair-sniffer and his knee-pad wielding running mate lying through their teeth to 'uphold the Constitution'... it seems suddenly Covid is harder to catch now.

https://www.who.int/news/item/20-01-2021-who-information-notice-for-ivd-users-2020-05

Suddenly, now you need to be presenting with symptoms and have TWO PCR-positive results.

That is so not what that link says. WTF are you even reading if that's what you got from that link?

I'm sorry you can't read, Misty.

But when suddenly the WHO recommends two PCR tests and presenting symptoms for a positive diagnosis, where prior to this they only suggested one? It doesn't pass the smell test.

Meanwhile, in what is surely coincidence, Governor Newsom just canceled his stay at home order for California. That couldn't have anything to do with a recall petition that, last I checked, had 80 percent of the signatures needed to force the issue. Surely not.

Now shut up and go burn down some businesses like a good little brownshirt.

My dear Mr. Asshole. First, the study does not say what you seem to think it says. At all. Your reading is, frankly, bizarre.  And when I say it doesn't say what you think it says, I don't mean you're misinterpreting it, I mean LITERALLY it doesn't say any of that. Did you link to the wrong study? Here's a hint, the word "symptom" doesn't even appear in it. It's a study about how to carefully read results for specimens tested using PCR methodology, and how there is concern that they're not following the instructions, and that a second test might be needed in cases where SOMEONE FUCKED UP IN FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS resulting in weak results. That's not "the virus isn't as contagious as we thought" it's "Of Jesus, fucking humans are not following the instructions and we need to issue guidelines to remind people that if they fuck up they need to re-do it."

Second, if you have me confused with someone who supports Gov Newsom, let me disabuse you of that sadly mistaken impression right now. I not only have signed the petition to recall Gov Newsom but I have been actively collecting and submitting signatures, as a signature taker, for quite a while now. I've gotten Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, and even one Green Party member to sign the petitions to recall Newsom. I loath Gov Newsom.

Finally, I run a small business. I do not support any attacks on small businesses, and if you think I had during the BLM riots, you are delusional.

In conclusion, literally everything you said was wrong, and you might be brain damaged.

Someone's salty.

You are thrice-damned; by action, association, and belief. Your words are worthless, as you have consistently supported those who seek to break small businesses, support so-called 'elite' oligarchs such as Newsom, and have raged against the slightest question of our elections having possible flaws and vulnerabilities.

You are a joke, and I dearly hope it was worth it to run interference for your masters.

Oh I would looooooove to know when I have ever even vaguely supported, in any way, Governor Newsom. Go on, this should be good.

Or how I have not supported small businesses, despite being a strong advocate for and member of the NFIB, and consistently voting in local and state elections for anyone who supports small businesses and against those who do not. How I have not supported small businesses, though I often rage against those who lump in small and medium sized businesses with their rants about "corporations" when they really mean "mega corporations", and routinely go on rants about how much I detest regulations on small businesses with numerous direct examples from my own small business which has been in my family since 1946. This should be good too.

Also, I love how you try the "Look over there, a banana!" cartoonish distraction of "but the Trump election!" as if that had anything to do with what we're talking about with this Covid report or Newsom.

Again, I think you might be brain damaged. It's one of the only rational explanations for your irrational behavior and thought processes. You might possibly be the stupidest poster I've ever encountered. And that is saying something, since I've been on message boards since they were run on 300 baud modems and were called BBS'es. You might be peak idiot.

[Shasarak]

Does this guidance result in a significantly different CNN chyron for daily new cases.  I think that will be something to watch

Breaking news:

[Ghostmaker]

While everyone was witnessing the spectacle of a demented old hair-sniffer and his knee-pad wielding running mate lying through their teeth to 'uphold the Constitution'... it seems suddenly Covid is harder to catch now.

https://www.who.int/news/item/20-01-2021-who-information-notice-for-ivd-users-2020-05

Suddenly, now you need to be presenting with symptoms and have TWO PCR-positive results.

That is so not what that link says. WTF are you even reading if that's what you got from that link?

I'm sorry you can't read, Misty.

But when suddenly the WHO recommends two PCR tests and presenting symptoms for a positive diagnosis, where prior to this they only suggested one? It doesn't pass the smell test.

Meanwhile, in what is surely coincidence, Governor Newsom just canceled his stay at home order for California. That couldn't have anything to do with a recall petition that, last I checked, had 80 percent of the signatures needed to force the issue. Surely not.

Now shut up and go burn down some businesses like a good little brownshirt.

My dear Mr. Asshole. First, the study does not say what you seem to think it says. At all. Your reading is, frankly, bizarre.  And when I say it doesn't say what you think it says, I don't mean you're misinterpreting it, I mean LITERALLY it doesn't say any of that. Did you link to the wrong study? Here's a hint, the word "symptom" doesn't even appear in it. It's a study about how to carefully read results for specimens tested using PCR methodology, and how there is concern that they're not following the instructions, and that a second test might be needed in cases where SOMEONE FUCKED UP IN FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS resulting in weak results. That's not "the virus isn't as contagious as we thought" it's "Of Jesus, fucking humans are not following the instructions and we need to issue guidelines to remind people that if they fuck up they need to re-do it."

Second, if you have me confused with someone who supports Gov Newsom, let me disabuse you of that sadly mistaken impression right now. I not only have signed the petition to recall Gov Newsom but I have been actively collecting and submitting signatures, as a signature taker, for quite a while now. I've gotten Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, and even one Green Party member to sign the petitions to recall Newsom. I loath Gov Newsom.

Finally, I run a small business. I do not support any attacks on small businesses, and if you think I had during the BLM riots, you are delusional.

In conclusion, literally everything you said was wrong, and you might be brain damaged.

Someone's salty.

You are thrice-damned; by action, association, and belief. Your words are worthless, as you have consistently supported those who seek to break small businesses, support so-called 'elite' oligarchs such as Newsom, and have raged against the slightest question of our elections having possible flaws and vulnerabilities.

You are a joke, and I dearly hope it was worth it to run interference for your masters.

Oh I would looooooove to know when I have ever even vaguely supported, in any way, Governor Newsom. Go on, this should be good.

Or how I have not supported small businesses, despite being a strong advocate for and member of the NFIB, and consistently voting in local and state elections for anyone who supports small businesses and against those who do not. How I have not supported small businesses, though I often rage against those who lump in small and medium sized businesses with their rants about "corporations" when they really mean "mega corporations", and routinely go on rants about how much I detest regulations on small businesses with numerous direct examples from my own small business which has been in my family since 1946. This should be good too.

Also, I love how you try the "Look over there, a banana!" cartoonish distraction of "but the Trump election!" as if that had anything to do with what we're talking about with this Covid report or Newsom.

Again, I think you might be brain damaged. It's one of the only rational explanations for your irrational behavior and thought processes. You might possibly be the stupidest poster I've ever encountered. And that is saying something, since I've been on message boards since they were run on 300 baud modems and were called BBS'es. You might be peak idiot.

I would care what you think, but that would require me to expend unnecessary energy.

Stay salty, Misty.

[Ghostmaker]

Well, this is unsurprising.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/nyregion/nursing-home-deaths-cuomo.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State attorney general accused the Cuomo administration of undercounting coronavirus-related deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50 percent, according to a report released on Thursday.

The count of deaths in state nursing homes has been a source of controversy for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and state Health Department officials, who have been sensitive to any suggestion that they played any role in the number of nursing home deaths, which the state put at more than 8,500.

They have also been accused of obscuring a more accurate estimate of nursing home deaths, because the state only counted deaths at the actual facilities, rather than including deaths of residents who were transferred to a hospital and died there.

In the 76-page report released by the attorney general, Letitia James, a survey of nursing homes found consistent discrepancies between deaths reported to the attorney general's investigators and those officially released by the Health Department.

In one instance, an unnamed facility reported 11 confirmed and presumed deaths to the Health Department as happening on site through early August. The attorney general's survey of that same facility, however, found 40 deaths, including 27 at the home and 13 in hospitals.

"Preliminary data obtained by O.A.G. suggests that many nursing home residents died from Covid-19 in hospitals after being transferred from their nursing homes, which is not reflected in D.O.H.'s published total nursing home death data," a summary of the report's findings reads.

The findings of Ms. James, a Democrat, could put her in direct conflict with Mr. Cuomo, the state's three-term Democratic incumbent, who has touted his and his administration's response to the coronavirus crisis, despite more than 42,000 deaths in the state.

Ms. James's report also found a number of homes that "failed to comply with critical infection control policies," including not isolating residents who had tested positive for the virus or screening employees for it.

The death toll in the state's nursing homes has been a source of agony for residents and their families, and a political liability for Mr. Cuomo, who has pushed back on accusations that his administration did not do enough to safeguard a highly vulnerable population. In particular, Mr. Cuomo was criticized for a March 25 memo from the Health Department, which ordered nursing homes to accept patients who had tested positive.

In late July, the Health Department released a report that refuted the assertion that that policy might have led to outbreaks in nursing homes, finding instead that most of those patients "were no longer contagious when admitted and therefore were not a source of infection." The report also concluded that the virus was instead spread by employees who did not know they were contagious.

Guess Cuomo's a liability now, since they're giving him a metaphorical Trotsky treatment.

[Pat]

In the everything is perfectly normal category, China is rolling out a new, more accurate coronavirus test, where the swab is inserted into a more sensitive area than the nose.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/anal-swab-china-coronavirus/2021/01/27/cc284f56-6054-11eb-a177-7765f29a9524_story.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-27/china-s-zero-tolerance-covid-approach-now-includes-anal-swabs
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/27/china-starts-using-anal-swabs-test-covid-high-infection-areas

Chinese social media is flipping out.

[EOTB]

Truly, we live in a simulation

[Ratman_tf]

People are starting to realize the lockdowns and economic impact have and are going to have a death toll.

https://fortune.com/2021/01/06/covid-pandemic-recession-unemployment-mortality-rate-increase/

How many people's lives will you trade to stop Covid? How do we decide who deserve more protection, and why? Are we going to count human lives like potatoes?

[Ratman_tf]

Lockdowns predicted to extend through 2024.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-life-wont-return-to-normal-for-at-least-two-years-expert-warns-saying-pandemic-isnt-over-until-its-over-globally-12203057?fbclid=IwAR20p7pIM2EcDqH0Bdf0CxQQ6hcjTwfWSSuIgBLovYcO0K-_wUmkQVld6uk

That's a long fucking 2 weeks to flatten the curve.

[Mistwell]

Lockdowns predicted to extend through 2024.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-life-wont-return-to-normal-for-at-least-two-years-expert-warns-saying-pandemic-isnt-over-until-its-over-globally-12203057?fbclid=IwAR20p7pIM2EcDqH0Bdf0CxQQ6hcjTwfWSSuIgBLovYcO0K-_wUmkQVld6uk

That's a long fucking 2 weeks to flatten the curve.

No, not "lockdowns". It says life won't return to "normal" until then, not that people will be locked down until then. It says, "We're still going to be living in some form of restrictions - travel restrictions, border controls." They are referring to airport screenings of people from foreign nations which are having active outbreaks.

So you didn't even read the article you were posting. You literally looked at the headline assumed wrongly what it said, and posted it. That or you did read it and lied. One or the other, both are fucked up on some level.

[Ratman_tf]

Lockdowns predicted to extend through 2024.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-life-wont-return-to-normal-for-at-least-two-years-expert-warns-saying-pandemic-isnt-over-until-its-over-globally-12203057?fbclid=IwAR20p7pIM2EcDqH0Bdf0CxQQ6hcjTwfWSSuIgBLovYcO0K-_wUmkQVld6uk

That's a long fucking 2 weeks to flatten the curve.

No, not "lockdowns". It says life won't return to "normal" until then, not that people will be locked down until then. It says, "We're still going to be living in some form of restrictions - travel restrictions, border controls." They are referring to airport screenings of people from foreign nations which are having active outbreaks.

So you didn't even read the article you were posting. You literally looked at the headline assumed wrongly what it said, and posted it. That or you did read it and lied. One or the other, both are fucked up on some level.

Dude. The only two things we have to "fight" Covid are masks and lockdowns of various severity. We're locked down here in western WA. We're not welded into our houses, but businesses continue to be restricted or completely closed since fucking March of last year. If these kinds of lockdowns are going to continue for years, then small, local businesses need to know so they can plan accordingly, and close down instead of limping along on government handouts until they finally dry up.

[EOTB]

Don't get caught up in semantics.  It's a lockdown.  if I can't life my life like I did in November 2019, it's a lockdown.  Semantics is semantics.  Italy told their government they'd had enough.  Italy.  Do you remember Italy?  Even they've had enough.

[Kyle Aaron]

If these kinds of lockdowns are going to continue for years, then small, local businesses need to know so they can plan accordingly, and close down instead of limping along on government handouts until they finally dry up.

Consider which policies would be most prudent and sensible, most likely to benefit small businesses, community groups, and the most vulnerable in society, and will be most respectful of human rights, autonomy and dignity.

Assume government will do the opposite, and you probably won't be far wrong.

[Mistwell]

Lockdowns predicted to extend through 2024.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-life-wont-return-to-normal-for-at-least-two-years-expert-warns-saying-pandemic-isnt-over-until-its-over-globally-12203057?fbclid=IwAR20p7pIM2EcDqH0Bdf0CxQQ6hcjTwfWSSuIgBLovYcO0K-_wUmkQVld6uk

That's a long fucking 2 weeks to flatten the curve.

No, not "lockdowns". It says life won't return to "normal" until then, not that people will be locked down until then. It says, "We're still going to be living in some form of restrictions - travel restrictions, border controls." They are referring to airport screenings of people from foreign nations which are having active outbreaks.

So you didn't even read the article you were posting. You literally looked at the headline assumed wrongly what it said, and posted it. That or you did read it and lied. One or the other, both are fucked up on some level.

Dude. The only two things we have to "fight" Covid are masks and lockdowns of various severity. We're locked down here in western WA. We're not welded into our houses, but businesses continue to be restricted or completely closed since fucking March of last year. If these kinds of lockdowns are going to continue for years, then small, local businesses need to know so they can plan accordingly, and close down instead of limping along on government handouts until they finally dry up.

Nothing you just said has anything to do with what that article said. NOTHING. Screening travelers arriving from foreign nations is not a lockdown on small local businesses.

[Mistwell]

Don't get caught up in semantics.  It's a lockdown.  if I can't life my life like I did in November 2019, it's a lockdown.  Semantics is semantics.  Italy told their government they'd had enough.  Italy.  Do you remember Italy?  Even they've had enough.

The article that he posted is talking about the US needed to continue to have travel restrictions on people coming into the nation, like screening for the virus when you arrive at an airport from a foreign nation. That's not a fucking lockdown, by any definition of that term. Unless you thought, for example, that screening for terrorists at airports was also a "lockdown" because that is also a travel restriction?

[Pat]

Nothing you just said has anything to do with what that article said. NOTHING. Screening travelers arriving from foreign nations is not a lockdown on small local businesses.

Locking down the borders is a type of lockdown. It's a vague term which is used to mean a lot of different things, from border controls to business closings to individuals under isolation or quarantine orders. That's why I always try to qualify or otherwise explain how I'm using the term, because it leads to people talking past each other.

You're correct that the article is primarily talking about travel restrictions not business closings. That's a valid point. But Ratman's first post just said lockdowns, without any qualifications like "small local business". And if you read the article closely there are a couple case where they suggest other measures may also be necessary, though they don't go into any details, so it's not just about borders. And travel restrictions can definitely impact small local businesses, because international trade is so integrated into local markets.