All things political. Coronavirus Edition. (7 Viewers)

[Maxp]

I fear we are really going to be in a bad place due to the obvious cuts to the federal agencies that deal with infectious disease, but also the negative effect the Affordable Care act has had on non urban hospitals. Our front line defenses are ineffectual and our ability to treat the populous is probably at an all time low. Factor in the cost of healthcare and I can see our system crashing. What do you think about the politics of this virus?

 

[Richard]

I think anyone gathering in a group should be masked. And most of the Floyd protestors were masked, from what I saw/recall.

And it was just in New Hampshire when people gathered to see Trump and boo'd the announcement about wearing a mask. It also seems to me that defying mask-wearing ordinances and requirements are more often from one side of the political aisle than the other.

Nonetheless, if you're protesting Floyd or going to see the President, you should be masked up.

Yes, most of the videos I have seen of protests show the majority are wearing masks. It is also obvious that the vast majority of those choosing never to wear a mask are Trump supporters (I am not saying all Trump supporters refuse to wear masks). I am simply saying that to maximize safety people should avoid crowds.

 

[Ayo]

I am simply saying that to maximize safety people should avoid crowds.

agreed

and you'll find me nowhere near one

I'm nervous enough going into a classroom with 10 students 2-3 times a week as it is

 

[MT15]

My son was promised no more than 12 in a classroom only to find they went ahead and added students without informing him. His classroom is small enough that the front row is less than 6 feet from the front of the room, and he cannot leave the front row open now. Plus they overloaded his labs also.

He won’t say anything because he knows plenty of instructors who have been let go from surrounding colleges. He also has extra sections because of the reduced class sizes, so he has more contact hours than normal. He knows he has to do his part to help, and they are paying him overload for the extra hours, but I can tell he is worried about catching it.

 

[Saintamaniac]

(I am not saying all Trump supporters refuse to wear masks)

Most people who refuse to wear a mask are trump supporters though.

 

[Ayo]

Here’s a heckuva headline for a local news story up here

 

[Ayo]

Andy slavitt had his own Jim Gaffigan thread last night, COVID style

 

[MT15]

Yes, he did.

This one stuck out to me:

 

[The moose]

Yes, he did.

This one stuck out to me:

Well there is certainly some truth to all that.

We are being told to play Russian roulette with our lives and the lives of our loved ones because we have had no leadership.

 

[Optimus Prime]

nothing is surprising anymore
=========================

Senior Trump administration officials in June privately warned seven states about dangerous coronavirus outbreaks that put them in the highest risk "red zone" while publicly dismissing concerns about a second wave of Covid-19, according to White House documents House Democrats released on Monday.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released eight weeks of previously confidential reports obtained from the White House coronavirus task force that Democrats said showed the administration acting over the summer to willfully cover up public health risks for political gain.

“Rather than being straight with the American people and creating a national plan to fix the problem, the president and his enablers kept these alarming reports private,” Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the subcommittee’s chair, said in a statement. “As a result of the president’s failures, more than 58,000 additional Americans have died since the Task Force first started issuing private warnings, and many of the Task Force’s recommendations still have not been implemented.” ...............

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[Nebaghead]

nothing is surprising anymore
=========================

Senior Trump administration officials in June privately warned seven states about dangerous coronavirus outbreaks that put them in the highest risk "red zone" while publicly dismissing concerns about a second wave of Covid-19, according to White House documents House Democrats released on Monday.

The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released eight weeks of previously confidential reports obtained from the White House coronavirus task force that Democrats said showed the administration acting over the summer to willfully cover up public health risks for political gain.

“Rather than being straight with the American people and creating a national plan to fix the problem, the president and his enablers kept these alarming reports private,” Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), the subcommittee’s chair, said in a statement. “As a result of the president’s failures, more than 58,000 additional Americans have died since the Task Force first started issuing private warnings, and many of the Task Force’s recommendations still have not been implemented.” ...............

MSN

www.msn.com

What say you , people who think Trumps actions have not contributed to the death toll from covid? I remember this would be the end of any elected official. Withholding this kind of information from the public while telling everyone there is nothing to worry about.

 

[efil4]

What say you , people who think Trumps actions have not contributed to the death toll from covid? I remember this would be the end of any elected official. Withholding this kind of information from the public while telling everyone there is nothing to worry about.

It's indefensible.

But they will wait a few days for the main deflection points and show up en masse for a day, obfuscate and leave.

And yes, this would have united voters in a way never seen before with any other President. Unfortunately, it's so tribal at this point, they look at is as a dig against their tribe VS the person really responsible.

The con worked. It's why cons still exist over 1000s of years. People still get got.

 

[CoolBrees]

Marks are literally that last one to admit there was a con. Just won’t admit they were had. Jim Baker’s followers went to their penniless graves not admitting he took them.

Marks are marks for a reason.

 

[SaintForLife]

So, wearing a surgical mask is the guidance we are given in the hospital. Social distancing is to be followed whenever possible, but much of the time we cannot be socially distant from our coworkers or patients. There have been questions raised about wearing more robust face coverings, but we have been instructed that the surgical mask is sufficient for the general population. (And our supply of N-95s is good now, so I don’t think they are worried about that.)

I don’t think it’s entirely accurate to suggest that masks don’t work without social distancing. There’s no doubt they work better with social distancing, but it’s important to draw the distinction between the marchers who are responsibly wearing masks and the Trump crowds who for political purposes are doing neither.

Also, we struggle in the hospital with “half-maskers”. I don’t even know how they get their surgical masks to sit below their nose, and we have talked and talked to one person in our department and she just will not put it on over her nose. At least we got her to stop pulling her mask down to talk to people.

Those surgical masks don't prevent you from getting Covid. They will help you not spread Covid to others, but they provide minimal protection on catching Covid from others. N95 masks are the only effective mask to prevent you from catching Covid.

I know you work at a hospital. For our Covid units, anyone entering the rooms has to wear a face shield, N95 mask, a gown and gloves. A surgical mask needs to be worn in addition to social distancing to reduce the chance of getting Covid according to the CDC.

 

[Ayo]

Atlas Chugged

Eerily prescient...

 

[MT15]

Those surgical masks don't prevent you from getting Covid. They will help you not spread Covid to others, but they provide minimal protection on catching Covid from others. N95 masks are the only effective mask to prevent you from catching Covid.

I know you work at a hospital. For our Covid units, anyone entering the rooms has to wear a face shield, N95 mask, a gown and gloves. A surgical mask needs to be worn in addition to social distancing to reduce the chance of getting Covid according to the CDC.

I think there is new thinking, that masks do offer a reasonable amount of protection to the wearer as well as the people around the wearer. Not like the N-95s though. I was careful to point out that I was talking about the general patient population and the general public, I’m aware of the proper PPE for a Covid patient.

Nurses at our hospital have specifically asked the head Infectious Disease doc if they need to be wearing N-95s to protect themselves from the general patient population and his response was that it wasn’t necessary, the surgical masks are enough. I was on the call and heard him say it. I also remember reading a few months back that the thinking about masks had evolved, in that it is now thought that masks protect both the wearer and the people around them, if worn and handled properly.

 

[Ayo]

Surgical medical-grade masks have been what we are given to wear to work. And the thinking is based on current provincial guidelines and Toronto public health and University of Toronto researchers - something reiterated in our zoom call
This morning. And that it’s not strictly about protecting others but also protecting oneself. They did emphasize the primary means of transmission is touching a surface and then touching our face or eyes.

 

[MT15]

I think that preventing you from touching your nose or mouth is part of how a mask protects the wearer. Plus, if everyone wears a mask, the tiny droplets expelled from speaking cannot get far enough to infect others and you cannot breathe in others’ droplets.

 

[efil4]

so looks like the US has opted out of the joint WHO global COVID 19 Vaccine effort.

MAAAAAAGAAAAAAA!