All things political. Coronavirus Edition. (1 Viewer)

[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?

 

[zztop]

I'm not horrified. Might even be a good thing. If they want to wipe themselves out, I ain't gonna shed a tear for em.

I'm with you on that... however this is not confined to their stupidity. This is what irks me the most. They can get sick and die for all I care, but they could infect and potentially kill (or harm) other people due to their stupidity.
Also nobody knows the long term effects of what happens after covid.

(one study)
examined the cardiac MRIs of 100 people who had recovered from Covid-19 and compared them to heart images from 100 people who were similar but not infected with the virus. Their average age was 49 and two-thirds of the patients had recovered at home. More than two months later, infected patients were more likely to have troubling cardiac signs than people in the control group: 78 patients showed structural changes to their hearts, 76 had evidence of a biomarker signaling cardiac injury typically found after a heart attack, and 60 had signs of inflammation.

then you have lasting "brain fog" in some a year+ after infection.
then there are recent findings of erectile dysfunction
these are just a few off the top of my head

and I have a hunch (being republicans tend to skew older) that since most of their life has been lived already, they don't really care about these potential post-symptom effects. But to me this is very selfish to act with complete disregard and not being mindful of how their actions might affect other people they might come in contact with

 

[Taurus]

I'm with you on that... however this is not confined to their stupidity. This is what irks me the most. They can get sick and die for all I care, but they could infect and potentially kill (or harm) other people due to their stupidity.
Also nobody knows the long term effects of what happens after covid.

(one study)
examined the cardiac MRIs of 100 people who had recovered from Covid-19 and compared them to heart images from 100 people who were similar but not infected with the virus. Their average age was 49 and two-thirds of the patients had recovered at home. More than two months later, infected patients were more likely to have troubling cardiac signs than people in the control group: 78 patients showed structural changes to their hearts, 76 had evidence of a biomarker signaling cardiac injury typically found after a heart attack, and 60 had signs of inflammation.

then you have lasting "brain fog" in some a year+ after infection.
then there are recent findings of erectile dysfunction
these are just a few off the top of my head

and I have a hunch (being republicans tend to skew older) that since most of their life has been lived already, they don't really care about these potential post-symptom effects. But to me this is very selfish to act with complete disregard and not being mindful of how their actions might affect other people they might come in contact with

NPR had a feature on "long Covid". The incidence of all symptoms appears to be between 10 and 20 percent. That covers everything from anosmia to brain fog to migraines and strokes.

Split the difference and call it 15 percent.

We're at 34 million diagnosed cases and counting. Multiply by five to approximate the total including undiagnosed cases and we're at 150 million. Let's be really conservative and say an even 100 million.

That leaves us fifteen freaking million who are or will suffer long-term effects. (Not to mention the 600,000 dead)

I wish there was a hell so Donald J Traitor Trump could spend eternity there.

 

[nolaspe]

And back to Florida we go...

MSN

 

[superchuck500]

Look at this forking liar.

 

[brandon]

Look at this forking liar.

Do you want genocide? Because that’s how you get genocide.

 

[Nebaghead]

I don’t even care if those morons die. I understand some hesitancy but after 6 months there is no reason to wait. Plenty of data saying it is fine. .8% of deaths are vaccinated people.

Nearly all COVID deaths in US are now among unvaccinated

Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the United States now are in people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the vaccines have been and an indication that daily deaths — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the shots.

apnews.com

 

[DaveXA]

Look at this forking liar.

I would say it's shameful, but since it's Cruz, par for the course for him. His dooshbaggery has no limits.

 

[Lapaz]

NPR had a feature on "long Covid". The incidence of all symptoms appears to be between 10 and 20 percent. That covers everything from anosmia to brain fog to migraines and strokes.

Split the difference and call it 15 percent.

We're at 34 million diagnosed cases and counting. Multiply by five to approximate the total including undiagnosed cases and we're at 150 million. Let's be really conservative and say an even 100 million.

That leaves us fifteen freaking million who are or will suffer long-term effects. (Not to mention the 600,000 dead)

I wish there was a hell so Donald J Traitor Trump could spend eternity there.

I don’t think there are anywhere near 5 times as many undiagnosed cases as diagnosed cases, because if that were true, then we would probably have herd immunity everywhere already, which we clearly don’t, since cases are increasing. That 5 to 1 ratio was at the beginning of the pandemic when tests were scarce and knowledge was much more limited. That ratio came from a study done about 6 months into the pandemic. Also, many of the people that were undiagnosed have since gotten vaccinated. I think perhaps 30M undiagnosed and unvaccinated is close to the actual number. We’re at about 150M vaccinated, many of which had diagnosed Covid, so I estimate at most 50M diagnosed and undiagnosed people have had Covid and are unvaccinated, so a total of 200M Americans should have some resistance. When you add in these unvaccinated people, we should have herd immunity already in some areas with high vaccination rates.

 

[Taurus]

I don’t think there are anywhere near 5 times as many undiagnosed cases as diagnosed cases, because if that were true, then we would probably have herd immunity everywhere already, which we clearly don’t, since cases are increasing. That 5 to 1 ratio was at the beginning of the pandemic when tests were scarce and knowledge was much more limited. That ratio came from a study done about 6 months into the pandemic. Also, many of the people that were undiagnosed have since gotten vaccinated. I think perhaps 30M undiagnosed and unvaccinated is close to the actual number. We’re at about 150M vaccinated, many of which had diagnosed Covid, so I estimate at most 50M diagnosed and undiagnosed people have had Covid and are unvaccinated, so a total of 200M Americans should have some resistance. When you add in these unvaccinated people, we should have herd immunity already in some areas with high vaccination rates.

I'm only referring to those who've had it, vaccinated or not, diagnosed or not, symptomatic or not.
If you get Covid, there's between a 10 and 20 percent chance that you'll get the Long Form.

With 30 million-plus diagnosed, I think 100 million total is well within reason.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

I don’t even care if those morons die. I understand some hesitancy but after 6 months there is no reason to wait. Plenty of data saying it is fine. .8% of deaths are vaccinated people.

Nearly all COVID deaths in US are now among unvaccinated

Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the United States now are in people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the vaccines have been and an indication that daily deaths — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the shots.

apnews.com

As a “Lib tard ”, i want nothing more than for all these MAGA morons to “own” me with their otherwise very preventable deaths…. Go on, die ! That’ll show me !!

 

[SaulGoodmanEsq]

 

[DaveXA]

So, apparently, 5 of the Texas Democrats who flew to DC to avoid the vote back home have tested positive for Covid. Oof.

 

[MT15]

So, apparently, 5 of the Texas Democrats who flew to DC to avoid the vote back home have tested positive for Covid. Oof.

The good news is that all are vaccinated and are having either mild symptoms or are asymptomatic.

 

[DaveXA]

The good news is that all are vaccinated and are having either mild symptoms or are asymptomatic.

Yeah, that is good news. I also think this shows that the vaccine isn't a magic bullet that will keep you from getting it. Which is why wearing masks around groups of people for extended periods of time is probably a good idea.

 

[MT15]

I’ve been reading some discussions among medical professionals and some of them think regular masks are not effective against the Delta variant because it’s so much more transmissible. They say that vaccinated people shouldn’t really fear getting it. But people who are immunocompromised or otherwise at high risk should they contract it should invest in some of the N-95 or other similar types of masks.

They also said our vaccination rate is so low and the Delta is so widespread now that you will either miss it due to your vaccination or you will get it. In other words the only way you won’t get Delta Covid is by being vaccinated and even then, if you encounter a high enough dose of the virus you might still get it. You just probably won’t end up in the hospital or dead.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Freedom phone seems like a joke
=======================
It can be hard to keep up with all the grifts targeting the conservative masses, but this one truly stands out. An entrepreneurial young man named Erik Finman created the Freedom Phone, a MAGA-friendly smartphone that won’t “censor” you and comes preloaded with conservative apps such as Parler and Newsmax, saving you entire seconds of downloading time as you stick it to the libs in Silicon Valley.

Though the Freedom Phone costs $499.99, the Daily Beast reports that the phone appears to be a rebranded version of a cheap Chinese phone that you can buy online for $120. But C-list conservative celebrities such as Candace Owens have endorsed this handset of liberty, no doubt for a taste of the action.

There’s no telling how many Donald Trump superfans will fall for it, but they’re a nearly infinitely minable resource, whether the goals of the elite conservatives targeting them are economic, political, or both.

That’s also the way to understand the sweeping campaign against covid-19 vaccination that has overtaken the right. While conservative politicians and media figures are causing increased death and suffering among their own supporters, they’re doing so because it serves their most important goal: Keep the machine running.

There’s no shortage of hands reaching into the pockets of the conservative rank-and-file, whether it’s scammy pro-Trump PACs making billions of robocalls to sweep up “donations” from the faithful or Trump and Bill O’Reilly mounting a stadium tour so you can see two of America’s most famous alleged sexual harassers in person: “While most seats are priced between $100 and $300, a ‘VIP Meet & Greet Package’ goes for more than $8,500.”

And while some Republicans are disgusted by the anti-vaccine campaign, the attacks against coronavirus vaccines on Fox News have been relentless, with all of the network’s prime-time stars using their programs to cast doubt on their effectiveness and safety. Meanwhile, conservative politicians such as Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) have either stoked fear of the vaccines themselves or promoted resistance to Biden administration efforts to vaccinate more people...............

But the fuel of the machine doesn’t really matter; it’s whatever will get people worked up today, even if it might get them killed tomorrow.

The vaccines are a perfect example. Does anyone doubt that if Trump was still president, the conservative media would be promoting covid vaccination as his personal triumph and encouraging it so normal life could resume as quickly as possible? Of course they would.

Today, on the other hand, there remains a political incentive to discourage vaccination: Fewer vaccinations extends the pandemic, which means more misery, more death, a constrained economy, and an increase in the feeling that things just aren’t going well in America, which in turn makes it more likely that Republicans will win at the polls in 2022 and 2024.

But that may not be the main goal of those discouraging vaccination. They just want to keep the machine running, and if the fact that there’s a Democratic president means vaccines can be divisive enough, they become a terrific vehicle for outrage..............

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/16/what-freedom-phone-rights-anti-vax-campaign-have-common/

 

[zztop]

They also said our vaccination rate is so low and the Delta is so widespread now that you will either miss it due to your vaccination or you will get it.

This was my brother's take as well - seems like a foregone conclusion. I finally called him yesterday because it was eating away at me so much. That my parents (unvaccinated) will be driving through LA -> MS -> AL (low vaccinated % states and hardly anyone wears masks) to visit him and his kids (too young for vaccination). Normally I would not want to interfere but the cavalier way my parents go around maskless, go to gatherings unmasked etc was something I felt he should know about. Its really starting to get to me, that I have been mentally trying to prepare myself that one or both of my parents could get very sick or possibly die - which could have been preventable.

 

[MT15]

Sorry to hear about your family situation, zz. That’s a tough one. I hope everything comes out okay.