How COVID-19 is affecting society

[Argent Stonecutter]

I tried the two-glasses method a few years back and it was too cumbersome by far. I was constantly searching for one pair or the other, in my purse, on my desk, on the side table by my recliner.

At under ten bucks a pair, I just bought several pairs with the prescription summarized on the inside temple. So I have both sets in multiple places.

 

[Romana]

I just finished my first cataract surgery. It went very well, relatively painless except for the few hours of intense itching between the time the local wears off and you take the "before bedtime" wonder pill (one only). I can now drive without glasses, everything is brighter and in focus.

That's more or less exactly what my dad said when he finally had his (surgery -shy, he'd been putting it off). Except for the itching part ; I don't recall that.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

The WHO investigation report about the origins of Corona has only about two sides, or so, about the "it evicted a biolab" theory. 18 global top scientists are demanding an open investigation in an open letter in Science, which still considers that possibility as well.

On 30 December 2019, the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases notified the world about a pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, China (1). Since then, scientists have made remarkable progress in understanding the causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), its transmission, pathogenesis, and mitigation by vaccines, therapeutics, and non-pharmaceutical interventions. Yet more investigation is still needed to determine the origin of the pandemic. Theories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable. Knowing how COVID-19 emerged is critical for informing global strategies to mitigate the risk of future outbreaks.

In May 2020, the World Health Assembly requested that the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general work closely with partners to determine the origins of SARS-CoV-2 (2). In November, the Terms of Reference for a China–WHO joint study were released (3). The information, data, and samples for the study's first phase were collected and summarized by the Chinese half of the team; the rest of the team built on this analysis. Although there were no findings in clear support of either a natural spillover or a lab accident, the team assessed a zoonotic spillover from an intermediate host as “likely to very likely,” and a laboratory incident as “extremely unlikely” [(4), p. 9]. Furthermore, the two theories were not given balanced consideration. Only 4 of the 313 pages of the report and its annexes addressed the possibility of a laboratory accident (4). Notably, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus commented that the report's consideration of evidence supporting a laboratory accident was insufficient and offered to provide additional resources to fully evaluate the possibility (5).

As scientists with relevant expertise, we agree with the WHO director-general (5), the United States and 13 other countries (6), and the European Union (7) that greater clarity about the origins of this pandemic is necessary and feasible to achieve. We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data. A proper investigation should be transparent, objective, data-driven, inclusive of broad expertise, subject to independent oversight, and responsibly managed to minimize the impact of conflicts of interest. Public health agencies and research laboratories alike need to open their records to the public. Investigators should document the veracity and provenance of data from which analyses are conducted and conclusions drawn, so that analyses are reproducible by independent experts.

Finally, in this time of unfortunate anti-Asian sentiment in some countries, we note that at the beginning of the pandemic, it was Chinese doctors, scientists, journalists, and citizens who shared with the world crucial information about the spread of the virus—often at great personal cost (8, 9). We should show the same determination in promoting a dispassionate science-based discourse on this difficult but important issue.

AAAS

science.sciencemag.org

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Also distancing. Can’t forget that.

Question becomes how many people dead of the flu annually are an acceptable balance when it’s clear that we could just choose to not have those deaths?

 

[Beebo Brink]

Question becomes how many people dead of the flu annually are an acceptable balance when it’s clear that we could just choose to not have those deaths?

First step is decent sick leave for ALL employees in this country. If you're sick, stay home. Period. And for the over-ambitious who won't stay home because they are just so indispensable to their company, an HR reprimand.

I remember attending a manager's training conference a few years back in which we were packed around tables in a hotel ballroom. One of our team/table members was feeling ill, but dragged himself to the morning session anyway. Why thank you very much. Just what I always wanted, to travel back spreading germs and arrive home sick.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Romana]

 

[WolfEyes]

First step is decent sick leave for ALL employees in this country. If you're sick, stay home. Period. And for the over-ambitious who won't stay home because they are just so indispensable to their company, an HR reprimand.

I would add, for the over ambitious, sent home for no less than 3 days without pay. They're the ones you have to hit where it hurts most, the wallet.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

If we loosen restrictions too early, there is a real risk of a third wave in the UK | Devi Sridhar

Not enough people are vaccinated against Covid as a new variant spreads, says Devi Sridhar of the University of Edinburgh

www.theguardian.com

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

Don't forget that the mask also helps you avoid the face-recognition software in the laser mind control drones.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

 

[danielravennest]

Don't forget that the mask also helps you avoid the face-recognition software in the laser mind control drones.

I want to ask these people if they have an air filter in their homes. If you have one there, why shouldn't you have one for when you are out of the house?

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Watching Cummings turn on Johnson and savage him like this is shamefully enjoyable. It's also a salutary reminder of what shits this crew are.

Cummings to release ‘crucial document from Covid decision-making’

Boris Johnson’s former senior adviser posts series of tweets relating to UK coronavirus strategy

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

‘F*ck the Olympics’: Inside Japan’s War to Dodge a COVID Disaster

From desperate doctors to famous film directors and former Japanese mafia members—the outrage against this summer’s “COVID Olympics” is uniting Japan.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

Now they're saying that wearing or not wearing masks is political speech so a mask mandate violates the first amendment. WHAT THE ACTUAL FANCY ROTATING FUCK?

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Watching Cummings turn on Johnson and savage him like this is shamefully enjoyable. It's also a salutary reminder of what shits this crew are.

Cummings to release ‘crucial document from Covid decision-making’

Boris Johnson’s former senior adviser posts series of tweets relating to UK coronavirus strategy

www.theguardian.com

The way The Times are pushing this suggests Cummings has something pretty interesting to say about his old boss, and The Times has seen the receipts.


Evernote link because paywall

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Stench of death pervades rural India as Ganges swells with Covid victims

Stigma and cost of wood leave families with no choice but to immerse their dead in river

www.theguardian.com

“In the last 25 days we have heard of 17 deaths in the village,” said Manoj Kumar Jaiswal, 42, the husband of the head of the village. “Ninety per cent of people in this village are sick, every household has someone who has a cough or a fever. Many people in the village are getting a temperature, cough and they die within a day or two.”

Jaiswal said no one in the village was being tested for coronavirus, even when they went to local hospitals. “I am scared because we don’t know why this is happening,” he said.

Mohammad Iqbal, 42, who runs a grocery shop in Sauram, described how his mother, Tara Begum, 55, had fallen sick on 4 May with a cough and a fever. As she struggled to breathe, he took her to the nearby private Shivangi hospital where she was put on oxygen. She died the next morning.

“The doctors didn’t tell me the cause of death but they said that four or five people had died in the hospital that morning,” said Iqbal. “There was no corona test done for her at the hospital and no tests are being done in the village, so how can we know if corona is here. All I know is that I have never seen so many people dying.”

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Unbelievable

79,000 people flying in for Tokyo Olympics, Japanese media reports

Organisers of Games are pressing ahead despite massive public opposition due to Covid pandemic

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Now they're saying that wearing or not wearing masks is political speech so a mask mandate violates the first amendment. WHAT THE ACTUAL FANCY ROTATING FUCK?

For some reason this legal argument reminds me of when an elderly gentleman was appearing in the local Crown Court, conducting his own appeal against a parking fine that the local magistrates had imposed, despite his explaining to them his theory that some Act passed during the reign of Queen Victoria entitled him to park where he liked, or at least where he was parked at the time the ticket was issued.

He explained his theory to the judge at quite some length, of course.

At the end of all this, the judge asked, fascinated,

"And you explained all this to the magistrates, did you?"
"Yes, your honour, I did."
"And what did they say?"
"Nothing, your honour. They fell about laughing. They just fell about laughing!"

On the other hand, if this makes hitting Nazis protected speech, too, I might be persuaded.

ETA: Of course, out of respect for the dignity of the court and the appellant's feelings, everyone in our court behaved with decorum and kept a straight face, but it wasn't easy!