How COVID-19 is affecting society

[Kara Spengler]

I just saw another article complaining about the teenagers on spring break. That's just dumb. Those teenagers were doing the responsible thing.

If you are in a low risk population, like the average teenager is, your goal should be to get corona as fast as possible, so you can develop antibodies, because as you get older, your risk goes up. Doing it on spring break is a great idea, because that limits your exposure to your parents and older relatives, who are probably much higher risk than you. When you return to your home town, you have antibodies, so you can take an essential job and maybe even support your family if they are a rough time financially. Also, super high risk grannies wouldn't have to be working cash registers so much.

In fact, I think that if we wanted to build herd immunity fast, the best place to start would be for the government to sponsor a 3 week long spring break, and lower the drinking and marijuana age to 16 for those 3 weeks. Let them go nuts, tell them to all get infected and recover before sending them home to work essential jobs, with extra disaster pay. Beef up hospitals in the area for the few who might have complications, of course, but generally, let them have a blast.

They would probably wear masks and wash their hands constantly just to be rebellious, but it's worth a try.

Survey says? Bzzt and go to hell.

First of all it is a myth that young people are fine. The 20 somethings on ventilators would disagree.

Second of all there is a time after you catch it when you can spread it but are not showing symptoms. During that time they WILL spread it, including to more vulnerable populations.

 

[Sredni Eel]

This resonates.

 

[Clara D.]

CORONA VIRUS FOR ALL!

You don't science well.

 

[Sredni Eel]

I just saw another article complaining about the teenagers on spring break. That's just dumb. Those teenagers were doing the responsible thing.

No. No they were not. They were playing in the midst of a pandemic for a virus that is so contagious that 70% of us have a likelihood of contracting it before the first round is over. If this virus is anything like the 1918 Pandemic (which killed MILLIONS), we'll be lulled into a sense of complacency by June, and cases will flatten out for a time. But as soon as Autumn hits, we're in for Round Two, which will be even more deadly and devastating than Round One.

If you are in a low risk population, like the average teenager is, your goal should be to get corona as fast as possible, so you can develop antibodies, because as you get older, your risk goes up. Doing it on spring break is a great idea, because that limits your exposure to your parents and older relatives, who are probably much higher risk than you. When you return to your home town, you have antibodies, so you can take an essential job and maybe even support your family if they are a rough time financially. Also, super high risk grannies wouldn't have to be working cash registers so much.

No. No. No.

Ever hear of a lovely woman named Typhoid Mary?

Here's the thing about this virus: YOU CAN HAVE IT WITHOUT KNOWING. Quite a lot of the spread has been from asymptomatic people in the two weeks (or so) that it takes to actually show symptoms. A "mild" case means you're not likely to die, but it's no cake walk either. If you are asymptomatic (as a Spring Break kid, for example) and you go home to your family because all the colleges have closed down and dorms are kicking folks out for the year, you WILL spread this to others.

A "mild" case is a case where you *aren't* put on life support. You still cough till you puke, you still get fever spikes, and you still run the risk of your lungs filling up with mucus to the point where taking a breath is like trying to breathe under water. This isn't an old person's disease. Everyone can get it. Anyone can die. Even the young.
[/quote]

In fact, I think that if we wanted to build herd immunity fast, the best place to start would be for the government to sponsor a 3 week long spring break, and lower the drinking and marijuana age to 16 for those 3 weeks. Let them go nuts, tell them to all get infected and recover before sending them home to work essential jobs, with extra disaster pay. Beef up hospitals in the area for the few who might have complications, of course, but generally, let them have a blast.

They would probably wear masks and wash their hands constantly just to be rebellious, but it's worth a try.

This is the stupidest idea I've heard today, and I've read Donald Trump's twitter feed. If you knowingly infect a bunch of kids, they WILL spread it. You'll see a spike in cases where this fictional spring break fest takes place, and hospitals will, once again, be overwhelmed.

There's also the pesky little bit of research coming out that shows people who have recovered can still be contagious for weeks after recovery.

Plus, there's no way of knowing that once infected, you will not get this again. True, a virus like this is typically a one shot deal, but there have been reports of people testing positive after recovery.

Think before you post nonsense, k?

 

[Innula Zenovka]

More to the point, our rogue president has met only the most token resistance from the entire federal government. This is the most worrying aspect because ideally a single person could never cause that much damage to our country's reputation; ideally there would be not only mechanisms to prevent that, but the WILL to prevent it, by the majority of Congress and the Judiciary. That absence of universal resistance to Trump's action means that our "reliability" can't be fixed just by voting him out of office.

We are, in every meaning of that term, an "unreliable partner".

US's global reputation hits rock-bottom over Trump's coronavirus response

International relations expert warns policy failure could do lasting damage as president insults allies and undermines alliances

www.theguardian.com

Essentially, a summary of this very hard-hitting article from March 23, with added material:

The Death of American Competence

Washington’s reputation for expertise has been one of the greatest sources of its power. The coronavirus pandemic may end it for good.

foreignpolicy.com

“The Trump administration’s self-centred, haphazard, and tone-deaf response [to Covid-19] will end up costing Americans trillions of dollars and thousands of otherwise preventable deaths,” wrote Stephen Walt, professor of international relations at Harvard.

“But that’s not the only damage the United States will suffer. Far from ‘making America great again’, this epic policy failure will further tarnish [its] reputation as a country that knows how to do things effectively.”

This adverse shift could be permanent, Walt warned. Since taking office in 2017, Trump has insulted America’s friends, undermined multilateral alliances and chosen confrontation over cooperation. Sanctions, embargoes and boycotts aimed at China, Iran and Europe have been globally divisive.

[....]

Trump’s ineptitude and dishonesty in handling the pandemic, which has left foreign observers as well as Americans gasping in disbelief, is proving a bridge too far.

Erratic behaviour, tolerated in the past, is now seen as downright dangerous. It’s long been plain, at least to many in Europe, that Trump could not be trusted. Now he is seen as a threat. It is not just about failed leadership. It’s about openly hostile, reckless actions.

 

[Kara Spengler]

Trump's entire history, private and business both, has been one of walking away from contracts and agreements, when it suits him, telling aggrieved parties, "so sue me," whether for what he owes them or for a divorce.

Since becoming president, he's reneged on various US treaties and agreements, convincing even its closest allies that the US is no longer a reliable partner.

This latest shameful exploit should come a no surprise whatesover.

Yet at the same time he is sending ventilators overseas because he thinks we have plenty.

 

[Kara Spengler]

Reading between the lines of our UK Information Commissioner's Office's FAQ on Covid-19, where appropriate they're going to be enforcing the spirit rather than the letter of data protection regulations for as long as the emergency lasts, and if something ever becomes so great an issue that it does attract their attention, that'll be because it's something far worse than a technical breach.

I hope US regulators and courts take a similar view.

Yes, I am seeing the same over here. People are more worried about intent than if all the paperwork is done to the letter that would normally be filed before someone can access data offsite.

 

[bubblesort]

No. No they were not. They were playing in the midst of a pandemic for a virus that is so contagious that 70% of us have a likelihood of contracting it before the first round is over. If this virus is anything like the 1918 Pandemic (which killed MILLIONS), we'll be lulled into a sense of complacency by June, and cases will flatten out for a time. But as soon as Autumn hits, we're in for Round Two, which will be even more deadly and devastating than Round One.

I know, you're right! It was just a modest proposal.

It's really hard to do satire in this political climate.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

Yes, I understand that about the Republican Party but I'm wondering what's in it for the Fox Corporation, who are presumably concerned about the value of their assets, including Fox News.

Fox is in bed with their conservative allies and commercial sponsors, if their viewership drops 5% due to covid-19, it probably won't hurt them.

From their point of view (Arch conservatives, not just fox), entitlements are evil, so if a pandemic can reduce government expenses (social security checks) by 5%, that's a lot of money that could be shifted around. Making more stimulus and tax breaks available to them.

It's ALWAYS about the money with them.

 

[Sredni Eel]

Don't be coming to Santa Cruz if you don't live here. We mean it!!!

7 Fremont residents fined $1,000 in Santa Cruz for violating shelter in place orders

 

[Govi]

Don't be coming to Santa Cruz if you don't live here. We mean it!!!

7 Fremont residents fined $1,000 in Santa Cruz for violating shelter in place orders

A more localized version of the story:

 

[Sredni Eel]

They were seriously stupid. Fremont and Newark are rife with 7-11s. In fact, I can walk down the street a half mile in either direction and find one at either end of the street.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Reopening U.S. economy by May 1 may be unrealistic, say experts, including some within Trump administration

You don't say! Jumping off high buildings perhaps unwise, experts suggest.

Reopening U.S. economy by May 1 may be unrealistic, say experts, including some within Trump administration - The Washington Post

Coronavirus outbreak World Live updates: Some churches defy restrictions on Easter; coronavirus cases ... The Americas The president has vanished; his wife, the VP, says the coronavirus isn’t a ... Po...

www.evernote.com

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

 

[Caete]

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

.

Star Cinema Grill's owner bought coverage called "pandemic insurance," but the insurance company claims COVID-19 doesn't fall in the category. Now the owner is suing

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Fauci confirms New York Times report Trump rebuffed social distancing advice

Health adviser says on CNN ‘you could logically say if you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives’

www.theguardian.com

Trump retweets call to fire Anthony Fauci after the coronavirus expert says quicker response ‘could have saved lives’

Trump retweets #FireFauci amid criticism of the federal response to coronavirus pandemic - The Washington Post

Coronavirus outbreak World Live updates: China reports highest number of new coronavirus cases in near... Monkey Cage • Analysis The U.N. has appealed for a global coronavirus cease-fire Local • Analy...

www.evernote.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

For millions, lockdown is not novels and quality family time but food parcels and hardship | John Harris

We need to tell the stories of low-paid and casual workers who are suffering in this coronavirus crisis, says Guardian columnist John Harris

www.theguardian.com

If you are able to work from home, relatively free of anxiety about your job and so far untouched by either illness or death, isolation might come with compensations: you may, indeed, be living the Sunday-supplement lockdown dream of craft projects with the kids and demolishing your backlog of novels. But that is the experience of a tiny minority, even if it is informing some of the media’s apparent neglect of what so-called lockdown actually means for millions of people.

Not everyone who instinctively wants the lockdown to be eased as soon as possible is guilty of putting profit before life. It is surely not irresponsible to wonder whether the suspension of everyday existence is not already proving unsustainable, and whether there might come a point when the risks of the virus are outweighed by damage to people’s lives that may prove irreparable. As deaths here and abroad continue to increase, any honest view of our current circumstances must surely be ambivalent – acknowledging that lockdown is necessary, and it is a miracle that the health service has not already buckled, but also that it is exacting a toll that for many people is already unbearable.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Half of coronavirus deaths happen in care homes, data from EU suggests

Figures from Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Belgium suggest UK may be underestimating care sector deaths

www.theguardian.com