COVID19 Factors We Should Consider/Current Events

[Yngvi]

Ohhh boy things are getting exciting now!

Sources believe coronavirus originated in Wuhan lab as part of China'''s efforts to compete with US | Fox News

I am shocked. Absolutely shocked.

In further news, it turns out our pal "experts" at the NIH decided to issue a $3.7 million dollar grant to the WuHan Biosafety lab for corona virus study. Gaetz calls for end to NIH grant to Wuhan virology lab, says it can be done with '''stroke of a pen''' | Fox News

Could be. Let's not forget that the US no doubt pissed off the PRC when there was bi-partisan resolution from Congress in support of the Hong Kong protests. Personally, I'm of the belief or Intelligence Community fomented those protests to bring additional pressure on the PRC during trade negotiations last year. This belief is based mainly on how quickly those protests died down after the trade agreement was settled.

War by other means.

It is possible the U.S. gave some moral support to Hong Kong, but the protests there originally arose because of direct, heavy-handed interventions by the CCP. They protests did not actually go away until the virus lockdowns ended them; the media just stopped reporting on after a while. I have talked to several people from Hong Kong and they do not hesitate to vent their hatred of the CCP.

[Mark E. Hurling]

My position is still: COVID-19 is not a long-term public health concern, but it is a short-term threat to hospitals, which warranted lockdown for at most a month.

Well, it's been a month. Hospitals and PPE manufacturers are done adding capacity. The rate of new cases is no longer increasing (at least in NYC). The rationale for lockdown has expired. So has their economic feasibility. Restoring economic activity should now be the goal.

At least this somewhat edited version of your original post is FINALLY(!) a rational, if belated, assessment.

[FlamingoDeFranc]

This distinction is eliminating confusion, not perpetuating it.

Mixing probable deaths with deaths: a conspiracy. Separating them: apparently, also a conspiracy.

Sure. That does seem to be how they want us to perceive it. And they're walking around saying that a bunch of people died at home and that it's all very like from covid. Sure. (People just don't die at home from any other ways, right?) And then they're supposed to log the deaths in one of two ways. Please tell me how they're supposed to know the exact cause of death and accurately log it with so many preexisting conditions existing for these people.
The CDC guidelines also say that covid19 deaths may be mistaken for influenza. Sure. This is more misleading wordplay for people who are not independent thinkers. Because any independent thinker would realize that during a pandemic such as this, the likelihood of the mistake happening in that way is counterintuitive to what is actually probable.
Speaking from experience in the military, when the chain of command says 'do something' you don't really have a choice. Because it's either do it, or go to jail. For me, it's easy to see how that mentality might cross over in times like this and covid19 deaths get logged incorrectly because some guy/gal up top is shouting 'Just fucking do it'.

[JoshK]

How is any of this legal? Our governor in Illinois does not have the power to overturn any voting laws or suspend elections, or require the legislature to meet via teleconference because these all require changes to current laws/mandates/policies, but he can mandate a shut down of “non-essential” businesses and he can grant workman’s comp to nurses and other first responders with no proof they contracted COVID-19 at work. Turns out these are all powers granted to him under the Illinois Emergency Management Act.
Also, cities all over the country are mandating face coverings. Which I am sure our governor will mandate for Illinois as part of lifting the house arrest order. And I cannot find anything online that gives the Government power to do this either. So does that mean the lack of a law forbidding the Government to do something gives them the authority to enact anything? Or what if we stay under this Emergency Management Act indefinitely? And all Pritzker continues to do is deflect everything to the CDC, epidemiologist, doctors, and mathematicians on “flatting the curve.” I guess we were so worried about military take overs we didn’t plan on how to defend against Healthcare Industry take overs.
When they get a vaccine and I don’t get my shot, but it can be proved through “test and trace” that I passed the virus to someone, could I be tried for assault or murder if they die? I’m sure I’m just being paranoid.

[mpalios]

I'm kind of looking forward to a gym where wiping equipment is mandatory, open coughing is banned, ample cleaning supplies are stocked, and janitorial service is expanded.

I get what you are saying, but what if my cough is from allergies? Or what if I swallowed some drink or food, and it went down the wrong pipe? Of what if I get a sneeze attack for no reason?

[Agilic]

The fact that everyone is still trying to compare covid-19 to a regular flu season in this thread is absolutely depressing. This pandemic has already killed as many people as a typical flu season in about half the time WITH dramatic social interventions! When I last responded here there were ~13K deaths. Now there have been nearly 30K deaths and growing. That was 1 week ago! Yes, the original model (which was based on if the virus ran through the country without interventions) overestimated the number of deaths. But as was mentioned, those models were what was expected to happen if we did nothing. The interventions are working. If the interventions were lifted, would you really want to go to a movie, concert, or large sporting event anytime soon?

Is now the time to open the country back up? I would agree that the timeline for this should be based on where you live and some areas are closer than others. Does rural Montana require the same constraints as NYC? Probably not. However, proper protocols need to be put in place before this happens. We need appropriate testing so contact tracing can be performed, which is not happening. What we are left with is an administration that did not take this virus seriously at the onset. Established poor procedures and protocols which allowed this to spread rapidly. We have an administration who wanted to promote propaganda and falsehoods. Oops, it turns out hydroxycholoroquine isn't all that effective against the virus based on the most recent studies. We have an administration who is too worried about blaming others than developing solutions. We are now attempting to defund the World Health Organization?? WTF?!? When did the WHO become the enemy? The United States is doing far worse than most other countries when it comes to dealing with this. Instead, we have a President who is more concerned with putting his name on paper stimulus checks (likely delaying when people will receive them) to score some political points for the election. What episode of the twilight zone is this?

The lack of leadership and piss poor response we have had to this pandemic is going to do nothing more than prolong it, which will do far further damage to the economy in the long run. So maybe some of the folks that I was arguing with have a point. We should simply have done nothing and let this thing run its course, costing possibly millions of lives. Given this country's lack of leadership we will be digging ourselves out of this for a long time after other countries have recovered. Most of the world will probably end up with a travel ban on Americans if this keeps up. I guess that is how we are making america great again.



I guess that would be a failure of the criminal justice system if we released 4000 inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes and they all turn violent after their release.

Is this post satire? I really hope this is satire.

Thought provoking questions for anyone struggling to align their thoughts.

Which has always been the much bigger political issue in the entire history of our nation? Unemployment, or reducing fatalities amongst the vulnerable populations? Why is that?

And why the sudden shift? Think about who has led your new way of thinking and why they might be doing so.

Hint: it's not because of 30k deaths, ~99% of which were already at risk at dying soon from something. Think much deeper than that.

[Fulcrum]

Ohhh boy things are getting exciting now!

Sources believe coronavirus originated in Wuhan lab as part of China'''s efforts to compete with US | Fox News

(That headline is worded poorly/click baity)

But I like the narratives out there that the virus was not "man made"....or it was not "made in a lab".

The Amazonian pygmy guy didn't have a biochemistry degree, or know jack squat about about lipophilic alkaloid toxins such as allopumiliotoxin 267A, batrachotoxin, epibatidine, histrionicotoxin, and pumiliotoxin 251D ....he didn't "create" these in a lab either. But they sure didn't culture it, and use them effectively.

[Buddy Rich]

Amazing how 3,700+ new deaths were "discovered" in New York the other day, as they went back and blamed Covid-19 for deaths that were previously attributed to other factors.

Just like they did here in Nebraska:
Two more COVID-19 deaths reported in Douglas County, bringing Nebraska's total to eight | Live Well Nebraska | omaha.com

Both victims had multiple underlying conditions, with one already in hospice! But no, that poor guy would have still been receiving hospice care if that damned virus hadn't killed him!

[wiigelec]

Herd immunity is around 60-70 % right?

If the infection rate is only 10-25% how do we ever reach herd immunity?

Do you need herd immunity to stop the spread? If so then why did the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic cease with only 25-30% infected? Why do only 20% get infected by influenza even in non-immunized populations?

[mangen]

Chicago released a bunch of inmates recently too.

Concerning Chicago in general - not necessarily the release of inmates. I hope that someone (Feds, State, Private - I don't care) has a plan, method and materials to socially distance Chicago by blowing every bridge on the Des Plaines, Fox and Kankakee rivers. Others may have plans to limit my escape by removing the bridges on the Rock and the Mississippi.