Latest data compared with Italy. We should have responded much earlier and tested rigorously. We picked up 6,000 cases today. Nearly 50%.

Yes, the spike is partly due to a flood of recent tests coming back positive. But it also underscores how many we missed... and how much bigger the actual situation really is.

Stay vigilant, folks. Keep your eyes on the population centers like New York, Seattle, and LA.... and expect what is happening there will likely be happening in your town soon.

If you have business to do, you'd better damn well get it done right now.

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Half of the people in ICU in France are under age 60. This doesn't track with what China has been telling us... it's worse.

China also reports a 4% morbidity rate. Is that also underestimated? Hope not, because 4% is HIGH.

Scale that up and, well, it gets really ugly, really fast.

https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-idaho-missouri-nebraska-covid-19-responses-2020-3

I doubt China’s numbers are accurate. Nor India, Pakistan, or Russia. In “reliable” reporting countries we see much higher infection rates and growth percentages.

India in particular is gonna be really rough.

We need to see the new case trendlines going horizontal within about 9 more days and hold... and hopefully decline.

Otherwise, we got... problems.

Big problems.

If this gets too far out of control, we could very well see American deaths in the tens of millions. Not necessarily only due to COVID-19, but also the splash effect of having no hospitals for anything else available.

Whatever you do, stay healthy and don't risk injury right now. We are on thin ice.

Mexico, India, and Pakistan are in denial. Expect them to get hit hard. Texas may also become a flashpoint... they aren't taking this seriously.

Cuomo is having eight temporary hospitals built in New York. Expects peak surge to hit within three weeks (around April 17th, give or take). This will triple the available number of hospital beds to about 150,000. Still won't be enough, but close, IF the peak estimate holds. Could be a million cases by then... holy shit.

A bit of good news: Cases are doubling every four days instead of every three days. Social distancing is believed to be the primary helpful factor here. Hopefully the doubling will continue to slow down.

I'd agree with that on an intuitive level. Here's another take...

https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/wuhan-deaths-03272020182846.html

If true, that's really sad. Suffer in silence, shut up, get the grieving over and done with, don't tell anyone, here's $425, go back to work.

Democracy may be messy, but damn, better protect it while the option is still there.

Say, with all of this money going out, where all da millionaires be?

Are the masks helping, or is it the authoritarian restrictions? Or both?

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Seconded on the thank you's to you, Gizzard... and please be cautious. Texas has been extraordinarily nonchalant about the status quo. Katy Trail still full of people & not much changed behavior overall.

Not good.

China's numbers are not reliable. I bet millions have died.

Single-payer healthcare isn't an "if", but a "when" for the USA. The COVID economic shock is exposing many of the longstanding fissures in our "sink or swim" system. Which, for many, still consists of "work, or die".

Actually, come to think of it, lately it has been more like "work *and* die".

I thought the Great Recession would've been enough of a wake up call, but maybe this will finally do it.

Anyway, seeing the curve flatten is good, but overall the count is still going up... and in places like Mexico, India, and Russia... it's gonna go WAY up. :/

Recently heard the person in charge of overseeing the use of our funds was fired... and replaced with some political crony like Mnuchin who made a killing off the Great Recession and drove many, many people out of their homes in the process.

Wouldn't be surprising if so. Another big disappointment atop the pile.

Although stock market history isn't a predictor of future performance, we have seen more than a few of these "fake rallies" precede the true bottom which came months later.

Hard to believe we've already hit that point yet. Shocks of this magnitude usually take 5-ish years to recover from. Might not see DIJA top 30,000 until late 2025.

Just speculation, but if the numbers they are throwing out are an indication, whoo... gonna be a bit of a climb ahead.

Fox News? I'd believe it if it were from Reuters and AP. Maybe also Guardian, NYT, Economist. But Fox is primarily an "entertainment network" like MSNBC.

Latest deaths per capita by country:

per country (resized).jpg

And by state:

per state (resized).jpg

Looks like we're about to cross the annual flu/pneumonia death rate... and this is only after one month! Yeesh.

The stock market is defiant as hell. What reality does this reflect other than pumping the markets with freshly printed money to make things appear normal? And for what?

Why aren't grocery workers getting hazard pay?

Why are we bailing out rich corporations... AGAIN?

Why aren't we funding more medical science and nurses to do additional research?

Complaining to the wind isn't any good, of course. Pardon. Nothing to see here, I guess. Just wondering what the market will look like after another month or three.

If you ever needed any proof that the stock market isn't the economy, well, just go outside and take a look around. All good?

Verified. Don't be that guy.

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Latest data. By state:

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By country:

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And if you really want to appreciate the situation here, this is a linear representation...

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That's the scary part. It's 20x more lethal, 12-15x times easier to catch, and the mortality rate vs. recovery rate in confirmed cases is a good bit higher than previously estimated.

It may also be possible to catch it again (but this hasn't been verified yet... pure speculation right now).

Soon COVID deaths will surpass annual flu/pneumonia deaths... and we're only a few weeks in!!! Total cases are still doubling every 6.8 days.

This means we'll go over 1.5 million confirmed cases by next week if we don't turn this thing in a downward direction... and fast. Just staying the course means 3 million... and after that... it may become unstoppable.

Which, as Egon noted, "...would be bad."

Stakes are high now. Let's turn the volume down while we still can.

WTF!!!???

Drag queens and trans people are people.

Their “agenda” is the same as yours... keeping the fridge full of food, lawn mowed, taxes paid, etc, etc.

Kids know what they are. Does every kid who reads a Superman comic jump off a building? It’s OK if they see the world as it is... geez.

Heck, some of them might be trans or drag queens and seeing others can help them figure out why they are different.

Stop trying to erase people or frame their mere existence as an affront to your own.

Some people are different. Deal with it.

"We're gonna rise up against the very people we voted for! All those people from our own neighborhoods and districts! They did this to us!"

Rise up and do what, exactly? Flush our representative democracy down the toilet?

I wonder... back in the day did people suggest WWII was a hoax? Hitler was fake? War bonds were a conspiracy by Henry Ford to... uh... raise money for... uh... building a tunnel to... smuggle hamburgers to Russia?

SNARK ASIDE, our creaky old government system and way we do business is really showing the cracks right now. A lot of people aren't getting the help they need, and they might not have anything to do but yell for "how it used to be" because they were barely making ends meet as it was.

We need to take a good, long look at where the money has gone and hold our entire system accountable. Patch the cracks, upgrade to Democracy 2.0, and reduce the power of the two-party system.

Particularly that last part. A brittle system doesn't flex... and boy does it need to right now.

Spending my time rebuilding the projects and playing with watches. Got ALL of the score reels rebuilt throughout the museum as well as three complete machines.

About to be four soon... this is a 1967 Magic City. Watch is a 1960’s Diehl “Eye of Sauron” edition from Germany. Just to keep the decades consistent.

Stay safe y’all. I hate this situation as much as anyone & have vulnerable family members out there too.

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Georgia and Florida will almost certainly see a spike in new infections over the next several weeks if they actually go forward with their plans.

I'm hoping they will reconsider. The curve may be flattening, but we're still seeing 30,000 new confirmed cases a day. Which is still a lot.

New England? Whoo... real disaster up yonder. RI, MA, CT, PA, NJ... new cases up up up.

We gotta see these trends nosediving before we think about loosening restrictions... I mean, right?

Glad to see the wave cresting but 2000 deaths a day still isn't where we want to be.

36,400 new cases yesterday. Our highest yet.

Not quite time to release the emergency brakes, IMHO...

We may not have created a Medical Military, but perhaps the new Space Force will save us instead?

"Believe me, we can blast the virus from space with UV rays. I think it will be vaporized like the Death Star blowing up and the economy will be great. Anything else is fake news."

At this point I'll be happy to see funding for medical research and hazard pay for essential workers. Still not getting it. :/

Certified commercial air filtration is going to be a really big deal.

I expect to see colorful window stickers soon: 5x Filtration Certified! (or whatever the guideline/expectation will be)

Most don't.

Isn't the primary point of requiring masks to keep airborne droplets with the wearer, rather than act like a full respirator/N95?

OK, but remain defensive. A number of these tests generate false positives.

“Unless everyone is wearing a mask, nobody is.”

As a nation, we all need to get this basic understanding drilled into our thick heads. Otherwise we won’t see the numbers reliably decline.

Another caveat: Masks and respirators with vents (exhaust ports) do nothing to filter exhaled air. Beware.

High volume of fresh, non-recirculated airflow is the winning recipe.

Same analogy as the Fukushima disaster: “Distribution is the solution to pollution”

https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them?fbclid=IwAR2qVycFsyj4R6OdFJoB7MIgqNsbU35uItGxP4w5cp0-aX7MJs-I6pKIwbU

I am having custom masks made for all of our organizations in this style:

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This is important for building trust and showing that we are taking this seriously.

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Actually our logo looks pretty cool on these! We will convey a sense of competency and back it up with an actual virus mitigation strategy that works: Continuous forced fresh airflow (the big one), masks on, hands sanitized at entry *and* exit, no eating or drinking inside, limited attendance, timed admission (like a movie matinee), two-machine distance rule.

It’ll be as safe as an indoor space can be, short of an ICU.

We don’t want any more bad news to crush our reopening dreams, but I fear the issue of clean fresh indoor airflow is a big ugly monster waiting to pounce.

Politically and economically, the topic is like handling a live grenade.

Similar story in SK. Worrisome, because they have been one of the best prepared.

That's the concern. An awful lot of money has gone to corporations which didn't need it (and were already given huge tax cuts in 2017), and the stock market is betting big (really damn big) on everything bouncing right back to normal ASAP.

McConnell's attitude in the Senate sums up the administration's priorities: Get back to work, get our bills approved, get our preferred judges packed in those courtrooms, keep the economy rolling, or you're fired with no healthcare or stimulus or further assistance.

Not wearing a mask in 2020:

We plan to open July 1. Masks mandatory, no exceptions, end of story.

I am suspicious as to whether we will only be open for a few weeks (or days, the way the rest of the country is going) and have to close back up again despite our "next-level" social distancing plans and safety precautions.

Three custom fan arrays are in place (note: temporary clamps in these photos).

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I am currently in the process of doing smoke-checks from every game on the floor. If the plume moves steadily toward the vents, we're good. If it gets stuck in a loop, auxiliary fans will be deployed to move it along. Everyone, everywhere, as safe as possible.

Verify, verify, verify. No guessing.

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I haven't heard of this being done anywhere else or even being discussed. Worrisome. But at least the media and medical resources are finally beginning to mention the importance of non-recirculated 'fresh airflow' in indoor environments. Finally.

My solution is a brute-force approach. It'll work, but it will strain humidity levels and HVAC. For now, I don't care. Beating COVID is more important. In the near future, I hope to see effective and verified virus-destroying air control solutions. That would be the next level from here.

It’s not just about counting deaths.

People who survive and get a lung transplant are considered “recovered”... think about that.

(and everything in between)

We are currently at war from within. A firewall of old legislators, judges, and a puppet president are rallying a minority of citizens to defy their own government (and reality itself) using weaponized media and intimidation to uphold a notion of America’s past which no longer exists today, nor existed in the way they are told to believe.

Back in the real “Great America Days”, our citizens would have gladly worn masks and banded together to kick COVID to the curb. But any issue right now is a potential wedge/lever for the administration to pull, because they are in free fall... and have nothing left to deliver except sow division and keep us distracted while rubber-stamping as many corrupt laws and biased judges as possible on their way out.

We’ll eventually fix the damage, but it’ll take generations. Assuming we have the time left to do it, that is.

“Sweden literally gained nothing.”

https://theweek.com/speedreads/924238/sweden-literally-gained-nothing-from-staying-open-during-covid19-including-no-economic-gains

Shields up, play it safe folks. Virus sets the rules. Up to us how well we play the game.

Hospitalization rates are a good measure of what is going on independent of testing.

Well said, Asael. I remember when most of my family, friends, and neighbors would’ve echoed the exact same sentiment. But we are currently in the middle of an information war and many of those same people I knew have now been indoctrinated against their own common sense and welfare for the nation as a whole.

It is a sad, baffling, dangerous time. We lack unified leadership at the national level... and the results have been a complete and total disaster.

Perhaps laziness really is the root of all evil.

Learning and thinking is hard, whereas believing in a conspiracy theory requires no effort at all.

Why not call all knowledge fake and believe the moon is made of pumpkin spice latte? Yay I win let’s get some Aqua Net and toilet paper rolls and go there in a homegrown rocket!

Meanwhile, back on topic, this is a cheap mitigation tool. MERV13 + rubber bands + fan = worth a shot! Early tests are seeing good results.
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Quite possibly so. Already happened to Powerblock dumbbells... everyone bringing the gym inside.

Just got #2.

Yep. Seeing that here too. RCAHD latest report is 81% unvaccinated, 19% VACCINATED people are hospitalized.

BIG number.

On a personal level, two of my local pals went to a music festival. Both are early 40's. Both got the J&J. Both are coughing right now, running 102+ temps, chills, etc. and confirmed with covid.

Third pal is awaiting lab results. Also vaccinated (Pfizer). Late 40's. Is now seeing symptoms/energy drain/unwellness.

Another friend is living in Colorado (Larimer County). 25% of new infections are fully vaccinated people. 13% of hospitalizations and 8% of deaths were fully vaccinated people. During this recent sample, over 85% of all positive cases were Delta.

Yet another friend is living in Oklahoma City and says all ICU's in his provider network just hit 100% capacity.

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Delta is different, folks.

Needless to say, the so-called "vaccine conspiracy" is really only this: No one wants to pull the pin on a live economic and political grenade this late in the game, especially with tens of millions of unvaccinated kids about to go back to school.

But it's coming regardless of what "Person On TV"/meme of the minute says. It's worse than we collectively believe, or want to believe.

Even better? The Lambda variant will eventually arrive from South America and probably rip through the population in a similar manner. Even deadlier than Delta, and seemingly able to evade current vaccines too. Other variants of concern are also emerging. Will they attack the heart, brain, or possibly lie dormant then re-emerge as a chronic condition?

Unvaccinated people are the ones really taking it on the chin right now. Shame they just won't listen.

Depends upon which media and which internet sources being referred to.

I tend to defer to those who have more experience in matters such as these. Both direct and theoretical.

Similarly, would not attempt to do my own neurosurgery, nor read 54 pages of obtusely detailed product clauses for every app that I download.

Trust is always a factor, and certainty is never absolute. Living a successful life is a matter of playing the odds as well as possible.

Usually, the greatest errors come from incorrectly estimating true risk, and betting against it. Which is what we are seeing from a significant percentage of the population right now. But, nobody said humans were naturally good at estimating true risk... and so it goes.

I'd suggest looking at the data, not the documentation. One group is doing vastly better than the other group.

“If X is X, then why is Y? Here’s a meme of Z!”

If you won’t get the shot, at least stay defensive as hell. The unvaccinated are really getting screwed with Delta and second-round infections.

The U-shaped "hesitancy curve" from high school education to PHD seems counterintuitive, doesn't it?

Perhaps if having no/low education lends one to embrace more fear-based/magical thinking... at the other end it could be that jumping through so many tedious years of progressive educational hurdles is like getting tunnel vision.

Not to say all of my PhD pals are single-minded, but some are, and some to vastly, nay, -SHOCKINGLY- unexpected degrees! Like being completely unable to prepare and mail a package at UPS. Huge gaps across the knowledge map.

"I spent all of my life energy getting to Wizard Mode in this one discipline, and had nothing left to give for nuance."

Not "the" truth. "Your" truth. Analogies are not facts.

Fact is, vaccines protect you and the people around you. Whereas being unvaccinated turns your body into a nice little meat-factory of harmful mutating proteins expelled with every breath.

The end.

S T O P
T A K I N G
E V E R Y T H I N G
O U T
O F
C O N T E X T

"He said screw your freedom! He hates my freedom!"

Damn, man. What do you think freedom is? Where do you think it comes from? Civilization is an agreement to live together and not kill each other, steal each other's things, etc. Now we're living with a virus which turns unvaccinated people's exhaled air into weapons which can kill or cause long-term suffering.

Ignoring that, "because freedom", is like opening the nearest window on a space station to let the oxygen out.

Arnold basically said, "Newp, we're gonna close that window. Your freedom ends at the point when it begins to destroy freedom."

I may be wrong, and feel free to correct me if so, but if you are a degreed Constitutional Scholar feel free to provide a link to your credentials in order to continue this stupid tangent before Founding Father crap and Biblical passages inevitably arrive.

Civilization, and the Constitution it is based upon, only exists because we agree to live together peacefully, more-or-less.

Civics 101. Without your neighbors and community standing in cooperation, you got no rights, no matter what piece of paper you're waving around.

We're connected, ya dig? This democracy thing isn't happening in a vacuum. And neither is the air you're sharing.

Hey corona-scouts... as you've probably heard I've done a crapload of research on airflow and ventilation and all that since the pandemic hit. Just wanted to let you know my favorite air filtration system just went on sale with free shipping and code COWAYMEGA10 will stack a further 10% off that.

https://cowaymega.com/products/coway-tower-ap-1216l

Here's why you want it:

The filter lasts a whole year. Longer than most. Not expensive to replace.

It has a highly visible air quality ring which changes color depending upon what’s going on. Easily visible at a glance from across the room.

It is easy to open and clean (many are not).

It has a built in ionizer which can be turned off if desired.

It is tall, attractive, and moves a lot of air for its size.

It is easy to pick up and position anywhere.

It is less than $200.

It is not made in China by some no-name factory with questionable work ethics. Coway is in South Korea and have been in business for a long time.

It is a high-quality system, top to bottom, which is immediately evident after opening the box.

This is what it looks like:

coway1 (resized).jpg

Here's what it sucks out of the air (HEPA filtration):

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If you have this (cut expansion foam in this example) flying through the air...

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...the sensor ring will turn red...

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...then purple as it gets cleaned up...

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...and then blue again.

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I recommend putting one in every room where you spend the most time. Rated for 330sqft. when running at maximum speed.

It is much better to have multiple filtration systems distributed throughout your space rather than relying upon one huge centralized unit to sweep out the entire house or business.

Also better than integrated HVAC-filters which require the entire system to be actively pumping air in order to filter anything... and only near the registers at that.

Have had lots of friends pick up this system and are very happy with it. I like to research things. OK, now back to your regularly scheduled corona-thread...

Alas... truth travels at the speed of the post office, whereas lies move at the speed of light.

Seems like all we can do to fight back is educate, educate, educate and cleverly clap back/counter-troll/publicly shame those who profit from "flooding the zone with s**t".

I mean, if we won't step up, who will? Most likely someone with only their own self-interests in mind. We don't need any kings or demagogues in this country, aye? By the people, for the people.

Y'all are doing a good job fighting for the truth in this thread. Honestly, it's the duty of every freedom-loving citizen of this nation. We are literally governed by our own collective awareness. Protect it or lose it.

Exposure is bad for everyone.

Unvaccinated people shed more viral proteins when infected.

Is it more complicated than this?

Juggling the same concerns here. Wondering if I should tote a large Coway Airmega 400 (or two) to place beside me at all times...

The ventilation thing is still, STILL, S T I L L not getting the focus it should. Not even close. It's just pathetic.

I’m talking about crowded indoor spaces.

If people were violently exercising indoors, that would only exacerbate the problem.

The flat earth thing is amazing. People will believe anything.

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Just boosted a couple hours ago. On the Moderna track.

#1 in April was bleh. 36 hours of semi-flu weirdness and then *bam* it instantly lifted like nothing happened at all.

#2 in May wasn’t as annoying. 20 hours of not-quite-as-bad symptoms then *bam* gone in a flash again. Love that. I wish normal flu behaved this way instead of gradual recovery and weeks of coughing, etc.

#3 booster today. Expecting it to follow suit and be even less of an annoyance.

Hooray for technology and living in a rich country! We are so lucky.

Yee haw! Only symptom is some tiredness. Nothing like the first two jabs. Ahhhh… time for the hot tub.

"NO ROOM" and yet "CAUTION THROWN TO THE WIND"

Geez. 'Murica.

If you're stuck in a place where nobody is doing anything right (or not!), deploy air filter systems and homemade DIY box fan MERV 13 filter cubes with reckless abandon. Coway AP-1216L and Coway Airmega 300/400 are my favorite retail products.

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For DIY, build the cube like this: https://www.texairfilters.com/a-variation-on-the-box-fan-with-merv-13-filter-air-cleaner/

Upgrade the baffle too: https://www.texairfilters.com/how-to-improve-the-efficiency-of-the-box-fan-and-merv-13-filter-air-cleaner/

Way easier than shopping out a pin. Do eet. Give some to your schools too.

Geez, that is really bad advice. Is your doctor Superman? Morgana the magic fortune teller?

Healthy people die of the flu, too. Or getting tangled up in their bedsheets. Or choking on a biscuit.

It’s quite dangerous to assume healthiness alone will stop all dangers in life… although it does feel good to believe one is immune to life’s many risks and tribulations. Especially during a stressful time like this.

Be healthy, but don’t make it into a religion. Eventually, health fails us all.

Of course making healthy choices is better than not. Isn't this well-known by now?

Your critique is a different argument, not the one in the context presented. To reiterate, living healthy is the best way to go, but believing health itself provides immunity to risks (known and unknown) is dangerous. It's like believing in youth... "I shall always feel young and powerful through sheer force of will!".

Never ends well. Besides, all humans have a 0% survival rate, given enough time.

I wonder how bad the 2021 Covid winter surge will be? Now that everyone in the northern hemisphere is heading back indoors the new case rate is climbing to new highs, right on schedule.

Which gives rise to a couple of thoughts…

1) The issue of indoor ventilation and filtration is STILL NOT BEING ADDRESSED. Has your home, business, or local haunts changed operating procedures since March 2020?

2) Omicron is at least 1.3 times as infectious as Delta (so I’ve heard), even though we’re not done with Delta yet. Will we see new all-time highs in case and casualty rates?

Pro tip: Swipe a fingertip across the wet surface of the produce bin or backsplash. Instant bag-mojo, sans lick.

Whoa... and this is without adequate testing specifically for Omicron. Actual numbers are likely much higher than this.

BTW no one has ever asked me, "What is your business doing to address the airborne transmission of the coronavirus in order to protect worker and guest safety?"

I've had a well-prepared answer since May 2020... *crickets*

If you really want to put your local business on the spot, ask that very question. Someone might mutter something about "HVAC guys were here doing things" but without proof (FaTIMA modeler, fog machine, etc.) stuffing a MERV13 in the filter box ain't gonna cut it alone. Assuming that was done at all.

I predicted we may see a new building code guideline in the future requiring some kind of smoke test. As in, how many minutes does it take room X to be cleared of artificial fog. With or without HVAC running. Etc.

My girlfriend is doing some remodeling right now. I brought three Coway towers into the kitchen and ran them at maximum speed to monitor the air purity. Sensors were red for hours, even though nothing was detectable via smell, etc. It is very easy to be lulled into a false sense of security. Very, very easy.

Now that everyone in the northern hemisphere is heading back indoors with a vastly more infectious variant circulating around, will we still be arguing over useless plastic barriers and ill-fitting masks and who will/won't wear them... who will/won't get vaccinated... breakthrough infections... immune system evasion... more variants? Ventilation and filtration neatly and effectively addresses all of these things in the background, no politics necessary.

I suggest scrolling back and building one of those fan/filter gizmos for your local business, school, etc. Or just buying a Coway AP-1216L or Airmega 300/400 for an elegant pre-made solution. Basically if you are responsible for a lot of people gathering around with no air moving in/out or have a large household with family and friends... take action.

At the very least it will knock down airborne nasties and help everyone breathe easier. Do it!

(and now back to your regularly scheduled thread… pardon… preaching to the choir here mostly)

…and overload the hospital system too.

Not looking good. We may all be a bit exhausted with “playing it safe” but virus don’t care. If we let it rip through the population, well, that’s exactly what it will do.

Hoping it won’t be so bad, but early data isn’t making me optimistic. :/

A ponderable for 2022…

When Abraham Lincoln was 33 years old, he gave a speech inside a Presbyterian church to a temperance society. His message: The assembled ought to be nicer to drinkers and sellers of alcohol, rather than shunning them, or denouncing them as moral pestilences. Indeed, they ought to use “kindly persuasion,” even if a man’s drunkenness had caused misery to his wife, or left his children hungry and naked with want.

For people are never less likely to change, to convert to new ways of thinking or acting, than when it means joining the ranks of their denouncers.

To expect otherwise, “to have expected them not to meet denunciation with denunciation ... and anathema with anathema, was to expect a reversal of human nature,” Lincoln explained. “If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and when once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing his judgment of the justice of your cause.”

However, Lincoln cautioned, dictate to a man’s judgment, command his action, or mark him to be despised, “and he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues to his head and his heart. And even though your cause be naked truth itself, transformed to the heaviest lance, harder than steel, and sharper than steel can be made, and though you throw it with more than Herculean force and precision, you shall be no more be able to pierce him, than to penetrate the hard shell of a tortoise with a rye straw.”

Very sorry to hear of your ordeal, but it sounds like things are taking a turn for the better, if slowly.

I would recommend using Instacart to have groceries delivered to you. Used it the last time I had the flu... was a wonderful thing. No need to add additional stress if you can outsource logistics. Rest easy & hydrate!

Woo wee. Look at how quickly Omicron (orange) has not only displaced Delta (grey) but rocketed beyond all previous measured case levels.

January is gonna get a lot uglier. Be careful, folks.

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Dunno if this is scientifically validated, but it does seem that covid affects males more severely than females. Just from personal observation around here.

A 50% positive test rate?!? Whoa. If that is what you are seeing *inside* the clinic… then…

Oops… that’s right. Was thinking random sample.