Official Thread: Coronavirus "COVID-19"

[12Bass]

I'm glad people are starting to call out Dr. Campbell. So many people treat Dr. Campbell as if he is some type of authority or valuable resource. He talks a lot of nonsense, and doesn't add a lot of insight. And, especially after he embarrassed himself on ivermectin, he's started leaning into the conspiracy theories. It's such a common strategy with YouTubers/podcasters. They talk about some alt-right/conspiracy theory and don't dismiss it as nonsense. Then they get that sweet enagement bump from all the cult members. Then start learning harder and harder into conspiracy theories to keep that engagement up.

Campbell doesn't strike me as the type who is sensational and/or looking for more YT followers. I get the impression that he's genuinely trying to help educate laypeople about the pandemic. However, he seems to have some biases that lead him astray from time to time, keeping him from being objective and properly scientific. FWIW, I did watch his videos for a while, but lost interest when I found he was being sloppy with his analysis and moved on to other more credible sources.

[12Bass]

So no, just because the US has over 20% of COVID cases reported, does not necessarily mean it's automatically the most likely to produce a new variant through infection. You also (expected, of course) ignored the fact that accurate reporting is an intense toll on support agencies and requires a lot of coordination - something many nations do not have or were not prepared for. The US, sitting in the international eye, is likely going to report more accurately, not less. Once again, I don't think you've travelled much to developing countries .. they do not, in any sense of the word, have the infrastructure, personnel, or organization to accurately handle reporting. It's an immense toll on many fronts.

While some countries certainly lack the ability to accurately track COVID cases, some parts of the US seem to be deliberately failing to do so.

[Nunz]

While some countries certainly lack the ability to accurately track COVID cases, some parts of the US seem to be deliberately failing to do so.

Sure, but even then, their lax policies on reporting are still beyond what some countries are even capable of.

[12Bass]

FWIW, I think the takeaway is that the US has had a relatively high number of COVID cases per capita and in total, many more than necessary, given the availability of vaccines. The stats are pretty poor when compared with other developed nations, even if the reporting in less developed nations is sketchy. Put another way, it seems to be a bad idea to minimize the breadth and seriousness of the pandemic and to attempt to shift focus to "foreigners" as the problem, when COVID is being handled poorly at home.

[Greasy]

Both baby and dad have recovered mashAllah 🙏🏽

Awesome! Did they require any intensive care?

[AllexxisF1]

Both baby and dad have recovered mashAllah 🙏🏽

Great to hear.

[acroig]

Both baby and dad have recovered mashAllah 🙏🏽

[Nunz]

FWIW, I think the takeaway is that the US has had a relatively high number of COVID cases per capita and in total, many more than necessary, given the availability of vaccines. The stats are pretty poor when compared with other developed nations, even if the reporting in less developed nations is sketchy. Put another way, it seems to be a bad idea to minimize the breadth and seriousness of the pandemic and to attempt to shift focus to "foreigners" as the problem, when COVID is being handled poorly at home.

I don't know who is doing what you just claimed. I'm certainly not, but we have to be honest when we look at the data and the capabilities of some nations to report accurately. I'm not bashing or blaming, it's simply being honest and realistic. The US could have handled things better, sure (especially the first year.. no doubt), and I certainly don't agree with the anti-vax, anti-mask crowd.. but the constant hammering on how the US has handled or is handling the response efforts is becoming ridiculous. There's been a lot of oversight and international focus on the US numbers, and as a country we've been very transparent compared to other first world nations. I think that needs to be acknowledged.

I don't think this is P&R material but if it is.. whatever.. just delete the post I guess. I don't feel discussing the response efforts is political but the line on what is and what isn't considered P&R on this particular subject has become quite blurred.

[acroig]

I don't think this is P&R material but if it is.. whatever.. just delete the post I guess. I don't feel discussing the response efforts is political but the line on what is and what isn't considered P&R on this particular subject has become quite blurred.

It's very hard to discuss this subject without it falling into the P&R realm. Happens to me all the time.

[Nunz]

It's not intentional, but at the same time.. this forum is so small at this point that I don't know why we bother differentiating anymore. It's the same, what, 30-40 of us that post here? At this point it could be one big section of the forum that we put everything into

[SD-[Inc]]

Not when you account for percentage of vaccinated individuals and what that does to transmission rates, you know, that argument some of you were just having a page or two back. There are still plenty of countries struggling to procure vaccines that have a far less percentage of population vaccinated.

So no, just because the US has over 20% of COVID cases reported, does not necessarily mean it's automatically the most likely to produce a new variant through infection. You also (expected, of course) ignored the fact that accurate reporting is an intense toll on support agencies and requires a lot of coordination - something many nations do not have or were not prepared for. The US, sitting in the international eye, is likely going to report more accurately, not less. Once again, I don't think you've travelled much to developing countries .. they do not, in any sense of the word, have the infrastructure, personnel, or organization to accurately handle reporting. It's an immense toll on many fronts.

So we don’t have more cases than anywhere else? Or is 20% too high? If you do travel to other countries you will see universal mask wearing. Because they lack, they also are a lot more careful. We have far more Covid deniers here than anywhere else. Do you think they diligently report their case when they get sick? We under count actual cases as well. There is nothing about our current political environment that ensures our count is accurate either. So if you want to use specious arguments to say who under counts the most you can. But, I only use the data we have.

[pax]

Only a few posters but many readers... Its hard not to P&R but some things dont have to be like mandates. Just cuz they use the same words doesnt mean they are political. Which I thought I was clear enough about when saying workplace mandates... which falls into the social mandates sphere imo not gov.

[acroig]

Only a few posters but many readers... Its hard not to P&R but some things dont have to be like mandates. Just cuz they use the same words doesnt mean they are political. Which I thought I was clear enough about when saying workplace mandates... which falls into the social mandates sphere imo not gov.

In USA everything is political now, even wearing a face mask.

[12Bass]

In USA everything is political now, even wearing a face mask.

Yeah... it's ridiculous. Denying science and turning life saving efforts into wedge issues. I didn't expect it, except maybe a few small fringe groups. Naively, I figured that the preservation of life was a universal goal. My opinion of humanity is near an all-time low...

[shrike126]

i dismiss all government agencies top to bottom under this administration .

Be that as it may, we should still be encouraging everyone to talk to their doctor and follow their recommendations about getting vaccinated to curb the worst parts of this pandemic right? A simple yes or no answer will suffice.

[acroig]

Yeah... it's ridiculous. Denying science and turning life saving efforts into wedge issues. I didn't expect it, except maybe a few small fringe groups. Naively, I figured that the preservation of life was a universal goal. My opinion of humanity is near an all-time low...

I share your grim opinion.

[Trunks0]

If I had to pick a country to visit during COVID. The US would be dead last right now. High numbers, almost no safety measures in place and high community spread because of it.

*shakes head* nope. Not political for us outside the US. And right now visiting the US couldn't be less of a good idea.

[acroig]

You're not wrong.

[Nunz]

If I had to pick a country to visit during COVID. The US would be dead last right now. High numbers, almost no safety measures in place and high community spread because of it.

*shakes head* nope. Not political for us outside the US. And right now visiting the US couldn't be less of a good idea.

I'd rather be in the US right now than the ****ing middle-east..

[Java Cool Dude]

I'd rather be in the US right now than the ****ing middle-east..

I was in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain as recently as last month. Came back broke AF but had the time of my life!

[acroig]

I was in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain as recently as last month. Came back broke AF but had the time of my life!

Nice!

[Java Cool Dude]

Nice!

To each his own, I even considered moving to the UAE but I wouldn't want to be there in the summer or when **** hits the fan and missiles start flying all over...

[SD-[Inc]]

Yeah... it's ridiculous. Denying science and turning life saving efforts into wedge issues. I didn't expect it, except maybe a few small fringe groups. Naively, I figured that the preservation of life was a universal goal. My opinion of humanity is near an all-time low...

It’s a little more subtle than just humanity sucks. There are bad faith actors in the system. They suck! Everyone else is just looking for answers.

[Nunz]

I was in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Bahrain as recently as last month. Came back broke AF but had the time of my life!

You ain't in the parts I'm in

[Java Cool Dude]

You ain't in the parts I'm in

Oooof, I have a couple of places in mind I wouldn't dare step foot in!
#BougeeLife

[12Bass]

It’s a little more subtle than just humanity sucks. There are bad faith actors in the system. They suck! Everyone else is just looking for answers.

Oh yes there are... stooping to new lows, whilst others are burning out trying to save people.

[Greasy]

Seems omicron will end this pandemic. Now let's hope Russia and China behave so the world can go back to normal in a few months.

[Silent-Runner]

Seems omicron will end this pandemic. Now let's hope Russia and China behave so the world can go back to normal in a few months.

yeah, how about no? There won't be anything like "normal" in a few months although we all wish it would.

[Greasy]

yeah, how about no? There won't be anything like "normal" in a few months although we all wish it would.

True even in a best case scenario it's going to take a while to get things flowing again. I'm a glass half full kinda guy.

[Silent-Runner]

True even in a best case scenario it's going to take a while to get things flowing again. I'm a glass half full kinda guy.

don't get me wrong, i really hope things get better, even at a slower pace, but right now i'm not seeing it, really. The best we can hope for is a new normal however that might look like.

[koralis]

Well, this wave seems to be on the decline where I live. Elective surgeries prohibited if over 85% bed capacity. They've been cancelled for weeks. Wife's surgery is on for Monday.

[huskylord]

We're looking to book a week in Turks and Caicos for March. Covid will be over by then, right?

[koralis]

We're looking to book a week in Turks and Caicos for March. Covid will be over by then, right?

Probably back down to a dull roar anyway. As good a time as any unless a new version pops up that's evading previous immune system responses.

[ugly]

The ivermectin grift: A covert network of Canadian doctors is prescribing ivermectin to treat COVID. Here’s how we got some

It's a long article, but the key point:

The telehealth service operates on a “membership” system basis and costs $50 to join. Members must sign a waiver agreeing to maintain the confidentiality of all CovidTeleHealth.ca providers, unless they wish to “commend” one of the providers to their professional college, in which case the commendation must be approved by the organization.

From there, the Star was given the option to book four different services: a preventative consultation (including prescriptions) costing $149; early COVID-19 (outpatient) treatment (five days or less since disease onset) for $199; a complex consultation (for those who’ve had COVID for more than five days) for $299; or advice on chronic long COVID for $249.

(Canadian Covid Telehealth now has its own website, and appears to no longer offer advice on long COVID. The price of a complex consultation has been raised to $399.)

Nair first connected the Star with a pharmacy in Toronto, but after that pharmacy called to say they’d run out of supply, Canadian Covid Telehealth arranged for TLC IDA pharmacy in Tecumseh, Ont., to courier the prescription, which cost $155 for 28 15-mg pills.

A few days and more than $350 later, the ivermectin bottle arrived.

I assume customers would be understandably confused when they've been told that ivermectin is a cheap miracle drug that Big Pharma doesn't want you to have because it only costs 5 cents a pill.

[Trunks0]

behind a paywall, but god damn!

*late edit* dafauq, I can get around the pay wall by using Chrome's incognito mode.... . FireFox's didn't work oddly.

[xCLAVEx]

I'd rather be in the US right now than the ****ing middle-east..

To me, Austrailia would be worse. Some major Gestapo tactics going on there (well, maybe the areas you are/were in are worse but still).

[koralis]

More transmissible, no worse symptoms. Overall, probably a good thing as it's going to make it that much more difficult for another more lethal variant to outcompete it. Still not really very prevalent in the US, but it's probably just a matter of time.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/28/the-new-bapoint2-omicron-subvariant-is-already-circulating-in-half-of-us-states.html

The subvariant is 1.5 times more transmissible than the original omicron strain, referred to by scientists as BA.1, according to Statens Serum Institut, which conducts infectious disease surveillance for Denmark.
...
“Currently there is no evidence that the BA.2 lineage is more severe than the BA.1 lineage,” CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said.
...
The U.K. Health Security Agency on Friday said BA.2 has a “substantial” growth advantage over the original omicron. The sister variant spread faster than the original omicron in all regions of England where there were enough cases to conduct an analysis, according to the agency.

However, a preliminary assessment found that BA.2 doesn’t appear to reduce the effectiveness of vaccines any more than the original omicron. A booster dose was 70% effective at preventing symptomatic illness from BA.2 two weeks after receiving the shot, compared with 63% effectiveness for the original omicron strain.

[Greasy]

That's great news.

[KAC]

Any gay sporting the new variant? How you like them apples?

[Trunks0]

It's not good news.