GaryPinC

Maybe. Or maybe they just didn't want to put the time, effort and modest cost into precautions. They felt the government wouldn't get shut businesses down. They were wrong. Poor recognition, they got caught up in their own bullshyt. Then they turned around screaming bloody murder about it. Hypocrisy in action. Lockdowns are in no one's best interests. They were simply a necessity with inadequate testing, equipment and knowledge how to treat/combat Covid. We learned quickly but so many on here easily forget how many unknowns were facing the medical community and the fact is the science is still developing. Ohio's public health director predicted 10-12k new cases a day last spring. I thought she missed by a long shot after cases topped out around 1300. Her predictions came true in the fall surge except the deaths part because the lockdown and summer bought us enough time to better treat it. Hopefully that's all behind us now with Covid.

Also, having an adversary pushes your country to be better. But I think that autocratic ego would rather we cease to exist. Especially after you look at an article like this: https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-inside-militarys-secret-undercover-army-1591881 Very frightening to me, plays right in to the deep state. Plus, the Chinese are right there with our technology in this.

You do understand that virus spread is airborne, spread on water particles of all sizes? Larger and smaller? You do understand that the MIT paper focused on the smallest particles able to remain airborne? They admitted in the paper they did not focus on spread via the larger droplets but explicitly stated wearing masks indoors for short times is your safest bet. And, they completely ignored the fact that when you go indoors to a bar or restaurant, the masks come off when eating/drinking and hence the distancing becomes important to limit transmission via the larger water particles. Just because they're at MIT and capable of good research doesn't mean the research is immune to personal bias.

It certainly could have and probably will in the future because all those small/business owners will now listen and do what's needed. As opposed to last spring when the ones around me refused to make shop/workplace changes because they didn't actually believe they'd get shut down.

It's your science, which is a complete egotistical farce, as are you. My kids, who are actual humans also aren't such melodramatic chicken-littles because their dad is not. I feel for your children, when years later they have to attempt to unpack what love you do show them from the overbearing, self-absorbed, toxic personality that is their father. I only pray it goes well for them and they can live happy, productive lives. Oh yeah, subjugated to wear masks forever. Keep up the stupid. Child abuse. Carry on, deranged whiner-king.

Agree, but I don't think it's legit. I have a hard time believing an official document would so flippantly mention the Uyghers, for example. A couple other parts struck me in the same manner. Even so, we need to stop self polarizing and work on coming together to face this growing threat.

More importantly, they don't have a father who is a belligerent, pessimistic, whiny little ###ch. They have a good father like you who realizes the importance of teaching their children optimism and finding silver linings in a challenging situation.

They've required vaccinated people to wear masks because while the vaccine protects you, it was previously unknown if it would prevent you from (temporarily) carrying and spreading it to others. Basic masks are for protecting others, not yourself. But the early research evidence I have seen shows the vaccine does in fact prevent you from being a spreader. The CDC has said current evidence is strong enough. Other epidemiologists might currently disagree. It'll all work out in time but this is still new science so you'll have more sharply disagreeing opinions.

Yep, it's certainly part of the problem. But so is that employee who didn't get vaccinated.

People with outstanding warrants. Seriously, Ohio kept it insanely simple. Name and email gets you a QR code. Scan code at appointment to receive shot. My wife was offered through her English class and they emphasized no ID needed and no immigration agents would be there.

That's if they accurately tracked vaccine recipients. Here in Ohio the ID requirements for getting a vaccine were minimal, as they purposely tried to keep it accessable for illegals and fugitives. Name, email address, zip code where you wanted the vaccine. Optional phone number. That was it. A lot of cracks for people to slip through.

There'll be a whole lot of noise for about a month but as long as deaths/hospitalizations stay down nobody's going to care by mid-summer. We can't even contact trace, how are they going to handle the ID logistics? Nobody's going to want to.

Yes and no. This was all new science that unfolded in real time, including medicine. Last spring doctors had no firm idea how to treat patients. CDC was trying to figure this out with very few published studies/data. They took a conservative viewpoint, but they have to. Their job is to give recommendations that keeps people safe. The message changed as the science became clearer.

I don't blame them either. But how many people refuse to believe masking and distancing make any difference? And how much harder does that make it for those trying to get through this as quickly as possible? Hold your hand 6-12 inches from your mouth and blow into it as hard as you can. Put a mask on. Repeat blowing into your hand. That's air being blocked. AIR. Conservatively around 1000 times smaller than a single covid virus on a sub-micromolar water particle. Having trouble hearing someone talk with a mask on? Air block. Young children understand this right away but how many adults can't because they're steeped in their own stubborness?

Ventilation, masks, and distancing. The hospital complex I work at is being replaced as the new one is completed next year. I can assure you they made no significant investment in ventilation, yet we had zero outbreaks at the primary level 1 trauma center in Cleveland. Ditto for my kids' schools. How much did people take precautions at home? Do "new case" curves directly measure mask efficiency or are they are result of a multitude of factors? Lockdowns simply reduce contact between large numbers of people (if they're properly followed). So is the lockdown to blame or the fact that people took few, if any, precautions at home?

Follow the science: Why were workplaces and schools safer than people's homes?

Definitely root for Fitz, Frank Reich with the Colts. I'll root for Darnold also as if he can turn himself around it'll be great for the game. Living in Cleveland, I root for them except for the Bills. Especially for my son who's a big fan. I was 10 years old in 1980 when the Bills first beat the Dolphins en route to a magical year. That was the first time in my entire life I was proud of my team. My son had to wait until this past year at the age of 14 years old to experience that feeling. Terrible. Brownies are the only franchise that has been through worse incompetence than us so I'll pull for them. And rust belt fans are all pretty much the same.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/internal-memo-to-beijing-chinas-competitive-advantage-against-america/ar-BB1gBoel?li=BBnbfcL I'm not sure if this article is legit, but I do believe China intends to challenge and displace us on the world stage so this article is really interesting and I find it to offer some really prescient insights.

Yep, but it just goes to illustrate how they beat it. QR code/cell phone tracking was crucial, I think. Easily enabled/enables contact tracing. And people there still manage to have fun in life, my wife did. But quality of life is still obviously lower. Connections to police and government are crucial. Definitely not my cup of tea for a society, my thing is what can the US do for a future occurrence to prevent or minimize societal shutdown and avoid this long-dragged out crap? We are currently ill-prepared for a pandemic. With global travel becoming easier and easier, novel viruses and bacteria become harder and harder to stop. I'm 51 and hopefully last time I have to deal with a pandemic but I'm not betting on it.

or careers. But yep, up to me and I'm not here to complain just compare.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/efficiency-over-privacy-how-trust-in-the-chinese-government-helped-contain-the-pandemic/ar-BB1gA7f8?li=BBnbfcL Interesting article in a lot of ways. My wife confirms it's a true picture of life in overcrowded cities. Lots of loudspeakers to keep things organized. Health QR codes definitely needed right now to use any public parks and services. Fills in more of a picture of how they beat Covid.

I have a bachelor's in biochemistry and work in cardiac research. I went this morning and looked at the teacher's salary for our school district of two teachers close to my age also with bachelor degrees. They are making mid to upper 80's and this data is two years old. That is significantly more than I make. And only working 9 months a year. 25% less working days. Not shedding a tear for their situation and they don't complain about it. I wonder if this study done by a pro-union think tank looks at weekly wages after retirement and union dues are pulled out? Because those lower take home wages significantly.

Happened to me too! Back when gas spiked like over $4 per gallon. Plus, I'm convinced some gas stations somehow set their pumps to normally stop $.01 over, necessitating trying again to hit .00!

And just how ineffective is it for "unhealthy" people? I would argue we're not "exceptionally" unhealthy. Statistical significance in a blinded, randomized, quality clinical trial is a difficult thing to attain. Of course you control with the most "healthy" people to clearly judge efficacy then follow through with the rest later. Especially in a pandemic when you are conducting shortened clinical trials to give society a rapid answer. The mRNA vaccines were taken to market in less than a year, each tested in over 30,000 people. Numbers are showing they greatly lower infection and transmission rates, they lower hospitalization and especially death rates. With a minimum of serious side effects in a previously unproven technology. They also modified the spike protein to more effectively train the immune system. The sum of that in less than a year qualifies as a miracle IMO, but you do you. It is common sense to assume the vaccines won't be as effective for those with underlying comorbidities. But it is not common sense to simply assume they are markedly less effective in this patient population. Do you have any published studies that quantify the loss of efficacy?

Do I think the US fudged their numbers? Yes, during lockdown at the hospital level, especially smaller hospitals. Do I think this "fudging" was frequent enough to overstate the severity of the pandemic? Nope. There's clearly a consistency of problem across the world with India and Brazil currently center stage. We did actually have a lockdown, at least here in Ohio and New York and I think in most other states in the US. I don't know how you argue we didn't. Businesses shuttered, stay-at-home orders, travel bans. Were they very effective compared to the Chinese? Nope, and they weren't strictly enforced because so many people refused to believe they were necessary. So lockdown to the point where extremists don't take us into anarchy. I understand where you're coming from on all the angles, but at some point you've got to apply some common sense with the big picture. Health systems were being quickly overwhelmed in Europe and China before Covid even got going here. That continues to this day. How are we not a thoughtful enough society to be proactive and participate fully to prevent that here? All this is just a ploy by politicians to control us? The largest authoritarian country in the world has been mask free for a full year and carrying on normally with their lives. How ######ed is the notion that free societies are being manipulated by our leaders using this pandemic for long term subjugation? But, more to the heart of the matter your post hints at, we had poor leadership at the federal level, including the CDC. There needed to be some leadership about what we know and what we don't know and how that was changing real time in addition to the recommendations for moving forward. I don't argue with Trump allowing governor leadership but he failed completely to rally the American people to pull together and beat this. Supposedly he hid the problem early on to avoid scaring people. We honestly needed a well-thought scare from him. Too many people needed to see images/videos of people dying horribly in the hospitals but the hospitals don't allow those images to be captured. Sadly, that is what it would have taken for so many to stop nit-picking, questioning and simply pull together.