The Next Pandemic: SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19

[Big Blitz]

But wait Google!  Hold on!  We got 2 here:

 

 

This morning on Meet the Depressed:

 

It's the Eek variant!!!

 

CHUCK TODD:

 

I want to ask you about a mutation within these mutations. It's I guess nicknamed the Eek mutation. I guess it's less like a variant and it’s a --- it seems to be a calling card of these more virulent, I guess more intense variants here. How concerned are you that this will be --- will get around our vaccines?

 

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM:

 

Well, I'm concerned about all the variants. Before November, we really didn't understand that this virus would mutate as it does and that in terms of its mutation, it can do one of three things. One, it can be much more infectious. Two, it can cause more severe illnesses. Or three, in some instances, it can actually evade the immune protection from the vaccine or from having previously been infected. The Eek that you're talking about, that particular variant addition, is one that does evade the protection of the vaccine or natural infection. Not totally, but it surely compromises them. We're very worried about this. But Chuck, I'm even more worried about what's coming down the pike over the next several years. Right now, if you look at the vaccine distribution around the world, ten countries have received about 80% of the vaccine. Thirty countries have not even seen a drop of it. If we continue to see this virus spread throughout the low and middle income countries unfettered, they're going to spit out variants over the course of the next years that, in each and every instance, could challenge our vaccines. This is why we need not only a U.S. response, but we need a global response to get as many people in low and middle income countries vaccinated so we don't risk the actual capability of our own vaccines right here. Now, this is about vaccine security with these new variants.

 

CHUCK TODD:

 

How are we going to live our life the next year? Are we going to have -- should we be wearing masks? Are we going to be getting a third vaccine shot in the next six months? Is whatever pre-pandemic normal was, never coming back?

 

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM:

 

I don't think so. I think we surely have that opportunity to come back. But in the meantime, please understand, this B117 variant is a brand new ballgame. In fact, right here in Minnesota, we're now seeing the other aspect of this B117 variant that hasn't been talked much about, and that is the fact that it infects kids very readily. Unlike the previous strains of the virus, we didn't see children under eighth grade get infected often, or they were not frequently very ill. They didn't transmit to the rest of the community. That's why I was one of those people very strongly supporting reopening in-class learning. B117 turns that on its head. These kids now are really major challenges in terms of how they transmit. The fact that I can sit here and talk about 749 schools in Minnesota in the last two weeks now having B117 activity, so I the message is we have to--

 

CHUCK TODD:

 

*crosstalk but yes he'd close schools.*

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-april-04-2021-n1262993

 

 

 

The death of the American mall was a warning sign that our dystopian future was closer than we all thought

 

Americans getting vaccinated in bankrupt, empty malls paint a grim picture for life after COVID-19.

 

Retail vacancy rates are at a 7-year high after decades of closures due to the rise of e-commerce.

 

Brands are bailing out failing US policies, from healthcare to infrastructure - and it's only going to get worse.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/retail-apocalypse-helped-spark-a-rapid-descent-into-dystopia-2021-3

 

 

 

See you never.  

 

Unless you live in a red state that won't cower to *variants!!!*

Edited April 4, 2021 by Big Blitz

[Big Blitz]

"We're in a New Pandemic," Virus Expert Warns

 

A more infectious variant has disrupted the fight against COVID, a noted epidemiologist says.

 

 

"This is a virus that is now 50 to 100 percent more transmissible or infectious than the previous viruses. This is a virus that causes 50 to 60 percent more severe illnesses, and so what at one time wasn't as much of a problem—for example, in cases in young adult—are now becoming very serious cases. This is really a fourth wave, you might call it, with somewhat of a different picture than we've seen in the past waves of the pandemic," warned Osterholm.

 

"The only good news about this," he noted, "is that the current vaccine are effective against this particular variant."

 

The rise in the new variant is at odds with reopenings and relaxed restrictions happening throughout the country. As for how to respond, Osterholm said closures and lockdowns may be necessary. "There isn't a country in the world right now that has seen a big increase in this B.1.1.7 that is not locking down," he said. "We're the exception. The bottom-line message from all of these countries is we could not control this virus until we did lock down." (THIS IS A LIE AND WHY THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT TO BE TRUSTED)

 

"I understand the absolute resistance in this country to even to consider that," Osterholm added. "It was kind of like trying to drink barbed wire. But the bottom-line message is the virus is going to do what it's going to do, and we're going to have to respond somehow—whether we accept that if we have large outbreaks in our communities, we're willing to pull back on some of the restrictions that we've loosened up on. Are we going to reconsider schools and school transmission as a new factor here that we didn't have before? 

 

"Nobody was wrong in trying to get schools reopened. Now we have new data that says this virus is a game-changer. So I think we are all going to be looking carefully at what to do."

 

https://www.eatthis.com/news-osterholm-covid-new-pandemic/

 

 

Schools will be closed in September.  

 

Prepare now.  

[GaryPinC]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/researchers-are-hatching-a-low-cost-coronavirus-vaccine/ar-BB1fjndQ?li=BBnb7Kz

 

Fantastic article on the American scientist who built and continues to build a better Covid vaccine and the side effort in helping third world countries easily produce their own.

 

Just a perfect example of how most of us scientists are wired!

 

 

[BillStime]

On 3/30/2021 at 7:41 AM, All_Pro_Bills said:

A big difference between the Spanish Flu of 1918 and COVID 2020 is governments did not lock down entire populations and close the economy in 1918.  The lock downs did more harm than the virus.  Unemployment, closed business, rampant depression and suicide, needless isolation of young adults and children combined with careless and ineffective policies to protect the most vulnerable.  And the general public still seems uneducated about the relative risks associated with COVID.  The mortality rate is about .03% with almost the entire risk of death in the over-60 age demographic where commodities or pre-existing conditions exist.  In my county the over-60 accounts for 20% of the cases and 95% of the deaths.  Yet its treated like the Black Death of the 1300's where a little over 50% of the world's human population died from the plague.   

 

I don't see any big economic boom coming out of this.  The lock downs destroyed an untold number of businesses and jobs and most are never coming back.  Money creation/capital formation has been totally disconnected from productive activity.  Handouts and "stimulus payments" increase demand and do nothing to create supply.  The administration talks of raising taxes but what's the difference?  About 80% of the Federal budget is funded by borrowing.  Why not make it 90%?  Yet, a bankrupt government is dreaming up some $3T "infrastructure spending bill" where I expect most of the money will end up in the pockets of political cronies and their associates via sweetheart contracts while the peasants get thrown a couple pennies.

Trade deficits continue to rise.  Simply put, we over consume but under produce and depend on foreign trading partners taking IOU's in exchange for the difference.  How much longer is this going to last?  Entire segments of the economy are dependent on low rates staying low forever.  I'm buying inflation hedges like energy and metals along with foreign stock funds to get a lot of my funds out of the way of what should be a tremendous drop in the purchasing power of the US dollar as inflation heats up and the Fed sits idle pretending inflation doesn't exist and knowing they can't raise rates without torpedoing the entire system. 

 

 

[B-Man]

If over the past year you’ve likely had the feeling that the goalposts have been moving at a regular rate. There’s been another constant, and that’s media fear-mongering.

 

Good Morning America showed how it’s done yet again with this totally responsible report:

 

 

 

Like most of these kinds of stories, GMA buried the reality of the situation:

 

Story says:

 

“It is safe...”

“relieving the stress...”

“1/3 fully vaccinated”

“there is low risk”

 

Headline Says

 

FEAR GROWS OVER DOUBLE MUTANT!

[Chef Jim]

1 hour ago, BillStime said:

 

 

 

Point one:  What on earth are Unintentional Injuries?  Could suicides be "hidden" in there?  I have no clue.  

Point two:  Most of us are concerned about the emotional toll on children whose lives have been turned upside down since the pandemic?  School was a HUGE part of my social life growing up.  I can't imagine how I would have fared had that been taken away from me for over a year.   

 

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-lost-year-what-the-pandemic-cost-teenagers

[ALF]

Children are very resilient  and  won't take getting back to normal for granted.  

[Chef Jim]

10 minutes ago, ALF said:

Children are very resilient  and  won't take getting back to normal for granted.  

 

I see.  So why are so many mental and emotional illnesses in adults tied to their childhood?  

[ALF]

1 minute ago, Chef Jim said:

 

I see.  So why are so many mental and emotional illnesses in adults tied to their childhood?  

 

That would be a good question for Doc Brown

[Big Blitz]

Hey parents just a heads up....the 2021-2022 school year is going to look exactly this last one.

 

Congratulations America.  But kids are resilient!

 

 

 

Fauci says we may be able to go to a movie theater without having to wear masks in 'late fall or early winter' (But yea sure your kids will have normal school again)

 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US's top expert on infectious disease, predicted that we would be able to gather in large groups unmasked and inside by the end of 2021 or early 2022 (No he didn't this contradicts the "may" in the headline---see next bold text).

 

Fauci made the prediction on Monday's "Politico Dispatch" podcast when he was asked when he thought people in the United States would be able to gather in a crowded movie theater without masks.

 

"I think it's going to be late fall or early winter that we'll be able to do that," he said.

 

In the meantime, people need to continue to wear masks, and the US government needs to encourage people to get vaccinated to help stop the spread of COVID-19, he said.

 

"I think there's a reasonable chance that if we do get that number and that percentage of people vaccinated that we will be able to go to a movie or to go to a theater," he said.

 

He has also said that the return of relatively normal group activities depends on when herd immunity is achieved.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-predicts-timeline-large-gatherings-without-masks-2021-4

 

 

 

Keep grabbing ankles for this pos folks.  

 

Nice work all around give yourselves a big applause but Trumps fault give it up for the Karens way in the back they can't hear you give em a big hand.

 

That's going to be nearly THREE lost years of education to our completely emotionally traumatized kids.  

 

We'll make it worse by watching blue state nazi governors drag the decision out all summer so parents don't bolt for private schools.  

Edited April 5, 2021 by Big Blitz

[Big Blitz]

Well what else is "theater," CDC?

 

 

End the hygiene theater, CDC says

 

It’s time to unplug the sanitizing robots and put away the bottles of Clorox that seem to line the entrances to every school, restaurant and supermarket wanting to advertise its safety protocols. While such protocols may be reassuring to an anxious populace, they are not necessary, says a revised guidance issued on Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

“It is possible for people to be infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects (fomites), but the risk is generally considered to be low,” the new CDC guidance says, estimating that the chance of contracting the coronavirus through surface transmission is lower than 1 in 10,000.

 

The coronavirus is spread almost exclusively by airborne and aerosolized particles, as scientists have known for months. Despite scientists’ growing certitude about how the pathogen is transmitted, many establishments have continued to insist on strict sanitization protocols. In some school districts, for example, classrooms close for full-day “deep cleaning.”

 

The persistence of such practices has led to the advent of a derisive term — “hygiene theater” — to describe rituals that appear to do little to stop the virus from spreading. It is not clear if the CDC’s new guidance will lower the curtain on those theatrics, given how entrenched some of those practices have become.

 

https://news.yahoo.com/end-the-hygiene-theater-cdc-says-173440864.html

 

 

 

Aresolized also means your masks don't do squat.  

 

But that's just theater also.  So you feel safer at Kohls.  

[GaryPinC]

2 hours ago, Chef Jim said:

 

Point one:  What on earth are Unintentional Injuries?  Could suicides be "hidden" in there?  I have no clue.  

Point two:  Most of us are concerned about the emotional toll on children whose lives have been turned upside down since the pandemic?  School was a HUGE part of my social life growing up.  I can't imagine how I would have fared had that been taken away from me for over a year.   

 

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-lost-year-what-the-pandemic-cost-teenagers

There's no doubt some kids have had a rough time with the lockdowns, especially states that didn't do limited openings last fall.  More unfortunate when parents can't recognize the seriousness of the situation in some individuals, especially those that revel in the social structure within the schools.

 

But speaking as a divorced father, kids are resilient.  Especially when parents bury their own negativity and put in the extra effort to show their kids a positive new reality to an otherwise bleak event.  There's nothing like family.  Even when family is forced to change.

 

My 18 year old daughter got her first Pfizer today.  She can't believe how many adults are freaking out over the emotional toll on kids.  Some of her friends have already gotten the vaccine and she says the lockdowns suck but all the kids she knows her age and younger (in high school) really want to get the vaccine and move forward to end this thing.  So nice when politics doesn't kill common sense.

[RiotAct]

2 hours ago, GaryPinC said:

There's no doubt some kids have had a rough time with the lockdowns, especially states that didn't do limited openings last fall.  More unfortunate when parents can't recognize the seriousness of the situation in some individuals, especially those that revel in the social structure within the schools.

 

But speaking as a divorced father, kids are resilient.  Especially when parents bury their own negativity and put in the extra effort to show their kids a positive new reality to an otherwise bleak event.  There's nothing like family.  Even when family is forced to change.

 

My 18 year old daughter got her first Pfizer today.  She can't believe how many adults are freaking out over the emotional toll on kids.  Some of her friends have already gotten the vaccine and she says the lockdowns suck but all the kids she knows her age and younger (in high school) really want to get the vaccine and move forward to end this thing.  So nice when politics doesn't kill common sense.

meanwhile, in New York State...

[BillStime]

 

[SoCal Deek]

57 minutes ago, BillStime said:

 

ILL... INI!

Now, if they’d only bring back The Chief. 

[Big Blitz]

There is a deliberate effort by all media to downplay or avoid the story of the crowd in Texas today at the Rangers game.   

 

 

You'd think 40,000 people at a sporting event would be shown everywhere.  At the very least to inspire hope to people that this could end.  

 

Nope.  Nowhere.  Not a trend on Twitter.  

 

MLB network has barely shown the crowd:

 

 

 

Showed this to my kids asked them if they seen this anywhere on the social media today.  Nothing.  They wanted to know why it was only 2 parents per kid at outdoor high school events here in VA and I couldn't give a good answer because there isn't any.  

 

 

We are an embarrassment to the generation that knew the first wave storming the coast at Normandy almost all of them we're going to die.  Just a total embarrassment.  

 

 

These folks give us hope:

 

https://www.outkick.com/planes-carrying-messages-such-as-cancel-deez-nuts-are-flying-around-cleveland/

 

 

 

This is in response to the woke:

 

Headdresses and face paint have been banned from Progressive Field as the team moves further and further away from its history with Chief Wahoo logo.

 

“Abusive or inappropriate language or conduct deemed disorderly, unruly or disruptive including inappropriate dress may constitute grounds for ejection or refusal of admission,” the team said in a March 31 release. “This includes headdresses and face paint styled in a way that references or appropriates American Indian cultures and traditions.

Edited April 6, 2021 by Big Blitz

[Chef Jim]

6 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

There is a deliberate effort by all media to downplay or avoid the story of the crowd in Texas today at the Rangers game.   

 

 

You'd think 40,000 people at a sporting event would be shown everywhere.  At the very least to inspire hope to people that this could end.  

 

Nope.  Nowhere.  Not a trend on Twitter.  

 

MLB network has barely shown the crowd:

 

 

 

Showed this to my kids asked them if they seen this anywhere on the social media today.  Nothing.  They wanted to know why it was only 2 parents per kid at outdoor high school events here in VA and I couldn't give a good answer because there isn't any.  

 

 

We are an embarrassment to the generation that knew the first wave storming the coast at Normandy almost all of them we're going to die.  Just a total embarrassment.  

It was on the local news briefly during the sports. But you’re right. This is actually huge and should lead not be a quick blurb during the sports. 

[Big Blitz]

29 minutes ago, Chef Jim said:

It was on the local news briefly during the sports. But you’re right. This is actually huge and should lead not be a quick blurb during the sports. 

 

 

 

 

The Marty's outnumber the sane.  

[Chef Jim]

2 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

 

 

The Marty's outnumber the sane.  

What does he mean gets what it deserves?  Does he know something no one else on the planet knows? 

[GaryPinC]

15 hours ago, RiotAct said:

meanwhile, in New York State...

I hear ya, but let's be real.  Not like the NY political BS just suddenly appeared with Covid.