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Are you worried about the Coronavirus?

mellowyellowgirl

Ideal_Rock
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A bit of humour at the expense of us Aussies!

Soooo two people tested positive at a hotel/pub in Sydney. Anyways they are very worried about an outbreak.

So what do they do....close the pub and set a pop up testing clinic AT THE PUB!!! Only in Australia!

I swear I keep expecting our Premier to appear next week and start enticing us to go get testing as a recreational activity!
 

YadaYadaYada

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My son got poison ivy again (second time in what 3 months?!) the walk-in clinic wouldn't do a tele-medicine so DH brought him in. It was severe, already spreading to his face and nether regions :cry:

They get there and get to a room and while they are there DH realized they are also a testing facility!! OMG, all this time we have avoided most places we considered high risk, for him to go to a walk-in with COVID testing. The doctor did say they're not getting many positives at all.

I think I will just wrap him in plastic wrap every time he goes outside for the rest of the summer.
 

missy

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Studies Track Super-Spreading of Covid 19.
"
By Kathleen Doheny
July 7, 2020—In Georgia, some summer camps have closed down after at least 30 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at two YMCA camp locations. Researchers tracking college students who went to densely packed spring break destinations have linked those trips with an increase in cases two weeks after the students returned to campus.
Prohibiting these high-risk events—large, densely packed gatherings in close contact—could dramatically reduce COVID-19 cases, according to two new reports, and could do so quickly. In one study, researchers also found that only a small percent of infected people—the so-called superspreaders—cause the majority of infections.
Georgia Study: A Few Infect Many
Emory University researchers tracked more than 9,500 COVID-19 cases from March to early May in five Georgia counties. "What we found is that 2% of the cases may have resulted in 20% of the infections," says study co-author Kristin Nelson, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of epidemiology at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health.

Infected children and adults younger than age 60 appeared to be the main drivers of superspreading in the Emory study, Nelson says. "They were 2.4 times more likely than older adults [to transmit it]," Nelson says. The study was published June 22 as a preprint, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.
The 9,500 cases evaluated by the Emory researchers were from four urban counties (Cobb, Dekalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett) and one rural county, Dougherty. The researchers looked at detailed information on the cases, including age, when symptoms began, and their movement patterns. For movement patterns, they used mobility data from Facebook from people who had locations services turned on.
With all that information, ''we mapped what we think these transmission events looked like," Nelson says. They created a model to estimate how many people each person infected. They looked at the change in movement before and after shelter-in-place orders. "Shelter-in-place orders significantly reduced transmission," she says. The expected number of new cases generated by one infected patient (what researchers call the effective reproduction number) dropped from 2.88 to under 1. "That took about 2-3 weeks," Nelson says.
Stanford's Model: Curtain High-Risk Events
In another preprint posted July 3, Stanford researchers used data from five settings—Seattle, Los Angeles, Santa Clara Count, CA, Atlanta, and Miami—to create a model that estimated the effects of eliminating higher-risk events such as very large indoor gatherings, but allowing smaller, lower-risk events to resume.
"A huge proportion of the transmission happening is due to rare events that lead to many infections," says the report's lead author Morgan P. Kain, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University.
"Many models assume all individuals are the same [in transmitting COVID-19]," he says. "We know that is incorrect. The reality is, many individuals really aren’t spreading much, even if infected."
In their model, ''what we are trying to show is, if you can remove those rare events, the average transmission rate declines a huge amount."
Kain says that they focused on superspreading events, rather than superspreading individuals, as ''it is quite hard to identify 'superspreaders' in the population."
By removing people's access to scenarios where they could be a superspreader, the transmission of COVID-19 goes down, the model shows. For example, suppose that 1 infected person is transmitting the virus to 2.5 others. By curtailing these high-risk events, Kain says, their model suggests that number would drop to about 1 infected person transmitting the virus to 1.5 others.
Are "Superemitters" Champion Superspreaders?
Researchers at the University of California Davis have found that some people emit many more respiratory particles than others, defining them as ''superemitters."
As the debate heats up about the transmission of the coronavirus, with many scientists now contending that it is spread through the air as well as respiratory droplets, "a very plausible but unconfirmed hypothesis is that superemitters have a higher probability of becoming superspreaders," says study researcher William Ristenpart, PhD, professor of chemical engineering at UC Davis.
However, Nelson says that while biology plays some role in transmission of COVID-19, with some people having a higher ''viral load" than others, "we think that plays a relatively smaller role," Nelson says. "How much virus they are carrying may impact [transmission], but for the most part it is conditions or circumstances. Small gatherings are always going to be safer than large gatherings."
She can't pinpoint a ''safe" number, however. "A gathering of 500 people is less safe than [a gathering of] 100, [and so on]," she says, adding, ''There's not one magic threshold. At the end of the day, there's not a magic number."

WebMD Health News Reviewed by Hansa D. Bhargava, MD on July 07, 2020"
 

missy

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Matata

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Agent Orange is threatening schools if they don't reopen for fall classes. Here's what's happening in Oregon:

The number of COVID-19 cases among children under the age of 10 in Oregon was more than five times greater at the end of June than it was one month earlier.

Data shared by the Oregon Health Authority said 319 children under 10 had confirmed or presumptive positive cases by Tuesday, June 30. At the end of May, only 58 cases within that age group had been reported to the OHA.

The multiplying case numbers in young children was first reported Wednesday by The Oregonian, which said the age group had the fastest-growing number of new cases than any other in the state.

"I hope that the increasing cases among children will lead people to reevaluate their behavior and to take additional precautions," Dr. Melissa Sutton, a senior health adviser for the OHA, told the paper. Though Sutton said the increase could partially be attributed to infections at child care facilities, the community exposure children had in the wake of the state's reopening was mostly responsible.
 

Dancing Fire

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Worry yes, but so far I have had survived every pandemics that hit the US for the past 54 yrs w/o taking a single vaccine shot, and I'll survive Covid 19.
 

TooPatient

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Washington state is an odd combination of taking it seriously and not. I have limited first hand information as I have been mostly staying at home. There are many who are worried and see the spreading in other states plus the numbers here increasing again and are choosing to mostly stay home and take precautions when they need to be around others. Then a bunch of people are bored and figure the risk to them is low enough, they are out at restaurants, casinos, elective spa treatments, and shopping for the fun of it. I base this off of posts of people I know personally plus conversations in our community FB pages and regional FB pages for certain hobbies.

Some places have opened while others remain closed. Precautions vary widely from place to place. Some restaurants have opted to stay take out only for now. Lots of uncertainty and unknowns.
 

Calliecake

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@House Cat It was announced today LA will not be reopening schools. Have they made a decision to close schools in your area?
 

House Cat

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@House Cat It was announced today LA will not be reopening schools. Have they made a decision to close schools in your area?

Not yet, but we are on the watched list. I’m glad LA is protecting their children.
 

Arcadian

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My son got poison ivy again (second time in what 3 months?!) the walk-in clinic wouldn't do a tele-medicine so DH brought him in. It was severe, already spreading to his face and nether regions :cry:

They get there and get to a room and while they are there DH realized they are also a testing facility!! OMG, all this time we have avoided most places we considered high risk, for him to go to a walk-in with COVID testing. The doctor did say they're not getting many positives at all.

I think I will just wrap him in plastic wrap every time he goes outside for the rest of the summer.
did your son also get it last year pretty badly? some people are absolutely sensitive to it (my husband is, can't look at it because he'll get welts on him) Ive always been amazed that its never did anything to me considering my sensitivities.(but don't let it be rag weed...lordy....).
 

Calliecake

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Not yet, but we are on the watched list. I’m glad LA is protecting their children.

I am too @House Cat . With that being said I feel for anyone trying to get their teenagers thru this time.
 
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YadaYadaYada

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did your son also get it last year pretty badly? some people are absolutely sensitive to it (my husband is, can't look at it because he'll get welts on him) Ive always been amazed that its never did anything to me considering my sensitivities.(but don't let it be rag weed...lordy....).

Yes, it sounds like my son and your husband get it to the same extreme. See, I also have to avoid it at all costs but don't have a problem with ragweed. I wonder if it tends to be one or the other.
 

Dancing Fire

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Not yet, but we are on the watched list. I’m glad LA is protecting their children.
Is it protecting?? or is it killing our kids mentally?. What are the statistics of children dying from Covid 19 worldwide?
 

TooPatient

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Is it protecting?? or is it killing our kids mentally?. What are the statistics of children dying from Covid 19 worldwide?

I haven't had the ability to bring myself to look at specific numbers recently, but I would suggest that keeping schools online and leaving socialization to the judgement of parents is probably better for the mental health of the kids than having other kids or teachers in their school die. For the death of a single kid, our schools in this area bring in additional counseling staff to help address the emotions the kids are dealing with. What would that look like if there wasn't enough extra counseling staff to go to every school? What would the mental trauma be with more kids having someone they know in their own school class die? What about when their favorite teacher goes home sick and never comes back? How would the kids feel if they thought they made the teacher sick? (You can tell them it wasn't their fault, but there will be some who blame themselves -- especially the ones who are old enough to know that people can bring germs to others )

I'm so glad I am not the one having to make a decision on opening or not or sending kids in person nor not. It is not an easy time for parents and school officials!
 

Dancing Fire

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We won't know the mental damage to our kids till a few more months down the road. If my kids were still in grade school I would send them to school.
 

HollyJane

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I'm less worried about it now. I think I have worry fatigue. COVID-19 has made my job hell. I can't meet with my widow support group. I am only just now reconnecting, or at least trying to reconnect, with old friends after being isolated from social engagement for months. Rebuilding my life is on hold because of this crap. There's no end in sight to this crap either.
 

Slickk

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Is it protecting?? or is it killing our kids mentally?. What are the statistics of children dying from Covid 19 worldwide?

This may be true, but as an educator who feels vulnerable to Covid, I wonder how safe it is for me, and others with underlying issues (known or unknown) to go back. It’s difficult enough to stay healthy with a room full of kids, then add in Covid and it’s downright scary what can happen and is happening with large gatherings.
Are teachers responsible for getting the economy back up and running? Hmm.... The logistics are mind boggling in my large district.
 

TooPatient

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This may be true, but as an educator who feels vulnerable to Covid, I wonder how safe it is for me, and others with underlying issues (known or unknown) to go back. It’s difficult enough to stay healthy with a room full of kids, then add in Covid and it’s downright scary what can happen and is happening with large gatherings.
Are teachers responsible for getting the economy back up and running? Hmm.... The logistics are mind boggling in my large district.

A thing I saw the other day put into words this feeling I had been having. Babysitters. This push to open schools because working parents and the economy leaves that feeling of babysitters. Our teachers are educators. Not babysitters. Forcing things open in a way that makes learning difficult/impossible and socialization difficult/impossible would just show that the main interest of too many is that they get "free" babysitting and any education is beside the point. Our teachers and support staff deserve to be recognized for what they do, not minimalized and put at risk.
 

missy

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This may be true, but as an educator who feels vulnerable to Covid, I wonder how safe it is for me, and others with underlying issues (known or unknown) to go back. It’s difficult enough to stay healthy with a room full of kids, then add in Covid and it’s downright scary what can happen and is happening with large gatherings.
Are teachers responsible for getting the economy back up and running? Hmm.... The logistics are mind boggling in my large district.



A thing I saw the other day put into words this feeling I had been having. Babysitters. This push to open schools because working parents and the economy leaves that feeling of babysitters. Our teachers are educators. Not babysitters. Forcing things open in a way that makes learning difficult/impossible and socialization difficult/impossible would just show that the main interest of too many is that they get "free" babysitting and any education is beside the point. Our teachers and support staff deserve to be recognized for what they do, not minimalized and put at risk.

Exactly. Teachers are not babysitters. And as of now it’s risky to reopen the schools for both the children and their families and for the teachers and their families. A little patience will go a long way in the long run. Better safe than infected with Covid 19. IMO.

Online learning is a good option. There’s no perfect option. It comes down to the safest option imo. There will be time for in school learning as soon as the pandemic is over.
 

Slickk

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@TooPatient Exactly! I do consider us essential because we are, but at what cost? When a school (reportedly Utah) has a checklist of reopening requirements which includes ‘Template letter for death of student/staff,’ I think we have a serious problem. :oops2:

@missy You are correct! There will be time for catch up later. Unless people die, then their time is up forever. Distance learning really has it’s flaws and inequalities. I agree it is not the answer, but right now I think public health has to take precedence. This experiment with our school population could well backfire terribly... :pray:

If we do go back to the classroom, I am hoping to have the option to take on the remote learning for students who can’t/won’t attend. I see no way I can do my job with social distancing standards in place. Frustrating because I miss the kids and my job.

ETA I am really not normally an anxious person, but this is ‘novel’ so we aren’t aware of long term effects, true mortality rates etc. There’s so much we don’t know. Why experiment with our children?

Second Edit..when Zoom meetings have to be used to discuss reopening schools, then that’s your answer!!! Not to mention the many professions still WFH. #hypocritical :wall:

\rant #sorrynotsorry
 
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YadaYadaYada

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While it's true that teachers are not babysitters we must recognize that up to this point there is the expectation that kids will be at school five days a week for 180 days. So parents base their decisions on that, not everyone has parents who can help or friends so when there is a sudden change to that system it throws everything off.

The biggest problem IMO, and I have spoken about this in another thread, is that in the U.S. we are united by location but little else. The government is rushing to get the economy up and running to serve their best interests because that is what they have done historically. Everything is tied to your employment so if you can't work because schools are closed, you can't pay your mortgage, feed your family etc and for some, health insurance is also tied in. We are slaves to the system until we die or if we are lucky, retire.

For the record, I don't agree with opening schools, I'm not planning on sending my kids back for in person classes. However we are lucky that we can survive on one income, that is less possible now than in the past for a lot of people. If you need that income and you are being told you must come back and schools are closed then that is quite the predicament.
 

Slickk

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Good point of course, @YadaYadaYada I would like to add that my district has provided free daycare for our essential workers since this began. We are feeding those in our community who need it as well.

I hope that we can cut through some of this political posturing and possibly offer in-person classes to those who truly need it, and virtual for those kids that can be successful and have an adult at home with them... We need to be imaginative for sure.
 

autumngems

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This should be interesting:

North Carolina public schools have received the state's go-ahead to open for in-person instruction in August even as Gov. Roy Cooper extends Phase 2 of the state's reopening plan for another three weeks.

Cooper said Tuesday that the state is going with its "Plan B" contingency for K-12 public schools in North Carolina, allowing them to open for in-person instruction or online learning based on the discretion of individual school districts.
 

YadaYadaYada

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Good point of course, @YadaYadaYada I would like to add that my district has provided free daycare for our essential workers since this began. We are feeding those in our community who need it as well.

I hope that we can cut through some of this political posturing and possibly offer in-person classes to those who truly need it, and virtual for those kids that can be successful and have an adult at home with them... We need to be imaginative for sure.

That is wonderful!

I think we need a whole new system TBH, I have no idea what that looks like but employers hold way too much power, they can literally make or break a person's livelihood and I think that is really what needs to be addressed.

Also obviously if our government was actually looking out for its citizens and not just counting how many tax dollars they will benefit from, that would be a step in the right direction.
 

TooPatient

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Good point of course, @YadaYadaYada I would like to add that my district has provided free daycare for our essential workers since this began. We are feeding those in our community who need it as well.

I hope that we can cut through some of this political posturing and possibly offer in-person classes to those who truly need it, and virtual for those kids that can be successful and have an adult at home with them... We need to be imaginative for sure.

Many/all of the districts around here did the same. Food for all people 18 and under whether they were a student or not. Plus other organizations provide food distributions for everyone with no requirement for proof of income, residency in the city/county, or anything else. Show up and get big boxes of food.

It is better for those who have no option to make sure those who do are at home. That reduces how many people are around and exposed while making sure those who have need to be in person are able to.
 

Arcadian

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I'm putting this out here because this is very odd.
ORLANDO, Fla. - After FOX 35 News noticed errors in the state's report on positivity rates, the Florida Department of Health said that some laboratories have not been reporting negative test result data to the state.

Countless labs have reported a 100 percent positivity rate, which means every single person tested was positive. Other labs had very high positivity rates. FOX 35 News found that testing sites like one local Centra Care reported that 83 people were tested and all tested positive. Then, NCF Diagnostics in Alachua reported 88 percent of tests were positive.

How could that be? FOX 35 News investigated these astronomical numbers, contacting every local location mentioned in the report.

The report showed that Orlando Health had a 98 percent positivity rate. However, when FOX 35 News contacted the hospital, they confirmed errors in the report. Orlando Health's positivity rate is only 9.4 percent, not 98 percent as in the report.

So who's really messing up? the labs getting lazy and just saying everyone positive (because I do have friends that had basically little to no symptoms at all with a positive test) or, is the state downplaying?

Maybe somewhere in the middle? I don't know but this is really messed up.

Please read the rest

Anyway about a month ago USA today had ran a story very similar about a lab that was testing for florida and they were doing questionable things with the tests (like leaving them out way too long)


Something weird is going on down here.
 

Matata

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Something weird is going on down here.

Found this info to compare:



I wonder if part of the problem is that there is so much pressure on all health care and testing facilities/employees due to volume of infections that employees are overwhelmed, getting sloppy, and/or giving up. DeSantis did such a poor job (imo) of handling the crisis, I'm tempted to slide down the abyss of a conspiracy theory that botched testing is deliberate. And that might not be too far out in lala land since Agent Orange has decreed that no info goes to CDC but rather to his lackeys in HHS.

There is currently a shortage of reagent in my state and doctors have been asked to be conservative testing patients for anything other than covid unless absolutely necessary. There is also a shortage of test kits as they've been diverted to harder hit areas. This is one of the things that raises my blood pressure. We've had months of dealing with this and yet no one thought it would be a good idea to mass produce reagent and test kits? And we're supposed to be the greatest nation on earth? Pffft. Rwanda, with resources way below what we have, is doing a better job.
 
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