outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

and they're all fucking

Missed my call from the vaccine testing people, I was on another call. Called them back but no answer. Hopefully they call back tomorrow.

Cannot fathom going on a cruise right now.

We went camping near Weymouth on the coast over the summer, and sitting idly in the sea nearby were ten or so empty cruise ships, with lights on and belching smoke. It was quite the metaphor.

Who the fuck would get on a cruise ship now? Jesus.

Ever since I was around 10, I've always had the romantic idea of a boat trip over to Europe but, at the same time, you could not pay me to ever get onboard a cruise ship. Did the cruise industry completely ruin the idea of boats as intercontinental travel without the part of them being the destination themselves?

I'm at the point where I wouldn't blink at a story of COVID deniers asking random strangers to spit directly into their open mouths.

before covid i was already resolved not to get on one. aside from not being something i would like, they had that poop ship and the legionnaire's outbreaks, etc.

asking random strangers to spit directly into their open mouths

Merely a matter of time. My covidiot FIL has been known to demand that passersby take off their face masks and stop observing the 2m rule.

Welp pic.twitter.com/plg4gPEuif

— Peter🌲Brannen (@PeterBrannen1) November 11, 2020

I saw that map a few times last night when I was half asleep and assumed it was fake but, nope. Jesus.

Although I will point out that, as of this morning, the map on their website is slightly different in that Louisiana is shown as the lighter red "trending poorly".

this surprised me to see all the states like that. these are the criteria:

14 Day Trend of COVID+
This is the last 14 days of COVID positive cases using a 7 day rolling average. This data is updated daily and comes from the COVID Tracking Project.

Dark red: If cases are increasing (>25% change) during the 14 day period
Red: If cases are increasing (between 5% - 25% change) during the 14 day period
Yellow: If cases are flat (less than 5% change) during the 14 day period
Green: If cases are decreasing (more than -5% change) during the 14 day period

Interesting

I continue to think the evidence for the Sturgis Motorcycle rally being one of the most disastrous public health events in decades is provisional but quite strong. https://t.co/GYfGE590h9

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) November 11, 2020

For real, when we start (in my wildest dreams) locking up leaders and charging them with murder, Noem is in my top five.

Some anecdotal data: The husband of one of my wife's best friends met up with some friends this past Saturday for a "social distanced" afternoon backyard hang, it was much colder than normal/expected so they moved inside and he overstayed a few hours past when he planned on being home.. Everyone who attended now has tested positive for COVID.

I don't know the other people involved, but the husband is pretty sharp, well-educated, seemingly healthy habits, has a pretty cool job... now is isolating in a hotel for 2 weeks and the wife is absolutely livid.

Oops!

Admittedly that's one of the problems with "safe" social gatherings. We reluctantly had my aunt and uncle up from the city a few months ago. First, we had asked them to come when the weather was going to clear up and we could be outside, but they came early so we had to be inside. Then, in spite of promising to wear masks, they took their masks off. Then they stopped observing distancing. It's very hard to force your relatives, especially older ones, to behave a certain way in your home. I have decided not to see them again until this is over.

fucking idiots. i understand, have had the same problems with my parents having their friends over unmasked and me screaming at them

I am dreading the blowback I'm gonna get tonight or tomorrow for when I finally get the nerve up to tell my mom we aren't coming.

have a feeling you need to set some stronger boundaries lol

sorry, that was out of place. good luck

Eh, she hasn't even invited anyone yet, but I'm anticipating that she might want to so I'm trying to head it off and be proactive. They've been really good and understanding so far, but she's always considered hosting Thanksgiving to be one of her favorite things and I'm worried she's going to really struggle with the loss even if she ultimately understands.

The other day I watched a Zoom funeral for someone I knew who died of COVID -- he was pretty old and unwell and already probably in his final hospital visit when he caught it, but all the same it was kind of startling that someone spoke at the funeral without a mask on -- like, everybody else was masked and this one person was like "THIS is the right moment to show I don't think it's that big of a deal and people are overreacting"

Went to my sister's house for a distanced outside fire-pit chat a few weeks ago. These are the only people I've IRL socialized with since March.

It started drizzling, and my kids went inside the house for a bit to get out of the rain while we wrapped up the socializing.

Two days later my daughter started feeling sick. You can, I suspect, imagine the terror.

She tested positive - for strep throat.

I've never been so relieved to get a positive result on a test for an infectious disease. But no, even the ostensibly safe hangs are off the menu again. And the good weather for outdoor meetups is likely gone.

to be fair to that map, i've felt like Florida has been in uncontrolled spread since June or July

we are assholes.

So more mealy-mouthed bullshit from Lightfoot, I guess? A 30-day stay at home "advisory", whatever that means. I just don't see how making it an "advisory" has any teeth at all.

I mean, I don't mean to harsh on Lori, she's done a pretty decent job all things considered. But "advisory" feels like it makes it all sound much more optional than it should be, given our numbers.

She tested positive - for strep throat.

Forgot to mention that this EXACT thing happened to us after my aunt and uncle's visit -- we also got her a COVID test (negative)

The only people we see indoors are my wife's parents, and I was actually hesitant about that (more for their own sake) but we are both careful and they insist on it.

I've had one friend over for patio beers a few times and we've had a couple outdoor playdates - our little kids can't really be kept at distance but we do so as parents.

Question: It seems like testing is readily available in NYC now--is it also in other places? Liiike, re Thanksgiving, are there...reasons not to get everyone tested and then isolate for a couple of days until you get results and then get together? We are considering this for my roommate/house-mates, who are semi- all podded together anyway. The testing is just out of extra caution.

that is our plan for seeing my wife's kids/grandkids for Thanksgiving, who are in our bubble anyway as we have seen them several times since March

I can't see any reason not to get test results before we head down there

my anecdotal COVID story:

president of my company has a pregnant wife & kid, she has a "mom pod" and they share a nanny. The nanny went to a "family gathering" maybe 2 weeks ago where there was a super spreader event, then gave it to boss' wife's friend, then boss' wife hugged her friend goodbye, now they both have it. total failures of basic precautions all around. thankfully neither of them seem super sick yet.

Idk, why risk it? There will be thanksgiving again next year.

yeah I bet we end up not going, given the progression we see

Testing without symptoms varies out here, also depends on which service you'd like to use:

1) my PPO health insurance provider: incredibly strict (2-3 more symptoms present)
2) the County: more strict (1 or more symptoms)
3) tech-driven testing (eg Project Baseline® by Google™): less strict (no symptoms), but then they want to connect your google account(s) & mobile # with your virus samples/biometrics... maybe even your DNA? haven't really researched this option tbqh lol

xps: to In Orbit^^^

Personally I can do without Thanksgiving & Christmas stuff

It helps that I don't really like very many people

xp to Albert

Well that makes more sense, that's like where NYC was in June/July. Now there's free walk-in testing in every neighborhood and you can request the rapid test or the PCR, which takes about 2 days to get back.

My wife and I see no one indoors. Our social visits (mainly with our daughter) are outdoors, masked, and abbreviated. We continue to limit our time in public indoor spaces to the minimum necessary visits to buy groceries - about 3 trips per month. Our non-grocery shopping is close to zero. Since mid-March I did have one blood draw done to renew a prescription, and we've each had one dental exam.

I did get one in-person haircut. Only one in the shop and the barber wore his mask properly. I still may do the next one myself.

Well that makes more sense, that's like where NYC was in June/July. Now there's free walk-in testing in every neighborhood and you can request the rapid test or the PCR, which takes about 2 days to get back.

― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Thursday, November 12, 2020 4:08 PM (fourteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm on Long Island and my experience at the very end of August was that the PCR testing was widely available but with 2-10 day results. On the other hand the rapid testing availability varied depending on how many tests were available when you called - I was able to get the rapid test after a couple of phone calls but had to drive about half an hour.

We're renting a house in Woodstock with another couple for the week of Thanksgiving and everyone is going to get tested the week prior (everyone WFH and everyone pretty smart and safe). We'll see.

Question: It seems like testing is readily available in NYC now--is it also in other places? Liiike, re Thanksgiving, are there...reasons not to get everyone tested and then isolate for a couple of days until you get results and then get together? We are considering this for my roommate/house-mates, who are semi- all podded together anyway. The testing is just out of extra caution.

― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Thursday, November 12, 2020 3:54 PM bookmarkflaglink

It's pretty readily available in Florida, but there are definite defects in the communication part. I don't think it's a bad idea for everybody to get tested. really the main concern is that if you get a positive test, yeah, pretty sure you have it, but there is no current COVID test which has a high enough degree of confidence in its negative results where you can be 100% sure you don't have it.

I was told that if I got tested prior to 8 days after I came into contact with an infected, I might test negative and still be positive. that was horrifying to me, because most people who get tested after exposure do so, like, the day after, and then get what they think is a clean bill.

there are two tests I took this past summer that I was never given results on. and when I searched the system, no record of the tests. thanks guys!

ima probably have to start getting occasional tests again now that I live with the folks, but I may also go back to masking in the house. hate it but...y'know....gives me piece of mind.

today at least according to worldometer we've passed the 150,000 new cases a day mark in the US, and we're rapidly approaching 11,000,000 overall cases, just days after passing the 10,000,000 mark

The thing really pissing me off is that I was supposed to have the kids for Thanksgiving this year but instead I haven’t seen them in person since February and it’s a crap shoot as to whether I will be able to have them after Christmas.

that's got to be hard.

I'm ok not spending this Thanksgiving or Christmas with my adult family, but even that sucks

Circumstances like DJP's have to be the most infuriating. What can you even do besides FaceTime as much as possible?

Damn, hang in there DJP.

Awful. And I was just lamenting the possibilty (dependending on test results) of not seeing my own for a couple more weeks...I can't imagine how hard that is.

Stay safe Chicago. I thought we'd be next but Mayor Lightfoot was quick on the draw.

did she announce anything good? only thing i saw was an "advisory" starting monday to do certain things people should have been doing anyway

starting monday: stop doing dumb things you shouldn't be doing. pretty please!